Heroine Interview from Mountain Peril

» Posted on Mar 30, 2010 in Blog | Comments Off on Heroine Interview from Mountain Peril


This week I’m hosting Sandra Robbins with Mountain Peril, Roseanna White with A Stray Drop of Blood and Lynette Eason with Too Close to Home. If you want to enter the drawing for Sarah’s book, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (April 4th) evening.

Heroine Interview from Mountain Peril by Sandra Robbibns:

Interview with the heroine:

1. Danielle Tyler, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

I grew up as the only child of rock musicians. As a child, I spent a lot of time on the road with them when their band Jade Dragon toured. The different teachers who traveled with us helped to foster a love of learning in me. I suppose it was just natural that I should end up going into the field of education. Now I’m Dean of Students at Webster University in Webster Falls, North Carolina.

2. What do you do for fun?

Fun? That word hasn’t had a place in my vocabulary for years. When I was in college, my best friend Jennifer and I liked to go shopping, to the movies, or just hang out with our friends. When she was murdered our senior year, I threw myself into my studies. Then in graduate school I met a wonderful man, and we became engaged. He was killed in what police thought was an interrupted burglary of his apartment. Now I concentrate on my career and tell myself I don’t have time for fun or new relationships. As a change of scenery, I spend a few evenings a week alone at the Mountain Mug coffee shop working on my computer and listening to Jade Dragon’s music on my iPod.

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

I’m a very organized person, and I don’t procrastinate on tasks that I have to do. However, there is a professor in the music department at Webster who keeps calling and leaving messages on my phone. I keep putting off calling him back because he wants to take me out, and I have no desire to go. In fact there’s something about him that I don’t trust.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?

I’m afraid of losing someone else who is close to me. I lost my best friend, my fiancé, and now one of my students, Tricia Peterson, has been murdered. The horrible thing about it is that Tricia was killed exactly as my friend Jennifer was ten years ago. The police don’t know if it’s a copycat crime or if the killer has been in Webster Falls all these years. Even though I find myself attracted to Jack Denton, the handsome detective with the sheriff’s department who is investigating the murder, I’m afraid to let our friendship grow. People who get too close to me end up dead.

5. What do you want out of life?

I thought all I wanted was a career, but after meeting Jack Denton I know a career is a sad substitute for love and marriage. I have decided one thing, though. I have to get out of Webster Falls. My parents have started a new non-profit organization that will benefit a displaced tribe of people in Africa, and they’re begging me to work with them. Maybe God has plans for me there. If I can throw myself into helping these destitute people, I may be able to forget the handsome police officer who is trying to overcome a tragedy in his past.

6. What is the most important thing to you?

My parents both experienced addictions to drugs in their past. Thank goodness I had a wonderful grandmother who cared for me while they were in rehab. She taught me about Jesus and how He loved me. My parents both accepted Christ while they were in rehab and emerged with changed lives. The faith of my family has been a great example for me and has gotten me through a lot of difficult times.

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

I love to read. Of course the Bible is my favorite book, and God’s word guides me in all I do. As for other reading, I tend to read non-fiction. I like biographies and books about historical events. I’m a southern girl at heart and enjoy reading about the Civil War and the history of the Cherokee nation in the Smoky Mountains.

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

Sometimes I wonder if I’m not too much of a loner. I wish I could feel more comfortable entertaining people in my home. When I moved back to Webster Falls, I rented a small log cabin at the edge of town with no nearby neighbors. I’ve lived there for three years, and I’ve never entertained or even invited any of my acquaintances from school to my home until I asked Jack Denton over for dinner.

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

I don’t have a pet. I’m at work so much that I don’t feel it would be fair to leave a pet alone for such long periods of time. Maybe when I move to Atlanta to join my parents’ organization I won’t be working as many hours. If I decide to get a pet, I think I’d like to have a small dog.

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

Growing up as the daughter of rock musicians, I loved to hear them tell stories about the music legends they met. I wish I could go back to the 1950s when Elvis Presley first burst on the scene. It would be really great to see him as a young artist performing live.