A Guest Post from Nancy J. Hedin (@njhedin1)

Are you doing any blogging on your own?

Recently, I updated my website nancyhedin.com and am currently writing a blog with the theme, Flannery Will Get You Everywhere. It is a series of blog entries about Flannery O’Connor’s work and advice to writers. For example: In her letters Flannery wrote, “If you have only written it three times, it is still, supposed to be no good. You have a defect of patience, not a defect of energy.”

O’Connor was an artist ahead of her time and she died at thirty-nine years old. Her short stories, essays, letters, and novels are worth reading not only for craft, but for the confident convictions she had about how fiction should be written. Her stories are tame compared to the written word and film available today, but during her time her some of her work was considered very violent and unseemly.

Again in her letters Flannery wrote, “It has always seemed necessary to me to throw the weight of circumstances against the character I favor. The friends of God suffer…”

A good story has trouble. A good story has conflict. Tell a story where the protagonist faces an obstacle and then another set-back followed by unexpected delays and stumbles. As a reader I will follow along and cheer for that protagonist to defy all odds. Our tragedies join us together as much as our celebrations.

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About Bend

Lorraine Tyler is the only queer person in Bend, Minnesota. Or at least that’s what it feels like when the local church preaches so sternly against homosexuality. Which is why she’s fighting so hard to win the McGerber scholarship—her ticket out of Bend—even though her biggest competition is her twin sister, Becky. And even though she’s got no real hope—not with the scholarship’s morality clause and that one time she kissed the preacher’s daughter.

Everything changes when a new girl comes to town. Charity is mysterious, passionate, and—to Lorraine’s delighted surprise—queer too. Now Lorraine may have a chance at freedom and real love.

But then Becky disappears, and Lorraine uncovers an old, painful secret that could tear the family apart. They need each other more than ever now, and somehow it’s Lorraine—the sinner, the black sheep—who holds the power to bring them together. But only if she herself can learn to bend.

Now available from Riptide Publishing. http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/bend

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About Nancy J. Hedin

I grew up in a small town in central Minnesota. That small town sensibility informs my writing and gives me interesting voices in my head and I strive to choose which voice to bring to the page.

I live in St. Paul with my partner, two daughters, one dog, one beared dragon, and two cats.

I have worked as a mental health crisis worker for over twenty years.

I love reading and getting my books signed by the author. I daydream about my own stories in book form and having others read them.

Connect with Nancy:

Website: nancyhedin.com

Twitter: @njhedin1

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Bend, one lucky winner will receive a $20 Amazon gift card! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on May 13, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!