Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Terra Little | After the Jump…
Author Guest / May 27, 2011

When I decided to unearth the JUMP manuscript and strive to get it into readers’ hands in book form, I wondered how it would be received. I wondered, “Can I do this?” At the time I was mostly concerned with whether or not the story would be perceived as authentic enough, especially in the very possible case that a woman who happened to have walked a mile in the main character, Lena Hunter’s, shoes picked up a copy and read my take on the women in prison experience. What if that woman decided that I hadn’t somehow given the situation enough care and concern while crafting the story? What if she couldn’t find herself somewhere in the main character’s thoughts, feelings, or actions? A little back story is called for here, I think, so here goes: After serving eight years in prison for a heinous crime that she never denied committing, parole for Helena Hunter means long-awaited freedom. Killing her grandmother was a choice that she made all by herself, but she wasn’t thinking about the consequences of her actions when she pulled the trigger. The little girl she left behind is now a teenage stranger, who thinks her mother…