Interview from New Hampshire Authors Directory

 

Q. What inspired the settings you use in your books?A. The York beaches, Cape Neddick, and Kittery, Maine, along with Downtown Portsmouth, NH, are locations that fill my soul. As a child, I’d travel from Ohio to see family each summer; then after graduating, I moved to Maine. These areas formed and enriched who I am today. My first date with my husband of 44 years was at Long Sands Beach in York, and my independence and first jobs were in Kittery and Portsmouth. The seacoast is my happy place, so when it came time to pick a setting, I felt there could be no other choice.

Q. Are any parts of your books drawn from your own life experiences?

A. I’m a people watcher, and I glean from those around me as well as my life experiences, so I may bring my stories to life and ring true. None of my storylines are based on my life per se, but snippets of events within my life chart the course of my writings.

Q. What message or feeling do you hope readers take away from your work?

A. My goal is always to create a work that can move my readers from the trials that life throws at them to feeling a sense of hope and healing. Life is hard. We’ve all faced the death of loved ones, trials, and heartache, so I don’t shy away from hard subjects; I face them head on in my books. However, it’s how each character navigates their circumstances that I focus on. They can move on and let go of past hurts, or they can stay stuck. Hopefully, my readers will become inspired to move forward, as they relate to each character’s journey.

Q. Are you more of a planner when writing, or do you discover the story as you go?

A. I am a pantser writer; I write by the seat of my pants, which I love because I get surprised to see where the storylines take me. It’s true that our characters speak to us, often in our sleep, so I listen to them. I do, however, have a general idea of the main character’s issues, and I have somewhat of a backstory in mind for each, but the words form as I go; I write linier. Jumping around and writing chapters out-of-order makes my brain hurt, so I go back and adjust after the first draft is done. When it’s time to make revisions and edits, the magic happens.

Q. Did any part of any of your stories surprise you while you were writing it?

A. This happens to me all the time. In one instance, I wrote a scene where one of my characters, Janice, panics and demands Vincent to stop the car on the side of the road. The two characters get out of the vehicle and stand on an embankment overlooking the ocean. The night sky is bright with stars, and I was trying to think of a song that could play on the car’s radio. The lyrics, starry, starry night popped into my head, which seemed fitting, but what hit me was that the title of the song was “Vincent.” I definitely did not intend this coincidence.

One more instance comes to mind. In Hope from Daffodils, I thought one character would no longer be part of the storyline, but she had other intensions. This was one of many times I was grateful I listened to the promptings because I can’t imagine the book without her continued presence.

Q. How important is humor in the books you write?

A. Everyone needs a good laugh to release tension because laughter, as they say, is good medicine.

Q. What feedback from readers has meant the most to you?

A. Hearing I’ve affected someone’s life who was struggling with past pain…such as the death of a loved one, Alzheimer’s, suicide, foster care, PTSD, insecurities, fears, estrangement, etc. moves me because this is my number one goal to open the door to forgiveness, love, laughter, and healing. Having readers thank me for helping them through their most vulnerable life circumstances lifts my spirit and keeps me writing. I don’t simply want my books to be read and forgotten; I want them to be impactful in a gentle and caring way.

One other email I received blessed me more than I could ever have imagined. A woman reached out to me to tell me her mother had passed away, and she wanted me to know that my stack of books was on her mother’s nightstand because they were her favorites, and she’d read them over, and over again.

Q. If you could share one piece of encouragement with aspiring authors, what would it be?

A. Don’t give up because you have a story to tell that people need to hear.

Q. Which of your characters would make the worst roommate?

A. Cynthia, in Hope from Daffodils because she was in prison 😉

Q. What is the oddest piece of research you’ve done for a book?

A. I once called York’s fire chief to see if it was legal to burn down a barn if it was on my property. After much back and forth, I had to convince him I was only using the information for my book, as he was exceedingly concerned I might actually set my “non-existent” barn ablaze.