It’s Friday! You know what that means. It’s my day to get input from my friends. As someone who is a huge fan of Constance Gillam Lakota series, I know firsthand she tells an amazing story. I’m grateful to her ancestors, too! Readers, are you curious about your family tree? Please welcome Constance Gillam. ~ Donnell
Finding My Roots AKA Paying Homage
by Constance Gillam
Author Constance Gillam
Several years ago, I became interested in finding my family roots. It’s a hobby that many people share. I didn’t realize how deep my desire to connect to family ran until I looked back over the books I’d written. When I did, I discovered they all had the same theme running through them—family.
In Lakota Dreaming (1st book of a currently 3-book mystery/police procedural) the main female character comes to Little River Indian Reservation looking for information about the fate of a great great grandmother who was a slave in Louisiana and was captured and sold to the Apache then later ended up on Sioux land.
I wrote a Romantic Comedy, The Hookup Dilemma. Out of
this new and unfamiliar genre (to me) came a story about a second-generation Trinidadian American family trying to save their neighborhood. Although there are some comedic moments in the story, a very serious theme about preserving family runs through it. One of the reviewers said, they loved the colorful characters in the book, especially the old ladies. Each of those characters was developed from an elderly relative in my family. Warning: this book is extremely sexy and should come with a warning label.
I’m currently working on a women’s fiction with strong elements of mystery—its working title? A Matter of Family.
It’s been a very spiritual journey, connecting with family I never knew I had. When my husband took a job in Georgia, I moved to a state I’d never visited before. After researching family, I found that my mother’s maternal line had lived in the state for over two hundred years. In fact, I connected with some of those individuals a couple of years ago and they live just an hour away from my current home. When my sister and I went to visit these new family members and the ancestral land, it was like coming home.
In all of my books I use family names for the main characters. Julia in one of the Lakota books is my 2x great grandmother’s name. Tom Braddy—a character in my work in progress—is my great grandfather’s name. Quinn, the last name of my male protagonist in The Hookup Dilemma, is the surname of an Irish ancestor.
Composing this post made me realize that including characteristics of my ancestors in my stories is my way of paying homage to those family members who suffered and endured so that I might have the ability to do what I enjoy—write.
About the Books:
Lakota Dreaming: Zora Hughes is haunted by someone else’s past. Plagued by dreams of her ancestor fleeing captivity, the former NYC fashion editor travels to South Dakota to uncover the truth. And until she can put her visions to rest, she won’t let anyone stand in her way… not even the handsome captain of the local tribal police.
John Iron Hawk is on a mission to clean up his reservation. Trying to raise a teenage daughter on his own while working to expose a corrupt casino manager means he has little time for nonsense. But for reasons he can’t explain, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to the gorgeous New Yorker stirring up trouble.
As Zora’s search collides with John’s investigation, unearthing an old secret could have deadly consequences.
Threatened by a ruthless enemy, Zora and John may have to find a key to her past to unlock their new future…
Lakota Dreaming is the first book in the riveting Lakota series of romantic mysteries. If you like mystical connections, spiritual journeys, and lush depictions of Native American culture, then you’ll adore Constance Gillam’s entrancing novel.
The Hookup Dilemma:
What happens when a random hookup turns into the ultimate dilemma?
The Hookup Dilemma: Rashida Howard has never been a one-night-stand kind of woman, but she has good reason for making an exception with Elliott after meeting him in a bar. Cliché? Yes. Utterly amazing? Absolutely. Regrets? None.
Elliott Quinn is a workaholic. The one night he decides to break his routine, he has an encounter with the woman of his dreams. But no matter how amazing they are together, work will always come first.
Both of their lives get turned upside down when they find themselves on opposite sides of an ongoing fight between Elliott’s company and Rashida’s community. Though their chemistry is undeniable, neither of them will risk their integrity…or their heart.
And just when they think they might have found a solution that benefits both sides, they uncover a secret that will change everything.
About the Author: Constance Gillam grew up in the Midwest among ice and snow. She now lives in the sunny South and loves it. As a child, she was a precocious reader and would sneak into the adult fiction section of the library. At age eleven she read Gone with the Wind and never looked back.
Romance is her love, and she fills her books with mystery and suspense, conflict and emotion.
Connect with me at:
Twitter: @conniegillam
Instagram: authorlady514
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorconstancegillam
Links:
Lakota Dreaming: https://books2read.com/u/bzZB1Z
The Hookup Dilemma:
Connie, I love this post! My daughter is getting into the ancestry sites. I believe we share a surname in our roots. Now you have me curious! xoxo Thanks for being my guest today.
Will do!!!
Thanks so much, Donnell. Yes, we do share a surname. I believe it’s Barnes. Am I correct?
Good luck to your daughter on her ancestral hunt. Tell her to keep her eye out for the origins of the Barnes in the U.S. I’d be very interested in knowing if our families are connected.