Today for the first time, I’m welcoming another writer to this blog. Leanna Sain’s novel, Hush, is set to be released November 19th. Click on the link below to preorder the book.
Leanna writes in the mountains of North Carolina and is sharing the inspiration behind her story.
FROM LEANNA:
The inspiration behind my new novel, Hush is two-fold. The story about a serial killer who uses the verses of the lullaby, “Hush, Little Baby” as a sort of blueprint for his murders had been percolating in my brain for a while, but the actual writing didn’t begin until Mama started going downhill with her Alzheimer’s. So, she was the catalyst for the book.
I was struggling badly with the pain, anger, and frustration of it all and I needed an outlet. I hated that there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop the inevitable. A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is a death sentence. The worst kind of death. It steals away everything that makes a person who they are. My Mama was gone. Oh, yes, there was an empty shell who looked like her, but that’s where any similarities ended. The person I loved and who loved me died long before her shell did, and there was nothing I could do about it.
SoI decided to give my protagonist’s mother Alzheimer’s so we could travel this road together. I know it was a mean thing to do, but at that point in my life, it felt necessary, and it allowed me to honor Mama by weaving some of the things she said and did into my story. Doing this helped remind me that God is in control even when everything feels chaotic. It also helped me to have this tiny measure of control over one small thing in a fictional world when I needed it the most.
Another way I decided to honor Mama is by donating my royalties to Alzheimer’s research. It’s my hope that it will help them find a cure for this terrible disease so others won’t have to go through what my family did.
Thank you, Leanna, for sharing about your writing journey and your experience with Alzheimer’s disease. We’ve dealt with dementia in my mother-in-law and now my father, so I appreciate your highlighting Alzheimer’s disease in Hush.
www.LeannaSain.com
Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Hush-Leanna-Sain/dp/1645262502/ref=sr_1_1?
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