Of Love and Dust was a great novel. It is about a man who is bonded out by a plantation owner, and he must work off his debt. Marcus is not your average African-American. He doesn't abide by the rules like many others. He falls for the overseer's wife, and he courts her. You keep wondering they are going to get caught. Bonbon is the overseer and he works Marcus hard. He is in love with an African-American woman. He has two children for her. They are bad twins. He knows he can never be with her legally. Marcus and his wife are in love and they try to go up North. The novel keeps you in suspense. It is a great Southern novel. It is about love and dust. The dusty road that leads you to the plantation and gets stirred up just like Marcus stirs up things on this plantation. It has a lot of great Southern nicknames. It is a good read. I would recommend it.

This is my son's new book. It is a good, short read. You can get it on amazon.

http://krvs.org/post/apres-midi-july-2-2015-celestial-blue-skies-author-maggie-collins

Celestial Blue Skies Interview 1 on Acadiana Open Channel

Reluctant Cassandra

                Premonition is part of our animalistic nature. Elephants have long been known to be psychic and use telepathy when they grieve. Well Cassandra is in tune with her  premonitions. I love the opening line because it is about Cassandra’s premonition; “I feel change rolling through Eagle Valley like a mist before the storm.”  Cassandra feels things before they happen and this is the reason she is often reluctant. She was named for the Greek Cassandra who had the gift of foreseeing the future.

Reluctant Cassandra is a brilliant southern novel that has a strong sense of setting. It is set in a historic southern town where change doesn’t happen often, and when it does it is often unsettling. History and family are important.  

The recession has taken a toll on the ritualistic lives of historic Eagle Valley where American flags line Maine Street and the historic architecture is so iconic. Cassandra works at an antique shop, and she tells stories about the old furniture she sells using her psychic abilities.

                The mist of change that has taken over the town and Cassandra’s life includes her  father being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s  and other problems. She must sell her parents’ home and leave the life she has grown to love. On top of that she and her boyfriend break up.

                I love this novel because it was relaxing and easy to read. I loved the dog Thor and the characters grew on me. This is a great literary novel. It is about family, friends, and neighbors and coming together. It’s about love overcoming obstacles and individuals being in tune with the universe and their premonitions and who they are. I would recommend this novel to study groups, book clubs, or anyone planning on writing a good southern novel. The book cover, editing, and formatting are all awesome.

Maggie Collins

Author of Celestial Blue Skies

http://www.myneworleans.com/Acadiana-Profile/June-July-2015/traces-of-home/