Guest Post – On the Eighteenth of May by Jordan R. Samuel w/ giveaway

The Beginning of On the Eighteenth of May

I have never before, in my entire life, tried writing fiction. As a professional educator, and now a university professor, I have spent a great deal of my life writing academic pieces. I have published many peer-reviewed articles and chapters in various journals and books and have very recently published a handbook on research regarding effective online course design. I had always hoped to write a novel, but had never quite made or found the time.

In early 2019, I was busy working on two research articles for my university, which both happened to fall during a very sad time in my life. Not to go into too much detail, but one of my family members was very ill, and was lost and hurting and struggling. And I realized at that period just how sad I was, over the whole situation . . . over my lack of ability to help in some meaningful way and over my complete uselessness to make things better. And so, one day I opened my laptop, but instead of working on the research articles (like I was SUPPOSED to be doing), I started writing a story. A story filled with sadness. A story filled with love.

I absolutely love romance novels, the sweet, simply kind that pack a little mystery and have characters that I want to root for. This was some of the early feedback I got from the first reviews that were posted when my novel was first published – that the characters were people that readers could see as their friends or neighbors, and that, indeed, many were characters they wanted to root for.

With this being my first novel, several ideas combined at once, from different personal experiences or interests. First, as stated earlier, I was going through a particularly sad time in my life when this novel was first conceptualized, so that was one impetus for some of the particularly sad themes in the novel. While the story in the novel in no way reflects the actual situation I was experiencing with my family member, the mood of the novel certainly does. In addition, I have visited the Blue Ridge mountain region of North Carolina on many occasions, and have found that there are few places on earth quite as lovely as the Chimney Rock and Lake Lure areas, so the setting of the novel, for me, was an easy choice. Many of the ideas for the most stunning scenes of the novel (yes, for those of you who have read the novel, I’m talking about Chapters 27 and 30) were inspired by the beautiful history and stories of the Cherokee Nation. Their legacy and lore is a key part of the love story that unfolds On the Eighteenth of May.

And, of course, the novel has a tragic love story as a central theme. I tried to write the two characters in the relationship with a little detail and a lot to be imagined. I tried to help the reader in getting to know them better and better as the story developed, but not giving away too much about how they might react to a particular situation. And, of course, since the novel tells the whole story through back and forth point of views (from each of them) we get to see a lot more of what each one is thinking than the actual love interest does. Hopefully, it makes for a captivating yet sad love story that will hold your attention throughout.

On the Eighteenth of May

by Jordan R. Samuel

GENRE: Romance

BLURB:

On the evening of the eighteenth of May, a young woman named Cass walks alone into a small village with the intent to stay for exactly one year. Cass soon meets two precocious children, a caring and generous business owner, and the Chief of Police from the neighboring town. Family and loss are parts of many of their stories, and while these people, as well as others, attempt to know and help her, the history and troubled memories of what led Cass to this place begin to gradually unfold. As the potential for love and the pathway for healing become clearer, the date of departure approaches. Cass and those around her will be forced to decide how forcefully they are willing to hold on: to the past, to the pain, and to the person.

On the Eighteenth of May is the story of the people and events that are interwoven throughout Cass’s journey and her life.  It is a story that examines the true test of strength in the deepest depths of sorrow, as felt by the human heart. It is a story that explores the perceived helplessness of those within the support structure, and the extent to which those we love can hinder or accelerate the healing process.  Finally, it is a story that reminds us of the overwhelming power of comforting influences in all of our lives, as our human souls struggle, against all odds, to survive.

Excerpt:

Taking his keys from his pocket and unlocking the back porch door, Lucas returned to the present. He was well aware that this was his mother’s favored napping time, a time she lovingly referred to as her “pre-supper beauty sleep”, so he was careful to open the back door quietly. After entering, he softly stepped through the kitchen and headed straight for his old bedroom.

The bedroom door was closed, which seemed odd. He quickly shrugged it off and proceeded to walk towards it, intending to find the croquet set and leave the home so quietly his mother would never even know he had been there.

As he turned the doorknob, the bedroom door slid slowly open, offering him a small and then ever-increasing slice of vision. As the opening grew wider, Lucas suddenly saw. There was a stranger in his bedroom. 

The stranger was looking out his window. Her face was fully turned away. However, he did not need to see her face to realize the stranger was the drifter. The very same drifter he had seen earlier in the day. The same clothes, the same sweat, the same hair.

He thought back to the questions he had considered earlier in regards to her age. Whatever her age, she was old enough. Old enough to know how to break into an older woman’s home and steal her blind.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Jordan R. Samuel is a former public school teacher and administrator who enjoys her current work as an Assistant Professor of Education. She spends her days with her husband and her three children as she teaches, studies and writes. She immensely enjoys travelling, and penned many parts of this particular story while relaxing in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ontheeighteenthofmay/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20148821.Jordan_R_Samuel

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Jordan-R-Samuel/e/B087CB3RTF/

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Jordan R. Samuel will be awarding a $30 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway