Every story has a seed, and my newest book at Five Star, A Corner of Universe, started with PBS documentary where elderly survivors told of their harrowing and heroic experiences in the concentration camps during World War Two. The interviewees' stories were catalogs of pain that were too difficult to watch, but too compelling not to. Of all the survivors, one woman dazzled me. Bent and twisted as a twig, the wrinkles on her face compressed by an infectious grin, she was bubbling with happiness. The interviewer asked how she moved beyond her experience, how she lived with zest after seeing the worst. The old woman lifted her arm and waved it through the air as if to encompass the universe.
“Forgive," she said. "Forgive everyone for everything.”
That woman and her sentiment stuck with me for months, and eventually, I knew I had to write her into a book. In A Corner of Universe, she plays the role of mentor to my heroine.
To help launch our Author Expressions blog, I'll be running a contest soon where the prize will be a personalized copy of my book. Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to meeting you!
