I cheered on the New Orleans Saints yesterday along with many others in the country. Sorry, Colts fans. If you’d seen the bizarre Saints’ win over the Redskins this season, you probably would have seen this coming. They were destined to win it all.
During the day-long Superbowl hype on television, I watched a story with James Brown on the plight of the ninth ward in New Orleans and how it still has a long way to go toward rebuilding. I was moved to see these people talking about how they lost everything. The New Orleans Saints gave these people a glimmer of hope.
Hope.
That message is at the heart of Broken, my upcoming novel that will be published in May.
So what in the world does that have to do with the Super Bowl, Travis??
This is why.
Broken is about a woman on the run who has lost everything including hope. She ends up running to a place from her past. That place is New Orleans.
A climactic event happens in that very place that James Brown highlighted: the ninth ward. I can’t give anything away, but Laila’s journey in Broken is one of hope. It’s an intense, harrowing journey.
In an interview recently on his successful career, James Patterson said that people need to be entertained. I think more than that, people need hope. The Superbowl reminded me of this, and reminded me again why I write.
My mother and her sisters grew up in the Ninth Ward. I spent a lot of my childhood visiting cousins, aunts and uncles who lived there. During Katrina, my then 86-year-old aunt left her house there and stayed with my mother.
Can't wait to read Broken.
Can't wait to hear what you think Glynn!
Did you see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? What'd you think of it? Really showcased New Orleans.
I've visited Louisiana “Angola” State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana in November of 2006. Angola was once the bloodiest prison in America but now is the safest, and all because Warden Cain brought the Word and love of Christ.
I stayed on the grounds for eight days, went to Baton Rouge with Warden Cain, later meeting the mayor. When you drive through the prison gates, then into one of the many churches on the facility, you are struck with an overwhelming presence of the Lord.
I just ordered BROKEN and can’t wait to get started on it. Familiar with your writing, and Louisiana having a special spot in my heart, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.