Behind Aunt Nell's Hidden Past

HOW THIS BOOK CAME INTO BEING

A couple things prompted me to weave the family secrets, detective, elderly mental health, and historical storylines together. Maybe the foremost reason is that I'm nearing Nell's age and wonder what I'll leave behind for my family to discover about my life.

But another inspiration was the fact that the 20th century's Cold War with the USSR is not well taught -- is actually practically ignored in secondary schools today -- yet has not really ended, as we can tell by the latest news reports. I wanted to deal with that period in an entertaining and almost personal way without writing a more complicated historical novel.

WHAT MOVES ME ABOUT THE CHOICES NELL MADE

Without making the facts an obvious theme in this book, Nell was also living through the evolution of the feminist movement. Living alone, not wanting marriage or children, having a gratifying if somewhat dangerous career were situations confronting many women in those years (and perhaps still).

When challenged with a traumatizing personal disaster overseas, she makes an irreversible choice she later regrets. Who among us has not been faced with a similar decision, even if the exact circumstances may have differed from Nell's? I wanted to explore how that may affect an entire lifetime.

She surrenders a gratifying relationship and chooses stepping up to family duty when it's called for. There is a devastating cost to this that in real life may not always have a happy ending. I wanted to explore what women especially often do with remorse and sorrow, and it may take to claim that happy ending in some way for ourselves.

NOTE ON THE DUAL COVERS & COSTS

This is the time I've published with Draft2Digital (D2D) -- whose online store is Smashwords. (Books I previously published with Smashwords prior to their merger with D2D remain available in the Smashwords store). The advantage of publishing with D2D is that they have distribution to more libraries and online outlets than does Amazon Kindle.

Honestly, I just couldn't decide which cover I liked better. Friendly feedback confirmed my sense that both choices worked. Publishing through two major outlets provided the solution.

Why two price points? It's an experiment. Will buyers get this book from Amazon because they already have an account there, have a Kindle or Kindle app, and it's easy? Or will they choose the Smashwords edition because it's 23% cheaper? Does a $1.39 discount really matter?

I'm fascinated to learn the answer.