I’M RUNNING A GIVEAWAY OF MICHELLE’S NEWEST BOOK—SEE BELOW.
Novelist Michelle Shocklee has been a guest on this blog several times and I’m thrilled to host her again.
Besides featuring Michelle’s most recent release (Oct 1, 2024), I want to share her other writing endeavors. I’m particularly grateful to her for endorsing my novel, A Hundred Magical Reasons, which was published by Scrivenings Press two weeks ago.
Teaser for A Hundred Magical Reasons
Most fairy tales have happy endings, but is it too late for this one? After all, Mrs. Gordon is 88.
This split-time fiction set in 1980 and the early 1900s encompasses . . .
- A child’s unlikely friendship with The Wizard of Oz author, L Frank Baum, & his influence across 4 generations
- A young woman following a risky dream
- An old woman haunted by regret as she reveals her past

Michelle’s full endorsement:
“You don’t have to be a fan of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to become fully engrossed in Laura DeNooyer’s charming tale, but you might be one by the time you reach the last page. One of my favorite quotes from the book— “Coming here was like indulging in chocolate fudge after months of cold porridge”—perfectly describes my feelings as I turned pages filled with fascinating, well-developed characters and settings that transported me to each location. DeNooyer brings L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books, to life with such whimsical detail, I found myself wishing I too could have become friends with him. This delightful story is a must-read.”
~ Michelle Shocklee, award-winning author of Appalachian Spring and Count the Nights by Stars
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If you like historical fiction and character-driven stories—with a touch of romance—this novel fits the bill. If you like fairy tales, that’s another bonus.
If you’re a fan of WICKED, the musical or the movie, you’ll get a chance to see where all the Oz hoopla originated—with the inimitable L. Frank Baum.
If you’re a Baum fan, you’ll get the feel of what it was like to be with him.
If you’re unfamiliar with Baum, you’re in for a treat, for you’ll have the pleasure of getting to know him.
Read more and watch the book trailer on my website here.
You can purchase the book on Amazon.
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Now I want to put the spotlight back on Michelle, writer of dual timeline Southern fiction.
Today I’m running a GIVEAWAY!
Comment below on any of Michelle’s books for a chance to win a paperback or ebook of All We Thought We Knew.

Blurb
She was so sure she knew her family’s story . . . Now she wonders if she was wrong about all of it.
1969. When Mattie Taylor’s twin brother was killed in Vietnam, she lost her best friend and the only person who really understood her. Now, news that her mother is dying sends Mattie back home, despite blaming her father for Mark’s death. Mama’s last wish is that Mattie would read some old letters stored in a trunk, from people Mattie doesn’t even know. Mama insists they hold the answers Mattie is looking for.
1942. Ava Delaney is picking up the pieces of her life following her husband’s death at Pearl Harbor. Living with her mother-in-law on a secluded farm in Tennessee is far different than the life Ava imagined when she married only a few short months ago. Desperate to get out of the house, Ava seeks work at a nearby military base, where she soon discovers the American government is housing Germans who they have classified as enemy aliens. As Ava works to process legal documents for the military, she crosses paths with Gunther Schneider, a German who is helping care for wounded soldiers. Ava questions why a man as gentle and kind as Gunther should be forced to live in the internment camp, and as they become friends, her sense of the injustice grows . . . as do her feelings for him. Faced with the possibility of losing Gunther, Ava must choose whether loving someone deemed the enemy is a risk worth taking, even if it means being ostracized by all those around her.
In the midst of pain and loss two women must come face-to-face with their own assumptions about what they thought they knew about themselves and others. What they discover will lead to a far greater appreciation of their own legacies and the love of those dearest to them.
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Michelle’s other books
These are the ones I’ve featured on the blog, along with the blurb for each. Having read these three, I can heartily recommend them. Click on each title to go to the corresponding blog post.



Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland’s dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena’s banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.
As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured—especially because Rena’s ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie’s story challenges Rena’s preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?
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A 2023 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award-winner!
Count your nights by stars, not shadows. Count your life with smiles, not tears.
