Every artist knows that the highs and lows of life play an undeniable role in what we create. Personally, some of my work I hold as most meaningful to me has been that which is born out of trial. This month, we\u2019ll discuss Leanna Sain\u2019s new book, Hush<\/i>, and explore how hardship helped shape the newest installment of the Amelia Island Suspense <\/i>series. <\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Lydia:<\/span>\u00a0You’ve mentioned that writing this book was therapeutic for you during a difficult season. Could you tell us more about that. Leanna:<\/strong>\u00a0The story about a serial killer who uses the verses of the lullaby, \u201cHush, Little Baby\u201d as staging or directions for his murders had been percolating in my brain for a while, but the actual writing didn\u2019t begin until Mama started going downhill with her Alzheimer\u2019s. I was struggling badly with the pain, anger, and frustration of it all and I needed an outlet. I hated that there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop the inevitable. Alzheimer\u2019s is a death sentence. The worst kind of death. It steals away everything that makes a person who they are. My Mama was gone. Oh, yes, there was an empty shell who looked like her, but that\u2019s where any similarities ended. The person I loved and who loved me died long before her shell did, and there was nothing I could do about it.<\/p> So the story shifted a little. I decided to create a minor character (in this case, Lacey, my protagonist\u2019s mother) and I gave her Alzheimer\u2019s. It was a mean thing to do, but at that point in my life, it felt necessary, and it allowed me to honor Mama by weaving some of the things she said and did into my story. I guess Lacey was sort of my alter ego during this difficult time. I know God is in control even when everything feels chaotic, but it helped me to have this tiny measure of control over one small thing in a fictional world.<\/p> Lydia:<\/strong>\u00a0Tell us about Hush. Obviously, the circumstances of your mother’s Alzheimer’s played a role in shaping the story. Could you tell us a little more about that also?<\/p> Leanna:<\/strong><\/p> Lacey Campbell can dream murders before they happen. The problem is her dreams are in fragments\u2014bits and pieces\u2014not enough clues to allow her to stop the murders from happening. She dreams flashes of a man singing \u201cHush, Little Baby\u201d while he strangles a young woman. When she awakes, she tried to convince herself it doesn\u2019t mean anything, but the next night she dreams a second murder\u2014same scenario\u2014the lullaby… another strangulation. It\u2019s time to tell the police.<\/p> State Bureau of Investigation sends in their man, Detective Ford Jamison, to help the local police which results in the typical territorial skirmish between the two forces. Ford soon has a two-part working theory: the killer is using the lullaby to stage his murders and he\u2019s targeting women who look remarkably like Lacey. That knowledge doesn\u2019t slow the killings, though and the police are always one step behind. Now Lacey is afraid to go to sleep because the next face she sees in her dreams might be her own.<\/p><\/blockquote> I guess I tried to evoke the feeling of inevitability; that the next victim will die and the killer gets ever closer to his final victim \u2026 Lacey. It was a picture of the certainty of Mama\u2019s coming death \u2026 the fear and sadness, and even anger that went along with that. To add even more danger into the mix, I threw in an approaching hurricane.s<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hush-by-leanna-sain.jpg\")
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