Hollow Cove Lore Drop #1: It Started with a Turnip

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A turnip is an awkward vegetable. I find this endearing.

Carve a face into one, put a little light inside, and suddenly it looks like something that’s been waiting by the garden gate to tell you a secret. Possibly a complaint. It’s difficult to be certain with turnips.

I’d known for years about the tradition of carving turnip lanterns that came before the familiar pumpkin jack-o-lantern. Apparently, that little piece of knowledge was waiting for its moment.

When I asked myself, “How did Gideon die?” it popped into my head like a little lantern light.

An unfortunate moment for Gideon. A promising one for the story.

I loved the handmade charm of Sam carving lanterns for her neighbors, choosing each expression and delivering something meant to brighten an autumn evening. But what made the story click was imagining how she would feel if someone used her art to cause harm.

Something she’d made with care had become part of someone else’s cruelty. Finding out what happened would matter to her in a deeply personal way. I could feel why she would need the truth, even when looking for it became uncomfortable.

That gave me the heart of A Turnip for the Worse: an artist with questions she can’t leave alone, a coastal town full of peculiar people, and friendship and warmth amid the secrets.

All from a vegetable with a face.

Six handmade gifts. One dead neighbor. An unfortunate turnip.

You can find A Turnip for the Worse on Amazon.

What’s an unusual fact that has stayed tucked away in your mind for years?