Characters you'll meet in Kiminee

My first novel, The Kiminee Dream, is now available for sale at the major online retailers — from Amazon, the behemoth, to Indie Bound, where you can order it from a participating local bookstore, and all sorts of options in between.

Since the book's release, a few readers have let me know it's challenging to keep track of all the characters who populate the book. I'm considering revising the book's front matter to include a list of some of the characters. I've worked on that list today.

Here they are

Front cover for

The Kiminee Dream

.

Marcie "Missy" Lake — A town matriarch and widow of Grover Lake. Daughter of Foster P. Brewer. Mother of Velda Foley. Mother-in-law of Damon Foley. Grandmother of Blanche, Ray and Carly Mae.

Maurice T. Brewer — Kiminee's long-time chief of police. A powerful man in town in his day. Missy's uncle. 

Velda Foley — Missy's daughter and wife of Damon Foley. Mother of Blanche, Ray and Carly Mae. A restless soul who blames herself for misfortunes that befall her family. 

Damon Foley — Velda's husband and father of Blanche, Ray and Carly Mae. Math teacher and mailman during summertime. Loves Velda unconditionally.

Blanche and Ray Foley — Twins as close as twins can be. Born a year to the day before their sister, Carly Mae. 

Carly Mae Foley — The Foley's third child, extraordinarily gifted particularly in art and music.

Buster — Carly Mae's one-eared husky-sheltie dog. Leaps astoundingly high. Can find Carly Mae no matter how far away she is.

Earl Wiggs — Lifelong friend of Damon and Velda. Former mailman who becomes chief of police when Maurice T. Brewer retires.

Dusty Lambert — Amateur journalist and Five 'N' Dime employee in his youth. Takes over his dad's Jewel Tea route when his dad dies unexpectedly.

Tam-Tam Parlo — Kiminee's oldest resident. Widow of outlaw Harlan Parlo. Mother of Juke, Bram and Gracie Parlo. Has it in for Missy. 

Juke Parlo — Tam-Tam's eldest son. Goes steady with Missy in high school, but follows in his father's footsteps in crime.

Bram Parlo — Tam-Tam's second son. The love of Abby Louise Chute's life.

Gracie Parlo — Tam-Tam's daughter. Missy's girlhood friend.

Abby Louise Chute — High school sweetheart of Tam-Tam's son Bram. Is closely allied with Tam-Tam.

Jasper Skrillpod — Chicago art dealer and philanthropist, who discovers Carly Mae's artistic talent and becomes her patron. Estranged from his family since childhood.

Emily Skrillpod — Jasper's wife. Was brought up in an orphanage. Becomes ill whenever she comes to Kiminee.

Doris Lowry — Mother of Ellyanna and Lolly Lowry. Falls on hard times after her husband dies in an industrial accident.

Barb and Jeff — Owners of The Good Luck Cafe, who move the cafe to Kiminee when highway is re-routed to bypass their original location.

Maxine — Jeff's cousin and Velda's lover. Moves to Kiminee with Barb and Jeff.

The Suzettes — A club founded in the mid-19th century to help Charles Kiminee after his wife, Fleur, dies of a broken heart when her daughter, Suzette, is kidnapped. Becomes a lasting Kiminee philanthropic institution.

Mrs. Henchley and Dr. Croll — Headmistress of Chicago's Lily Park Academy and her co-conspirator.

Georgia Webb — Head nurse at Dry Gulch Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Almost succeeds at a nefarious plot.

Leon Ames — A really bad dude.

Aunt Truly — A storyteller and sage of indeterminate age who travels the world on foot when not at home in Windy Wood tending to lost souls.

Imagine yourself with the book at hand. And this list is there for your reference. Would it be more helpful to have these characters listed alphabetically by their first name?

That's it for now

Just a quick post to share some of the process of shepherding this book into the world. I look forward to hearing from you.