Prologue-Dirtcastles - AUTHOR'S NOTE

Описание: Hello! Annie Dike, Author here, sharing the AUTHOR'S NOTE for the Prologue, Dirtcastles, to my debut literary fiction novel, Clovis, available at www.anniedikeauthor.com and Amazon. In each of these videos I read (about five minutes) from my book, then I record a corresponding "Author's Note" (warning, extreme spoiler alerts there) discussing the writing I just read. If you're on board for that, dive in!

In Clovis, New Mexico, dirt is more than just clay and dust. It’s memory. It’s trauma. It’s the foundation where love and loss collide, where family ties strangle as much as they save.

Calliope “Callie” Potts has always been caught between contradictions: a tender little sister shadowing her gifted brother Jude, a daughter forever scarred by a mother’s rage and a father’s failings, a woman who learns early that survival is built on silence, quick wit, and scars that make their own stories.

From dirtcastles and My Little Ponies in a broken sandbox to the jagged truths of addiction, betrayal, and grief, Clovis is a searing coming-of-age story that refuses to look away. Told in Callie’s fierce, unsparing voice, this novel peels back the layers of a fractured family and a girl growing into a woman who must reconcile the violence of her past with the possibility of joy.

This is not a story that’s been polished for comfort. It’s gritty, unapologetic, and laced with dark humor, the kind of book that makes you laugh even as it cracks your chest wide open. Annie Dike writes with a brutal lyricism, spinning childhood memories, hospital confessions, and adult reckonings into a narrative as raw and unrelenting as the New Mexico sun.

Clovis is for readers who crave stories that sting, who understand that family is never simple, and who know that sometimes the most beautiful truths rise up from the ugliest dirt.

If you’ve ever loved someone who both saved and broke you, this book will find you. And it won’t let you go.

Annie Dike writes raw, relatable fiction, based loosely on her life and adventures. While she has written numerous legal treatises, multiple Amazon #1Best-Selling Sailing Books, and articles for SAIL Magazine and her travel blog—www.havewindwilltravel.com—Clovis is her debut literary fiction novel. Annie grew up in Clovis, New Mexico and is an attorney by profession. She works remotely and has spent the last decade cruising the east coast of the United States and the eastern Caribbean with her partner, Phillip, on their 46-foot sailboat.