Here is it, my very first novel!  
Myrtle Sue Henderson and her family are probably like your normal dysfunctional family. They don't always get along, but they do love one another.

When Myrtle Sue is widowed, her mother-in-law, Hazel, moved in with her because she was kicked out of the senior apartments. There was no place else for Hazel to live. Did I mention Hazel wasn't fond of Myrtle Sue?

Hazel hits a man at church with her cane, takes money from the collection plates, and talks loud enough for everyone around her to hear, like when she says one lady's dress looks like her grandmother's wallpaper. Another lady's hair looks like a bird nest. And she isn't happy when the older man doesn't take to her.

Zack comes into Myrtle Sue's life and actually likes her wacky family. 

Presley, Myrtle Sue's oldest daughter and her two children also move in with her. Presley is trying to escape an abusive marriage. Her husband is a taxidermist who stuffs dead animals for presents. Like when he stuffs his 8-year-old daughters dead dog for her birthday present. But hey, he puts wheels on the dogs feet so she can take it for walks. What more could a child ask for? A live dog to replace the dead one? That's what a normal person would do. James is not what we'd call normal.

I hope you will consider buying the book. So far I have good reviews. 

Dee

When I sold my novel a year ago, I was told it could take a year for it to be out. Really? No way.

Here it is a year later and I'm finally about to get my release date. 

I have sold many stories to the confession magazines, one to Chicken Soup for the Soul, and various newspapers and magazines. I figured writing a book couldn't be much harder.

Wrong. Things the editor wrote to me: You have too many dangling modifiers. Really? Better google that one.

Or, you need to watch out for filter words. Hmm. Better read about that, too.

The good thing about The Wild Rose Press is they have meetings on Tuesday evenings (online) and from that I learned  lot. I also made new friends.

I don't have my release date yet, but should have it soon. Poor Myrtle Sue and Presley, my mother and daughter in my dysfunctional family book, had to learn to do things like threw an arm in the air, scrunch their face, or touch someone, have thoughts I hadn't thought about, and much more. I'm sure both my characters shook their heads many times wondering if this writer was ever going to get things correct so they could move on with their lives.

Myrtle Sue's dead husband finally quit talking to her now that she found a replacement for him.

Presley's abusive husband got ate by a gator while in one of his drunken stupors.

Sonja learned her mother would not quit her job and stay home with her baby.

And even her sometimes dim-witted son found love.

Hazel, the mother-in-law from hell, finally got placed in a home, the same one Zack's father is in. 

Oh yes, Zack, the man Myrtle Sue met at church after Hazel whacked his father with her cane, turned out to be a really nice guy, one she decided could psychoanalyze
her entire family.

I hope you'll join Myrtle Sue and her family for a good homemade Southern meal once the book is out. Some of those recipes can be found in the back.

Dee Gatrell

(um, yes, we all have dysfunctional families that give us things to write about.)