Donna Jo Stone: Spotlight on When the Wildflowers Bloom Again

I’m happy to feature author Donna Jo Stone on my blog this week as she shines a spotlight on her recent release, When the Wildflowers Bloom Again. I had the privilege of serving as a beta reader for this story, and you can find my short review HERE.

If you’d like to encourage Donna and/or enter the giveaway for a copy of her book, please comment below by April 29! (Ebook for International winner. US winner’s choice of ebook or paperback)

When the Wildflowers Bloom Again is a story about how a young teen dealt with sexual assault by a family member and the resulting unwanted pregnancy, but it’s also about how this horrific event impacted the complicated female relationships within a close-knit family. Many of my characters were inspired by women of faith I’ve known.

From the earliest draft of When the Wildflowers Bloom Again, relationships between sisters and female cousins played a major role. Like many of the families I knew growing up in rural Louisiana, Mary is close to her aunts, and her girl cousin is like a sister. 

Dove, Mary’s mother, is a devoted follower of Christ and serves her community in many capacities, one of which is cleaning the church. When Mary goes with Dove to clean the church, she understands not all service to God is big and splashy, but it is all honorable.

 “The work was mind numbing yet somehow important. I was a tiny contributor to a large thing, bringing my offering under the watchful gaze of Almighty God. Chasing dust motes wasn’t as poetic as the gift of the little drummer boy, but it was the gift I had at the moment. I’m not sure what the elders would think of my musings.”

Because of her own troubles, Dove isn’t always available to Mary, yet she is a strong example of a loving mother and a committed Christian.

Often, I struggle with naming characters, deciding what they look like, how they act, or their figures of speech. None of that happened with Aunt Sister Bella! She arrived on the page with sensible shoes, messy hair, a calm demeanor, and a big heart.

Aunt Sister is slightly distanced from the rest of the females, and that distance allows her to be a steadying presence. She is the epitome of the supportive Christian: unflappable, welcoming, and always ready to pray. She emerged fully developed, and I suspect that has a lot to do with all of the women of God who have ministered to me at various times in my life. It was easy to conjure up an amalgam of who would be the perfectly imperfect mentor for this fourteen-year-old girl who was going through such difficult trials. 

Mary’s cousin, Sharon, also has to show tremendous resilience and bravery, and helps Mary find justice. Other female characters on the periphery also have a hand in Mary’s healing, ladies who offer food, pray for her family, or provide support in other ways.

Near the end of the novel, Mary herself shows tremendous grace and desire for healing for her family. The story could’ve stopped at simply being about resilience and recovery, but that’s not what happened. Mary matured, drew strength from God, and was able to see a path to make reconciliation among the women in her torn-apart family possible. 

While I started out with a twelve-chapter plan and structure, the nuances of how the characters changed and grew were as much of a discovery to me as they are for those reading the story for the first time!

My characters aren’t perfect, and some of the characters in this story are deeply flawed, but they all have the capacity to show love and care, sort of the same way real-life ministers of comfort who are clothed in human flesh do.

Thanks so much for sharing on the Hope-filled Fiction blog, Donna Jo. I pray God will bless you as you continue to write for His glory!

Join the conversation. Have you read any of Donna Jo’s books? Do you have a favorite? Does When the Wildflowers Bloom Again sound like a story you’d like to read? What comments or questions do you have for Donna Jo?

Be sure to comment below by April 29 to enter the giveaway! (International winner will receive an ebook OR a US winner can choose an ebook or a paperback)

When the Wildflowers Bloom Again by Donna Jo Stone

Click the book cover for purchase link

Babies are a gift of God, a fact Marigold Parker knows full well.

Fourteen-year-old Marigold (Mary) Parker spends the summer of ’78 with her cousin and best friend, Sharon, biking the roads of their rural neighborhood in Pleasant Waters, North Louisiana. The girls while away the days at the local pond, listening to the BeeGees and talking about boys. Caring for her emotionally fragile mother is Mary’s only worry, until Sharon’s older half-brother finds Mary alone at the pond one day.

She can’t speak of what happened in the woods. The truth will destroy her family and cost her the relationships she holds most precious.

But secrets have a way of making themselves known, and when Mary finds herself pregnant, she’s forced to grapple with hard decisions. Babies are a gift from God. Mary knows this full well, but she doesn’t know how to deal with a pregnancy, or who to turn to for help.

Trials seem to multiply as Mary struggles to keep faith in the God her parents have taught her to trust.

Richly detailed and evocative, When the Wildflowers Bloom Again captures the emotions and the heart, vividly detailing the struggle of facing impossible choices, the true test of family ties, and of the hope found in new beginnings. Infused with both sorrow and faith, Marigold Parker’s tale is a story you won’t soon forget.

Award-winning author Donna Jo Stone writes southern-flavored fiction for the inspirational and general market. Her stories are often about people facing tough times. She strives to write novels that leave the reader with a sense of hope.

When she’s not writing, reading, or spending time with her family and friends, Donna Jo spends her time poking around in book shops and fabric stores.

Connect with Donna Jo: Website / Blog / Amazon / Newsletter / Facebook / Instagram

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If you missed Jessica R. Patch’s interview last week, FIND IT HERE.