Squawk Radio
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Christina Dodd Discovers Her Theme and Offers Up TROUBLE
I recently realized that, as a writer, I have a theme. This came as quite a surprise, since I’m pretty much a seat-of-my-pants writer. I don’t like to look too closely at my work for fear that examining the inner works will result in some fatal discovery. Nevertheless, TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS is the first book in my new contemporary series, and the series is about a family, separated by tragedy, and how the family members slowly grope their way toward reunion. And, son-of-a-gun, my current historical series, The Lost Princesses, is about a family, separated by tragedy, and how the family members slowly grope their way toward reunion. And my previous contemporary series, The Lost Texas Hearts, is about a family, separated by tragedy, and how the family members slowly grope their way toward reunion. In fact, my new contemporary series will eventually include a story about Gabriel Prescott, the one unresolved story from The Lost Texas Hearts. Wow, I have a theme!
Obviously, I’m fascinated by families and reunions, and obviously so are millions of readers. Why? Because within families, there are millions of individual stories, and we can relate each story to our own experience and say, “Yeah, that’s me/my mother/my grandfather/my aunt.”
TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS hits the shelves on August 1, and since telling family stories is what I do well, I thought that over the next few weeks, I would share a few of my families’ treasured tales with you.
The first tale:
My grandmother and my father were apparently very much alike — opinionated and argumentative, and that’s putting it politely. Once during a family gathering, they were fighting about how many men were killed in the building of Hoover Dam. (Don’t ask why. I have no idea.) My grandmother said one hundred and thirteen men and my dad said one hundred and twelve. After much backing and forthing, my dad got out the encyclopedia, found the right article, pointed to the number and said, “See? It says right there one hundred and twelve men were killed during the building of Hoover Dam.” And my grandmother said —
Wait for it —
“Whoever wrote that book didn’t know what they were talking about.”
Do you have a relative like that? I’ll bet you have, and I’ll bet you have stories about him/her, too. Tell us all.
And I hope you’re on the Squawk Radio mailing list (you can sign up in the Bravenet box to the left of this page), because Friday night, I’m giving away two advanced reader copies of TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS, one each, to two lucky winners, randomly picked from the Squawk Radio mailing list. Do you want an arc? Read the excerpt at www.christinadodd.com and see. Good luck!
I recently realized that, as a writer, I have a theme. This came as quite a surprise, since I’m pretty much a seat-of-my-pants writer. I don’t like to look too closely at my work for fear that examining the inner works will result in some fatal discovery. Nevertheless, TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS is the first book in my new contemporary series, and the series is about a family, separated by tragedy, and how the family members slowly grope their way toward reunion. And, son-of-a-gun, my current historical series, The Lost Princesses, is about a family, separated by tragedy, and how the family members slowly grope their way toward reunion. And my previous contemporary series, The Lost Texas Hearts, is about a family, separated by tragedy, and how the family members slowly grope their way toward reunion. In fact, my new contemporary series will eventually include a story about Gabriel Prescott, the one unresolved story from The Lost Texas Hearts. Wow, I have a theme!
Obviously, I’m fascinated by families and reunions, and obviously so are millions of readers. Why? Because within families, there are millions of individual stories, and we can relate each story to our own experience and say, “Yeah, that’s me/my mother/my grandfather/my aunt.”
TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS hits the shelves on August 1, and since telling family stories is what I do well, I thought that over the next few weeks, I would share a few of my families’ treasured tales with you.
The first tale:
My grandmother and my father were apparently very much alike — opinionated and argumentative, and that’s putting it politely. Once during a family gathering, they were fighting about how many men were killed in the building of Hoover Dam. (Don’t ask why. I have no idea.) My grandmother said one hundred and thirteen men and my dad said one hundred and twelve. After much backing and forthing, my dad got out the encyclopedia, found the right article, pointed to the number and said, “See? It says right there one hundred and twelve men were killed during the building of Hoover Dam.” And my grandmother said —
Wait for it —
“Whoever wrote that book didn’t know what they were talking about.”
Do you have a relative like that? I’ll bet you have, and I’ll bet you have stories about him/her, too. Tell us all.
And I hope you’re on the Squawk Radio mailing list (you can sign up in the Bravenet box to the left of this page), because Friday night, I’m giving away two advanced reader copies of TROUBLE IN HIGH HEELS, one each, to two lucky winners, randomly picked from the Squawk Radio mailing list. Do you want an arc? Read the excerpt at www.christinadodd.com and see. Good luck!
Christina Dodd, 11:57 PM
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