Summer Heat and the Making of Little Tea's Book Trailor
While I researched my novel, Little Tea, I visited
three locations in the Deep South: Greer’s Ferry Lake in Heber Springs,
Arkansas; Memphis, Tennesse, where I grew up; and Como, Mississippi, which is
45 miles south of Memphis. It was the month of July, in the high heat of
summer, and if you’ve ever been to the Deep South in the month of July, you
know the gauze-like, humidity is part and parcel to the experience.
I embraced it all from the second my plane from
Southern California landed. Through the automatic, sliding glass doors, the
humidity hit me with the life force of a raging inferno and followed me all the
way to my friend’s waiting car.
In the Deep South, much thought goes into escaping
the heat. People live in air-conditioned wind tunnels that drown out all sound
and wear cotton sweaters inside, which seems, to me, utterly ironic, but there
you have it.
There’s a specific character to the Deep South in
the summertime that has much to do with the climate, a weighted sultriness that
eases on the skin and slows everything down to the point that most things seem
nice and easy. Nobody complains about the heat because it’s a regional given.
Southerners live in harmony with the heat, build their houses with verandahs,
put ceiling fans above, screens before their front doors, and rocking chairs
out front because channeling the slightest of breeze is a cultural pastime.
It’d been a long time since I’d been to the South in
the dead of summer, but I wanted to photograph Little Tea’s setting in the
region’s full, resplendent nuance. I wanted the setting of the Little Tea to
depict the South as character, and for that, I needed the trees in their
fullness, the flowers in bloom, the sun’s glaring halo over Greer’s Ferry Lake,
and the dirt roads fully shaded yet dry as a bone.
Photographing the setting of Little Tea, I knew,
would anchor me to the South as I wrote the story, back home at my desk in
California, but what I had in mind all along was a series of moving images with
which I could gift the reader. After all, a picture tells a thousand words when
it comes to a lasting impression. Included, here, is the book trailer of Little
Tea I created. My hope is it will give Little Tea’s readers a good sense of
place.
About Little Tea
Southern Fiction
Publisher: Firefly Southern Fiction (April 28, 2020)
Paperback: 252 pages
ISBN-10: 1645262596
ISBN-13: 978-1645262596
Digital ASIN: B0817J667Y
Southern Culture … Old Friendships … Family Tragedy
One phone call from Renny to come home and “see about” the capricious Ava and Celia Wakefield decides to overlook her distressful past in the name of friendship.
For three reflective days at Renny’s lake house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, the three childhood friends reunite and examine life, love, marriage, and the ties that bind, even though Celia’s personal story has yet to be healed. When the past arrives at the lake house door in the form of her old boyfriend, Celia must revisit the life she’d tried to outrun.
As her idyllic coming of age alongside her best friend, Little Tea, on her family’s ancestral grounds in bucolic Como, Mississippi unfolds, Celia realizes there is no better place to accept her own story than in this circle of friends who have remained beside her throughout the years. Theirs is a friendship that can talk any life sorrow into a comic tragedy, and now that the racial divide in the Deep South has evolved, Celia wonders if friendship can triumph over history.
REVIEW
*I received a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.
This is a new author for me but after reading the blurb I decided to give it shot. I must say that it was pleasantly delightful. We meet a group of Southern woman that have been friends for years. We bounce back and forth between modern times and the 80's as the story unfolds. Showcases the links between home, friendship, and family ties as the story progresses. Tackles hard issues such as rascism, grief, and so much more. Makes for a great literary adventure that shows both sides of the story. Made for a great afternoon respite. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars.
This is a new author for me but after reading the blurb I decided to give it shot. I must say that it was pleasantly delightful. We meet a group of Southern woman that have been friends for years. We bounce back and forth between modern times and the 80's as the story unfolds. Showcases the links between home, friendship, and family ties as the story progresses. Tackles hard issues such as rascism, grief, and so much more. Makes for a great literary adventure that shows both sides of the story. Made for a great afternoon respite. I really liked it so I give it 4/5 stars.
About Claire Fullerton
Claire Fullerton hails from Memphis, TN. and now lives in Malibu, CA. with her husband and 3 German shepherds. She is the author of Mourning Dove, a coming of age, Southern family saga set in 1970's Memphis. Mourning Dove is a five-time award winner, including the Literary Classics Words on Wings for Book of the Year, and the Ippy Award silver medal in regional fiction ( Southeast.) Claire is also the author of Dancing to an Irish Reel, a Kindle Book Review and Readers' Favorite award winner that is set on the west coast of Ireland, where she once lived. Claire's first novel is a paranormal mystery set in two time periods titled, A Portal in Time, set in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. She is a contributor to the book, A Southern Season with her novella, Through an Autumn Window, set at a Memphis funeral ( because something always goes wrong at a Southern funeral.) Little Tea is Claire's 4th novel and is set in the Deep South. It is the story of the bonds of female friendship, healing the past, and outdated racial relations. Little Tea is the August selection of the Pulpwood Queens, a Faulkner Society finalist in the William Wisdom international competition, and on the short list of the Chanticleer Review's Somerset award. She is represented by Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Literary.
Author Links
Website - https//www.clairefullerton.com
Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/cffullerton
Purchase Link - Amazon
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