Teri M. Brown's Blog, page 38

It's Time to Meet Audrey

Happy Tuesday! I hope you had a wonderful Easter and are enjoying a lovely spring. The weather in North Carolina couldn't be any better (though the pollen could let up a bit). Today, I'm going to tell you about a character I love and give you a quick reminder about the link for the 50% off digital copy of Sunflowers Beneath the Snow. If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman
I love generational stories, and this one did not disappoint. In  If Only I Could Tell You , we see a grandmother, Aubrey, her two daughters Lily and Jess, and then her two granddaughters, Phoebe and Mia. However, unlike Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, this family's estrangement lasted for decades, and Aubrey, who has cancer, does not want to die before finding out why and fixing the problem.

Aubrey immediately became my friend. She is tough. She is determined. She is disheartened. She is harder on herself than she would be on anyone else. She doesn't believe she deserves what she has. And it all comes down to a secret.

Hannah Beckerman does a superb job exploring the role of mother and grandmother, helping the reader feel all of the joy and all of the sadness. Readers feel her need to fix her family before she dies - long before we come to understand all the reasons why this is so important.

The author explores family dynamics, love, loss, secrets, miscarriage, suicide, and more. Throughout it all, we see the story through Aubrey's eyes in a way that will make you smile, cry, and ache. But when you finish the last page of the book, she is a character you will not forget. Discounted Until May 10th
If you haven't yet read Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, this is a great time to do so. Just click on this link now until May 10th. Doing so will get you:












​It's a Win-Win-Win. Feel free to pass the link on to your friends.
Happy Reading!
​
PS: If you haven't reviewed Sunflowers Beneath the Snow on Amazon yet, now would be a great time! Just give it a rating and say a few words about what you loved about the book. It's that easy! REVIEW HERE.

Sunflowers for Peace - Standing With Ukraine

Can you believe it is April already? I feel like I've barely put away Christmas and Easter is upon us! On the other hand, so much is happening with Sunflowers Beneath the Snow that its January 25th launch feels like eons ago. I'm sure there's a novel idea in there somewhere!

Here are a few tidbits that have excited me the most in the past month. Let me know your thoughts!​ Co-Host of a Podcast
To date, I've been on or have scheduled 35 podcast episodes to discuss Sunflowers Beneath the Snow. You can see the whole list on my website. BUT - the big news that really excites me is that as of May 18th, I'm going to be the Co-host of The Writer's Lounge with Host Thomas Riddell!
​The Writer's Lounge is a live radio show every other Monday at 7pm Eastern time. Then, each episode is turned into a podcast. We feature new authors and sometimes bring back newbies to tell us about their success stories! I'll be on the podcast as a guest on April 18th - and who knows - maybe I'll be a guest again to talk about my wild success! Please join me in April and follow the podcast. Wrapped Up in Women's Fiction
Sunflowers Beneath the Snow is part of the March "Wrapped up in Women's Fiction" list of contemporary and historical women's fiction books available as a digital book. So, anyone using this link now until May 10th can get the ebook version for $3.99 and 25% will go to support Ukraine.

Please pass this link to all your friends!
Top 20 Historical Fiction in March​
The Historical Fiction Book Lovers on Facebook voted Sunflowers Beneath the Snow as a Top 20 in March novel! Not only did I not know Sunflowers was in the running, but it made it in there with amazing authors and amazing books. To be in the same list with A Gentleman in Moscow???? That's pretty amazing in my book!
Donations to Ukraine
Finally, I'm excited to announce that in the first two weeks of March, I raised $186 for the Ukraine fund suggested by the real-life Ionna. During the same time, my daugther, owner of Kimmy Swag, raised over $200 selling sunflower t-shirts. Our fundraiser continues through the end of April. Get your books - get your t-shirts - get your friends involved!
Enjoy the spring weather and happy reading!

It's Time to Meet Lily

You know how I love books with unforgettable characters - the kinds of people (men, women, and children) who stick with you long after the story is done. And Lily has done just that. She isn't famous. She doesn't have some kind of abnormal super powers. She doesn't even have an uber-cool job - she's a kindergarten teacher. (Though, come to think of it, that may take some super powers I don't have!)

