Joanne Kukanza Easley: On Writing : Women Writers, Women's Books (booksbywomen.org)

Joanne Kukanza Easley: On Writing : Women Writers, Women's Books (booksbywomen.org)

My third novel, I’ll Be Seeing You, was recently released on my imprint, Red Boots Press. I had been published with a small press for my first two award-winning novels, Sweet Jane and Just One Look. While I am grateful for my start in the world of books, I felt it was time to put into practice what I’d learned over the past three years.

There are many options for self-publishing, from services that do it all to complete do-it-yourself. I chose the latter. True self-publishing requires time, dedication and the willingness to learn the process. It’s not for everyone. One of my concerns was formatting. There are excellent tools for this; I use Atticus because I work in Word. My talented cover designer, Erin Cronin Pearson, has brought my characters to life. She created a distinctive look for my covers, and this helped me in creating a brand: fiction about complicated, twentieth-century women.

My novels are set in the past, in the era before cell phones when instant communication didn’t exist, and people still wrote letters. While I rely on computer and cell phone technology, I still yearn for those long-ago days. I write about those times in the hope they are not forgotten.

Although my characters eventually triumph over tough circumstances, I put them through the wringer. That perseverance resonates with many readers—and not just women. Men have also enjoyed my novels. One of my favorite reviews on Amazon reads: Trust me, people. You don’t have to be of the feminine persuasion to love this story.

Coming from one who’s dealt with family damaged by addiction, I can tell you this woman knows whereof she writes– and she writes it well. Give it a try. It’ll reach out and touch you. And as a bonus, the author has great taste in music. I can already hear the award-winning soundtrack if some adventurous producer is up to the challenge.

Alcoholism, suicide, death, infidelity, and miscarriage are some of the difficult themes I cover.

My latest novel, I’ll Be Seeing You, tells the story of Lauren Eaton, Sweet Jane’s AA sponsor, always secretive about her past and who promised to tell Jane her story one day. I loved the character of Lauren and thought long and hard on her story.

Sweet Jane and Just One Look will be re-released with Red Boots Press in late September.

A retired registered nurse with experience in both the cold, clinical operating room and the emotionally fraught world of psychiatric hospitals, Joanne lives on a small ranch in the Texas Hill Country, where she writes fiction about complicated, twentieth-century women. Her multi-award winning debut, Sweet Jane, was named the adult fiction winner at the Texas Author Project and shortlisted for the Sarton Award and Eric Hoffer Award, among others. Just One Look, Joanne’s second novel, was a May 2022 Pulpwood Queen Book Club Pick. I’ll Be Seeing You, her third novel, features characters from Sweet Jane. Her prize-winning short stories and poetry have appeared in several anthologies.

I'll Be Seeing You by Joanne Kukanza Easley

Readers of Sweet Jane will remember Lauren Eaton, Jane’s AA sponsor. Lauren, a beautiful, independent, and a successful business owner known for her fierce advocacy of women seeking sobriety. Even as she helps Jane resolve her issues, she’s secretive about her own past. Lauren never did tell Jane her story, so I had to. I’ll Be Seeing You is a saga that begins in 1938 on a cattle ranch near Mineral Wells, Texas—home of Crazy Water— and takes her to the runways of Manhattan. Lauren’s glamorous life ends when she becomes pregnant at sixteen. A family member adopts the child , and Lauren tries to forget the entire episode, but the shame and consequences compel her to take the first of a series of geographical cures. Over the next twenty years, Lauren, buffeted by events, takes solace in alcohol and promiscuity. When she finally achieves sobriety and the long-held dream of owning her own business, happiness eludes her.

Fast forward twenty years. Lauren’s third husband reappears in her life, which leads her to re-examine her past and forces a decision about her future.

I’ll Be Seeing You the new release from Joanne Kukanza Easley, the multi-award-winning author of Sweet Jane and Just One Look.

“Readers will quickly fall in love with the charismatic Lauren, a compelling mix of innocence and pizzazz, who parties too much and falls too hard for the wrong men in the big city. Throughout Lauren’s high-flying moments, Black housekeeper Vandine and gay friend Harold are loyal constants, offsetting her painful experiences with loving kindness and adding refreshing diversity to Easley’s storyline, while tackling crucial issues of equality in the mid-20th century. Easley manages to evoke both the glitzy nightlife of the ‘40s and the passion of an ever-evolving blues scene, and fans of her earlier novel, Sweet Jane, will be pleased to recognize some continued characters.” Excerpt from Booklife Review