Please welcome my guest, Patricia, to Discover... for a Muse Monday of Inspiration.
The “Golden Isle”
of the title was inspired by the fourteen barrier islands off the coast of
Georgia, which are sometimes referred to as “the golden isles.” (Now four of
them are specifically promoted by the name: St. Simons Island, Sea Island,
Little St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island.) The term originated in the 1700’s
with early explorers of the coast who hoped to find glittering treasure in
them. They were disappointed in that respect, but the term remains, perhaps
because of the color of the island beaches in sun or the stretches of marsh
grasses in winter. While my novel is set on an imaginary golden isle, I was
specifically inspired by a visit to Tybee Island with its sandy beaches, sea
shells, gorgeous sunrises—and from a boat, a view of dolphins escorting us and
a sunset, the sky stained pink and the moon rising.
The
golden isles are often described as serene and peaceful. The protagonist of my
novel, a victim of a sexual attack still suffering from post-traumatic stress
syndrome, has avoided professional help, but hopes her summer on such an island
will restore her mental health. In some ways the island goes beyond those
expectations, but she also finds dangers there. On the golden isles there are
no black, craggy rocks as depicted on the cover of the novel, but I liked the
cover, because for me, the rocks symbolize those dangers.
Ever since a
traumatic experience as a college freshman four years earlier, Clare Matthews
has had an aversion to men. But when she goes to spend the summer on one of
Georgia's Golden Isles as a companion for her cousin Sally, she finds herself
drawn to Jon, a handsome young security guard who works on the family estate.
When the feeling seems mutual, she hopes she has at last been healed. Then
signs of his possible involvement in a dangerous criminal activity crop up, and
Clare must make a decision that will affect the rest of her life.
PG EXCERPT
Reaching
the island, she turned on her GPS and keyed in her uncle’s address. The
system’s confident female voice guided her over circuitous roads until she
reached a wide concrete drive blocked with closed wrought iron gates. The GPS
told her, “You have reached your destination.” She didn’t remember those gates.
They were like those at the entrances to exclusive communities. Then, seeing
the sign Sanderson Estates, she
realized that this was such a community—the one her uncle had established since
her last visit.
She
pulled up to the gates and stopped. A tall, well-built, very tan young man in a
white Oxford shirt and jeans—a security guard—came out of a small brick
building beside the drive. Clean shaven, with dark curls cropped short and
strong, even features, he reminded her of the statue pictured on the cover of
her high school Latin textbook. She lowered her window, and he looked in at
her, examining her with direct gray eyes. He held a clipboard and had a gun
tucked into his belt.
Her
hands grew cold. “I’m Clare Matthews, Sally Sanderson’s cousin. They know I’m
coming.”
He
looked at the clipboard, unsmiling. “You have some identification, Miss?”
BUY LINKS
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Golden-Isle-Patricia-McAlexander/dp/1509251995/
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-last-golden-isle/id6468095788
I grew up in Johnstown, New York, an
historic town near the Mohawk Valley, where my parents were both public school
teachers. I earned a BA from the University of New York at Albany, an MA from
Columbia University, and a PhD in English from the University of Wisconsin,
Madison—all in English. Now retired from the faculty of the University of
Georgia, I’ve published three contemporary romantic suspense novels—Stranger in the Storm, Shadows of Doubt, and The Student in Classroom 6, with this
fourth, The Last Golden Isle, to be
released TODAY, December 11, 2023, the date of this blog post. My short story “Falling,” which came in
second in the Atlanta, Georgia, Writers Club’s 2021 Terry Kay Prize for
Fiction, was published in the Fall 2022 issue of the online journal Knot (https://www.knotliteraturemagazine.com/patricia-mcalexander ).
I live in Athens, Georgia with my husband Hubert, also a retired UGA
professor.
CONTACT LINKS
Email: mcalexanderpatricia@gmail.com
Website: https://patriciamcalexander.weebly.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/patriciamcalexander/
Facebook: facebook.com/patriciamcalexanderwriter/
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/PatMcAlexWriter
Thank you for featuring me, Brenda. I'm excited that my novel is ranked as #124 in the category of Psychic Paranormal Romance on Amazon (they selected that category, I think because there is a "spiritual guide" in the story.)
ReplyDeleteI guess I didn't put my name: Patricia McAlexander.
Delete