Protecting Quail Crossings

By Jennifer McMurrain

Synopsis

Spies have come to Quail Crossings!

At least that’s what Rosie Brewer believes after catching a stranger on Quail Crossings muttering foreign words in the fog. The problem? No one will listen to her! They all think it’s just a figment of her overactive imagination. With only her loyal cousins by her side, Rosie must do everything she can to fend off the United States’ ruthless Cold War enemy … the Russians.

Annabelle Brewer has a secret.

Even surrounded by a mess of family, she is desperately lonely and in need of a friend. To her surprise, she finds three: an orphan, a fellow family stray, and a girl covered in “cooties”. Turns out, Annabelle isn’t the only one with secrets. As they come to light, she must deal with the type of danger that breaks hearts, not bones.

The folks at Quail Crossings have always been heroic. Will Rosie and Annabelle be able to follow in their footsteps to not only save the home they love, but lives as well?

What inspired you to start writing?

The short answer is I was born to be a storyteller. As a child my game of choice was pretend, so naturally as I got older my games of pretend were put on paper. Thankfully, my mother is a fellow writer, and it was easy to follow her example.

For someone who’s new to your writing, what book would you recommend they start with and why?

Quail Crossings, not only do I love this family, but others seem to, as well. Even though the series starts during one of the hardest times in our history, The Great Depression, I focus on the way communities came together to help each other. So often in documentaries about the time all you hear about is the sadness. I wanted to show a different side. A lot of the inspiration came from real-life experiences told to me by people who lived through it. During this, another hard time in our history, I think Quail Crossings offers hope, which is why people are reading through the series.

Your Quail Crossings series has six books in it now. What has it been like to follow those characters over the years?

The Quail Crossings family is a part of mine now. The series was originally supposed to be four books long, but then the grandkids told me their stories. I have watched them grow, been amazed at their tenacity, even felt a little guilty as I put them through the ringer. Watching them grow is like watching my family grow full of laughter, angst, and a few tears … mostly happy tears.

If you had to write a one-line movie poster slogan for Protecting Quail Crossings, what would you say? What actors would you choose to play the main characters?

In a family full of heroes, would they live up? The casting is a bit harder because they are so vivid in my head as individuals. The family has grown very large, but I’d say Bill and Lou Anne Brewer, along with their daughters, Annabelle and Rosie, are the main characters in Protecting Quail Crossings, so I’ll go with them. I’d cast a young John Wayne (The Big Trail) as Bill, Elizabeth Taylor (Giant) as Lou Anne, and Mary Badham (Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird) as Rosie. Annabelle is the hardest one for me, maybe Hailee Steinfeld at the age she did True Grit, but of course with a 1955 style.

What have you been most proud of in your writing journey?

The proudest moment in my writing journey wasn’t even mine, honestly. It was when my mother won Crème de la Crème at the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc conference a few years back. I’ve watched her my entire life struggle to get noticed by the guard keepers of the publication world and so for her to get the recognition she deserved was thrilling. I don’t think I would have been prouder had I walked away with that honor.

What’s your favorite book that you’ve read in the past year?

Last year was a rough year for me health wise. I had a stomach issue that should have been easily diagnosed and wasn’t, which led to a continuous stomachache for six months. During that time, I just devoured the Lunar Chronicles, a sci-fi/fantasy retelling of Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White. It was the fantastical getaway I needed.

What book are you looking forward to reading?

Aside from sharing the Harry Potter series with my daughter, we’re on book four, and seeing her love for reading grow through the series, I think I’m most looking forward to reading The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. I ran across it on the Goodreads Reader’s Choice Awards and it seems right up my alley.