Mindy Friddle joins the Spotlight this week to talk about her latest novel, Her Best Self

Author Name: Mindy Friddle

Book Title: Her Best Self

Book Genre: Southern literary thriller

Release Date: 05/21/2024

Publisher: Regal House 

Welcome, Mindy! How would you describe Her Best Self ?

A woman uncovers the truth behind her mysterious car accident with the help of an alluring psychic healer, unraveling scandals that disrupt her family and small southern town in this domestic thriller featuring dark twists and winks of humor.

What sparked the idea for this book?

An old cookbook I inherited. This was a Good Housekeeping cookbook published in 1963. What a time capsule it is! The recipes are clearly targeted to “thrifty housewives.” There are pep talks on what to prepare when a husband’s boss is coming to dinner (pot roast). Also, when to allow “the man of the house” to cook—always outside, over a grill. This vintage cookbook’s outdated gender stereotypes are almost funny. Almost.

Stuck in these food-stained cookbook pages were bookmarks—old church bulletins, wedding announcements, and, oddly enough, a newspaper clipping from 1981 about Ronald Reagan appointing Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court. (The article talked about O’Connor’s husband, what clothes she wore, how their marriage revolved around their entertaining. Nothing about her intellect or her interest in the law.)  In reading over the news coverage of the time, especially in small town newspapers, I was struck by how women were cautiously inspired by O’Connor, but—at least from today’s perspective—still entrenched in their roles as wives and mothers. I also noted in my research—and discovered as a newspaper reporter myself, after college— women were often identified by their connection to men—their husbands or their fathers.  

What was the most surprising thing that you learned while researching the book’s topic?

There are sections in Her Best Self that take place in the mountains of the Carolinas. In researching the flora and fauna of that area, I remembered my grandparents taking me to see blue ghost fireflies as a child. I researched and discovered this rare species of firefly—one of the smallest in the world— is native and unique to the southern Appalachians. They don’t blink but emit a steady blue light. They are only active during their mating season in late May and early June in dark areas of mature forests. I knew I had to write a scene in which several of the characters see these enchanting ghost fireflies. 

What drew you to writing a thriller?

After I wrote the first pages from the point of view of the protagonist, Janelle, I sensed a crime was on the horizon. And then the criminal appeared: the alluring, villainous Lana, a psychic healer and grifter who pushes Janelle to uncover an ugly secret that will unravel Janelle’s marriage, disrupt her family, and turn her small southern town upside down. 

What do you hope readers will take away from this story?

I hope readers will connect with a theme of the novel: the evolving roles of women in our culture, particularly in small southern towns in the last 50 years or so. Her Best Self is a contemporary drama that explores topics such as motherhood, the power dynamics in marriages, and female friendship. It’s a tale of deception, love, and betrayal that explores how women like the protaganist, Janelle, have been identified by their connection to men, eclipsed by fathers and husbands. 

What are your interests outside of writing and reading?

I live on a remote sea island of transcendent beauty on the coast of South Carolina. I love biking, kayaking, and walking through the salt marshes, maritime forests, and by the sea. I’m an environmentalist and animal lover, and I volunteer at the local dog shelter and help out the Loggerhead Turtle patrols in the summer. I’m also a first responder; I’m a volunteer with the local Fire & Rescue Department. One weird hobby: I love cemeteries. As a taphophile—the technical term for one who tours cemeteries—I haunt local graveyards. In each of my novels, there is at least one scene in a cemetery.

Where can readers find you?

My website, mindyfriddle.com has info on my novels and events. While you’re there, please sign up for my newsletter: occasional dispatches on writing and publishing, creatitivity and nature. You can also find me on Instagram @mindyfriddle and Facebook.

Upcoming events:

  • In conversation with Rebecca Godwin at Litchfield Books, Pawley’s Island, SC | July 26
  • “Write Your Novel: Tips to Propel You from Inspiration to Final Draft” | South Carolina Writer Association’s StoryFest 2024, Columbia, SC | September 27, 3:45-4:45pm. 

Thank you, Mindy! Her Best Self is out now.

Her Best Self

Janelle Wolf longs to be the woman she once was—an adored wife, a loving mother, a career woman, a force in her community—before a mysterious car accident stole her memories, ruined her reputation, and upended her life. These days, her troubled family needs that capable woman from the past, the one she calls “Janelle Before.” Enter Lana, an alluring and magnetic psychic healer who meets secretly with Janelle. Lana coaxes Janelle to remember the circumstances of her accident in order to recover Janelle’s “best self.” Instead, Janelle uncovers the ugly truth behind that night. The revelations unravel Janelle’s marriage, disrupt her family, and turn her small southern town upside down. Written with wry humor, this diabolically entertaining tale of deception, temptation, and love is filled with dark twists, exploring what happens when the transgressions of the past come back with a vengeance.
 
Author bio: 
Mindy Friddle is author of the novel, Secret Keepers, (winner of the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction). The Garden Angel, her first novel and SIBA bestseller, was selected for Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers. The South Carolina Arts Commission awarded Mindy a prose fellowship, and she has twice won the state’s Fiction Prize. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous journals. She holds an MFA from Warren Wilson and lives on Edisto Island, South Carolina.