Launching Elizabeth's Mountain

The day you think will never come always does.

In three weeks my novel, Elizabeth’s Mountain, will launch. How did I get here? I won’t give you the long version since it’s…well, long. The short version, however, is more captivating, I think.

Besides my love of books where I have experienced more living than I could manage in one lifetime, writing them takes the top spot. Imagine living all those experiences we read about in books and still coming out of them unscathed, hopefully, lifted, where every book is its own world that I can visit for a while. Through reading, I’ve experienced shock, longing, hurt, and misfortune. I must have died over a hundred times, and I’ve fallen in love even more times than I can count. And it never wears off. I’ve put myself in the shoes of some of the most colorful and inspirational characters. I’ve cried with them, laughed with them, and learned from them. The genre that always seems to stay with me—even long after I’ve finished a book—is those where the characters must overcome difficulties and hardships. The outsider, the resistor, the sufferer. The disheartened and the griever.

When my granddaughter, Sofia, was around sixteen months old, she and her older sister, Olivia, were in a game contest to see who could eat a very sour candy without making a face. No matter how many times Sofia tried, she couldn’t keep her face still. Frustrated and wincing, she finally cried out, “But I want to be a champion!”

Haven’t we all felt that way? No matter what age, we want to champion our choices, and be the champion in our own story.  In creating characters for my novels, I try not to forget that. I will advocate for them, whatever their struggle or sacrifice. They are to become the champions in their own life. Hopefully, their ‘real life’ stories will champion others.

The inspiration for the setup of Elizabeth’s Mountain’s story came to me in a dream that followed a phone conversation I had with my ninety-two-year-old aunt. She was living alone in Florida during the pandemic and I could feel her loneliness. She couldn’t see her granddaughter’s new baby, or attend another’s small, destination wedding. I thought about what it must be like to have lived ninety-some years, all that she had seen and lived through, and now going through an isolating time. Coming out of the pandemic, as things normalized again, I went to my laptop and started writing Elizabeth’s Mountain. I’ve always loved Asheville, the Blue Ridge Mountains. I live two-and-a-half hours away and enjoy visiting there often, so the choice of setting was almost an instant one. Coupled with my enjoyment of reading a good romance story, I thought about the generational changes in attitudes and perspectives on dating just in the last one hundred years and realized that while much has changed, love never changes.

Elizabeth would tell you, “Call me stubborn, but I’m of the old thinking that love transcends all bounds.”

Elizabeth’s Mountain launches on March 28, 2024. No longer is it an idea, a concept, a creation only in my mind. With humbleness and gratitude, I get to share her with the world.

Thank you to all my early readers. Your posted reviews are validating. Ratings are so important to an author. It is the best way to tell them, Thank you, and show that you enjoyed their book. They can be short. It’s the number of reviews that matter the most. Reviews on Amazon will become eligible on March 28, and a Goodreads Giveaway has already started, so see if you will become a winner of a signed copy! Audibles will also be available. And please, follow me on Bookbub.

Please, tell me what you think. I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Lucille

https://www.lucilleguarino.com