Mornings on Main

It’s a pleasure to welcome New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas back to Thoughts in Progress and today she is here to talk about her latest release, MORNING ON MAIN.

Jodi, a master of family drama, returns with MORNINGS ON MAIN (HQN Books, April 2018, $15.99 U.S./$19.99 CAN.), a riveting tale that follows three generations of women, each facing challenging circumstances, but whose stories unite as they strive to overcome their individual burdens.   

Jillian James has been a wanderer as long as she can remember, traveling from town to town, never staying too long in any one place. Not running to or from anything, or hiding out. Just drifting…the way she was taught as a child by her nomadic single father, a man who liked to travel and went wherever the jobs took him, never putting down roots or getting involved for too long with anyone. And Jillian is the same way—no strings anywhere, no place to call home. And no one to call family, not since she last saw her father the day he dropped her off at college—before disappearing from her life completely. But now, twelve years later, Jillian is hoping to find some trace of him in the only place she believes he ever had a special connection—the small, welcoming town of Laurel Springs, Texas.

          Soon after arriving, Jillian lands a temporary job courtesy of Connor Larady, a man of many hats—town mayor, land owner, newspaper publisher, unpublished novelist and, most important, devoted single dad to his rebellious teenaged daughter, Sunnie, and doting grandson to Eugenia Larady, better known to everyone as Gram. Connor hires Jillian to help out in aging Gram’s quilt shop, cataloguing and preserving each quilt’s history, just as Gram starts struggling with her own slipping memory.

          Despite her better judgment, Jillian soon finds herself growing closer to each of the Laradys: helping Sunnie cope with a tragic past while struggling to figure out what she wants from her future; spending time with the shy, handsome Connor while knowing that any romance between them will only end in sadness when she eventually leaves; and connecting with the lovely Gram, a woman who is the heart of the entire town, building literal and invisible threads throughout the community--and whose fading memories and occasional flashbacks, a shocked Jillian realizes, contain clues to her own family history.

          Jillian has spent her life avoiding attachments. According to her father’s rules, it hurts too much to care. But for the first time in her life, she’s starting to wonder if his rules are wrong, if it’s better to be part of something greater than just herself—part of a community, of a family, of loving someone.

Now please join me in giving a warm welcome to Jodi as she joins us to talk about her latest release. Welcome, Jodi.

Stories dance in my head all the time, but now and then one lives on after I turn the book in. MORNINGS ON MAIN is still waltzing in my thoughts. I hope that the people of Laurel Springs come as alive to you as they did to me.

MORNINGS ON MAIN weaves three women’s stories together as the stories of the town’s history is displayed in quilts. Quilts have always fascinated me. I remember laying under my grandmother’s quilt from that drifted down from the ceiling. I remember my mother quilting long after her mind had had been invaded by Alzheimer’s. I love seeing my sisters’ quilts displayed on their bedroom walls. 

But, I don’t quilt. 

My mother only read my first book before she stopped reading completely.  I’ll never forget what she said about my patchwork stories that blend together.  She said, “Jodi, you quilt with words. 

Come visit my town and I hope you’ll stay for a while, Jodi.

Jodi, thanks for sharing these women’s stories with us. Stories like this are always fascinating.

Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with Jodi, here’s a bit of background on her.

Author Jodi Thomas

A fifth-generation Texan, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Jodi Thomas chooses to set the majority of her novels in her home state, where her grandmother was born in a covered wagon. A former teacher, Thomas traces the beginning of her storytelling career to the days when her twin sisters were young and impressionable.  

With a degree in family studies, Thomas is a marriage and family counselor by education, a background that enables her to write about family dynamics. Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thomas enjoys interacting with students on the West Texas A&M University campus, where she currently serves as Writer in Residence.

Commenting on her contribution to the arts, Thomas said, “When I was teaching classes fulltime, I thought I was making the world a better place. Now I think of a teacher or nurse or mother settling back and relaxing with one of my books. I want to take her away on an adventure that will entertain her. Maybe, in a small way, I’m still making the world a better place.”

When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, renovating a historic home they bought in Amarillo and checking up on their two grown sons. 

For more on Jodi, went her website and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks so much for visiting today. Sorry that I’ve been MIA but I will be back online full time before too long. I hope you’ll check out Jodi’s latest release. Do you enjoy stories featuring several generations of one family?