One Small Victory started as a film project back when Movies of the Week were popular. Remember those? I had an "in" to a production company in California that was open to anything I pitched, so I sent them a proposal for the true story that inspired this book. For a lot of reasons, the project never went ahead, as so often happens in the film business, but I couldn't let go of the story. When I read a news item about a single mother who infiltrated a drug ring and helped get rid of drugs in her small town, I was captivated, as a mother and a writer. It was some years later that I started writing the book, and the road from then to publication in 2008 was as twisty as any mountain trail, but the wait was worth it.
During that time from first story idea to finished book, I learned a lot that made the story better. I studied to be a hospital chaplain and worked for a number of years facilitating grief support groups, which helped me get a better grasp of the grieving process. In the story, Jenny, the central character, loses her son in a car accident, and she channels her grief into action. I could make that believable because after working with the support groups I knew so much more about the unique ways people deal with grief.
That span of years also gave me the opportunity to do a lot more research so I would know how the drug business operates - it really does operate like a legitimate business - and I rode patrol with police officers to see the drug culture from their point of view. I'm convinced that the delays along the way, while frustrating at the time, were necessary to give me the time to do the story justice. One Small Victory was first published in hardback and the e-book came out in 2010. It still continues to get favorable reviews, and I am thrilled that so many readers are meeting Jenny and sharing her story.