Coming soon: The Sandstone Collection

My new book, The Lucky Ones, is set in Leland KY, a fictitious small town I first introduced years and years ago in The House on Sandstone. When it releases next week, those who shop at Bella Books will find a couple of extras: First, anyone who purchases TLO from Bella will also receive a bonus short story (ebook only) called “Every Single Vote,” which was part of last year’s collection by various authors to urge folks to vote in the 2018 midterms. Second, if you don’t already have THOS, you’ll have a chance to purchase the entire Sandstone Collection, which includes the new Author’s Edition ebook, at a deep discount.

I bet I’m not the only author who avoids reading their early work. Indeed, when I look back on my first few books, I can barely get through a page or two without cringing at some of my old bad habits. A million thanks to all the editors and proofers who pounded those out of me, and to organizations like the Golden Crown Literary Society for staging writing workshops and panels that help all of us be better writers.

The House on Sandstone is a story of lesbian romance in a small Southern town. First published by Bella Books in 2006, it stands as a snapshot of a time when attitudes toward the LGBTQ community were rapidly changing for the better, even in rural America. Now it’s fifteen years later and our country has suffered a horrifying setback in civil rights for nearly all marginalized communities. I wanted to write a story about a small town grappling with such struggles, and the fictional Leland, Kentucky seemed the perfect venue. While this new book, The Lucky Ones (2019, Bella Books), isn’t a sequel to The House on Sandstone, I took advantage of the setting to revisit Carly and Justine, who have become matriarchs for the town’s lesbian community.

The publication of The Lucky Ones presented a great opportunity to go back to that first edition and clean up some of the more cringe-worthy errors in editorial judgment, for which I alone take responsibility. I tried to preserve the flavor, which includes a fair bit of head-hopping poorly disguised as third-person omniscient narrator. I think this new version reads better, and I hope you’ll agree. I’d like to thank publisher Linda Hill for taking a chance on my early books and making me part of the Bella family. And a special thanks for the opportunity to present this 2019 The House on Sandstone: Author’s Edition. 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to leave a comment (here or on Facebook) on what “home” means to you. From the ~80 entries, I drew 11 names to win one of my review copies of The Lucky Ones. Those books are on the way to you.