“The novel A Kind of Hush explores whether there is a gray area between right and wrong? The Mackies are enjoying an outing when tragedy strikes. Was this an accident or something more heinous, and if so, whodunnit and whydunit?”
Post written by JoDee Neathery
The publication of my debut novel, Life in a Box, in 2017 was a life-long dream come true. I’m pretty sure when I charged out of the house when the UPS truck arrived with the proof copy, I scared the poor driver half to death. He hasn’t been back to our porch since! This literary novel is semi-biographical as some of the characters were pulled off my family tree, although the events surrounding them were figments of my imagination.
I am a habitual keeper of newspaper articles on a variety of subjects but always in the back of my mind, I clip those that not only interest me but might turn into another novel or provide setting, character profiles, and/or scenarios as a baseline to a story. Shortly after Life in a Box was released, I woke up in the middle of the night with a title, an image of a young boy, the beginning sentence and ending to my next novel – resulting in the birth of A Kind of Hush.
A Kind of Hush
by JoDee Neathery
I didn’t know the whole story, but I knew the young boy I envisioned, Gabriel Edward Mackie, had to be in whatever I wrote next.
The next morning, I went to my “idea” shoebox and found an article about a tragic accident at the rugged park, Zoar Valley Gorge, outside of Buffalo, New York. A family of four was taking in the beauty of the park while standing on a cliff when it collapsed. Both parents died but the two young boys somehow survived the fall. One setting was now set and of course one of the little boys became “my” little old soul young boy in my novel.
I also wanted to include a setting somewhere in my home state, so I chose a fictional town in the Big Bend area of West Texas. And the “midnight” writing began until A Kind of Hush was released July 2021.
The novel has received critical acclaim as well as favorable editorial reviews from Kirkus:
“This family drama is steeped in suspense, but its likable cast of characters is its main draw.”
Midwest Book Review says:
“Its special brand of intrigue and soul-searching engages readers from the beginning…its about a moment in time that changes a family forever“.
A gold medallion awarded by BookView:
“Poignant and emotionally rich…this is a stunner.”
The Prairie Book Review says:
“Neathery’s writing is authoritative, dialogue sharp, and the novel’s pace measured, intelligent crisp prose pulls the reader deep into the intriguing storyline.”
What’s next in the “idea” shoebox? Another literary fiction, Dust in the Wind, based partially in Paris, France, 2014 and the Hill Country of Texas.
“To the casual observer Andrew Dupont and Gretchen Cunningham might be seen as a doting father and his daughter out for a Sunday stroll along the pedestrian bridge, the Pont Des Arts, over the River Seine. A keener look unwraps a different state of affairs as their love and lust reveals itself when they leaned into each other, his hand on the small of her back, her eye-crinkling smile telegraphing her passion. With the Eiffel Tower in sight, they validated their commitment to each other by affixing a metal lock engraved with their initials to the bridge’s iron grill work, tossing the key into the water below. They were the perfect couple. His wife, Constance, disagreed, unable to nonchalantly brush aside her husband’s infidelity.”©
Stay tuned!
A Kind of Hush
by JoDee Neathery
