What is the title of your latest release?
BEES IN JUNE
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
For a one floor ride: Kenny Loggins’ song, Return to Pooh Corner, but with Appalachian witches.
For a multi-floor ride: Set against the hopeful backdrop of the first moon landing in 1969, a feat many said was impossible, Rennie Hendricks dreams of something she thinks is impossible, a happy and peaceful life. Aided by a hive of sentient bees brought from the Appalachian Mountains by her maybe-witch aunt Eugenia, Rennie reconnects with the magic of her childhood and finds that the impossible can sometimes happen.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
My first book, THE EMPRESS OF COOKE COUNTY, was set in the fictional town of Spark, Tennessee. I still had more stories to explore there, so I set Bees in June in the same town, three years later. I took minor characters from the first book and made them the main characters of BEES IN JUNE.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely! She is kind and resilient, loves dogs and books, and is a fabulous cook. I’d love to have a cup of tea with her (neither of us drink coffee) and talk the day away.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Cautious, optimistic, and determined.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned so much about the magical connection between honeybees and humans when researching this book. What fascinated me the most was the custom of “telling the bees,” which involves keeping your hives up-to-date on family news, especially a passing. Failing to “tell the bees” means the bees might leave their hives, fail to thrive, or even die themselves. It’s a centuries old tradition still practiced today. When Quen Elizabeth II died in 2022, her beekeepers informed the bees of her death to preserve the royal hives.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Both. As I write I discover more about the story, so I go back and change details of earlier scenes to reflect those new discoveries. After I finish a draft, I go back with a “big picture” approach and polish the manuscript as a whole.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Chocolate, in all forms.
Describe your writing space/office!
My favorite place to write is on my screened-in porch, where I can listen to the birds and feel the breeze. If it’s too cold or too hot to be out there, I’m in my upstairs office, curled up on a sofa. I have a cup of tea nearby, and before my sweet Pippin passed, my dog at my side.
Who is an author you admire?
I admire every author, because each one has done an immense amount of hard work and has persevered enough to have a published novel. Particular favorites of mine are Adriana Trigiani, Kimberly Brock, and Kristy Woodson Harvey. I just preordered Brooke Lea Foster’s newest book and cannot wait for it to arrive.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Not a particular book, but an author did. Lee Smith was my seventh-grade English teacher. She gave us creative writing assignments every week, and one day she pulled me aside and told me I was a writer. I tucked that away in my thirteen-year-old heart and never let it go. It was a very proud moment when I could mail Lee a copy of my first book, The Empress of Cooke County, and thank her for believing in me.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
When my agent sent out queries for my first book, The Empress of Cooke County, we ended up with a four-way bidding war. The offers all started as a one-book deal, but quickly changed to two books. Bees in June is that second book. The two weeks of that auction was surreal, with emails flying between New York and Nashville about how the advances were increasing and the terms were sweetening. I truly felt I was living someone else’s life as my agent kept me updated.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
My first choice is always book club fiction, but I also enjoy exploring new genres. I’m especially interested in cozy mysteries. Adorable dogs, charming small towns, inviting knit shops, quirky characters—cozies have it all!
What’s your favorite movie?
I love anything with Cary Grant, especially Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and Bringing Up Baby. My favorite is probably The Philadelphia Story. The main character of my work-in-progress has a husband who shares my opinion.
What is your favorite season?
Spring, when you can think, Do I need a sweater? and the answer is no.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I love to celebrate with my children and my young grandchildren. Getting homemade cards with scribbles and stickers is the best!
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
My friend Hope Gibbs hosts a podcast with Donna Norman-Carbone called, Authors Talking Bookish that I really enjoy. My friend Pam Lamp does a great podcast called, Who I Met Today that I also like a lot.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian. I love carbs! We used to frequent a restaurant that served the best chicken piccata in town, and when they closed, I spent a LOT of time trying to duplicate their recipe.
What do you do when you have free time?
I love walking in my neighborhood, reading, and knitting for my grandchildren. I also jump at any chance to be at a beach, shelling or reading.
What can readers expect from you next?
My WIP (work-in-progress) is a contemporary set in Nashville about a songwriter who finds out the life she thought she had was all an illusion. After tragedy strikes, she uses her new perspective to write a song about giving up what she’s lost and embracing what she’s found.
If my editor wants another book set in Spark, I’ve got one in my brain. It’s a dual timeline story based on one of those “feel good” news reports about a community project where I thought, Uh-oh, that could turn out very differently than they intended….
BEES IN JUNE by Elizabeth Bass Parman
A Novel
Uncle Dixon always told Rennie to tell the bees everything, but somewhere along the way, Rennie forgot. Now, with her life at its lowest, she begins to see the bees in a new light. Will she believe again in the magic of the hives, and will she listen as the bees try to guide her home?
It’s 1969, and the town of Spark Tennessee, is just as excited about the moon landing as the rest of the country. Rennie Hendricks is grieving and trying to heal from the unimaginable loss of her infant son. She had hoped a child would repair the cracks in her marriage to her husband, Tiny, but the tragedy has only served to illuminate his abusive character. Trying to relieve some of the financial stress that inflames Tiny’s anger, Rennie accepts a position cooking at the local diner. Hidden away in a kitchen making delicious food, she rediscovers the joy she finds in cooking for others, and as she spends more time with her new boss, she realizes there are more options for women than she thought possible.
One of the benefits of her new job is that she can bring meals to her beloved Uncle Dixon, the man who practically raised her along with her late Aunt Eugenia, a woman unkindly labeled as a witch by most of the town. What those people didn’t understand is that Eugenia was a healer and connected to power they couldn’t grasp.
Rennie thinks her elderly uncle is confused when he talks about communicating with his bees, but then she starts to see them glow, leading her toward safety time and time again. Could it be that these bees, discovered long ago by her Aunt Eugenia, are magical and trying to tell her something? And what about the new neighbor, Ambrose Beckett, who seems to understand the bees too. Is he being truthful about why he has moved to Spark, or is there more to him than meets the eye?
Hope-filled and infused with magical realism, Bees in June captures Rennie’s journey back to her true self, creating a rewarding life that the bees showed her was possible if she only believed in herself and the magic that surrounds her.
Audiobook Narrators- Brittany Pressley, Michael Crouch, and Seth Podowitz.
Small Town | Women’s Fiction Southern | Fantasy Magical Realism [Harper Muse, On Sale: September 2, 2025, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781400342600 / eISBN: 9781400342617]
A Magical and Triumphant Journey
Buy BEES IN JUNE: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Target.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Elizabeth Bass Parman
Elizabeth Bass Parman grew up entranced by family stories, such as the time her grandmother woke to find Eleanor Roosevelt making breakfast in her kitchen. She worked for many years as a reading specialist for a non-profit, and spends her summers in a cottage by a Canadian lake. She has two grown daughters and lives outside her native Nashville with her husband and maybe-Maltipoo, Pippin.
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