My Interview on Talk of Alabama today


 

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Quinlan Castle in Birmingham (Blackie's House in The Second BLANCHARD WITCHES Book) is Torn Down

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 A long standing landmark in Birmingham, Alabama, Quinlan Castle has been demolished.  Ever since I moved to Birmingham in 1997, I have been fascinated by the decades-abandoned structure sticking out on the rising mountainside overlooking Birmingham.   Once I started writing THE BLANCHARD WITCHES OF DAIHMLER COUNTY , I knew about halfway through this was going to become a series and not simply a stand alone book.  After I finished the book and began writing the second one, I knew Quinlan Castle was the only possible location for the home of the character Blackie D'Angelo.   Blackie lived in Birmingham.  She was a powerful and mysterious witch.  What better setting for her residence than this medieval castle on the mountain? Quinlan was still standing when I wrote THE BLANCHARD WITCHES: PRODIGAL DAUGHTERS (book forthcoming at the end of 2022).  I had hoped my stories might bring attention to the derelict building and maybe down the road s...
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Real Locations in the book THE BLANCHARD WITCHES OF DAIHMLER COUNTY

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The Daihmler County where the Blanchard family resides is a fictional place in Alabama, but some of the landmarks around town are based on real-life places.  In THE BLANCHARD WITCHES series, the fictional town of Daihmler sits between the larger cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.  If you are familiar with this region in the south then you will understand when I explain that Daihmler is an amalgamation of the Cottondale, Coaling, Brookwood area. However, the characters in THE BLANCHARD WITCHES series do travel into Tuscaloosa and sometimes Birmingham from time to time.  Having grown up in Tuscaloosa myself, I often reimagine my childhood landmarks as locations in my books.  Especially since the Blanchards live in the general area where I grew up.  Here are some examples for those who may be familiar with the central region of Alabama. In the first book THE BLANCHARD WITCHES OF DAIHMLER COUNTY , Yerby Park is actually based upon Tuscaloosa's Bowers Park. ...
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A Little Blanchard Backstory...

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When the first book THE BLANCHARD WITCHES OF DAIHMLER COUNTY begins, the Blanchard family is already long established in the town of Daihmler. They've been here for generations, living in the white three story farmhouse with the wrap around porch and four story tower. Olympia Blanchard is in her seventies and though beloved by her daughters and grandchildren for being the sage old giver of wisdom--Olympia has lived quite a life her offspring are not completely aware of. In her youth, she and her sister Pastoria--and their lifelong friend Zelda, helped many people and saved many lives (and possibly the world) a time or two. Olympia has been married three times by the time readers meet her in Book One. Her first husband, John Windham died shortly after the birth of their third child. She then married a fond acquaintance named Martin Caswell, hoping he might be a substitute father to her young girls. But he died shortly after. Later in life when she was already a grandmother, O...
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