Almost There—


I'm at the finish line with Rachel, After the Darkness. It is all with the publisher, and I am now at their mercy for a beautiful book block and cover. I can hardly wait. It's always fun to watch this part of the process unfold and to see the splendid handiwork of the design team. I do love my publisher!
Here's a little excerpt from the story.
I hope it will make you thirst for more!

By Far the Greatest
Rachel glanced toward the door where she had left the dress on the wood hanger her mother had packed in the side of the big box. She knew I would have no way of hanging it, thought Rachel. Madeleine Beauregard does think of everything. Rachel touched it again, lost in the feel of luxurious fabric, the fragrance of store-bought finery. Her head was spinning from the sudden eruption of a thousand possibilities.
In an anxious moment, she removed the skirt from the hanger and slipped it to her slender waist, then the jacket, fastening the long row of covered buttons. A perfect fit. She pulled the boots on, fastened the buttons, and tied the leather strings at the tops. Holding the valise, she backed away from the mirror on the vanity so she could see. Her heart pounded. She pulled her hair up and put a few pins in to hold it, lifted one of the hats from the box and tilted it to the side a bit. A few curls fell around her face. Oh! Glorious!
Rachel loved fine things. Madeleine—it’s the Madeleine Beauregard in me, she decided. She quickly took it all off, returning the dress to the hanger, packing the boots away, and placing the hat in the box with the others. She pulled the pins from her hair and let it fall.
To distract herself from those finer things, Rachel opened her wood box and once again, like a schoolgirl, breathed in the fragrance of pencil lead and tablet paper, the most pleasing fragrance of all. Not exotic by any means, but Samuel had touched her heart with his gift, thinking only of her.


 


It seems like yesterday I was publishing JOAB and thinking about my trip “up to the South” for some book signings, and here it is—time to do it again.These events, special times when friends and family meet up to help celebrate yet another title, bring me much joy. I could never thank my Readers enough for their participation and all the tremendous support.


I hope by now you have read The Faithful Sons Trilogy: The Mississippi Boys, Isaac’s House, and JOAB, for Rachel comes along behind those to continue the saga of the Payne family who endured the War, struggled with Reconstruction, and weathered the hideous aftermath. You’re going to love the way Rachel stars in this one and you will find out just how those “fine things” from Madeleine Beauregard played a vital part in Rachel “coming out to a wondrous conclusion” to quote my friend, Karen Armstrong Corbitt!


Stay with me for the announcement of publication.
Best to you all, my dear Readers!
Jane Bennett Gaddy
Trinity, FL
May, 2013



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