How long will this last? Can it get any worse? How much longer can we hold out? Where is the next mortgage payment, utility bill or car note coming from? These have become all too familiar questions during economically uncertain times...questions that few people thought about prior to 2008.

But questions like these, coupled with a background in social sciences and history, brought about Roy LeBlanc's lastest book, “Someplace Better.” Fairhope artist, Nall, provided a mixed media piece for the book cover, and will hold a signing at his studio from 6 to 8 p.m. May 3 in conjunction with ArtWalk. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Stray Love Foundation and the animals it helps.

LeBlanc said his book deals with possible future outcomes of continued economic crisis.

“It's basically a comibation of political collapse and financial collapse viewed from the individual on street who had been successful in capitalism, then all that changed,” he revealed. “It's about what it would be like for middle class families if everything did collapse.”

Nall explained his own reading experience of “Someplace Better.”

“ It started like a regular book about a student who goes to school in investment banking in Louisiana,” he began. “Right in the middle of the book, he goes into the future and predicts it getting worse and worse with big banks leading us down a narrow path of destruction. He went into it as if it were actually happening — the crime, murders, and what will happen if these poor people don't have food and what they'll do to survive.”

He said the book pulls a reaction from the reader.

“It takes the wind out of you as an American,” Nall admitted. “He doesn't spare any punches. It's very astute and very courageous putting it all out there like he did.”

LeBlanc said that he remembers writing during his studies at Tulane and that he's always used it as a type of release.

“I've always been interested in writing,” he offered. “I have a very stressful job in investment banking. I spend a lot of nights and weekends writing as a stress relief.

LeBlanc said that he'd met Nall at a benefit for the Stray Love Foundation last year. He became a collector of Nall's work.

Nall recalled that he'd already completed this artwork when LeBlanc approached him about using it for the cover of his book.

“I did the cover before I read the book,” he divulged. “It's a tree in front of my house — the tree is like a monument of the Eastern Shore and the South, and everything that's Southern. That's how I did the drawing and the frame. He (LeBlanc) liked it so much and asked if he could use it as the cover. I'm thrilled to be on the cover of such an intelligent book.”

LeBlanc explained that Nall's piece spoke to him because of historical connections to the live oak that are interwoven into his story.

As in his first book, “The Creole Son,” about his growing up in New Orleans, Creole and Cajun elements work their way into LeBlanc's writing.

“In the book, as in Cajun culture, the live oak is sacred,” LeBlanc revealed. “In swampy areas and marshes, there's usually an area on higher ground, called a cheniere, that protects families and houses. It's in art and culture going back hundreds of years.”

He said that the tree's connection with the main character gives the story it's deep roots and growth.

“The oak tree gives him (the character) comfort and strength,” he shared. “Through ins and outs of misfortunes, the oak is strong.”

The book signing will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. May 3 at Nall's studio in Fairhope, 414 Equality Ave. For more on “Something Better” or “The Creole Son,” visit www.RoyLeBlanc.net; for more on Nall's artwork, visit www.NallArt.com.