Hi folks! ::waves:: DC Juris here. I’ll be your blog hijacker for the day! ::grins::
A question I get asked a lot is “are there any of your real-life elements in your stories?” Usually, the answer is yes and no, more along the no side. But with my latest Breathless Press release, “Buried Treasure,” I drew on something I’d never used before – my husband’s childhood.
Hubby’s father died when Hubby was just thirteen years old. For that, and a lot of other reasons I won’t go into, Hubby ended up spending his summers with his cousin’s grandmother, Grandma M, who ran a retirement home.
Hubby recounts Grandma M as a hard-working, caring individual. She ran the retirement home out of her actual home – back in the day when things like that just went on and people were simply happy they had a place to be. Some of her residents needed minimal care, but some needed more, and Grandma M happily did whatever needed to be done, no matter what. She had a friendly demeanor with those in her care, often joking with them and had special nicknames for some.
Sharp-witted and dedicated, Grandma M ran the nursing home right up until she passed away at the age of eighty-three. Even her death, though, was remarkable – the car she was in got stopped on train tracks, and the driver didn’t move fast enough. Seriously.
So when the character Mark popped into my head, and told me about the retirement home where his dad lived, I knew immediately that it had to be based – loosely, of course – on the real retirement home. Though I never got to meet Grandma M, I know from the stories Hubby tells that she’s proud of the man he turned into, and I hope she’d be touched by my little tribute.
Buried Treasures
After his last long-term relationship ended because of his nightmares, Mark closed his heart to the possibility of finding love again. He’s certainly never considered Gabe, the orderly who works at Miller’s Retirement Home where his father lives. But there’s more to Gabe than meets the eye, and if Mark is willing to let Gabe in, he might just discover the most important buried treasure of all.
Read an excerpt HERE
Learn more about DC Juris HERE.
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