Last week I spoke by phone with three of my favorite authors–Tamera Alexander, Elizabeth Musser, and Shelley Shepard Gray. We’re working together to write four historical novellas set in various places in the South. We had a wonderful conversation with Becky Philpott,  our managing editor at HarperCollins/TNZ Fiction about characters, time periods, themes, and locations. I can’t wait to read their stories.

We are all native Southerners–Tamera and Elizabeth are originally from Atlanta, Shelley is from Texas where I have lived for most of my life, and I was born in Tennessee.  Currently, Tamera , who created this graphic for us, lives in Tennessee, Shelley is in Ohio, Elizabeth lives and writes in France, and I am in Texas. Just figuring out a time for a phone call that worked for all of us, and our editor, took some juggling. What connects us are our Southern roots, our love of history and our passion for bringing that history alive through our stories.

Our story collection will be published in the summer of 2015 which sounds far away, but there’s so much to accomplish between now and then that the time will fly by before we know it. In addition to the actual writing and editing of the stories, the collection must be titled,  a cover  must be designed and a marketing and publicity plan developed. It’s a ton of work, but a ton of fun, too, and I’m  lucky to be a part of such a delightful collection. I know you will love it as much as I love these three amazing authors. All of us will be keeping readers posted as we move closer to the publication date.  Our hope is that our stories will entertain you, lift your heart, and give you the same joy we feel in bringing these stories to life.