Hi—thanks for coming, and thanks for your interest in Shelter Me. It’s a story I’ve been thinking about for years, and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you.

Shelter Me begins four months after Janie LaMarche’s husband dies suddenly. A stranger arrives at Janie’s door with plans to build a porch onto her house that her husband had planned before his death. Dealing with an unexpected construction project is the last thing Janie needs as she struggles to function in a fogbank of grief. But once she realizes her husband had meant to surprise her with this gift—his last, as it turns out—she can’t bring herself to cancel the deal.

As the porch is built, Janie is slowly exhumed from the pit of her misery by an unlikely assortment of rescuers. Shelly, her pushy neighbor, bosses her toward responsible action. Her towering cousin Cormac plies her with his baked goods and cajoles her into remembering her sense of humor. Aunt Jude, prone to endless chattering, promotes a wacky array of opportunities for Janie’s recovery, including a self-defense course and weekly visits from the parish priest, Father Jake. Her children, baby Carly and four-year-old Dylan, remind her that children outgrow their clothes and life continues even though it seems to Janie as if time should have stopped. And as porch construction progresses, Janie learns to create a new shelter from the ruins of her old life, now buttressed by support from unexpected sources.

When I began to write Janie’s story, I wanted to talk about unlikely friendships. So often in my own life people I least expected to connect with have been there for me in surprising ways. I knew the general direction in which the characters and I were headed, but I wasn’t always sure what path we would take. For instance, Janie’s need to be forgiven for her many gaffes along the way wasn’t something I planned on, but became a reflection of her unwillingness to move forward. It forced her to evolve into someone who could then offer forgiveness of rare magnitude. This is one of the things I like best about writing fiction—it can be as surprising to the writer as it eventually is to the reader.

So, now that you’re here, feel free to look around. Leave your email address if you like, and I’ll send you fairly infrequent, but highly scintillating updates from time to time. And thanks again for spending a few moments with me.

Best regards,
Juliette