About The Upcoming Short Story "Secrets of the Bayou"

Photo: my own, from my visit to Destrahan Plantation in May 2015

In my previous blog post, I announced that my next publication would be my first short story, "Secrets of the Bayou." It was inspired, actually, by a trip a couple years ago when my mother and I visited a number of plantations in Southern Louisiana, including the famous one, Oak Alley.

It wasn't Oak Alley, or the famed "Sugar Palace" Houmas House that captured my imagination, though. It was Destrahan, a plantation very close to New Orleans, and the history we learned from our tour guide, Frank. Frank was, to put it mildly, an effing encyclopedia.

Destrahan, as it happens, pre-dates the American take over of Louisiana Territory. It dates to the 1770s, and as such, the system set up there including slavery very much reflected European social mores rather than English colonial society. The system of "slavery" was a variation on Roman bondage where a slave could earn money from work not done for the plantation master and eventually buy his freedom. Families were expected to stay intact with enslavement passing through the mother, and the families were expected to provide for themselves.

This is not the image of slavery that popular culture gives us.

In fact, in school we rarely learn about slave revolts, let alone the one in Louisiana in 1811 which was a direct result of the American takeover, and the imposition of the much less humane American system of slavery. We also don't learn much about the culture of the plantations where company was scarce for the plantation owners, and after a while sisters started looking really good to their brothers. In that part of the country, every plantation had a place for the boys to live after puberty until they were married known as the garconnierre. It was generally placed away from the house, and the only time the boys were allowed in the big houses was for dinner.

That was something else that was different about Destrahan. Unlike the newer plantation houses, Destrahan's dining room was on the ground floor and the stairs were outside the house going from veranda to veranda. Staircases in some of the other houses had grand architectural features on the interior.

Given that "Secrets" is a "mini" all of these details could not be worked in, but many were, including the role of "Mammy" who had the charge of raising the household children. According to more than one guide, on every plantation Mammie was the sort of woman no man argued with. (Hattie McDaniel wasn't that far off in "Gone With the Wind".)

I just wanted to give some background to my regular readers as the truths of popular culture and actual records never seem to be the same.

Reminder of upcoming releases:

November 2017 - mini "Secrets of the Bayou"

December 2017 - Book 8 of the Turn My Head series, "High Maintenance"

January 2018 - release of the original book "Turn My Head" to Amazon readers

February 2018 - mini "The Walkabout"

March 2018 - Book 9 of the Turn My Head series "No Turning Back"

Also on the horizon:

June 2018 - Book 10 of the Turn My Head series. This is Gabriel and Alicia's story which is resting.  With their tale, a short story that is yet unnamed will come with it as a bonus.

Yes, Loneliness Is The Constant Companion Of The Artist

Of late, for a variety of reasons, this writer/singer/crocheter has been feeling the sting of loneliness. The whole thought is rather odd since I do not live alone, and do have regular contact with the outside world even not working in an office, but the lack of someone to talk to who will not judge started to wear in the last couple of weeks. As luck would have it, I had a weekend away in a quiet place to try to put the feeling behind me, but experience tells me it will return.

Why? Because the work of an artist - the actual hours spent creating, perfecting and polishing - art in multiple forms, is done alone, preferably with no extraneous noise, and no interruptions. And what's more, in today's work environment, that is an anathema to those with nothing but office experience.

The current bout of loneliness did not begin with writing, romance writing or anything of the sort. It began with the most selfish and demanding of all art forms, music. In a previous life and having a Queen of the Night range (that means all the REALLY high notes), I trained in classical singing. After leaving the flashy professional choruses and choirs behind - season after season of singing in two groups with a full time job was exhausting - my only music commitment is to the parish choir.

Well, long story short, we are preparing for a big concert during Lent, and yours truly is the main soloist, and possibly the only soloist, for a masterwork. I've been woodshedding the music, as we say, for weeks. Even longer story short, the date of said concert was revealed week before last: March 18. That means...I can't join the friends and family hoard headed for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Either one of them. Due to the uncertainty of the weather, the three mile walk, yelling screaming and a fifth of Jameson...yeah, no. Not the day before the concert.

That didn't go over well with one person who decided to try and guilt me into going to the parade instead of singing the concert.

Sorry, but, no. These chances don't come along very often, and that is something the non-artist who disagreed with my choice did not understand.

And that was the beginning of the week of loneliness that went beyond being an artist. For days, I remembered the platonic friends I jettisoned, and the combination of mutual desire and interest that never materialized with all the guys I've known over the years. It may be out there, but at this point, there is no reason to sit by the phone. (And then there was the young adult group at church which I'm too old for. As if the singles in middle age aren't the better fundraising targets.)

On top of it, I can never seem to forget that the friends we make that are supposed to be the ones we know for life...my childhood group was gone before I was nine. Most of their dads were transferred away, and more than one set of parents split up. Not that most of them would have been artists or understanding of the loneliness dilemma. Okay, maybe a couple would. We were all in dance together.

This is the main pitfall of being an artist: a lack of someone to understand. If artists didn't love to create, there would be no art, loneliness and all. For us, it is all about feeding other people's souls by feeding and baring our own - and if that means skipping parades and letting friendships lapse, then so be it.

It is not something everyone understands.

Coming up:

November 2017 - At some point, I will put out my first mini-story (it's too long to be "short") titled "Secrets of the Bayou". It's not a full length book by any means, though. This mini takes place in Louisiana just a few years after the American government purchased it. It was inspired by a tour of Destrahan which is a plantation very close to New Orleans where I learned that much of what we know of historical slavery in the United States is distorted and leaves out a lot of historical detail.

December 2017 - By the 15th, Book 8 in the Turn My Head Series will be published. "High Maintenance" is the story of how Mickey Dolan figures out that his new hot shot interior designer, Tara McKenzie, may look like she's high maintenance, but really isn't.

January 2018 - "Turn My Head" the original should be published to Amazon. It will still be free, and I will let everyone know when that happens.

February 2018 - With all luck, the second "mini" titled "The Walkabout" should be published around the Feast of St. Valentine. This is the meeting of Manon Beauchamp and Stephen Pernoud. I apologize in advance for all the religious detail.

March 2018 - Book 9 in the "Turn My Head" series WILL be out by Holy Week. I have a concert to sing (see above), but Sean Dolan and Marianne Drummond were so much fun, I can't wait to dive back in, really serious topics as part of the plot and all.

As always, check my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/PatriciaHoldenAuthor/ for updates, and more news.