FORGET
ME NOT is Em Shotwell’s 1969 pequel to BLACKBIRD SUMMER. It is on
pre-order for .99 and Em is donating all of her royalties to the military charity
OPERATION HOMEFRONT.
Tell us
a bit about the novella and what inspired you to write it.
The main characters are actually from BLACKBIRD SUMMER.
Evelyn and Rex are Tallulah and Delia’s grandparents. In fact, many people told
me how much they loved snappy Evelyn and thoughtful Rex, so I thought, Why not
tell their story.
I first got the idea in Feb 2016 when I was hosting a Love
Letter Challenge on my blog at www.EmShotwell.com. Authors submitted love
letters written in the voice of one of their characters. I originally was going
to write one from Tallulah or Logan’s point of view—but they aren’t really the
love letter types. That got me to thinking about who would be most likely to
pen a letter and it was definitely Rex Somersby when he was a young man. So I
wrote the letter in his voice when he was 18. The idea of how they came to be
just wouldn’t leave me alone until I explored it. That turned into a short
story which turned into a novella and almost a novel! Lol.
Is
there anyone else from BLACKBIRD SUMMER in the novella?
Actually, yes! Aunt Trudy, the matchmaker in BBS, is
Evelyn’s older sister and we get to meet her as a young woman. She is fun, too.
Very dry, but she loves her family. You will definitely want to know more about
her before the BBS sequel releases this winter.
What
made you decide to donate your royalties to Operation Homefront?
The Vietnam War plays a big part in the story. I started
researching the war and the draft and it broke my heart. I chose Operation
Homefront because they have a stellar reputation with making sure donations
gets used in a way that is actually helpful. They find emergency shelter for
vets, they help military families visit their soldier loved ones, and they
actually have programs to help vets find treatment for both physical and
psychological injuries. Basically, it is a great organization.
Tell us
about the cover.
I am in love with this cover! I have a big thing for
silhouettes on book covers. As a reader, I gravitate toward them in the book
store, so when City Owl Press’s cover designer showed me mock-ups for Blackbird
Summer, I was thrilled. We continued the theme with FORGET ME NOT, and I love
it even more than BBS, I think. I love
the turquoise background on the back of the paperback cover, you will see Evelyn’s
tree. It has a heart with RS+EC carved in it. So cute!
Where
can we get a copy?
FORGET ME NOT is available for preorder on Amazon, and for a
limited time the ebook preorder is .99! Snag it while it is on sale (and then
buy the paperback to contribute more to Operation Homefront).
Blurb:
Maybe falling for the good guy isn’t so bad?
When Rex Somersby’s family matchmaker sets him up with the
famous Evelyn Cadeau, he can’t believe his luck. Evelyn is the woman with the
perfect Gift—the woman every man wants—while Rex’s own magical ability leaves
much to be desired. He travels from
Missouri to meet his dream girl in her rural Mississippi home, where Evelyn
makes it clear that winning her heart won’t be an easy task. Good thing
farm-boy Rex has never been afraid of a little hard work.
Evelyn Cadeau is used to getting her way. As the woman with
the most powerful Gift, she knows she can have her pick of anyone she wants.
And who she wants is slick, handsome, and off-limits Guy McCallister—not gawky,
buttoned-up Rex Somersby. Yet, after an arranged date with Rex takes a dramatic
turn, leading to a bottle of wine and sneaking to the creek for a late night
skinny dip, she realizes there may be more to by-the-rules Rex than meets the
eye.
Just as the young couple start to think their family’s
tradition of matchmaking isn’t quite so backward, Rex is drafted to Vietnam.
With war threatening to tear them apart, will love be able to save them? Or
will it take a bit of magic?
Author
Bio:
Em Shotwell is a cancer survivor, foster care advocate, and casual
geek. Sometimes she writes books about misfits and the people who love
them.
When she’s not frowning at her computer screen, Em enjoys
spending time outdoors hiking, or indoors daydreaming and wishing she could
play the banjo.
Visit her online at www.EmShotwell.com. She hangs out on
facebook where she often hosts giveaways and posts
witty memes.
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