This week I’m hosting Anita Higman with Summer’s List (US only), and Bonnie Leon with To Dance with Dolphins (US only). If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on your post 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 (August 16th) evening.
Interview with the heroine from To Dance with Dolphins by Bonnie Leon
1. Claire tell me the most interesting thing about you.
A lot of people think the most interesting thing about me is the disease, dysautonomia, that I live with. But it’s not. That’s not who I am.
I love that I grew up on a ranch inn Southern Oregon. We raise our own food, have horses, cattle, goats, pigs, and chickens. Every day is interesting. I used to work alongside my family and play when we had time.
Not many people get to do that in this world today. It was a good a life. And I miss that there are a lot things I can’t do anymore because of my illness, but I’m still thankful to live in such a beautiful place.
2. What do you do for fun?
Since getting sick my favorite activity is reading and writing short stories for kids.
Before my illness I spent as many hours as possible riding my horse Cinnamon. She’s my best friend, and even though we can’t ride anymore I spend time with her almost every day.
I also loved to ride my dirt bike. There are a lot of good places to ride on the ranch, but sometimes my family and I would camp in Eastern Oregon and ride in the deserts out there. It was a lot of fun.
3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?
I hate going to the doctor. I was only fourteen when I first got sick and it took years to find out what is wrong with me.
I’m twenty-two now and I’ve spent so many hours in doctor’s offices and hospitals that just the idea of going makes me cringe. I never know what to expect. One time, they ran a test to see what was going on the inside of me and I had to swallow a tiny camera. That was pretty interesting.
4. What are you afraid of most in life?
I guess, that I won’t have a life. I’m afraid it’s going to pass me by. There are more things I can’t do than I can. And I feel as if everything is about being sick, seeing doctors, and trying new medications. I want my life to be about something other than my illness. That’s why I’m taking a cross country trip with my friends. It’s time to take a risk and find out who I am.
5. What do you want out of life?
I want my life to count for something, to leave an imprint that says I’ve been here. I want to make a positive difference in the world and in the lives of the people I love.
6. What is the most important thing to you?
It’s pretty simple really. I want what most people do—someone to love me, whom I can love back. I want a man who cherishes me just as I am, and when he looks at me he sees me and not my illness. But I don’t think that will ever happen. No one wants someone like me.
7. Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?
I love to read. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. I never get tired of reading it. It’s such a powerful love story. And my second favorite is Redeeming Love. It’s also a good love story but it’s really about sacrificial love, the kind that redeems the one who is cherished.
8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would go back to the way I used to be. I would be healthy and strong. I would not have dysautonomia. But I’m a Christian so I know God didn’t make a mistake, but I don’t understand why I’m sick. And I guess that’s okay. Maybe I’m not supposed to. Maybe I’m just meant to trust him no matter what.
9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
I have Cinnamon, if you can call a horse a pet. She’s really more than a pet to me. She and I have been together since I was a little girl. I used to climb on her back and we’d fly across the open fields and make our way through the timber lands on our ranch. There is no place I like better than to be on her back. I can trust her completely. I love her. And I know she loves me.
10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
I wish I could go back to the days before I was sick, but that’s kind of small-minded. I had a great life then and I still have all the memories so I think it would be fun to go further back in time and experience something new.
I’d love to meet Jane Austen. Her book Pride and Prejudice came out in 1813 so I guess that’s the year I’d choose. It would be wonderful to meet Miss Austen, and if I could find the courage I’d ask her about Mr. Darcy. When I read the book I wonder if there was someone in her life like that—someone who loved her with that powerful kind of love.
