Award Winning Novelist's New Book Brings Focus to the Forgotten Survivors of Hurricane Katrina

Mississippi native and award winning novelist Michael Holloway Perronne announces the release of what he considers his most personal book yet, Embrace the Rain, a novel which explores post-Hurricane Katrina life in the small coastal town of Long Beach, Mississippi.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 8, 2008 -- Mississippi native and award winning novelist Michael Holloway Perronne announces the release of what he considers his most personal book yet, Embrace the Rain, a novel which explores post-Hurricane Katrina life in the small coastal town of Long Beach, Mississippi.

"Almost three years later the area is very much in recovery," Perronne, a coastal Mississippi native, says. "As much as I love, and will always love the city of New Orleans, the complete and utter devastation of many coastal Mississippi towns was virtually ignored by the national media. It's one of the reasons that I felt compelled to tell the story of the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the forgotten survivors of the storm."

Almost three years later the area is very much in recovery

Perronne himself felt compelled to leave his home in Los Angeles to move back to the area last summer to spend some time with his family. "During the storm, days went by when I didn't know how members of my family were doing and if they had even survived. All I could do was watch the news coverage to get some sort of sense of what the situation was down there."

The book also explores some of the cultural and demographic changes the area is facing with an influx of Latinos since Katrina. "It's fascinating what's happening there now. You take an area which culturally has not seen much change in an extended period of time and almost hit a fast-forward button. I think it's been good for the area's citizens to be exposed to new cultures, but I can also see it's been a struggle for some." It's this struggle that's highlighted in the book and told through the eyes of the Mexican-American Santos family who moves to Long Beach, Mississippi after Katrina due to the exploding construction industry.

In Embrace the Rain, a forbidden teen romance and the violent act of a desperate boy forever binds a community. One year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the small coastal town of Long Beach, Mississippi, two families with deep roots in its Southern traditions are desperately trying to rebuild the way of life they have always known. But some, including the Mexican-American Santos family, are bringing a large dose of previously all-but-unknown cultures to this insular community. In this emotionally charged novel, three families struggle to find the beauty that can arise from the worst of nightmares.

Michael Holloway Perronne's debut novel, A Time Before Me, was a finalist in Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year Award in 2006. His other works include Starstuck: A Hollywood Saga and Falling Into Me. Originally from the South Mississippi and New Orleans area, Michael now calls Los Angeles home and is hard at work on his next novel, A Big Easy Christmas. For more information on Embrace the Rain, please visit the book's website at www.embracetherainnovel.com or www.michaelhperronne.com.

Embrace the Rain
ISBN-13: 978-0981718613
ISBN-10: 0981718612
Publication Date: April 2008, Retail Price: $13.95, Publisher: Chances Press

Wholesale- Available from Ingram Book Group- Standard discounts/ returnable.
Retail- Available from on-line book retailers, on order at any bookstore, or visit http://www.michaelhperronne.com for more information.

Media Contacts- including to request review copies and interviews:
(818) 687-0694

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