ACCIDENTAL PARADISE
by
Eric Grandy
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Coming of Age
Publisher: Audecyn Books
Publication Date: October 1, 2025
Page count: 310 pages
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SYNOPSIS:
Natural talent, hard work, and a childhood friend help LaVern Whitaker find her calling as an actress. When her life becomes overwhelming, they discover a small town where her true identity can remain unknown, and she can stay out of the spotlight. The more she visits her secret getaway, the more deeply she feels connected to the history, the lifestyle, and the people. Could this place be her home away from home, or become the home she has dreamed of? Or will sinister forces rip it all away?
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ENJOY AN EXCERPT:
“Make me a promise, Shaundra. Promise me we will always be
best friends.”
“I promise, Peaches.”
LaVern stood up and said she had better head back. “Are you coming over tomorrow?”
“Hell yeah.”
Both girls had a hardy laugh at that one.
As Freeman and Jackie watched their daughter recross the street, they noticed a more delighted and relieved child than the one who left a few minutes earlier.
The girls resumed their old routine of talking and gossiping in LaVern’s bedroom. Shaundra asked more questions about her new school; how did she like going to school with White kids? Did she hang out with the other Black students? How was she treated? LaVern did her best to answer; No, she wasn’t completely accepted by everyone, she wasn’t friends with all the Black kids, she still felt very self-conscious being one of a few Black students in an all-White school, sometimes she felt very alone but she had made a few friends.
“My daddy said it would take a little while, that I would get used to it. He said I would get a better education.”
“Well, you’re already smart Peaches. You’ll be smart no matter what school you go to.”
“Well, it is harder than 139, but I’m doing OK.
“I know you, Peaches. If you say you doing OK, I know you killin’ it.”
LaVern looked down at her feet. “Well, I’m doing alright.”
But the Big Dog was right. She was killing it.
GUEST POST:
Please welcome Eric Grandy, the author of today's featured book, to the blog to talk about his playlist for ACCIDENTAL PARADISE.
The tone of “Accidental Paradise” runs from quiet and contemplative to humorous and light-hearted to riotous and confrontational. My musical playlist encapsulates the emotions intertwined in each of these circumstances.
Ten-year-old LaVern Whitaker doesn’t know why her best friend, Shaundra Jackson, has stopped coming by after school, something that was her regular routine. LaVern’s mother explained that, since she transferred to a private school, Shaundra feels left out, and she needs reassurance that a new school and new friends won’t endanger their friendship. In a quiet and contemplative moment, the two girls are sitting on Shaundra’s stoop when LaVern asks why she stopped coming by. The ten-year-old Shaundra couldn’t explain why, but said she really missed her. “You are my very, very best friend,” replied LaVern. “A new school won’t change that.” The two girls promised to stay best friends forever. Patti LaBelle’s song, “You are my friend,” which talks about looking all around for her friend only to find out you were here all the time, is the perfect musical counterpart.
The small coastal town of Louiston, South Carolina, is under siege by a ruthless and greedy land developer who wants to build condos and luxury seaside hotels. Development company reps attend a City Council meeting to convince the citizens to sell land that has been in their families for one hundred years. The locals, aware of their sleezy reputation, want no part of selling off their land. In a riotous and confrontational meeting, the reps are shouted down and threatened with bodily harm. The most vociferous of the Council Members, the volatile Stanley Payne, led the verbal assault. “If you sons of bitches get your way,” he fumed, “everybody here will lose their land, their businesses, and their homes!” The meeting degenerated into a chaotic free-for-all with the reps having to be escorted out of the chambers under police escort. Amid all the raucous confusion, I hear the smooth, dulcet tone of the theme to the Pink Panther movie.
Most of the humor surrounds Shaundra. She has a biting, street-honed outlook on life that is both funny and pointed. After LaVern has an emotional breakup with her college boyfriend, she is distraught and sobbing and seeks consoling in a phone call to Shaundra. “You handled him too classy, LaVern. He better be glad I wasn’t there. I would have gone straight East Baltimore on his ass!” The Rick James refrain “Cold Blooded” meshes like a puzzle piece with the take-no-prisoners Shaundra.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Eric Grandy was born and raised in Baltimore City and graduated from City College. After he graduated from Essex Community College, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and played six years for that team. He went on to a variety of jobs: photographer, lab manager, driver for DHL and warehouse manager. After retirement, he decided to devote himself to writing, producing several short stories and Accidental Paradise, his debut novel.
Grandy still lives in Baltimore with his wife Rhonda and his daughter Marti.
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Eric Grandy will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
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