Dear Readers,
The idea for this story simmered for years, from back when I was writing historicals, long before the tragedy of the Terri Schiavo story made it current news.
When Ann McCrary took her wedding vows, she had no idea just how worse “for better or worse” could get. Now she is married both legally and emotionally, but her husband is no longer the man she loved and made that promise to and she’s been frozen in place for twelve years. I wanted to write about family, both the one we are born into and the one we choose for ourselves, and what we owe the people that we love.
But, as always, books take on a life of their own when I write them. I knew I’d be writing about the relationship between Ann and her mother, but I had no idea that her bond with her mother-in-law would be every bit as important. Also, while I knew the neighbor that would finally jolt her out of her frozen state would be a central character (and what a lovely character he is!), I didn’t expect his daughter, Mer, would be such a strong force on the page. I loved writing her; she is so tough, and so very wounded.
Which only goes to show you that, no matter how much I think about a book, I never could follow a plan…
~Susan