What sparked the Aunt Edwina Series?
Welcome friends! I’m glad you’re here. Many times I'm asked how I got the idea to write the Aunt Edwina series. The honest truth is that I was standing in our home library one day, reflecting upon the fantastic selection of topography, geography and history books. These thoughts merged in with our travel experiences plus our family’s lifelong pursuit of genealogy and family history research. It struck me: there's a story here ... and I wanted to create something different for readers.
The criteria set out for this new series was clear. The story had to:
Be a clean read – no violence, erotica or profanity.
This was due to many family and friends telling me how many books they put down after the first chapter due to an excessive amount of these three items they didn’t want on the page. Having said that, the story had to be good, with substance, and not fluffy or overly syrupy.
Celebrate seniors and give them a central role.
Ever hear about the 40+ year-old actresses who find themselves suddenly invisible from casting directors due to ageism? What about the person who doesn’t get the job because they are over 60? These erroneous attitudes sincerely bother me. I adore working with seniors and appreciate all their life experience offers. How many novels do you know that have a senior on the front cover?
Offer a cheerful, uplifting read.
The past two years have been tough on everyone on the planet. Doom and gloom permeates our homes far too much and I decided it was time to give readers an escape from all that, even if it was just within the pages of a fun novel.
Share basic family history research tips.
I am the first to let people know I am by no means a professional genealogist. Your own research is in peril if you ask me to resolve a detailed brick wall blocking you from accessing your fifth great-grandfather’s information! Please, please, ask a trained expert for this type of help. I have a fact checker on board to help me walk the talk.
Once the first book got underway, I realized the story and characters easily lent themselves to a series. And that's a topic for another blog post later on. Thanks for reading!