Chickens in the Road

Chickens in the Road

I met Suzanne McMinn at one conference or another.  I can't remember which, but I do remember chatting with her.  We talked online as well.  Over the years I lost touch with her.  I read a lot of memoirs, and I will confess I find books like A Dirty Life and The Feast Nearby wonderful.  Strong women finding where they belong. Sometimes finding where they belong for right-now and having that lead them to where they belong in the future.  So when Amazon suggested Chickens in the Road and I saw Suzanne's name, I had to pick it up.  The book felt like I'd bumped into her at a conference and we were chatting again.  I loved that her adventure took to the mountains. I talked not long ago about my family's history there. (This is Me Part Two)  You can join Suzanne's adventures on her farm both in the book and on her blog, aptly named, Chickens in the Road as well.  

I'll confess, my love of the country life started with The Gift of the Deer years back.  Mom had a copy in her Readers Digest and I adored it.  

The Cottage in the snow

 I understand that sort of solitude in the country. Himself is a city boy who loves me enough to understand my need for the country quiet.  He bought me our camp years ago and we've added to it by bits and pieces over the years. The cottage went up in the 90's and was basically a wooden tent for decades. This last year was a big push.  It's small and cozy, but oh how I love it there.

The Cottage from the air

The Cottage Renovatons

I understand that love of country solitude and solace in my fiction, too. I wrote about it in Just One Thing and Christmas in Cupid Falls...both of which are set near my cottage in my mind.  And that idea of finding where you belong is an ongoing theme with my characters.  Briar Hill Road is a perfect example of that.  The heroine finds her true home just down the road...down Briar Hill Road.

Home.  Family.  Those are themes I write about again and again. They're themes that never grow stale and never get old because they're universal.  Everyone spends their lifetime looking for where they belong.  Lucky people find it!

Holly

PS To My Kids: reading this book is not a suggestion that I collect chickens...I don't.