SUGAR - The epiphany that came 16 years later...

I had an epiphany some time back concerning my debut novel SUGAR. 
The story is set in Bigelow, Arkansas. When I wrote the novel, I'd never been to Arkansas. Sixteen years later, I still haven't stepped foot in that state. 
So why in the world did I feel compelled to set the story in Arkansas instead of Georgia, a state I had visited and had some familial knowledge? 
 Well, now I understand why. 
I talk a lot about "blood memory" about those memories that are passed down through DNA like eye color. This thing about writing what you know has never appealed to me because I've always believed that you don't know what you know. 
I 'm an advocate of writing what you feel - exploring that thing that you've become obsessed with for no apparent reason, that longing, nagging idea that keeps you up at night. That's mostly what I tackle. The unknown that feels oh so familiar. 
What I discovered fairly recently is that my GGgreat Grandfather, Mingo McFadden was taken by his enslaver from South Carolina to Texarkana, Arkansas. There he married, had children, owned land after emancipation and lived out the remainder of his life. Bigelow, Arkansas - is a mere 161 miles away from Texarkana, Arkansas. 
Don't tell me PROVIDENCE ain't real....



Bernice L. McFadden