Maureen Lang’s heroine interview

» Posted on Nov 25, 2008 in Blog | Comments Off on Maureen Lang’s heroine interview


If you want to be entered in the drawing for the book My Sister Dilly by Maureen Lang, please leave a comment with your email (I need this to contact you if you win) or email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawing ends Sunday evening.

Interview with the heroine of My Sister Dilly:

1.Hannah Williams, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

Wow, what a hard question. I’ve spent the last half-dozen years or more worrying about my sister (Dilly) that I guess all of a sudden talking about myself seems strange. You want to know something about me? Well, I’m an investment counselor and if that sounds boring all I can say is it’s great to see hard my work rewarded. I’m pretty good at what I do, so I’m very secure—financially. Of course a lot of my success is because I’ve had the best partner in the business, Mac. He can charm anyone into trusting us with their money. Gotta’ love him for that . . . well, not that I love him, of course. Love is a very special thing. I do love him, but as a friend, you know? We’re just friends, that’s all…really…

2.What do you do for fun?

Fun? I work. I was taught that work is a gift, that work comes before any and all kind of play, and no one could really enjoy life while there’s work to be done. I haven’t even taken a vacation in six years. I’ve saved and invested the extra vacation pay. I have important things to do with the money I earn. Making sure Dilly and her daughter never have to worry about security is a big responsibility, one I don’t take lightly. Of course she never asked me to do this, but it’s the least I can do since I let her down when she needed me most.

3.What do you put off doing because you dread it?

Talking about serious issues. About faith. About love. About guilt. Whenever any of those topics come up in my mind, I just shoo them away. I work instead.

4.What are you afraid of most in life?

Everyone around me finding out how badly I let my sister down, how selfish I am to have gone off and left her behind in that town I hated. Why did I do it?

5.What do you want out of life?

The first thought that comes to mind is that I want Dilly to be happy, and I do. But more than that I want her to forgive me for letting her down. I want the past never to have happened. Of course, I wouldn’t really talk about any of that out loud. What I’d say if someone asked me to my face is that I want what everyone else wants: to get married someday—after I’ve made up for letting Dilly down.

6.What is the most important thing to you?

Making sure Dilly is okay. No price to pay is too great, because I was too selfish to see the signs of just how bad she had it all those years ago. I’d do anything for her and her daughter.

7.Do you read? If so, what is your favorite type of book to read?

Non-fiction. First, investment books. Then I love cookbooks. I love to cook, so I absolutely love exploring new, healthy recipes.

8.If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would change my past, and in so doing change my sister Dilly’s past. I wouldn’t have left her behind, and then she never would have done what she did.
But oh, if you mean something physical…I’d grow about four inches. Everybody in my family is short, and just once I’d like to see what it’s like to be tall. To be able to reach the high cabinets in my kitchen without standing on a stool, step ladder or chair.

9.Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

I don’t have a pet now, but I did when I was a kid. Well, it wasn’t really a pet. It was a pig that I trained to enter for Grand Champion. I named her Chloe and she was wonderful! So eager to please. She walked right by my side, all along the field behind the hog sheds, up and down. I adored her. And she won! I was so proud of her.
But my dad sent her off to be slaughtered, just like all the other pigs he raised. Ever since then I haven’t let myself get attached to a pet of any kind.

10.If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

Without a doubt, I’d go back to that night—the night Dilly did what she did. I’d tell her I was there to help, that she didn’t have to raise her daughter all by herself any more. I’d tell her that her husband was a jerk anyway and she could do without him, she wouldn’t miss him. I’d tell her I could learn to take care of her daughter, that I’d get over my fears of taking care of someone so medically fragile. Together we could make it through.
Because if I could do that, Dilly wouldn’t have ended up spending six years in prison. I could have saved her from that, I know I could have.