Shinbone Lane, a description

At a loss when it came to ideas for a description of my novel in progress, Shinbone Lane, I enlisted the aid of consummate blurb writer Jessie Cunniffe. The description is below.

(In my mind’s eye, Shinbone Lane doesn’t look like the image to the left. The image is just here for atmosphere.)

For reasons they can’t quite explain, the lost always find themselves on Shinbone Lane…

San Francisco, 1974. Sixteen-year-old runaway Mattie is escaping the blame for a crime she didn’t commit. Miles from home, she is taken under the wing of the elderly Clara and her neighbor, Ted, and soon finds a place among the kaleidoscope of personalities on the oddly named Shinbone Lane.

Ted’s three-story Italianate Victorian house overflows with travelers, free spirits, and artists — his backyard is a haven for all who are willing to see its magic. But burdened dancer Eloise Watkins wants to drive the “riffraff” from her neighborhood. Their whimsy flies in the face of the friendship she's lost and her daughter's recent disappearance. And nobody — nobody — understands.

But like all who tread on it, Shinbone Lane has secrets of its own. And, like all secrets, they lie uneasily in the dark, until the truth emerges to lay the past to rest.

At the intersection of magic and reality lies Shinbone Lane and its intriguing cast of characters that intertwine in the glorious mess of life.

On the book’s sales page, there’ll also be this call to action: Click “buy now” to step into Shinbone Lane today!

Jessie also wrote this bio for me:

Laura McHale Holland was so captivated in the 1970s by San Francisco's gorgeous vistas and vibrant, free-spirited people that a planned two-week visit stretched into thirty years. These days Laura lives fifty miles north of SF in Sonoma County, where she enjoys stretching reality at her keyboard with a pot of strong black tea nearby. An experienced editor and copyeditor, she loves to babysit her two granddaughters, prank her sisters, and watch film noir with her husband. When she’s not walking or attempting to train their Löwchen dog, Tucker, Laura is a determined gardener. Though by her count, about half of their plants are struggling under her watch. Sign up for Laura’s Reader Club at: https://www.lauramchaleholland.com/signup

You can learn more about Jessie at https://www.bookblurbmagic.com,

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