IN PRAISE OF STRONG WOMEN
Fact: I was born on a bathroom floor. Literally. My arrival into this world was followed seconds later by an unceremonious drop onto the cold tile of St. John’s Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.
You see, I was the fifth out of six children. My mother knew my delivery would be fast, but the nurse at the hospital insisted she go to the bathroom before the doctor arrived.
Later, after the drama and I was pronounced healthy, my mother told the doctor that the nurse should have listened to her, that she had warned the nurse that the baby (me) was going to arrive any second. That, having already delivered four children, she knew her body pretty well.
The doctor said, “Five kids, huh? Maybe you should tell your husband to keep it in his pants.”
True story.
***
Both of my parents were born in Italy. They emigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s. My father always said the biggest difference between Italy and America at that time was that you could work your ass off in Italy and have nothing to show for it. If you worked hard in America, you could eventually become wealthy. He started a construction company and worked 6 days a week, from dawn to dusk. Eventually, he was successful.
My mother raised six children.
She is a strong woman.
Both she and my father share a love of aphorisms.
The one I remember most? “A well-made flour sack stands on its own.”
It was almost like a mantra with her.
At various stages of my life, that phrase has popped into my mind and made the difference.
***
So this is odd, right?
This blog post is meant, in part, to launch my new novel DEAD WOOD. I titled this post “In Praise of Strong Women.” Yet the hero of DEAD WOOD is a man, named John Rockne.
What gives?
The answer is that when I decided to write this post, I realized that the heart of this book is John Rockne’s relationship with two women in the book. One of the women is his wife, the other, well, I’ll let that be a surprise.
One thing I can tell you is that both characters are very, very strong women.
And when I thought about my first book, DEATH BY SARCASM, there’s no question that Mary Cooper is a force of nature.
But the fact is, I love writing strong female characters. And I especially love writing male characters who interact with them.
Confession time: I love the character John Rockne. He’s smart, tough, funny, and can give as good as he gets.
But despite their gender, all fictional characters have to stand up to one particular saying.
“A well-made flour sack stands on its own.”
True for women. True for men. True for fictional characters. True for authors.
I hope you’ll consider buying my new novel DEAD WOOD, and if you haven’t already read it, my first novel, DEATH BY SARCASM.
I have priced both of them at $0.99.
I think much like the bad guys in my books, you’ll get much more than you bargained for.
And thank you, as always, for taking the time to read my words.
