What's the Big Deal About Family: by A B Plum
I grew up in a family of greats. Grandparents. Aunts and uncles. First, second, and third cousins. My mother’s half brothers. In-laws and out-laws. Gossip during interminable games of Canasta entertained the adults at regular Saturday night card games. Ghosts stories, usually based on figments of family lore, scared exhausted kids to sleep. So whenever I start writing a new novel, I’m never surprised family figures into the heart of the story. Fear of abandonment and unlovability always haunt at least one of my main characters. In my new psychological thriller, The Early Years, Book 1 of The MisFit Series , eleven-year-old Michael Romanov can’t understand why his mother would rather cuddle a cobra than meet his gaze. What’s wrong with him? He’s super smart. Good looking. Well spoken. No physical deformities. Doesn’t torture cats or tear off the wings of insects. How could he possibly be unlovable from birth? When he retaliates against his brother’...