Author: Brigham Vaughn

Title: Partners (Equals Book 2)

Previous Book: Equals

Cover Artist: Brigham Vaughn

 

Blurb:

After a rocky first few months, Stephen Parker and Russ Bishop’s relationship is at a crossroads when the death of Stephen’s father forces them to visit Stephen’s hometown in southern Georgia.

 

Estranged from his family, Stephen must find a way to come to terms with his past and say goodbye to the father whose expectations he could never live up to. The small, conservative town provides its own challenges as Russ realizes providing emotional support is one part of being a true partner for Stephen.

 

 

Author Bio:

Brigham Vaughn has always been a voracious reader with her own stories to tell. After many years of abandoned plots, something finally clicked. Now she’s eating, sleeping, and breathing writing and is excited to have finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. In the little time that isn’t spent writing or reading, she loves cooking, yoga, photography, and remodeling her ninety-year-old home. Brigham lives in Michigan with her four cats and an amazing husband who has always been her biggest champion.

 

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Research and Setting

Choosing a setting for a story is often one of the first choices an author makes. It sets the tone and shapes the story. When I wrote Equals, I never intended for it to become a series.  I picked Atlanta on a whim, but once I did the story took on a life of its own. It influenced Russ and Stephen’s personalities and experiences.

As someone who was born and raised in Michigan and lived here my whole life, writing about southern Georgia was a challenge. Although I’ve driven through Georgia, I don’t think I’ve ever actually stepped foot on Georgia soil.  On a trip to Florida, we passed through it, and I have a vague memory of seeing the gold capitol dome at night as we passed through Atlanta. It’s beautiful, by the way.  But getting the feel for what it might be like living in a southern town? I was clueless.

When I began working on Partners and decided it would be set in a small town in southern Georgia I realized how inadequate my experience was. I began to doubt if I should write a second book. Could I do enough research? Would I “get it right”? It was intimidating.  Ultimately, the characters were louder than my fears though.  Russ, and especially Stephen, demanded their story be told.

I spent hours Googling the most random topics. Once the story became more fleshed out in my mind I realized I didn’t feel comfortable using a real town. The story deals with prejudice and bigotry and I didn’t like the idea of making sweeping generalizations about a place I had never been to and knew nothing about.  I created the fictional town of Putnam, set in the fictional county of Putnam, in the southwest corner of Georgia.

The area is loosely based on the real Mitchell County and town of Pelham. I spent the better part of three days using Google Earth and the street view to get a feel for the area.  In a perfect world, I’d be able to fly to Georgia and explore in person, but we all know that isn’t realistic.  Google Earth is probably the next best thing.  Still, for all it offers, you can’t use it to smell, touch, and hear that area. So I watched movies set in Georgia to get a feel for the speech patterns. I researched insects in southern Georgia to find out if it would be cicadas or katydids Stephen would hear as he sat on Miss Esther’s porch in early September. I did every bit of research I could possibly cram in until it began to feel like overkill.

I spoke to numerous people who lived in the south—several of whom had lived in Georgia at various points in their lives. I listened to my team of pre-readers and my editor when they made suggestions.

Did I get any of it wrong? Probably. The internet is no substitute for real life experience. Would someone who lived there have done a better job? Possibly.

But that’s the beauty of writing. As authors, we have a chance to grow, to learn, to do better next time.  Will I look back in ten years and cringe? No doubt.  I’ll learn better researching techniques, I’ll have the opportunity to travel more.  I’ll have more experience.  But for a first start, I think I did quite well with Partners.  I learned that I can never do too much research.

And now I really want to travel to Georgia.

 

 

After the dishes were done and the kitchen was clean, the three of them sat on the front porch, Russ beside him on the creaking swing as Miss Esther knitted and told Russ stories about Stephen growing up. “Before you leave I’ll show you the photos I have,” she promised Russ and he enthusiastically agreed. Stephen’s gaze flew to the elderly woman.

 

“You have them?”

 

“Sure do,” she said easily, the clack of the needles never pausing. “Your daddy tried to throw them out when your momma passed but I wouldn’t let him. I’ve been hangin’ onto ‘em for you.”

 

“Oh,” Stephen replied, feeling strangely shaky. He’d thought every memory of his childhood had been tossed out.

 

“They’re in a box in the blue bedroom,” she said. “You can get them down from the shelf in the closet for me tomorrow.”

 

“I’d love to see them,” Russ said, his tone eager as he leaned forward. Stephen was less sure of how he felt. On one hand, he was relieved to know it hadn’t all been destroyed. On the other, he  wasn’t sure how much of his past he could face this weekend. Then Russ’ knee nudged his, their thighs pressing together. As the katydids droned in the background, Stephen felt himself relax, remembering he didn’t have to face it alone.

 

one commenter will win their choice of backlist title from Brigham Vaughn (excludes Dr. Feelgood).

by commenting on this post!

 

In addition one commenter in all of the tour will win a $10 Giftcard from Amazon. Grand Prize giveaway ends 4 October 2014 @ 11:59pm CDT.  Winner will be drawn by random drawing among all entrants on 5 October.
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Tour Stops:

 

9/19/2014        Prism Book Alliance  http://www.prismbookalliance.com

9/20/2014        GGR Review http://www.ggr-review.com/

9/21/2014        MM Good Book Reviews http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/

9/23/2014        Smoocher’s Voice http://www.smoochersvoice.com/

9/25/2014        Diverse Reader http://diversereader.blogspot.com/

9/27/2014        Love Bytes Reviews https://lovebytesreviews.com

9/28/2014        The Novel Approach http://thenovelapproachreviews.com/

9/30/2014        Padme’s Library http://padmeslibrary.blogspot.com/

10/1/2014        JP Barnaby http://www.jpbarnaby.com/

10/3/2014        Rainbow Gold Reviews http://rainbowgoldreviews.wordpress.com/