Let me tell you more about the new novel :)
The Song of the Desert Willow is a split-time military romance. It's the story of a college graduate (Clara) who thought she’d sworn off soldiers forever, and a young Army captain (Andrew) whose first shot at love and marriage imploded on the steps of a West Point chapel on graduation week.
She takes a break from a long and unfruitful job search to travel to Fort Bliss, Texas, and deliver her grandmother’s last love letter, a letter to a retired general Clara has heard about since she was born.
When the recipient is delayed in Germany with a weak heart, Clara’s stuck in Texas and Andrew is put in charge of her well-being.
Being stuck at Fort Bliss with Captain “Ginger”—his red hair makes him look so much like Prince Harry—was not at all part of the plan. But could it be for the best? Could it help her understand her family’s past at long last and help her chart her future? Some good had to come out of it.
But as days turn into weeks, the past refuses to stay in the past and puts her future in danger.
I enjoy this story so much. It has a lot of my grandma’s history in it—life in the German colonies of the south of Brazil before WWII, the beginning of the shoe industry there (still famous worldwide, with women’s shoes always available at stores like Neiman Marcus), the life of the richest family in town, the most influential man (my great grandfather), his death, loss, change. It’s fascinating to me. I pray I can paint a vivid picture of this most unusual slice of history and get people to care.
And then the contemporary story of Clara is fun to write because I’ve been working for the U.S. Army since the nineties and have been an Army wife for more than twelve years. There are tons of neat details of Army life to share. This could easily be book one of a series. Clara and Andrew are fun to write too because I created them in 2015, so by now, I know them well. And I love the antagonist! I should write her story one day. I think I cried for that woman for five whole chapters toward the end.
Can't wait to share The Song of the Desert Willow with you! :)
