This week I’m hosting Kathi Macias with The Moses Quilt, Gail Gaymer Martin with Her Valentine Hero, Anita Higman with Texas Wildflowers, and Kelly Irvin with Love’s Journey Home. If you want to enter the drawings for the books, 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 (Feb. 3rd) evening.
Interview about Texas Wildflowers by Anita Higman:
1. Tell us a bit about Texas Wildflowers.
Texas Wildflowers is a 4-in-1 novella collection through Barbour Publishing. Each novella is set in an exotic location in Texas. They are lighthearted romances, and they’re all tied together with the four McBride sisters.
2. Which of the four novellas was the most fun to write?
They were each fun to write in their own way, but my favorite character was Lily, the counselor, in Forget Me Not Lily. She was quirky and fun, relatable and loveable. At least that’s what I hope readers will feel.
3. Was it hard to write four separate stories and keep them fresh?
That task was very hard, because it is so easy to repeat plot elements and character traits and bits of dialogue. I had to constantly check myself to make sure the stories and characters were as unique as they could be.
4. All these novellas are set in Texas. Are the towns and parks real?
Yes, in fact one of the novellas is set in Big Bend National Park, where my husband and I went on vacation. So, when you read about the characters on certain trails, they’re real, and we hiked them!
5. Did you have a favorite book when you were a child?
I loved fairytales. Cinderella was my favorite.
6. Do you have a vacation spot you’d love to visit?
I’m dreaming of Ireland. My husband and I plan to travel there next summer. Can’t wait! Then I’m going to use the emerald isle as a setting in one of my novels.
7. How long have you known you wanted to be a writer?
When I was very young (I don’t remember my age) I started working on a novel about a man from Mars who wanted to go to college in New York. I never finished that novel, but it left an impression on me. I knew deep down that telling stories was my dream, even though I didn’t get around to fulfilling it until I was in my thirties.
8. When readers finish the last page of Texas Wildflowers, what do you want them to come away with?
I would love for them to be inspired, challenged, and entertained. If I accomplished even one of those things I would feel my writing time wasn’t wasted.
9. What are 5 things that your readers might not know about you?
- While I was in college I tried working in a pillow factory. I was terrible at it. I got so weary with the repetition I started yakking with the woman next to me. We got reprimanded over and over until I quit. I discovered one thing from that college job—talking is something I excel at.
- I once won a hog-calling contest at a banquet. I was not embarrassed, but I should have been.
- I have a bird phobia, and yet I love birds! (That is, from a distance.) My house is filled with the fake kind—prints on the walls, statues, and general bird doodads. Go figure.
- I keep some interesting treasures near me when I write—a wooden jewelry box my son made me when he was in school, a candle from the 1960s, a hat once owned by a famous mystery writer, the inner parts of a music box, a birthday card that plays The Twilight Zone theme song, and an old family toy helicopter that says, “Going up.”
- Thirty-four years ago I rappelled off a cliff alongside the man I was dating. We kissed in mid-air while dangling off that cliff. I ended up marrying that man, and we’ve celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary!
10. Where do all your ideas come from?
Ideas flood in from everywhere—while I’m running errands, or chatting with a friend, or drifting off to sleep. I have pieces of paper all over the place with scribbles about book ideas and characters and titles. Sometimes I can’t read my notes later. I need a full-time assistant to help me stay organized. Any volunteers?
11. Where can your readers connect with you online?
Please drop by my website at www.anitahigman.com, or visit my Reader Page on Facebook and chat with me there at http://www.facebook.com/#!/AuthorAnitaHigman.
