Hi, I'm Zivie Owens, and you're listening to the award-winning podcast, Moms don't have time to read books.

Thanks so much for listening to my podcast. If you like what you hear, please follow me on Instagram at Zibi Owens and also at Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.

Today's sponsor is Blue Land Cleaning. Blue Land is an eco-friendly cleaning products company on a mission

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Donna Hemans, born in Jamaica, is the author of award-winning novel River Woman and most

recently, Tea by the Sea. Her short fiction has been featured in Caribbean writer,

witness, and other publications in anthologies. She received her undergraduate degree from Fordham

University and her MFA from American University. She currently lives in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Welcome, Donna. Thanks for coming on. Moms and have time to read books.

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

No, it's a pleasure. Can you please tell listeners what Tea by the Sea is about?

Well, it's a story about a young mother whose baby was taken from her at birth and her search to find this child.

That was very concise.

How did you come up with the idea for this book?

Well, I initially started writing a story or just a short piece about a woman who goes to a church and refuses to leave.

And after I wrote that, I had to figure out why she would not want to leave this church,

what, you know, she was looking for.

And so a few weeks after writing that first piece, I happened to be in Jamaica.

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