How did you come up with the idea to write your book?
I came up with the idea for the main character Jamison quite a while ago. A brief history: I am a physician (ophthalmologist) by training, and I pursued an MBA while working at the ophthalmology department at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. After graduating, I left medical practice to work at WebMD. My leaving medical practice set off a lot of concern and confusion with my family and friends. I wanted to write a book about my main character leaving practice and how that affected her and everyone around her. People used to find leaving medical practice after “spending all that time to get there” strange. But by the time I started writing the book, I had decided that the experience of switching careers like that would be part of her life, but not the primary goal of the book. And I went from there, though Jamison has much more drama in her life than me!
What have been some of the responses you have received regarding your book?
So far, so good. I have received a lot of positive feedback from my novel, as well as excellent reviews, including a glowing write-up from Midwest Book Review. Most reviewers have said that Homecoming Chaos was a fun read. Several readers have asked me to write a follow-up about some of the supporting characters or to write more about the romance between Jamison and Nick. And I am working on it!
What’s one fact about your book that might surprise people?
I am an only child. I have had a lifetime of listening to and observing sibling interactions including those of my cousins. I think I did a good job of conveying the sometime easygoing sibling relationships and the more fraught elements that can exist between siblings.
What other books are you working on and when will they be published?
I am trying to establish a rhythm of writing a novella, novel, novella, novel, and so on. I currently have a prequel novella to Homecoming Chaos (titled I Do CHAOS) that I have been giving away for free on my website, but I plan to move it to Amazon in 2024. I am now working on a novella about Nick and Jamison’s date (which could change) and novel #2 in the Chaos/Model MD Series. I would also like to have a Christmas novella for the 2024 holiday season. The plan is to publish all three in 2024; I am being aggressive!
Is there a message you’re trying to get across with your book?
D.W.: You can go home again, but home (and the people who live there) may not be the same as when you left. Be ready to adapt!
Title: Homecoming Chaos
Author: D.W. Brooks
Publisher: The Reboot LLC
Publication Date: November 21, 2023
Pages: 448
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Contemporary/African
American
BOOK
BLURB:
Jamie Scott’s life fell
apart four years ago when she broke off her engagement, turned down a dream
job, and went overseas to run away from her life. Now she’s back, but the
reunion is not without problems. She arrives home just in time to attend the
soiree her mother planned, but she’s not prepared for what she finds—a dead
employee in the parking lot.
Detective Nick
Marshall is assigned to the murder case at the forensics lab owned by Jamie’s
family. He meets the headstrong Jamie, but he has a job to do. And his
attraction to her… well, he’s a professional.
Jamie
knows the stakes are high. She has to face the past and save her parents’
business while dealing with her family drama and an uncertain future. She also
has to deal with Nick, who wants her out of the way of his investigation. But
fate keeps throwing them in one another’s paths… and into chaos that they both
want to avoid, but neither can seem to escape.
Buy Links:
Book Excerpt:
The sound of the flight attendant on the
loudspeaker startled Jamison Jones Scott out of her light sleep. Despite having
traveled frequently in her lifetime, she still couldn’t sleep comfortably on a
plane. The seat location— first-class or economy—didn’t make a difference. The
plane was nearing its destination, so the passengers needed to finish filling
out their declaration cards. Jamie was returning to Atlanta to stay at her
parents’ home with only the clothes on her back, a computer bag, the few items
of clothing in her duffel, and a stethoscope. She had nothing to declare.
Her seatmate appeared to be sleeping through the announcements.
Jamie was jealous. The four-year-old in front of her turned around and started
babbling excitedly in French. She must have noticed that Jamie was finally
awake. With her head still fuzzy from her nap, Jamie couldn’t completely follow
the child’s rapid words, but the gist was that she wanted something from Jamie.
Something about a playdate? Jamie smiled at the girl and hoped the girl’s
mother would intervene. No such luck; she was asleep as well. The child
eyeballed Jamie expectantly. Jamie realized she and the seatmate had started
this situation by playing with the dark-haired child while they were over the
ocean. Now, when she didn’t agree to the latest request, the little girl
scrunched up her face to cry.
