Gravid: Book Four of the Pipe Woman Chronicles
by Lynne Cantwell
Genre of this Book: urban fantasy/paranormal romance
Word count: 63,118
Denial is not just a river in Egypt…
Naomi Witherspoon, back home in Denver after her “vacation” in South Dakota, has amassed a catalog of things she doesn’t want to think about. Her due date is just around the corner, but she has yet to buy a single diaper – let alone look for a bigger place for her, her boyfriend Joseph, and the baby. Speaking of housing problems, Joseph’s grandfather is in failing health and needs to move out of his wickiup, but the old man won’t budge. Naomi and Joseph may have found a replacement for their woo-woo teammate/nemesis Jack in TV reporter Antonia Greco – but Antonia comes with her own set of problems, not least of which is that she’s dating Naomi’s ex-fiance, Brock. Meanwhile, Jack has escaped from the Mexican drug lord who owns him, and the thugs sent to find him aren’t above roughing people up.
Best of all, Naomi hasn’t shared any of this with her mother, who wants to sell her house in Indiana and move to Colorado.
If Naomi can negotiate this minefield, mediating an agreement between White Buffalo Calf Pipe Woman and Jehovah ought to be a piece of cake…
This book is available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.
Lynne, how did you come up with the title for your book? Does it have any special meaning?
Well, Naomi’s pregnant, so that’s one reason. But also, she and her teammates are getting ready for the Big Mediation in the next book, and a few people are in real danger because of that. So things are getting serious, which is another meaning for “gravid.”
Who was your favorite character and why?
Naomi’s mom. There’s an entertaining scene with her partway through this book that I’d been dying to write since I first started the outline. Well, I think it’s entertaining, anyway. I hope readers do, too.
Does your book have any underlying theme, message, or moral?
Not really – other than that if you need to have a difficult conversation with someone, it’s best to just go ahead and get it over with. Don’t let stuff fester. (And yes, I should follow my own advice more often.)
What would/could a reader or reviewer say about this book that shows they “get” you as an author?
I hope they would find it an enjoyable read, and not heavy-handed when it comes to some touchier issues like abortion (spoiler alert: Naomi doesn’t have one).
Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
I was happy all the way to my toes when I read this book. I even read it twice!
Where can people learn more about your writing?
http://hearth-myth.blogspot.com
