Welcome to Friday Reads!
There’s a giveaway for a print copy of The Dogwood Gospel by Cindy Morgan, courtesy of the publisher. (US ONLY!) Enter by using the Gleam link at the bottom of the post. (Contest ends October 24, 2026.) If you’re the chosen winner, I’ll contact you for your information to pass along to the publisher.
About the book…
Kentucky, 1954. Sixteen-year-old Charlie has no memory of being abandoned as a toddler―only the life she’s known with Mama Rose and Papa Arlo, the rigidly devout couple who raised her as their own. But when Papa Arlo’s rules begin pressing tighter by the day, and Mama Rose reveals a long-buried secret, Charlie realizes the truth of her past lies elsewhere. So she runs.
Disguised as a boy and dreaming of a future beyond the hills, Charlie follows the Ohio River to the Southland Carnival, where her fiery red curls and daring trick riding skills catch the owner’s eye, and Charlie is transformed into a featured act. As “The Irish Princess,” she soars beneath the Big Top, thrilling crowds and finding family among the carnival’s kindhearted misfits and wounded souls.
Back in the hills of rural Kentucky, police chief Curtis Cates has his hands full with the disappearance of three local girls when he receives the call that Charlie has gone missing. As he begins investigating, the evidence leads in a shocking direction, calling to mind an unsolved murder that has haunted him for thirteen years. When the trail takes him to the Southland Carnival, Charlie’s hard-won freedom collides with the secrets she fled, forcing both of them to face truths that have waited too long to be told.
Q&A with Cindy…
Q: Your story blends coming-of-age with mystery. What drew you to intertwine Charlie’s personal journey with a darker, suspenseful storyline?
A: I’ve always been a fan of books that combine good character development with a plot that keeps the story moving forward. Charlie’s story has so many unanswered questions which needed investigating. I lived next door to a police officer and investigator for ten years. He was the inspiration for Chief Cates. I enjoyed diving into his world on Charlie’s behalf.
Q: This novel was inspired in part by your own aunt’s experience in a traveling circus. How did her story shape the world you created and influence Charlie’s journey?
A: Yes, my Aunt Bill (yes, I said Bill) left home at sixteen to join the circus. She went on to travel with different carnivals as a sword-box girl, target girl for the knife thrower, and a snake wrangler. I always wondered what made her leave the security of home for a world that was unstable, and often dangerous. Why do people leave the safety of home? We graduate, pack up the car, and go search out a purpose for our lives. But if you had no idea of your past, I think that would be a perpetual itch you would always be trying to scratch. I know a lot of adopted adults who still have so many unanswered questions. I just wanted to explore that idea with Charlie and give her the answers I’m not sure my aunt ever got.
Q: What does the world of the traveling carnival represent for Charlie, and why was it the right backdrop for this story?
A: Charlie doesn’t belong anywhere, with the exception of maybe her relationship to Bobby and also to Fiona. She has too many unanswered questions to ever feel like she can move on with her life without second-guessing herself. Many people live their lives feeling like they don’t belong, which often leads to a feeling of isolation, desperation, and poor decisions. In the heyday of the big railroad carnival, the main attraction was often the outcasts of normal society, but these outcasts found a sense of belonging among each other in the world of the Southland carnival. I had a feeling Charlie would find a home there, and of course get some answers.
Q: Charlie spends much of the novel hiding her identity. How did you approach writing her internal struggle between safety and authenticity?
A: Fear is an incredible motivator. So is anger. I have never lived in a scenario where I felt that I had no choice in the decisions for my own life. But that was what Charlie faced with Arlo’s dominance and Rose’s chosen helplessness. I think Charlie’s desperation for independence (which I very much relate to) would have made it worth hiding her identity for the sake of ultimately getting her freedom. I don’t think she was resentful of having to hide her identity. I think she always knew the point of why she was doing that and that it would ultimately lead to her independence.
Q: Curtis Cates is investigating multiple disappearances while confronting a long-unsolved case. How does his storyline mirror or contrast with Charlie’s journey?
A: I think the disappearances of the other girls mirror Charlie’s story in that they were also in search of something they couldn’t quite name. Father & mother wounds, and cultural downgrading of women made them easy pickings for someone who promised them answers for what they were looking for. If you’re thirsty enough and you crawl toward a mirage, if there’s no water, you’ll drink the sand. The contrast in there is that Charlie left of her own free will, with a plan. These girls were manipulated and kidnapped to be trafficked. Charlie’s lack of trust in people served her well.
Q: Found family plays a powerful role in the book. What do you hope readers take away about belonging and the idea of “home”?
A: “Found family” is a term I love. Growing up in a close-knit Southern family, I think the blood family was held up, almost religiously, but as I have travelled and heard so many stories from people’s lives—many people find their only safe option is to escape their family, or at the very least, create healthy boundaries when family members are unsafe. Found family is a very important part of how we survive and thrive in the world. Sometimes it’s easier to grow and mature without someone who knows all of your baggage hovering at your shoulder, and making you stay in the mold they would like to keep you in. But in a healthy family, no one is more loyal or comforting than those who know everything about you and your story and accept and love you no matter what. Home is where you are surrounded by those who understand you and love you for all that are—good and bad.
Thanks for being here, Cindy. I’m sure my readers enjoyed learning more about your latest release!
About Cindy…
Cindy Morgan is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter and author. Her debut novel, The Year of Jubilee, was nominated for a Christy Award in General Fiction and an Audie Award for its audiobook performance. She is
also the recipient of the prestigious Songwriter of the Year honor and the 2024 Hollywood Independent Music Award for her single “Jubilee,” featuring Tommy Sims, from the companion soundtrack The Sounds of Jubilee.
Morgan is a two-time Grammy nominee and a fourteen-time Dove Award
winner—including the 2023 Inspirational Album of the Year for her work as a producer. She also received a 2024 Music in Media Award nomination for Documentary Song of the Year for “Pain Has a Purpose.” With twenty-one number-one radio singles, she has written songs for an extensive list of artists, including Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Sierra Hull, Sandra McCracken, India.Arie, Rachael Lampa, Rascal Flatts, Echosmith, Ricky Skaggs, Glen Campbell, Mandisa, Natalie Grant, and many others.
Morgan is the co-creator of the charitable Hymns for Hunger Tour with longtime collaborator Andrew Greer, raising awareness and support for hunger relief organizations worldwide. For the past decade, she has partnered with Operation Song, which pairs professional songwriters with veterans navigating PTSD to help them process their stories through music.
Most recently, Morgan has collaborated with City Gate and Hope in the Gate, writing songs that give voice to the stories of unhoused individuals across America. She also recently hosted her first annual songwriting intensive, The Troubadour Storyteller’s Retreat, alongside her daughters, Cova Gentry and Savannah Shepherd, who are also writers.
Morgan is married to Jonathan, an attorney and songwriter.
Rules for the giveaway can be found here.
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