One shot fired deep in the pine forests of her youth was all it took to change Hattie's life forever. At the age of fourteen, Hattie learns that her mother, Addie, is dead, and her father, Hubbard, stands accused of Addie's murder, along with countless other shocking betrayals. Overnight, Hattie becomes mother to her three siblings while still very much a child herself. The life she had dreamt of now seems impossible to achieve. How will Hattie break away from the father who prevents her from living the life she desperately wants? Will her heart ever be able to heal in the height of The Great Depression?
Jodie Cain Smith spent her childhood exploring the shores of Mobile Bay with her three siblings. As a teen in Mobile, AL, Jodie's grandmother told her the gripping story of an adolescence spent in 1930's rural Alabama, the rumors surrounding her parents, and the murder trial that would alter her life. The tale took root in Jodie's memory until at last it became The Woods at Barlow Bend and was selected as a 2015 Book of the Year by BooksandAuthors.com.
While attending the University of South Alabama, where Jodie earned a BFA in Theatre Arts, she met her husband Jay. They began their life on the Army road in 2001 and have not stopped moving since.
When she is not living in the fictional worlds she creates via her laptop, Jodie can be found onstage and in the studio working as a professional actress and teaching artist.
She is represented by Jeanie Loiacono of the Loiacono Literary Agency and is excited to continue their partnership with the release of her second novel, Jubilee Bells (Deer Hawk Publications, 2016).
To learn more about Jodie Cain Smith and her thoughts on ruling, renovating, and escaping her corner of the world visit her blog The Queendom at http://thequeendom.org or her website, www.jodiecainsmith.com.