Echoes of the Past
A Novel in Thirteen Stories
by Tracy Yvette Lee
In the heart of Watts, California, music remembers what people try to forget.
When young jazz singer Katherine “KC” Livingston steps onto the stage of the Blue Note, her voice awakens more than applause – it stirs the spirit of Aunt Shirley, a woman whose blues once filled the same streets and whose secrets were buried beneath them.
What begins as a melody becomes a haunting. A song called “Mama’s Hand” weaves through generations, binding the living and the dead – KC, her best friend Marian, and Miles Sinclair, the troubled son of a notorious madam whose sins still echo through time.
Told through thirteen interconnected stories, Echoes of the Past is a tapestry of music, memory, and redemption. It’s a story of women who carried the weight of love and loss in their hands – and a song that refused to be silenced.
Rich with porch talk wisdom and the rhythm of gospel and jazz, this debut novel by Tracy Yvette Lee honors the voices of mothers, daughters, and dreamers who turned their pain into poetry and their faith into song.
Shine Ain’t the Same as Light
In Shine Ain’t the Same as Light, Tracy Yvette Lee delivers a bold, heartfelt, and unforgettable story about the blurred lines between appearance and authenticity, love and betrayal, ambition and integrity. Set against the backdrop of family secrets, complicated friendships, and the search for purpose, this novel explores what happens when a woman dares to confront the illusions around her—and within herself.With razor-sharp dialogue, relatable characters, and moments that are as raw as they are redemptive, this book is both an intimate portrait and a universal call to stop settling for “shine” when what we really need is light.Perfect for readers who love dramatic twists, layered relationships, and stories about healing and self-discovery, Shine Ain’t the Same as Light will leave you reflecting on your own journey—and the power of choosing truth over pretense.
The Daye the Deacon Left Brenda Daye’s Rainy Day StoriesSome departures are loud. Others arrive like rain.When Deacon Daye walks away—from the church, from expectation, from the life everyone thought was settled—Brenda Daye is left to sit with the questions his absence stirs. What happens to faith when the people we trust disappear? What happens when prayers feel unanswered, and God seems silent?Told through intimate reflections, rainy-day conversations with God, and moments of quiet reckoning, The Daye the Deacon Left follows Brenda as she learns that belief isn’t always polished or certain. Sometimes it sounds like complaint. Sometimes it looks like doubt. Sometimes it arrives in fragments, whispered instead of spoken aloud.Written in a voice that feels like porch talk—honest, tender, and unafraid of unfinished thoughts—this story explores faith as lived, not performed. It is about grief that doesn’t announce itself, forgiveness that takes time, and the kind of spiritual growth that happens when everything familiar shifts.For readers who appreciate character-driven stories, reflective prose, and faith explored with humility rather than certainty, The Daye the Deacon Left is an invitation to sit with the rain long enough to hear what it has to say.For anyone who had to learn how to forgive the rain.