A friend from years ago inspired a Portage la Prairie author's newest book.

Terrie Todd's eighth release, April's Promise, follows the story of three sisters: Emmaleen; Bernadette; and April. 

"The youngest learns she is actually the biological daughter of the oldest and the secret has been kept for years. The rest of the book is the unfolding of how this secret comes out," Todd says of her latest book. 

"I had a friend years ago whose siblings were quite a bit older than her and at some point in her teen years, a couple of her brothers started telling her that her oldest sister was actually her birth mother. I don't know how long that went on, but she never pursued it, she never tried to find out she just believed that they were just fooling with her." This urged Todd to be curious and always stuck with her. 

"I would want to know so I just sort of picked up on that. That did happen to a lot of people especially back then. Now things are more open. Even when a grandparent raises a child, everyone knows the situation. There was so much shame back then, this is set in the '30s and '40s. It was important to keep that very secret." 

Last month, Todd learned that her previous release, Lilly's Promise, won contemporary fiction and best overall book of the year in the Word Guild Awards which is the Canada-wide organization for Christian writers.  

To celebrate the launch of the book, Todd will be hosting a come-and-go book launch party at the Portage la Prairie Library on Sat. Oct. 21 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. You can purchase the book or any of her other books there. One dollar from every book sold on Saturday will be going to the Portage Pregnancy Centre. 

They're also available on Amazon. 

Check out the full interview below.