Instead, Lily has a trial she must get through, and she does it like I would. What do I mean by that?

I mean that she doesn't do it very well at first. But, once she has wallowed for a while, she pulls up her big-girl britches and gets on with life, stumbling on occasion, doubting herself, willing to be introspective, putting herself out there, and eventually, succeeding. We see Lily struggle with relationships with her children, her husband, her brother, her parents, and her friends. We see her struggle with her own insecurities. But we also get to glory in her triumphs.

I love that Jill wrote a book that touched on sensitive topics like assault and addiction without reverting to stereotypes - and allowing us to feel, with Lily, the pains and victories associated with life when all appears to be unraveling.

I finished the book a week ago and still wake in the morning hoping that Lily is doing okay today. And, for me, that makes a great book.
​
Happy Reading! ​A Life Unraveled is launching today, but I was lucky enough to read the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) given to me by Jill Hannah Anderson. I hope you will all head over to Amazon and pick yourself up a copy. Here's why: I can't forget Lily.

Reedsy Discovery Offers 5-Star Editorial Review

Reviewed by Anne Parent
5-Stars

A timely historical fiction wonder following 3 generations of Ukrainian women as they navigate their lives in the midst of enormous change.

Rarely does a novel fall into such a relevant spot in history so immediately after publication. With the current events in Ukraine, Sunflowers Beneath the Snow speaks to readers on a personal level and gives the story even greater emotional salience. Brown weaves an invisible thread of strength and courage through grandmother, mother, and daughter, that leads to a resilient family in the face of national crisis.

The characters were developed naturally and Brown's writing style flows consistently throughout the book. It feels easy to root for the three women at the heart of the novel, as they are so genuine, yet human, in how they approach their struggles. Specifically, Brown writes honestly from the perspective of Yevtsye as she struggles with very common postpartum mood and hormone shifts.

In both conscious and unconscious ways, the novel reflects on ways in which life continues as normal even in the midst of global crisis (women have babies, children go to school, etc.). You, as the reader, are able to both zoom in to Ivanna, Yevtsye, and Ionna's life as well as see the widespread effects of the fall of the Soviet Union and subsequent invasions of Russia.

Brown's writing is straightforward and moves fast along the page. At times, more description could have been added to allow the reader to fully enter the world of the characters, but the writing style felt consistent and set a great pace that leaves readers moving swiftly. The ending feels organic as well, and leaves the reader with a sense of closure.

Ukrainian culture is also a main character in the novel and it was commendable how well-researched Brown appeared to be in her use of Ukrainian language and food throughout the book. You will find yourself wanting to taste the kutia, borscht, or varenyky as she describes it.

Sunflowers Beneath the Snow takes the reader on a journey through thirty years of Ukrainian history in the eyes of three resilient women. Readers will laugh, cry, and everything in between as they are taken into the heart of this family. Reading this novel will grant you access to a world that is so important to understand now.

Historical Fiction Company Awards Sunflowers Beneath the Snow the "Highly Recommended" Award

Historical Fiction Company - 5 Star Review and Highly Recommended Award

“They said, ‘These flowers understand the importance of looking heavenward to find hope and then spending time each day looking down to reflect upon their lives.’ Before long, you could find sunflowers everywhere, even in the winter!” 

An incredibly time-appropriate novel considering what is happening to Ukraine at this moment. This novel spans the time period from 1973 to 2014, another time in history when Soviet aggression shadowed over Ukraine, and the joyous time when the country sought independence from the Communist regime. 

When the story opens, we are introduced to Lyaksandro, whose name means ‘defender of men’, and his involvement in the underground rebellion against Soviet Russia; but as happened often during those days when spy against spy resulted in lives being threatened, Lyaksandro finds himself separated from his wife and daughter and sent to live a life of anonymity in a witness protection program after those under the KDB discover his treason. 