1961. After a longtime resident at Nashville’s historic Maxwell House Hotel suffers a debilitating stroke, Audrey Whitfield is tasked with cleaning out the reclusive woman’s room. There, she discovers an elaborate scrapbook filled with memorabilia from the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Love notes on the backs of unmailed postcards inside capture Audrey’s imagination with hints of a forbidden romance . . . and troubling revelations about the disappearance of young women at the exposition. Audrey enlists the help of a handsome hotel guest as she tracks down clues and information about the mysterious “Peaches” and her regrets over one fateful day, nearly sixty-five years earlier.
1897. Outspoken and forward-thinking Priscilla Nichols isn’t willing to settle for just any man. She’s still holding out hope for love when she meets Luca Moretti on the eve of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Charmed by the Italian immigrant’s boldness, Priscilla spends time exploring the wonderous sights of the expo with Luca—until a darkness overshadows the monthslong event. Haunted by a terrible truth, Priscilla and Luca are sent down separate paths as the night’s stars fade into dawn.
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Bertie Jenkins has spent forty years serving as a midwife for her community in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Out of all the mothers she’s tended, none affects her more than the young teenager who shows up on her doorstep, injured, afraid, and expecting, one warm June day in 1943. As Bertie and her four sisters tenderly nurture Songbird back to health, the bond between the childless midwife and the motherless teen grows strong. But soon Songbird is forced to make a heartbreaking decision that will tear this little family apart.
Thirty years later, the day after his father’s funeral, Walker Wylie is stunned to learn he was adopted as an infant. The famous country singer enlists the help of adoption advocate Reese Chandler in the hopes of learning why he was abandoned by his birth parents. With the only clue he has in hand, Walker and Reese head deep into the Appalachian Mountains to track down Bertie Jenkins, the midwife who holds the secrets to Walker’s past.

Here are more by Michelle, though I haven’t read these:
The Women of Rose Hill series:
- The Planter’s Daughter
- The Widow of Rose Hill
The Mail-Order Brides Collection (historical stories from 9 authors)
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Here are excerpts from previous Q & As. Click on the title to go to the blog post.
First, an excerpt from Under the Tulip Tree Q & A:
What intrigues you most about this time period (Civil War)?
Michelle: I’m a firm believer in learning from the past in order to make the future a better place for everyone. The years before and after the Civil War interest me for different reasons. One is that my own great-grandfather fought for the Union Army. History doesn’t seem so far removed when someone in your own family participated in it. I also find it mind-boggling and unimaginable that my great-grandfather lived in a time when someone could be owned simply because of the color of their skin. So for me, studying about and writing about this period of history helps me understand the world, then and now, a little better.
Have you ever had an older woman mentor in your life, or a meaningful friendship like Rena had with Frankie? How was it similar or different? How did aspects of it enter into your story?
Michelle: I’ve been privileged to work with older women for the past 25 years. I also had a wonderful grandmother who lived to be 103 years old. When I was developing the character of Frankie, all of these precious women found their way into her character in one way or another. Grandma was a master storyteller. I loved hearing her spin stories about the Great Depression and farm life. She saw many changes in the world during her time on earth. I’ve also enjoyed the stories told to me by my elderly clients through the years. I hope someday some young person will want to hear my tales.
Have you ever found yourself in Rena’s shoes, trying to relate to someone of a different age, race, or circumstances? How did that situation aid you in writing about Rena?
Michelle: I was blessed to grow up in a family with mixed heritage. My father’s family is Hispanic and my mother’s roots go back to Germany. I also grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with various cultures–Spanish, Mexican, American, and Native American–intersecting. Because I was exposed to so much beautiful diversity from an early age, I didn’t realize the world was such a divided place until I attended college. Rena’s naivety about the world around her comes from my own experience, although her story is very different from mine.
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What books have been most influential for you as a writer? Was there a book that sparked or confirmed your desire to be a novelist?
Michelle: Two books in particular have had an impact on me as a writer. From an early age, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott instilled in me a desire to become a writer like Jo March. I remember the summer my mom read this book aloud to my sister and me, and although I didn’t truly believe I could be a writer, the seeds of a dream were firmly planted in my heart. The other book that changed my writing path was Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I was in my 40s when I read the book for the first time, and it completely wrecked me. It wasn’t long after reading this book that I discovered people had once been enslaved in the area of Texas where my family was living and that stunned me. My research into this shocking revelation led me to write my plantation novels.
