| Dear Reader, My mother died the way she lived, with sass and courage. Driving Me Crazy is my memorial to her and my gift to you, the gift of Mama. She is the only person I know who could become a character in a novel without embellishment. When my muse started whispering this book in my ear, Mama was right there with them, dictating and running the show, the way she always did. To prove I was in charge, I gave her a dog. Mama never did care for dogs, especially big ones, so I gave her the biggest one I knew - my hundred-pound chocolate lab, Jefferson. Of course novels are fiction, so I turned him into a golden retriever who couldn't hang onto his hair. Now, before you start putting two and two together and getting sixteen, I have to set the record straight. I have two sisters, and neither one of them is Jean. Well…I take that back. Maybe there's a little bit of them in Jean. Both are great cooks and my older sister, who lives nearby, often invites me to dinner. That's why Driving Me Crazy is dripping with butter. I got so hungry writing the scene about peach cobbler that I had to go into the kitchen and make one. Lord, lord. Another book, another five pounds. I'm blaming my sister. Is anybody else in this book real? Hmmm…maybe. But I'll never tell. I'll leave it to you, dear reader, to figure that out for yourself. So go to the kitchen, make a big peach cobbler and settle back for a funny and heart-touching read. |