Left behind are his wife, Ivanna, and daughter, Yevtsye, in a country trying to find its own identity, struggling through the harsh winters of dependence on the Party and seeking a way to emerge, to bloom, from the snow. Lyaksandro’s decisions affect and echo throughout their lives, fanning out to even his granddaughter, Ionna, whose modern and independent spirit reflects the strong Ukrainian people after finding their own grounding after years of suppression. 

Each generation reveals another step towards Ukrainian independence, and each woman depicts the struggles the country, itself, faced in finding its own voice. 

First, we have Ivanna, whose life changes when Lyaksandro disappears. After presented with a ‘lie’ about what happened to him, his supposed ‘death’ and the sordid story the regime comes up with to tell her, she loses all hope and becomes a woman set to autopilot, mindlessly accepting the Party rules, and enduring starvation, cold, and the emptiness of betrayal. Still, every day, she trudges to her assigned job, lives in her assigned housing, and collects the meager rations handed out in the food lines – all without question. 

Second, we have Yevtsye, the young daughter of Lyaksandro, who remembers her father in a vague way since she was just a child when he disappeared from their lives. Growing up, she refuses to believe anything negative about him, but relegates him to her own desire for hope. His actions, and her mother’s actions, result in her blooming into a life she might have never known as she becomes a well revered scientist seeking the cure for cancer, and she meets the love of her life, Danya, who helps her find her faith amidst the atheistic world of Communism, and his character gives the needed historical and political element to explain what is happening in the world around them. 

“We did it,” he announced joyfully. “Ukraine has seceded from the Soviet Union and claimed its independence!” 

“Tension about our independence has existed every day from our declaration to the present because, fundamentally, Russia believes its role is one of protector over everyone else, and this protection comes at the expense of everyone else’s freedom. You can see this in how they have dealt with NATO over the years and with the EU.” - a quote from Danya as he debates the issue with his daughter, Ionna. 

As their lives continue down their path, independence bursts through the melting snow like sunflower seedlings reaching for the sun when Ukraine declares its independence in 1994. Both Danya and Yevtsye are overjoyed with the sudden prospects, but the change is another harsh blow to Ivanna who spent her entire life believing in the rightness of the oppressive regime. A rift tears mother and daughter apart, leaving a vast canyon which appears irreparable and impassable. 

Third, we have Ionna, the granddaughter, who represents the full blooming sunflower reaching for the sun; and the one thing which bonds all three women back together. Ionna’s relationship with her babusya, Ivanna, is a beautiful and sweet part of the storyline – a linking of the old ways and the new and how special the bonds of a granddaughter and her grandmother can be. Even later, when Ionna suffers unbearable loss, it is her grandmother’s strength that helps her through and that courageous Ukrainian spirit which forges her new life in a new country. 

When Ionna seeks to make her own life, even taking on becoming a camp counselor in North Carolina in the US, suffering her own hardships of racial injustice and bullying, she discovers the connection to her heritage reaches out across the ocean, and she discovers family she never dreamed possible if she had stayed in Ukraine. When Russia comes against Ukraine for the first time in 2014, in the Crimea Peninsula, Ionna is restricted on returning to Ukraine and she finds her way to a Russian and Ukrainian community in Brighton Beach in New York. Here she rediscovers her identity and a family she never dreamed possible if she had stayed in Ukraine. Not only that, but all of the answers about her grandfather’s disappearance in the 1970s comes full circle, giving incredible closure to her mother, Yevtsye, and meaning to her own life. 

Ms Brown does a brilliant job in depicting the strength of these Ukrainian women under the most trying of circumstances, and how hope emerges in the midst of war. This is a time-appropriate story of compassion, love, perseverance, family, resilience, faith, and how the actions and decisions of oppressive governments, or any government, can have life-altering consequences for the ordinary citizens who are just trying to live their lives. The theme that things always change, that nothing ever stays the same, is a powerful message, with the main characters showing how perseverance and courage help us all as human beings to brave the next morning. 
​
“Life has a way of turning out the right way. I always say that everything turns out okay in the end. If it isn’t okay, it isn’t the end.” 
***** 
Sunflowers Beneath the Snow” receives five stars from The Historical Fiction Company and the “Highly Recommended” award

IGA - Micro Flash Fiction Accepted by Vine Leaves Press

I'm very excited to announce that my micro flash fiction was accepted into Vine Leaves Press 50 Give or Take daily newsletter. This micro fiction needed to be 50 words or less. Imagine creating an entire story in just a couple of sentences! 

