HIGH COTTON - Debby Mayne - One Free Book

Dear Readers, Debby is one of my long-time writer friends. She’s been on the blog several times, but it’s been a while. This book is the first in a new southern series. You’ll want to read the whole series.

Welcome back, Debby. Why did you become an author?

It gives me an opportunity to play different parts—almost like acting. I also get to solve problems that are playing out in my head.

If you weren’t an author, what would be your dream job?

There are so many things I’d love to try, like hairdressing, carpentry, interior decorating, wedding gown designer, Disney character, or activities director at a dude ranch.

I can see you in each of these endeavors. If you could have lived at another time in history, what would it be and why?

I wouldn’t want to go back to any other time. I like right now.

What place in the United States have you not visited that you would like to?

My grandparents traveled to every state, and they said Vermont was one of the prettiest places they visited. I’d love to go there and see it for myself.

How about a foreign country you hope to visit?

I lived in Japan when I was in elementary school, but I haven’t been back since then. I’d love to go back and see it from an adult’s perspective.

What lesson has the Lord taught you recently?

No matter how pulled-together someone appears, there’s a mess in there somewhere. All humans are imperfect, but some folks are better at hiding it than others.

That is so true. Tell us about the featured book.

Shay Henke has mixed feelings about going to her family’s next reunion. On the one hand, she’ll get to see everyone in her mama's family—folks she loves unconditionally. On the other hand, she knows there’ll be more drama than you can shake a stick at. 



The days leading up to the event bring one surprise after another. First Shay must deal with her sister-in-law’s deep, dark secret. Then she has to contend with the childish ways of her business-mogul twin cousins. And when her high school crush wants to be her date to the reunion . . . well, it may have been a dream come true for Shay’s teen self, but the woman she’s become doesn’t know what to make of this. 



Shay’s contentment is challenged, and she’s determined to shake things up a bit. But will she find the excitement she’s looking for, or will Shay realize she prefers her quiet and predictable life? One thing is certain: Life in the Bucklin family is never boring. 

Please give us the first page of the book.

Shay Henke

When someone mentions family, I think of unconditional love, hearth, home, and all things safe and wonderful. That is, until the word “reunion” is added to it.

Family reunions serve one purpose as far as I can tell—to remind us that we’re only one step away from Crazy Town, no matter how hard we’ve worked to stay sane and make something of ourselves. And I’ve worked mighty hard to get where I am, regardless of what Aunt Faye says about my being an old maid.

So when I get the message on the family email loop that the next family reunion is coming up in two months, I stare at it and try to figure out a way to unsee it. Unfortunately, as soon as I open the email, the person who sent it knows, making me long for the days when technology wasn’t so smart.

I stare out the window and try to come up with a reason I shouldn’t go. It’s on a Saturday, and I hardly ever have to work on weekends. I’m not dating anyone, and I have very few friends outside my family, so I can’t claim to have other plans. I can’t think of a thing to keep me away, unless I lie, and I’ve never been very good at that, so I quit trying when I was a teenager. Mama used to tell me she got into so much trouble as a kid that she knows all the excuses. And she’s not kidding. I’ve never been able to pull anything over on her.

I turn back to the announcement on the computer screen. We used to get a couple weeks notice about these events, but that changed when people started overusing the excuse that they had plans. Now there are no excuses—not even when someone has moved away from Pinewood, the small town near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where my grandparents have lived all their lives. If the people who have to travel don’t want to stay with someone who still lives here, there’s always the Hilltop Family Inn, or they can stay in one of the chain hotels in Hattiesburg.

I’m about to get up to get a drink of water when my phone rings. It’s my brother, Digger, who feels the same way I do about these reunion things.

“I'm not sure we’ll be able to attend,” Digger says. “It’s Jeremy’s third birthday and Puddin’ wants to do it up big for him, seein’ as it’s our last child and all.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Website: www.debbymayne.net

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DebbyMayneAuthor/

Twitter: @DebbyMayne

Thank you, Debby, for sharing your new book with me and my blog readers. I really miss being with you.

Readers, here are links to the book.

High Cotton - Christianbook.com
High Cotton (Bucklin Family Reunion) - Amazon aperback
High Cotton (Bucklin Family Reunion Book 1) - Kindle

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