MuseTracks is proud to host award-winning author and southern gal (Hooray for Southern girls!), Linda Joyce. Help me welcome her as she talks of settings and shares a poem. One lucky commenter will receive a Kindle copy of her newly released Bayou Born.
Let Me Take You There…
Let’s compare notes. Is where you live or work or vacation important to you? Do you make sacrifices daily to have two weeks in paradise? Do you seek comfort in all things, like me? No matter who you are, what you do, or how you spend your time, the setting surrounding you is where you draw a breath and live your life.
It’s no different for characters in a story. The House at Pooh Corner, Harry Potter at Hogwarts, Death Comes to Pemberley, or Merry Christmas, Alex Cross. Setting is as important in these stories as any character. In fact, without the setting, the story would not carry the same impact.
In many of my stories, the southeastern United States is the backdrop. Heat and humidity suffocate in the summer and can raise frustrations in even the mildest mannered grandma. Sweet tea is a relaxing respite. Never guzzled or swilled. Spanish moss swaying in a soft breeze might be tranquil or spooky, but rarely is perky.
To “show” my point about setting, I’m sharing a poem I wrote that the Coal City Review, a literary magazine, published in 2010.
My No-Name Island Home.
Old Fort Pike stands sentry
three hundred years strong.
LakeCatherine swirls her watery gown
ruffling edges seep into canals
where bulrushes and cattails thrive.
Paths of crushed bleached oyster shells
crunch under foot
stretch side-by-side
long weather-grey docks
where shrimp trollers, houseboats, and pirogues wait.
Crab traps and casting nets rest in shade
wraparound porch offers panoramic view
solitary pelican rests on piling
seagulls soar, dive, cry,
a crusty alligator sleeps.
Breezes cool waterlogged air
flutter hair from my face
waves lap against aged seawall
stiff brine wafts to my nose
aromas of Grandma’s gumbo,
crab, shrimp, okra, andouille.
As if Katrina never raged.
- Linda Joyce
I hope you enjoyed a brief visit to my home. It’s bayou country, and the idea of my novel, Bayou Born, was launched from there. Take a peek:
Branna Lind’s self-esteem rests at the bottom of the Mississippi River. She canceled her “wedding of the decade,” though she isn’t saying why. She wants life on her own terms, no ready-made job in the family business, no safety net of close-knit kin, and no more betrayal.
College professor James Newbern prizes his bachelorhood. Experience has taught him beautiful women are high-maintenance trouble and Branna fits that type. He is happy to avoid her until the college vice president assigns him to mentor the newest hire—Branna.
Branna is on her way to a new life, but will the scars of the past send her running from love? If she doesn’t, will she convince James that she truly is his “type”?
You have an opportunity to win a Kindle copy of Bayou Born today! Please let me a comment to my post. All names will be included for a drawing.
*WINNER!* Christi Corbett, congratulations!
(If you win and are a Nook reader, the book will be gifted in mid-May when it’s available through Barnes and Noble.)
Bayou Born is available now on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Born-Fleur-Lis-ebook/dp/B00B9L1VAC/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360196114&sr=1-10&keywords=Bayou+Born
And, here’s a little bit about me:
Linda Joyce is an award-winning writer born on Christmas Eve in Biloxi, Mississippi to an Irish/Cajun father from New Orleans and a Japanese mother. Southern culture 
plays a prominent role in her stories.
Linda and her husband, Don, a fifth generation Floridian, now live in Atlanta with their four-legged boys, General Beauregard, Gentleman Jack and Masterpiece Renoir. Linda shares with Don a love of college football, boiled peanuts, seafood, and grits with eggs.
Please visit me at : www.linda-joyce.com or Linda Joyce Contemplates: www.lindajoycecontemplates.wordpress.com .
And join me on:
Twitter: @LJWriter
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6950241.Linda_Joyce
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=69773158&trk=tab_pro
Facebook Author Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/293283790733871/499198890142359/?notif_t=group_comment_reply#!/pages/Linda-Joyce-Author/211949585615265
