Happy March 4th, 2026
It promises to be another beautiful day here in Nashville, Tennessee—heart of the Southeastern United States. In terms of writing Craft, the best descriptions involve at least two senses. I can conjure up someone who never existed before by simply using my imagination and those two senses.
If you can see and perhaps smell Heathwood Evergreen— of the Savannah, Georgia Evergreen’s— I have done my job as a writer. I have conjured a new character in Southern Literature. This brief exercise was simply for fun. I have no intention of developing this character further than this one paragraph.
Iris Temple is the Southern Matriarch of my most popular Trilogy. She begins by holding the floor in Temple Secrets (Book 1) and dominates throughout books 2 and 3 (Gullah Secrets and Tea Leaf Secrets.) She is a force to be reckoned with. A character haunted by past lives and ghosts in her Savannah mansion.
Here’s the snippet:
The octogenarian, Iris Temple, did not expect to find love at 83 years of age. Heathwood Evergreen of the Savannah Evergreens, smelled of Old Spice and dill pickles, his favorite garnish. He was dapper in ways few men could fathom. His thin mustache outlined his purplish lips and emboldened his hazel eyes. His smile revealed one gold tooth. He had married 4 times. Three times to sisters of a neighboring family. …
News from the Independent Living place I’m living: recovery from my stroke is ongoing and I am able to do more and more. I recently bought a red scooter for Rocky and me to cruise the hallways of this enormous place. I named her Roxie. My apartment looks out over the lights of Nashville and the Cumberland mountains in the distance where my people are from (think Katy’s Ridge in the Wildflower Trilogy.)
Love you!
Susan
www.susangabriel.com