Pre-Order _Sycamore Souls_: Release Date and Special Offers

My newest novel, Sycamore Souls, is up for pre-order now and will release in paperback and e-book on November 5, with the audiobook following soon after.

Sycamore Souls is the least autobiographical of my literary novels, and yet it’s a love letter to my hometown of Enid, Oklahoma (renamed Nokomis in the book because of some geographical liberties I had to take). This is a story that I continued to live in long after the writing was finished. I honestly missed the characters after I’d finished the book and had to fight the temptation to keep writing past the point where the story I wanted to tell came to a close.

The book is about Kelsi, a young woman in her 20s, who leaves her alcoholic mother in Wyoming to come to Oklahoma and date Tucker, a guy she met online. Because her dad was a womanizer, Kelsi never knew a real home. The family would move to a place, her military father would get in trouble and be transferred and Kelsi had to start over. When her father turned his attention to her, Kelsi’s mother took the teenage girl and fled, but then took to drinking and having strange men over all the time.

Tucker is a jerk, but Kelsi has no one else. She is a student at the local college and works part time in a diner. The rest of her time is given to Tucker. Then Tucker’s grandfather, Dennis, breaks his hip and Kelsi is hired by the family to become his caretaker.

In her relationship with Dennis, Kelsi learns the value of community, of friendship, and she sees what true love looks like through the stories Dennis tells of his late wife, Gloria. This prompts her to examine her own life and ask if she is happy.

Sycamore Souls is probably as close as I’ll ever get to “women’s fiction” under my own name. I don’t really think of it as that. Sure, the main character is a woman, but I think her journey of self-discovery could resonate with anyone capable of introspection.

I’m hopeful the book will find its audience and that people will read and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Sycamore Souls is available for pre-order as an e-book at all the usual places. The paperback pre-order isn’t showing up yet. If you can’t wait and you want to get the e-book at a 15 percent discount, you can buy direct from my MoonHowler Press store.