Today is the book birthday for Liberty — hooray!

Writing Liberty was like wrassling alligators in a vat of gumbo. My creative process is always messy but it was downright discouraging as I struggled to reel in the heart of this story. It wasn’t until I gave a young German POW his own space on the page that the book finally fell into place. Whew.

I met the most warm and wonderful people while researching this book; there are more generous folks living in New Orleans than beignets sold at Cafe du Monde. Absolutely everyone was willing to help a complete stranger. I’m especially grateful to Dr. Sarah Borealis, who finished the research I barely started during my three much-too-short days there.

My husband — the most unbiased person on earth — says this book is his favorite of ALL my books, even Hattie Big Sky. I hope you’ll read it and let me know what you think!