The Benenson Award helped fund a visit to a small city in the state of Georgia, the location in which my novel, “The Sharpest Corners” is set.
The narrative has taken on many forms since its creation, but at its core the novel explores the story of Elaine, a daughter who is estranged from her family who returns home after the passing of her father. The familial relationship is complicated—to say the least—and though her initial plan is only to stay for as long as she needs to, she soon finds there is more to the town (and her family’s history) than what she’d previously thought. Throughout the story, Elaine works to solve what she believes to be a mystery, all while in a tiny town where nothing bad is supposed to happen. If she’s not careful though, she just might find herself drawn back into the dangerous world that she vowed to leave behind.
In total, though there were times where I did not work on it and times where that was all I did, this novel has been with me for two years. The Benenson Award helped support the writing of the book, and this summer I was able to dedicate the time needed to completely finish the first draft of the work.
