1.At what age did you know you wanted to write?
I am a Southerner and Southerners are born Storytellers, so I was probably
born with the gene. However, I didn’t realize it until I was in my
twenties. I studied art and started my career as a designer for a
packaging company. At one point I asked the Sales Rep for copy to use on
the back of the package and he said, “Just make something up.” I did, and
a career was born. I wrote for business for a number of years before I
turned to fiction.
2.Who are your favorite Authors?
I don’t have favorite authors as much as I have favorite books and the
funny thing is they are across the board in diversity. I enjoy any book
that is well-written and has characters I care about. Some of those at the
top of my list include, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone with the Wind, The
Night Circus, Garden Spells, The Wishing Thread, A Dog’s Purpose and so
many more. I almost always enjoy books by Anne Tyler and John Grisham, but
never read them one after the other. I think finding the work of a new
author is always an exciting adventure.
3.Do you have a writing routine? If so, what is it?
I write almost every day and I am my most creative in the morning. I try
not to get on social media until late afternoon, because it truly is my
guilty pleasure and I can easily spend 2 or 3 hours chatting with friends
on Facebook and Goodreads.
4.What is your favorite book?
Oh, that’s almost impossible to decide. I guess I would say To Kill a
Mockingbird – it is very like Spare Change (a USA Today Bestseller of
mine) and I love both books because in each of them there is boy
protagonist who absolutely steals you heart away.
5.As a reader I often think of how I would have ended books
differently (if I did not care for an ending/or if the ending is
ambiguous)Do you, as a writer, ever think, as you are reading, how you
would have written the book differently?
Absolutely. It is almost impossible to turn off the ‘writer’ portion of
your brain. This is particularly true if the book has a weak plot or
poorly defined characters. I find myself broadening the personality of
the characters I am reading about. This is much less likely to happen in a
book that is well-written and has believable characters.
6.Do you think being an Author makes you more critical of other
Authors books? Â Or, are you more supported of their books because you know
what goes into the process of writing?
Both. I think internally I am more demanding of books, but I am also
kind-hearted to a fault and absolutely will not undermine another author’s
work. I can appreciate all the hard work that goes into writing a book and
that effort alone deserves a reader’s respect.
7.Out of the books you have written, what is your favorite?
Because I write in a few different styles it is impossible to say. How can
I compare the 11 year old boy in Spare Change with the 90 year old woman
in Memory House. They have both touched my heart as have the characters
from several other books I’ve written. The story can change, but it is the
heart of a character that I usually come to love.
8.What inspires you to write what you write?
Mostly people. There is a unique beauty in people and each person is
different. When someone tells me a story about their life it stays in my
head for a very long time.
9.Are your story lines (or characters) ever based on people
and/or situations in your life? If so, how do people react to that?
Most of my characters are not based on a single person, but are a
compilation of the characteristics of many different people. Also I
include a disclaimer in every book stating that the characters and story
are fictional.
10.You write a particular genre, what draws you to this genre?
The genres I write in are also the genre’s I read. It’s what I enjoy most.
11.I once read an article where a pop artist said she sings Pop songs
but does not enjoy listening to pop music herself, she likes an entirely
different genre. Do you feel this way about writing?
No. I like to read books that are somewhat similar to what I write – at
least in that they are heartwarming stories, often with a life affirming
ending.
12.How long does it take you to write a book?
Anywhere from 3 months to a year. Very rarely have I written anything
faster than that – and that doesn’t include all of the editing, etc.
13.Reading is an escape for me. I love to relax and read. What do you
do to relax?
Read, float around the pool and play with the dog.
14.More and more people are reading on their kindles, has this impacted
how you write? What you earn? How your books are promoted?
It greatly impacts sales and marketing. I love that the author can sell
books for a much lower price on Kindle and other e-readers because there
is no printing, production, inventory stocking and shipping, so the reader
gets the savings – which I believe is a boon to the entire industry