“Nous atterrissons bientôt. Elle ne peut pas
aller avec vous,” Jamie’s seatmate answered, eyes still closed. “Mais vous
pourriez être en mesure de visiter. Je suis sûr qu’elle tu aimerait garder les
enfants.” He grinned.
Jamie gasped while the young girl clapped.
This guy had just volunteered her as a babysitter!
“Je suis désolé, mais il se trompe. Je ne
serai pas disponible,” Jamie stated. “Je parie qu’il a une surprise, pour toi.”
The child looked at Jamie’s seatmate for her present and clapped again. This
reply made him open his eyes.
“Qu’est-ce que c’est? Qu’est-ce que c’est?”
the child asked. Startled, her pregnant mother woke up and turned around in her
seat sheepishly.
I’m sorry, she mouthed. She made her eager daughter turn around in her
seat and asked her to leave the other passengers alone. The girl was
disappointed, but her mother handed her a shortbread, which made her forget the
people behind her.
Her seatmate smiled, opened his eyes, and
said, “I could have given her the stuffed bear I bought. I have a daughter the
same age.” He stretched gingerly. “I can’t wait to get home. I’ve been
traveling for too long. What about you? Looking forward to getting home?”
Jamie thought about her return to Atlanta. She
hadn’t been home in a while, so she wasn’t sure how she felt.
Revel in the chaos.
Revel in the chaos.
Revel in the chaos.
Jamie tried to live by this motto for most of
her life because her life seemed to invite chaos. She learned to expect—and
sometimes encourage—complications. As the plane taxied to a halt, she repeated
her motto to herself. This phrase, tattooed on her right hip, particularly
applied now.
The international terminal of
Hartsfield-Jackson Airport had changed since she was last there. Her brother,
Jonathan, would pick her up at the baggage claim—alone, she hoped, and not
sporting a clingy girlfriend. Time to re-acclimate and re-establish family
bonds. Dealing with an unknown woman in her face when she wanted to spend time
quietly with her brother wasn’t at the top of her to-do list.
As she waited in line to get through passport
control, she thought about how she got to this point—back in Atlanta after
several years abroad. She had spent two of those years working with the
non-profit organization Doctors Overseas. Jamie worked in several locations,
including the Central African Republic. She had her reasons for joining the
charitable organization; not all were altruistic, and she kept those to herself
during her entrance interview. The horrors she witnessed overseas helped her
put her personal chaos into perspective. She realized her issues were nothing
compared to what people endured in other parts of the world. This realization
allowed her to embrace her job and enjoy what she was doing, despite the
frequent threats of bodily harm. To help maintain her sanity while overseas,
she traveled a lot and spent six months in Italy working with a designer
friend.
The agent summoning her snapped her out of her
reverie. Handing over her passport, she said, “Nothing to declare. Coming back
home for my mother’s birthday and Christmas.”
At the check-in counter, the inspector
carefully examined her and her passport photo. Jamison understood the scrutiny.
At the time of that picture, she had been at the height of her glamor phase
with a history of modeling and a resulting, above-average concern about how she
looked. In medical school, she often showed up at rounds with perfectly coiffed
hair and more than a swipe of mascara and lip gloss.
But in Africa, those concerns fell away. Right
now, Jamie was makeup-free, and a baseball cap covered her hair. She was still
beautiful, but now it was a girl-next-door beauty. Jamie had high cheekbones,
almond-shaped dark brown eyes, a straight nose, a square jawline, and her
golden-brown skin was still smooth. She wasn’t stomping down runways anymore,
as in her past life, because she had shifted her priorities.
Her mother would hate it.
“Welcome to Atlanta,” the inspector said as
she stamped her passport. “Have a pleasant stay.”
About
the Author
The
author lives in Texas with her husband and children. She enjoys trying to stay
in shape, sporadically cooking, reading (still), writing, and working on her
blog. She is eternally grateful to the woman who donated a kidney to her over 5
years ago and continues to advocate for organ donation as much as she can.
Author Links
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