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.