About my new novel "HARMONY HILL"

What do you do when the only life you've known is based on a monstrous lie? That is the dilemma of MARIE ANDREWS in my novel "HARMONY HILL." The heroine thought that moving away from her dysfunctional family, which includes an abusive unemployed alcoholic father, a manipulative deceitful mother, and siblings that prefer that she didn't exist - seemed like the best way to forget about the past and move on with her life. And as the story begins Marie has rarely spoken to her family, that is until she is pulled back, mostly by her own catholic guilt, to her home state of Illinois to attend her father's funeral.

Written for the mainstream women's genre, the completed 75,000 word manuscript tells the story of a 30-year old heroine who is a reporter for a newspaper in Savannah. She lives a safe, independent and prudish sexless existence. The tragedies of her childhood that she has locked away slowly start resurfacing during the long weekend funeral, which turns into a family reunion of sorts.

During the course of the story, Marie reunites with some characters in her life including a free-spirited cousin who tries to help Marie get over her sexual hang-ups albeit unsuccessfully; her aloof and distant mother, who seems even more hatefully devious toward Marie than usual; a former high school boyfriend DANIEL RADFORD, who was the love of her life before he left for missionary work overseas, and who now suddenly turns up in her life when she would rather crawl in a hole and die. To make matters more complicated for the heroine, she uncovers a conspiracy between her mother and grandfather to hold a secret that could change Marie's view of who she is. When the truth about her past is revealed, her world spins out of control.

"HARMONY HILL" is a personal coming of age while tangled in family trouble novel that will appeal to those who enjoy women's fiction.