In May, 2013, I released Relatively Risky, the first book in my Big Uneasy series. This was important to me for three reasons:
1. It was my first independent (without a publisher) release. It was the book that taught me how to publish my own books.
2. It was the launch of a series that a major publisher and a high profile agent told me wouldn’t work without sex and that thirteen siblings was too many.
3. It was my “return” to New Orleans, where the hubs and I lived for eighteen years (and where our children grew up).
Now here I am, twelve years later, releasing book ten in the series. And let me note here, there wouldn’t be ten books without all those siblings. 😂
I’m actually going to end up with fourteen books in the series (if I live long enough!), because one of the books went to their dad, Zach and his high school reunion.
I would also note that there are three side stories in the series: Family Treed, The Family Way, and Guess Who’s Coming to Christmas.
So that is the story behind the why, but there is also the “why” for this particular book.
Gumbo Ya-Ya Exit, features stars the youngest of the Baker children, Madeline. It was fun to write Maddie’s story. There is humor potential in being the youngest of thirteen, before I even got to her problem in trying to figure out the mystery she’d never planned on.
In this book, Maddie gets to:
1. Meet the man of her dreams.
2. Show her siblings and her dad that is actually competent.
3. Survive to get that first kiss.
Hey, it is good to have goals.
One of the other fun things for me, is getting to reference my homage to The Perry Mason Show. There is just something fun about old style courtroom dramas, Della Street (his secretary), and Paul Drake, Perry’s go-to investigator.
Like all my books, I start a book not sure where it will go and how it will end up except that I know the bad guys will be defeated and the hero and heroine will get a happy for now that will lead to happy ever after.
I’m a romantic. I like happy endings.
What you won’t get in the book are any sex scenes and swearing. I’ll freely admit that since I gave up swearing, the language in my books has gotten better, too. 😏😂
What you will get is a sense of humor, an unexpected adventure, and a trip to New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana.
I wish I could give you a taste of the food, the music, and the joie de vivre that is New Orleans and Louisiana. (I actually looked up how to pronounce it and wow, was I wrong, but I wasn’t wrong about the joy for life that permeates Louisiana.)
I know what it means to miss New Orleans and one of the ways I deal with it is by writing this series. I also have a lot of fun writing these books. I go back in memory and inhale the scents, see the sights, and hear the sounds again.
And I also wrote this book because ten comes after nine. It was ten’s turn. 🤷♀️
Gumbo Ya-Ya Exitwill release in bookstores on April 30, but it is already available in MY bookstore right this minute. Like, right now.
And where ever you get it, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!