My thanks to  Donna for reviewing my novel The Scent of Rain on her blog OnDBookShelf. http://www.ondbookshelf.com/?p=1507

My oldest son, Brandon, and his lovely Maira have made me a grandmother.

I thrive on routine, mainly because I’m a slow learner.  It took me about ten years to feel like a real teacher. After a decade of sports officiating, I was finally comfortable wearing stripes. I’ve been writing novels for almost 25 years and, only now, am I finding my footing in the publishing world. So, slow and steady has worked pretty well for me. Abrupt changes, not so much. Just traversing that crossover from summer vacation to the school year sometimes leaves me in a tizzy.

But life has a habit of taking sudden turns. Things we never expect land squarely at our feet. Seven years ago, a fifteen-year-old boy, a former student of mine, needed a place to live. In a matter of weeks, I was attending foster mom school. I’d never been able to have children. And then, suddenly, I was a mom.

Today, I have three sons, all grown and handsome and charming. (Do all moms say that?) And this morning, I became a grandmother. Never in my imagination did I ever consider the possibility.

I can’t remember ever holding an infant, except for the time a kind gentleman passed me his baby on a plane so he could reach under the seat to retrieve my glasses. I’ve heard that babies have a certain irresistible smell. I’ve never experienced the fragrance. And that newborns have soft spots on the tops of their tiny heads. I’ve never touched one. And that when someone hands you an  infant you might be reluctant to let go. I don’t know about that either.

But I do know I’m going to give this grandma thing a go, and, hopefully, I’ll catch on quickly.

Anne Montgomery’s new novel, The Scent of Rain, tells the story of two Arizona teenagers whose fates become intertwined. Rose flees into the mountains to escape from her abusive polygamous community where her only future is marriage to a man older than her father. Adan, whose only wish is to be reunited with his mother, is on the run from the cruelties of the foster care system. Are there any adults they can trust? Can they even trust each other?  The Scent of Rain is available at https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780996390149 and wherever books are sold.

A number of those who have read my novel The Scent of Rain have suggested that, while they like the story, some of the elements seem a bit far-fetched. The irony, of course, is that while the story of Rose Madsen’s escape from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a work of fiction, many of the traumas the 16-year-old endures are based on actual situations.

I interviewed Flora Jessop, who twice escaped from the cult, at length. I interviewed Dr. Theodore Tarby who worked with the people in Colorado City and encouraged them to stop inbreeding to avoid the devastating birth defects that plague the community. I visited Colorado City and nearby Hurricane to observe what life is like in the communities on the Arizona Strip. I wrote about what I heard and what I saw with little embellishment.

The conditions in the area the people call Short Creek remain harrowing, but life for the cult members is improving. I was delighted to see an article last week titled “Ex-FLDS women, girls learn to stand up to sexual violence” by reporter Emily Havens of The Spectrum & Dailey News in St. George, Utah. Havens details efforts at the first-ever Brave Youth camp, where FLDS survivors learn about self-defense, how to deal with sexual violence, healthy dating relationships, and other social issues to prepare them for the real world outside the controlling strictures of the cult in which they were raised. http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2017/08/03/ex-flds-women-girls-learn-how-stand-up-sexual-violence/536777001/

With FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs imprisoned, serving a life-plus-20-years sentence for his sham marriages to under-age girls – one as young as 12 – and the state of Arizona finally taking steps to rectify the horrifying abuses – forced marriage, sexual violence, child abuse, animal abuse, child slavery – there is now hope for the people of Colorado City.

Anne Montgomery’s new novel, The Scent of Rain, tells the story of two Arizona teenagers whose fates become intertwined. Rose flees into the mountains to escape from her abusive polygamous community where her only future is marriage to a man older than her father. Adan, whose only wish is to be reunited with his mother, is on the run from the cruelties of the foster care system. Are there any adults they can trust? Can they even trust each other?  The Scent of Rain is available at https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780996390149 and wherever books are sold.

This month Amazon is promoting my new novel The Scent of Rain.

You can purchase the Kindle edition for just $1.99.

So stop procrastinating. Get your copy today.

Anne Montgomery’s new novel, The Scent of Rain, tells the story of two Arizona teenagers whose fates become intertwined. Rose flees into the mountains to escape from her abusive polygamous community where her only future is marriage to a man older than her father. Adan, whose only wish is to be reunited with his mother, is on the run from the cruelties of the foster care system. Are there any adults they can trust? Can they even trust each other?  The Scent of Rain is available at https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780996390149 and wherever books are sold.