I’m pleased to announce that my newest
book, A Magnolia Romance, is complete. It’s available for preorder now, and
I’ll include a link at the end of this. For now, I want to tell you a little
about it, though. It has many themes, but I’ll start with the most important
one.
Truth. Yes, I know it’s simple, but it’s
also very complicated. When we’re young, we make mistakes. We love too strong,
hold onto grudges too long, and experiment in ways that might make our parents
cringe. This is where truth gets complicated when you’re telling the stories of
two teenagers in love. On its surface, A Magnolia Romance looks like a teen
romance that anyone between the ages of 13 and 17 would love, but it’s more
than that. It’s familiar to people of any age, or at least it was to me. It
shows many of the ways we felt in our younger years, and it will probably
remind you of a lot of stupid things you did when you were a teenager. Some of
those things might not be what you would want your children to repeat, however,
and that’s where truth can be uncomfortable for some people. This book follows
the theme of characters who act and feel like we do at that age, and I think
that’s its strongest point. Some might not agree because of the positions I show
teenagers in during the book, but it’s these moments of love, play, and
exploration that makes Logan and Madison human more than any others. I believe
because of this A Magnolia Romance is a great book for any teen whose parents
realize they’re growing up and all adults who are feeling a bit nostalgic or
who just want to remember what it was like to love when you were seventeen.
The second theme is tragedy. It’s used to
bring the characters together, but the tragedy in this story is even more than
that. Something will change Logan and Madison’s lives forever in this story,
and I used that as a tool to make them grow up a little faster, love a little
longer, and see the world in a totally different way. In some ways, it’s a
simple thing that is used in many books to set up a story, but in this one it’s
complicated. It doesn’t set up the story because Logan and Madison’s romantic lives
are the basis of the book, but it shapes who they are as people. It adds to
their identity and gives them a reason to never let go of the only people who
could ever understand them.
Finally, the theme of this one is love.
Yes, I know it should have been obvious, but it’s a different kind of love than
what’s portrayed in most stories today. This isn’t lust, and it isn’t just friendship.
It’s a deep yearning to be with the only person who can understand you. The
bond that Logan and Madison share is like nothing I’ve ever experienced, but
it’s everything that I’ve always dreamed of. It’s simple, yet complicated.
Completely pure, but yet destructive. It’s that brand of imperfect perfection
that’s hard to put into words, but there’s no doubt that it’s true love in its
best form.
Now, there’s one more thing I have to
sneak in before I give you the link to preorder. A Magnolia Romance is set in
the area where I grew up, and I use quite a few real life locations in it. I
also use some life experiences of my own to shape the story. I don’t always do
this, but I have to say it was satisfying. It took me down memory lane and
reminded me of what I loved about this place. There are plenty of good and bad
things about where I grew up, but A Magnolia Romance aloud me to take the good
ones, lay them out in a story, and see the glass as half full. Actually, half
full might be an understatement. It aloud me to appreciate who I was as a
younger man and many of the people in my life more than I think I had before.
For that, I’ll always be grateful for this story.
