The scene opens pleasantly enough: As the new morning started to enter his consciousness, the boy, lying on his side in the bed, opened his eyes and focused on the coins and the pocket watch on the nightstand.
But ten-year-old Ezekiel Harrison -- aka Bonkie -- soon realizes he's waking up in a Missouri hotel room alone, and that the coins and watch have been left behind by his father, who has abandoned Bonkie here overnight.
So begins Don't Never Give Up, Rich Simms's debut novel, in which Bonkie must navigate the dangerous mid-nineteenth-century Missouri frontier in search of his father, or, barring that, a way to grow up and survive without him... hopefully with the help of a
particular young woman he meets along the way. (And by "meets" I mean "gets caught stealing carrots and tomatoes from.")
Think Nicholas Sparks co-writing a frontier novel with Willa Cather.
(Read the first chapter and a half for free at the link above!)
It's the quintessential American tale, Rich tells us: "No matter where you start in life, if you have a goal and ambition, you can succeed."
He should know. Though Rich wrote some short stories through the years, he never thought he'd manage a full novel. It took retirement -- and the COVID pandemic -- to unlock that potential. "I started writing [during the shutdown]," he says, "and the story unfolded for me as I went along."
Over on the WriteByNight blog, Rich and I discuss Don't Never Give Up, his writing process, his
path to publication, and our mutual love of St. Louis and Southern Illinois.
Give it a look, and then snag a copy for
yourself: The e-book is only $1.99, and $14.99 gets you a paperback that features a very cool original cover created by WriteByNight's new cover designer, Kyahdric Moses.
Don't Never Give Up is already in the top 1,200 on Amazon's American historical romance
category... and no. 33 in friends-to-lovers romance.
"I think all people will enjoy this story," Rich tells us. "Mothers, grandmothers, and many men will appreciate and empathize with the characters and with the protagonist's drive."
