Celebrating 5 years of Luminous!

Happy birthday, Luminous!

If you have been with me for long enough, you might remember that I was starting to write a new medieval trilogy when I listened to the audiobook of Kate Moore's Radium Girls. I was captivated. Horrified. I had to write the story of one of these women, and I selected Catherine Wolfe Donohue as the one I felt the greatest connection with.

Was I crazy, dropping what I was doing to write a 20th century story? I consulted with a few friends and received kind encouragement. Even if I hadn't, I couldn't get Catherine's voice out of my head, so I started writing. I visited Ottawa, Illinois, a typical midwestern town that is coping with the impact of radium to this day and is the location of one of the EPA's superfund sites.

I saw the house Catherine lived in and attended the church where she worshiped. I hiked up Starved Rock. The voices of women who lived a century ago can be heard loud and clear if you stop to listen for them.

Luminous has been well-received and been a boon to the tissue industry for five years, and it remains a story that I am thankful to have had the opportunity to tell. To celebrate, you can get it on Kindle through this weekend for only 99c. If you have already enjoyed this book, please share it with your friends. Thanks so much for five years of encouragement and support!