The Curse of Heatherwell House (Working Title) came from a slightly different place than many of the other stories in this collection. When I decided that I was going to put together a collection of short stories with the theme of Gothic Horror, I quizzed Clemency on what would scare her. She said “zombies”. Not the easiest thing to work with for Gothic Horror – give me a ghost any day. Here are some thoughts about how I went about creating The Curse of Heatherwell House … Once I had spoken to Clem about the things she finds scary – and discovered which of my back catalogue she found the creepiest – I started to get an idea for a story. It involved a vicar (obviously the younger son of a wealthy family, as all these Gothic vicars seem to be) who took over gravedigging responsibilities because the rest of his parish were too sick to do it. I was pleased with the premise – and perhaps it will turn into another story. Watch this space… But there was one major sticking problem: whils...
This week for #HistFicThursdays, I'm delighted to be teaming up with The Coffee Pot Book Club to shine a spotlight on Jerry Madden's fabulous book, Steel Valley: Coming of Age in the Ohio Valley in the 1960s!
So, let's meet the book...
For readers of The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni
and Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers
Love is never easy...even in easier times, like the 1950s
and 1960s in the Ohio Valley with the steel industry booming.
Second-generation immigrant families were reaching for
the American middle class. And Catholic schools-made feasible by selfless
Catholic nuns-promised bigger lives for everyone, including Jack Clark and
Laurie Carmine. As they spent years searching for their separate futures,
though, they were also stumbling toward love just as their world came crashing
down.
Steel Valley depicts a story of love longed for, lost, and perhaps still within reach, just as our nation's mythic yesterday became our troubled today, our last summer of innocence.
You can buy Steel Valley via this Universal Link!
Now, let's meet the author:
Jerry Madden grew up in the Upper Ohio Valley in the 1960s. He holds a B.A. from the College of Steubenville and law degrees from the University of Dayton School of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, Jerry served as the sole law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, C. William O'Neill. He served in the United States Marine Corps (R) between 1970 and 1976.
Jerry has practiced law in Washington, D.C., since 1979, including fourteen years at the Department of Justice as a trial and appellate attorney. He is the principal of The Madden Law Group PLLC in Washington, D.C.
He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Cyndi, a retired educator. They have two children, Kelsey and Jack, both of whom hold M.Ed. degrees. They have one grandchild, Jamie Maclennan.
You can find Jerry on these links:
To follow the rest of the Steel Valley tour, click on the banner below:
Thank you very much for hosting Jerry Madden with his novel, Steel Valley, today.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Cathie xx
The Coffee Pot Book Club