Smashwords Interview

After migrating to Draft2Digital, my Smashwords interview was retired. Here it is, and I will endeavor to remember to update it as new novels are released!

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?

I was completely captivated by Jean de Brunhoff's Babar the Elephant, from his green suit to how he could drive a car. The book was printed in cursive writing, which also seemed magical. Of all the storybooks from my childhood, Babar has never left my imagination, stoking it to the present day (although I have never written about an elephant in a green suit).

When did you first start writing?

In 2006, my oldest child mentioned National Novel Writing Month, and that I might enjoy it. Funny how one's offspring can sense even the deepest desires, perhaps it was all the time spent together homeschooling. But that wasn't when I actually began writing. Like many authors, I always hoped to pen The Great American Novel.

The moment that I realized telling stories was imperative to my well-being came in 1992, watching Callie Khouri accept the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Thelma and Louise. From that day, ideas flew but as the mum of three small children, there seemed no time to scribble much more than a grocery list. I did manage a screenplay based on my tenure at beauty college, but scripts weren't my calling. It took over a decade to find the time and impetus to write a novel, but in the interim I scratched out countless journal entries, a few poems, and of course more grocery lists. Yet my daughter seemed to note my love for writing, and when she mentioned NaNoWriMo, I had found the outlet for all those authorial dreams. And maybe having just turned forty might have had something to do with it too.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?

I was born and raised in Northern California, and while that heritage colours my work, the biggest influence was the eleven years I resided in Yorkshire, England. It was there I participated in my first NaNoWriMo, my arm only slightly twisted by my then seventeen-year-old eldest daughter. Somehow, all my fictional dreams coalesced in Great Britain, where my first published novel was written and set. Moving back to California six months later, I finished that story, and the rest of the writing snowballed from there. England remains dear to my heart for many reasons, but especially in finally freeing that long-held dream of becoming a writer.

What is the greatest joy of writing for you?

I have more plots than sense, so writing keeps me sane. But that's not the only thrill (and blessing); when I write, I'm exploring a previously unconsidered idea. I'm liberating characters that tend to spill over into my life. (How many times do I find myself mumbling story lines while in the shower or driving?) Everyone has a calling, and from the time I realized it would take way too long to become an obstetrician (not to mention I'm very squeamish), I wanted to write. Medicine and literature aren't mutually exclusive, but I tend to write about families, so maybe there is a correlation. Or perhaps it's birthing so many characters; I love creating lives, then tangling them into other existences. My writing is character-based, heavy with melodrama, and it's better to expend all that angst on hapless casts than within my own day-to-day.

What motivated you to become an indie author?

Love stories and family sagas are my stock and trade, but as I don't write the typical romance novel, and I include faith and social issues, my stories don't fit into traditional genres. Independent publishing is the best way to distribute my tales as I please and I am thankful to Smashwords for providing an outlet to share my stories with anyone interested.

What's the story behind your latest book?

Brave the Skies: The Hawk Book Two is available, continuing the saga of Eric and Lynne Snyder. In this installment, set in 1961 and early 1962, the Snyders both experience alterations while Sam Ahern relives some of his Korean War experiences. His wife Renee is shocked by his candor while Laurie Abrams reveals his cousin Seth Gordon also served in Korea. Women's fiction meets magical realism in this continuation of The Hawk, which like all my novels is FREE!

Far Away from Home: The Enran Chronicles Book Three is still nearly a new release. Written in late summer 2023, this sci-fi tale eerily hearkens to current events in America. The human Noth emerges from 2023 into a cosmos eight hundred years in the future, only to find many of the same limitations are enforced upon those made vulnerable back home. He teams up with other humans Sooz and Dardram as well as a crafty Donsaret named Squee, all hoping to affect change. Action and adventure collide with nefarious conspiracies in this sci-fi outing, available for FREE on Smashwords!

What inspires you to get out of bed each morning?

The notion of what another fascinating day will bring! The need to leisurely enjoy several cups of milky British tea is another, lol. Creativity spurs my heart, both for writing and indulging in my other passion, that of English paper piecing.

When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?

An improv, patchwork, and English paper piecing quilter, I read, watch baseball and basketball and a little bit of tennis, and listen to a vast array of musical artists from head-bangers to the smoothest jazz instrumentalists. Gardening occupies some of my spring and summer unless the grandkids are visiting, then it's all about hanging out with family. And when I get a free minute, I love to stroll along the beach or escape into The Redwoods.

Who are your favorite authors?

I was initially influenced by poet and author Richard Brautigan, also by John Irving, Amy Tan, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Joseph Girzone, and Brennan Manning. Indie authors like Dianne Gray, Julie K. Rose, Heather Domin, Gary Weston, Suzy Stewart Dubot, David H. Keith, Elizabeth Rowan Keith, and Barnaby Wilde capture my attention with their wit, grace, and entertaining styles. I also love a good travel story, especially by Dervla Murphy.

What are your favorite books, and why?

This list includes fiction and non-fiction.

1. In Watermelon Sugar, by Richard Brautigan, is a brief but poetic journey in an unnamed land where watermelons are a different colour every day. A shocking occurrence leads to tragedy amid the smallest rivers and the gaze of a wise old trout. Brautigan is at his finest in this beautiful novella that I have read and reread since I was in high school.

2. The Islandman, by Tomas O'Crohan, transported me from my Silicon Valley kitchen to Blasket Island off the coast of Ireland every time I sat to read. I was lost in another time and place until I closed up that book for the beautiful language employed, and the touching display of life from over one hundred years ago. Not a story I will ever forget.

3. Nobel Savages: The Olivier Sisters, by Sarah Watling, opened my eyes not only to an incredible collection of siblings, but to their place in history, that of pre-WWI England. Margery, Brynhild, Daphne, and Noel Olivier are a magnificent, at times troubled, often misunderstood, and always courageous collection of women who didn't bow to how ladies of that era were expected to exist, instead forging their own identities, which at times were entwined with each other. A beautiful and poignant recollection of four lives related and apart, ringing with love, sacrifice, and much bravery.

4. Letters & Papers From Prison, edited by Eberhard and Renate Bethge, begins like a novel as theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer finds himself arrested and incarcerated in spring of 1943 in Berlin, Germany. Corresponding with his parents, and receiving post from his large, close-knit family, Dietrich maintains all is well, yet when smuggled letters between Bonhoeffer and his best friend Eberhard Bethge are exchanged, deeper truths are revealed, both in Bonhoeffer's continued incarceration as well as Bethge's time as a soldier. Both pastors continue to support one another, as well as those they love, yet weeks turn to months, into years as WWII rages and Bonhoeffer remains behind bars. Magnificent as both a treatise on captivity as well as its Christian implications, and especially timely in 2025.

5. The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood, is included on this list due to my recent love of quilting. I've also added it because it's not merely about fabrics and seams, threads and quilt scores, but how life can be lived looking outside the box. Wood's innovative notions include setting aside the ruler, but there's more within this beautifully photographed book, Sara Remington's shots teeming with colour and excitement. This book solidified my decision to embrace improvisational quilting through Wood's liberated enthusiasm, be it focused on scores, shades, or sheets of fabric built strip by strip. Strongly recommended for quilters and non-quilters alike.