It has been a LONG tradition for me to interview myself about the story behind the story. I do this because no one else really wants to go there.
Sometimes I don’t even want to go there, but a tradition is a tradition and I don’t want any book to feel left out (thank you, Walt Disney for making me feel like every single thing in my life has a brain—even when I’m not sure I have a brain).
So here we are at book NINE in the series!
You can learn more about the story by clicking HERE.
And you can read the interview by staying here.
Me: Can you believe we have written nine books in the Big Uneasy series?
Myself: Considering we started in May of 2013, we should probably be on book eleven, shouldn’t we?
Me: We did write some other books along the way.
Myself: True. Continue with the interview.
Me: Readers will probably wonder what Soc Au’ Lait means.
Myself: It literally means “sack of milk” but is also used as an exclamatory “Wow,” or “what the…”
Me: I plan to use it more when I am exclaiming (looks up how to say it and nods with satisfaction).
Myself: It does have a nice ring to it.
Me: So we had a kind of huge issue with this book. Can you tell us a bit about that.
Myself: We—me—I am a hermit, which caused us problems when I, we, lived in New Orleans, but Mardi Gras is one HUGE crazy party. You—I—never liked it that much.
Me: Yeah, most people there thought I, or we, were crazy.
Myself: Trying to figure out whether we are singular or plural is probably adding to that impression.
Me: Right. So how did I solve the problem about writing about Mardi Gras when it wasn’t my favorite?
Myself: I had the heroine be from Wyoming, like you, but not like you, if you know what I mean.
Me: I do. Maia is a fictional character and I am a real person.
Myself: For sure. But channeling your Wyoming helped us navigate our fictional Mardi Gras.
Me: There is something else kind of new in this book.
Myself: Maia has a mother. You’re finally letting them live.
Me: Let’s not get personal here. We—I had good reasons for keeping moms out of my fiction.
Myself: I know. Your mom, no matter how different you made the moms, thought they were modeled after her. Now that she’s been gone for six years, I guess I’m finally ready to reintroduce mothers into my books.
Me: I learned something else by letting Maia’s mom live. Do you know what it was?
Myself: That mom had always been in all my books—just not a visible mom, but in the values she taught you and the great example she was to me. And bonus, my dad allowed me to let him peek out, too.
Me: I miss them both.
Myself: Me, too.
Me: So that’s the story behind the story. I hope you enjoyed this peek behind the curtain!
Myself: I hope so, too.
Me: It still feels like there are two of us.
Myself: I know but it’s just not possible. Now go away and let me get back to writing.
So there you have it! And I hope you’ll check out Soc Au’ Lait Stiff—or at least use it as your exclamatory statement!
Let the good times roll!
Pauline