Halfway to a Southern Heart was a slow brain sizzle based on multiple visits to Mississippi from the St. Louis, Missouri area. Town name signage along route I-55 through Arkansas especially intrigued me. Names like Lepanto, Marie, Luxora, and Victoria whispered to me on each journey. One day, I detoured to visit them―they were small and practically non-existent. In Lepanto, I discovered A Painted House, a farmhouse built for a Hallmark movie based on the book of the same name written by John Grisham. I became hooked and subsequently read the novel. Inspired by his book, I began to conjure and make notes for my own characters and storyline. I incorporated some town names and used the cotton fields for the story framework. Within a year, I moved to writing the chapters of my southern world. It took almost five years to complete, but in the end I was pleased with its outcome. Halfway to a Southern Heart is a mother/daughter story. It may not be a best-seller, but enlightened movie producers could use it to bring A Painted House back to life.
A Painted House (John Grisham): Grisham, John, Lansbury, David: 9780553502756: Amazon.com: Books