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Q & A excerpt From Count the Nights by Stars
How and why did you choose the Maxwell House Hotel as a setting?
Michelle: While there are other hotels in Nashville’s history, none are quite as fascinating as the Maxwell House. It was built prior to the Civil War and was used as a hospital and prison for Confederate soldiers once the Union Army took control of Tennessee. After the war it became the place to stay in the city, with movie stars, authors, and several presidents listed in the guestbook.
Then there’s the cool connection to Maxwell House coffee, which was first served in the hotel’s famous dining room before it became available to the public through mass production.
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Q & A excerpt from Appalachian Song
How and why did you choose to write an adoption story?
Adoption is very near and dear to my heart. We have several members of our extended family who are adopted and some who have adopted children. I also have the privilege of knowing a young woman who bravely gave up her baby for adoption as a young unwed teenage mother.
Adoption is a beautiful gift and is part of God’s perfect plan for humankind. Romans 8 reminds us that God adopts us as his own children when we put our faith in Christ, giving us the freedom to call him, “Abba, Father.” As I considered including the thread of adoption in this book, I knew the characters had to understand that truth too. The theme of “I choose you” is at the heart of the book.
REPLY IN THE COMMENTS BELOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PAPERBACK OF MICHELLE’S NEW RELEASE! (YOUR COMMENT MUST PERTAIN TO HER BOOKS.)
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Michelle Shocklee Bio
Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels. Her work is included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. As a woman of mixed heritage–her father’s family is Hispanic and her mother’s roots go back to Germany–she celebrates diversity and feels it’s important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction. With both her sons grown, she and her husband now make their home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about. Connect with her at MichelleShocklee.com.
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Join me next time for a visit with author Amanda Wen.
Meanwhile, have you read All We Thought We Knew or any others by Michelle Shocklee? What’s your favorite? Do you enjoy Southern fiction and/or dual timeline stories? Answer in the comments below.
COMMENT BELOW ON MICHELLE’S BOOKS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PAPERBACK OF MICHELLE’S NEW RELEASE!
Ever reading,
Laura
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Michelle’s endorsement of “A Hundred Magical Reasons” is delightful! Anyone who can craft a review with that much skill
and heart must be an excellent writer.
Tennessee is such a great state: on my top ten favorites!
As a history lover, I appreciate her choice of settings and eras.
And I agree that “Magical Reasons” makes the reader wish to have been friends with Baum!
Thanks for your kind words, Anita. Yes, Michelle is an excellent writer and novelist! And I agree about Tennessee. I love that state too.
All We Thought We knew looks like a fabulous read. Deep Characters with intriguing story lines are the best. It sounds like some challenging topics are covered, as well. The story seems likely to captivate me!
While I’ve heard great things about Michelle Shocklee I have not yet read one of her books. My plan is to start with this one! I’m now following her on Goodreads too.
I’m glad you’re going to finally read one of Michelle’s books, Mary! Yes, this one has an intriguing premise–but so do the rest of her novels. 🙂
I LOVE books set during WWII! I’d definitely love to read All We Thought We Knew, & her other books…actually, I’m gonna follow Michelle Shocklee on goodreads right now!
Good! Glad you’re going to give her a try, Joy!
Michelle’s books have been on my tbr list for a while now and maybe it’s time for me to start reading them sooner. I think I’ll start with All We Thought We Knew as it sounds like an engaging book to read for the first time.
Actually, any of her books would be a good place to start, Stephanie!
It sounds like a wonderful read.
I love Michelle Shocklee books! Each one is special on it’s own, but I think my favorite is Appalachian Song or Under the Tulip Tree. See, I can’t even decide which one I like the best!
Keep writing, Michelle.
Those are both good ones. It’s tough to choose a favorite, I think!
I haven’t read any of Michelle’s books yet, but I’m adding them to my reading list. I’m a fan of dual-time novels. I especially like that Michelle writes historical details set in her own backyard of Tennessee.
Glad you’re adding them to your list, Carol! I love Michelle’s setting too.
I’ve read every one of Michelle’s books and LOVED all of them! She’s such an amazing writer. As are you, Laura!
Thank you, Deena! You’re ahead of me–I haven’t read every single one of Michelle’s books, but I have read four and loved each one.