I had a flash of inspiration one morning, wrote the piece, and heard back from the editor with just one word - Brilliant! Then, I was told that my story would be #480, which came out today, March 1, 2022. At the end of the year, my piece will be included in their anthology.

Enjoy!

IGA
Her stepfather suggested the IGA parking lot. She scrolled her email as he hefted her mother’s clothes into the trunk. “You can never have too many sweaters” read the Lee-Wrangler ad as he forced the lid closed. It seemed Mama had found a way to communicate from heaven after all.

The Reading Bud Reviews Sunflowers Beneath the Snow

It's Time to Meet Gabi!

​Hello! I hope this email finds you well - and well-stocked with books! I've been reading a lot lately but struggled to determine which character I wanted to introduce you to this month. It's not that I haven't met some great characters, because I have. The struggle was because the most memorable character wasn't a "character" at all. Gabi Coatsworth is a new friend of mine. She is an Atmosphere Press author, too, and she was kind enough to review Sunflowers Beneath the Snow in exchange for a review of her book, Love's Journey Home. The difference is that while she reviewed my fictional account of life in Ukraine, I have been reviewing Gabi's life. You see, Love's Journey Home is a memoir - Gabi's memoir.

Love's Journey Home will launch May 7, 2022 - and I highly recommend you read this amazing love story. Why? Because Gabi - her depth, her pain, her perseverance - has stayed with me long after I finished the book. She is a character I'd love to invite to lunch. Luckily for me, I may get to do so!
​
Happy reading,

Big Thank You to The Pilot and Reporter Serena Lovely!

Loved the article by Serena Lovely in The Pilot. It's produced a lot of local buzz!

Kirkus Reviews - Sunflowers Beneath the Snow

Three Ukrainian women—a mother, daughter, and granddaughter—forge connections and evolve while the Soviet Union collapses around them.

Bitter cold permeates many of the scenes in this aptly titled novel. From harsh Soviet Ukrainian winters to icy weather abroad, the climate is an often hostile force that reflects the political and emotional drama that unfolds. The work offers a multigenerational family story. The father, Lyaksandro Hadeon Rosomakha, must leave his home, his wife, and his daughter after being caught spying for Ukrainian nationalists. He journeys to London, where he assumes a new identity in shame, far from his family. But this tale isn’t about Lyaksandro. Rather, Brown focuses on the women he left behind: Ivanna, his wife; and Yevtsye, his daughter. Moving from the 1970s to the present day, the story chronicles the women’s experiences, providing a rich overview of the end of the Soviet Union and the intellectual and social unrest that creates an independent Ukraine. The most intriguing moments explore the tensions between mother and daughter, who represent contrasting views of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian nationalism. Ivanna is a secular Communist Party loyalist, while her daughter is swept up by the appeals for Ukrainian autonomy and by the Orthodox Church. But through these women’s eyes, momentous events in history and economic and social policies become catalysts to explore a dynamic familial relationship and highlight how the duo survives in the face of outside pressures, including food shortages and political turbulence. Eventually, Yevtsye welcomes her own daughter, Ionna, into the family (which includes her husband, Danya). When Ionna’s birth leads to Yevtsye’s postpartum depression, the story offers a vivid, complementary series of glimpses of motherhood in which the complicated emotions of one mother-daughter pair are examined next to those of another. Ultimately, Ionna, who grows up craving to become a writer, brings the engrossing narrative forward from the end of the 20th century into the 21st. While there’s a great deal of improbability in her portion of the tale, with plenty of airport hijinks, Ionna’s story of her own struggle for survival (mirroring her mother’s and grandmother’s) brings the novel—and many of its threads—to a satisfying and resonant close.
​
A compassionate, balanced, and engaging look at generational conflict—and resolution—during social upheaval.

- Kirkus Reviews