As with each baby, Susannah is my favorite so far. The naming of Susannah had special meaning for me. When my husband and I were going to cemeteries to look for the graves of his long lost relatives, we found the grave of Susannah Cole. That name stuck with me for years and when I began Callie's Mountain, I knew Susannah was a name I wanted to use.
I know very little about the real Susannah Cole except she is buried in the Cole Family Cemetery in a cow pasture in Shady Valley, Tennessee. I do know she and her husband came to Shady Valley from North Carolina.
My Susannah was a spoiled brat. Not someone I would want as my best friend. Callie had a lot of patience to like her, but they remain friends through both books. Susannah does change into a wonderful woman, someone I would want for my friend.
What's next? I'll try to bring you up to date next week. I'm becoming more organized with my writing time, so I should have more time to devote to my blogs. I thought you would want to see the beautiful cover by Roseanna White. I'm so happy with all the covers she has designed for me.
Here's the cover and blurb for Susannah's Hope. The Kindle edition is the only one I could find on Amazon. The book will be released April 1, 2014.
Susannah Cole had been
taught prejudice since she was born. But when she is almost drowned with her
father, she is taken to a Melungeon home to heal and recuperate. A mixed race doctor, Dr. Val Minor,
encourages her to accept the Melungeons and other races.
Susannah and her mother
decide to make the store her grandfather established a success and to consider
all people equal, as God intended. It’s a struggle, but with the help of Rachel
Gibson, a Melungeon, and Lincoln Amis, a suitor, they all work hard together.
A smallpox epidemic
strikes the small mountain community of Maple Hill, Tennessee. Val doesn’t have
time to treat all the people. He asks Susannah and others to help him. He finds
Susannah has changed and is a caring person. She enjoys helping those in need,
not like her father had taught her.
Through the course of the
epidemic, Val finds he has fallen in love with Susannah. Marriage is out of the
question for a mixed race man and a white woman. Is their love stronger than
the law of the land?
The only place for them is
in the North, but would they still be accepted in the South?
