The Story Behind Mermaid's Song by Darlene Franklin and #Giveaway

Today we welcome Darlene Franklin to my blog. Darlene is very graciously offering a copy of her new book Mermaid's Song. To enter, leave a comment - include contact informaton! - and tell us how you celebrated the 4th. 

The story behind Mermaid’s Song is fun in several ways. The headliner importance for me is that it’s book #50 of unique stand-alone titles I’ve written. I’m super excited to reach the 50-book milestone!

Mermaid’s Song is part of Forget Me Not Romances’ retold historical fairy tales (Love Everlasting.) It’s based more on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale than the Disney version, although all three include her alluring voice. As in Andersen’s version, her feet hurt as though she’s walking on cut glass, and she has to put herself in extreme danger to rescue the hero. My “sea witch” threatens to denounce my heroine as a spy if she speaks out against her.

What we remember most about the little mermaid is that she can’t speak. Justine isn’t physically mute, but she is a French Canadian who is shipwrecked off the coast of Maine. She finds communicating with the English-speaking colonists very difficult. When I jumped at the story line, I didn’t consider how I was handicapping myself, because I usually use a lot of dialogue in my stories. This time I had to find other ways to build character and plot. A good challenge for me. And of course, learning to communicate with each other became part of the plot.

Justine had to leave Canada when the British expelled the Acadians from the region in the 1750s. After the region was ceded to England in the Treaty of Utretcht of 1714, the French population lived in an uneasy neutrality. When hostility between the two nations developed again, the British decided the Acadians were a threat and deported three-quarters of their population to areas loyal to Britain. Many Acadians made their way to Louisiana, where they became known as “Cajuns.”

Please join Darlene for her 50 Book Jubilee on July 10^th! Check out her Facebook page for details.

Bio:

Best-selling hybrid author Darlene Franklin's greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. Book #50, Mermaid’s Songs, is now available for purchase. She’s also contributed to more than twenty nonfiction titles. Her column, “The View Through my Door,” appears in five monthly venues. Other recent titles include Seven Brides for Seven Mail-Order Husbands and Acadian Hearts. You can find her online at: Website and blog, Facebook, Amazon author page

Website and blog

Facebook

Amazon author page

Twitter: @darlenefranklin

Bcc: