Insider Info: Splash! Plop! Eek!

Under the Cajun Moon is a sort of "cat-and-mouse through the swamps" type of story. Being from Louisiana, I usually find it easy to describe the locales for the books that are set there, but I have to admit that I needed some extra research for this one. I'd only been in the swamps during daylight hours, but for this novel, a lot of the swamp action would be happening late at night, which I knew might be a completely different experience.

By the Light of the Moon

Thus, my hubby and I decided to go for full immersion. We rented a "swamp cabin" in south Louisiana, one with a dock that jutted into the bayou. Once it got dark, every few hours until about 2 a.m., we would summon our nerve, go outside, walk to the end of that dock, and just stand there for a while, trying to get a feel for what was around us.

One Scary Place

And guess what? The Louisiana swamp at night is one busy, noisy, utterly creepy place to be!  We'd expected to hear frogs croaking, crickets chirping, insects buzzing, and the like. What we didn't anticipate was the constant plopping and rustling and splashing on every side, both in the water and on the banks. Fish jumping? Alligators on the move? Snakes slithering? We had no idea, but there in the dark our imaginations ran wild.

After that, it wasn't hard at all to convey through the story not just the sounds and smells and feel of the nighttime swamp but also the sense of terror that might grip a novice experiencing it for the first time.

Don't forget, you can order Under the Cajun Moon from my website for 30% off plus free shipping, by using coupon code C2C20P, throughout the month of December.