This is a story for anyone who’s ever had to smile and keep working while their spirit quietly died. For anyone who’s given everything and gotten nothing in return. For anyone who’s watched their world collapse and laughed through tears at the wreckage.
This is My Second Novel
An emotional, thematically-layered, vibey work of upmarket literary fiction about the struggles, drama, and joys of five family members in small-town Michigan. Imagine if a Sally Rooney novel and a Gilmore Girls season had a baby and raised them on Great Lakes grit and beauty. Expect wisdom, wit, heartache, and hope.
Meet the Characters
Holly—wife, mother
She’s finally chasing her dream, but it tests her at every turn, leaving her to question how much we shape our world versus how much our world shapes us.
Jason—husband, father
He’s adrift in a life he feels no longer needs him, until a surprise visitor helps him see new purpose—and new perspective on parts of his past that still haunt him.
Nora—daughter, sister
Love ignites this artist’s creativity and blurs the lines between truth and illusion, pushing her to transform pain into art—and herself into something fiercely new.
Casey—son, brother
A hopeful heart in a guarded world, he’s searching for something real—and learning that love, like life, rarely follows a clear blueprint.
Sharon—mother, grandmother
Some unexpected turns bring this matriarch and artist back to long-abandoned what-ifs, and a new question: what now?
These are some of my favorite lines so far:
Though they’d been dating for three months, time sometimes still spun around hazily like in a dream when he spoke to her close and attentively.
On their second and third dates, she didn’t notice the restaurant or the Barnes & Noble had been shutting down around them while they were talking. It was surreal—as if she blinked, and suddenly, everyone was gone besides them and a couple workers still completing their closing tasks, and nearly all the lights were turned off. She’d be able to recall his every word, gesture, and facial expression later, but not the sequence in which the different parts of their conversation occurred or how long they were having it.
That’s how it was again. Everything beyond Levi’s presence blurred into oblivion.
- Nora
About Me
My name is MJ Biggs. I have one published novel, A Wonderful Place To Die, and own a book editing business called Night Owl Fiction. My professional writing and editing experience spans over a decade.
I write stories about the longing, aching, perseverance, and hope of the American spirit—about ordinary people with extraordinary depth in their souls. It means the world to me to be able to share my stories with you.