Please tell us about your new book.
RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY is the story of Will Morse, an ex-NFL player and Coca-Cola executive who experienced a traumatic breakdown after the dramatic suicide of his youngest daughter Trixie, an NCAA tennis champion. Will was accused of murder in Trixie’s death, but was able to clear himself of the charges. The ensuing scandal cost him his marriage, his job, and his relationship with his daughter Alicia, his only surviving child.

As the novel opens, Alicia makes a surprise visit to Will’s remote cabin in the Georgia mountains to announce that she is getting married. Will wants to rekindle his relationship with her daughter, especially once he learns that she is pregnant. However, Will fears that attending the wedding will bring up painful memories from his past, and lead to conflict with his ex-wife and her family, who still blame him for Trixie’s death.

Will develops a relationship with Dot Crawford, a literature professor, who makes a chance visit to his cabin. The relationship flowers into a romantic friendship, and Will begins to open up to Dot about his tragic past. But Will soon learns that Dot is not all that she appears to be.

On the eve of Alicia’s wedding, Will must confront the guilt and shame that he feels, and seek forgiveness for his actions that put Trixie in danger, and decide whether to reach out to Dot and forgive her for her betrayal.

What genre is it?
RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY is what I like to call “contemporary Southern Gothic.” It’s the story of the aftermath of a bloody family tragedy, set in the Atlanta area. But it’s set in the present day – the narrator has a remote mountain cabin where he seeks solace for his grief, but it comes equipped with a hot tub and a flat-screen television.  I hope it combines the raw emotion and longing of a traditional Southern Gothic novel with a modern sensibility.

Contemporary Southern Gothic? What kind of readers will it appeal to?
I hope that RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY appeals to anyone who has had a serious loss and has suffered grief and heartache. Make no mistake: this is a dark book. It deals with death and betrayal and depression. But there’s a strong message there about faith, and love, and redemption.

So it won’t leave us suicidal, would it?
I hope that people who take the time to discover RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY and stay with the book share a little bit of the joy and relief that Will Morse feels on his daughter’s wedding day.

Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love my book.
If you like the novels of Anne Tyler, you’ll love RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY. Tyler’s closely-written stories touch on the same issues of grief, depression, and coping.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
My only other published book is WORLD WAR B, a short humorous story that I wrote with my friend Ryan Garcia about the world and what it would be like without bacon. My other work is short fiction, published at McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and other online sites.

Can we find links to that from your site maybe?
Sure! My website is http://www.curtisedmonds.com/ – it mostly has links to my short fiction and book reviews, and the occasional blog post.

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
Twitter: @Curtis_Edmonds
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blueduck?ref=tn_tnmn.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a native Texan, living in rural New Jersey with my wife and twin daughters. I am an attorney by trade, specializing in disability law. I cook barbecue and read historical fiction when I can. I am the world’s leading authority on depressing country music.

What’s next?
I have two projects I am considering – one is a science-fiction novel about a mysterious distress signal, and the other one is a reworking of a novel I tried writing several years ago about a cross-country road trip.