One side of the street in my little hometown.
A few years ago a local reporter for my hometown newspaper that comes out once a week just the way I had the newspapers coming out in my Hollyhill and Hidden Springs stories. I do seem to like having a newspaper in some of my stories. Anyway, when I was rummaging around for something to post tonight, I came across the questions. I thought you might like to get a hometown view of me and my writing. I left out some questions and updated a few answers. So what question did you think the reporter should have added?
1) You’ve been writing since age 10. What is your earliest memory of writing? Do you remember what you wrote about?
I remember well my first attempt at writing. I loved the Hardy Boy mysteries and decided I’d like to solve a mystery the way they did. Since at that time, Anderson County was a very peaceful place, I didn’t have much chance to stumble across any real bad guys. Thank goodness! So I started writing a mystery story starring a cuter and smarter and much less shy me. My sidekicks were my sister and a cousin. We got into some messes in that story, the last one so difficult that I left my characters trapped in a cave and never caught the bad guys. But best I can remember, I had a dynamite ending in mind. No doubt, I as the character Jo was going to do something fantastic.
2) What was your favorite book as a child?
Black Beauty. I loved that story and probably cried buckets.
3) What is one of your favorite memories about high school?
One favorite high school memory was when the principal would dismiss classes and give us a kind of recess. I remember sitting in the shade of one of the big trees in the front of the school and talking about all the cute boys with my girlfriends.
4) Did you go to college? Where? What did you major in?
I married very young and was busy being a mom when others my age were in college. College wasn’t necessarily an automatic expectation for high school graduates then. Many of us were ready to get jobs and start families after high school instead of going on to college. Of course, some of my fellow classmates did both. Got the jobs and had the families and still went to college. It just wasn’t an expectation in my family then, but by the time my children graduated from high school, things had changed. There was never any question about them going on to college.
5) Do you consider yourself a full-time writer?
I have been a fulltime writer since 2007. When I started writing years ago, I was a mom and a farm wife along with writing. Then when my children got older, I did temporary secretarial work and for several years worked a part time job for the school system arranging substitutes for teachers. After my second Hollyhill book, Orchard of Hope, was accepted for publication, I quit my other jobs and started writing fulltime. But I always worked writing time in no matter what else I was doing.
6) What is the first piece you had published?
The very first piece published was a little poem in Home Life magazine many years ago. I was paid three dollars, I think. I had several more personal experience pieces published in that magazine and some stories in Sunday school leaflets before I started writing novels. My first novel, A Forbidden Yearning, about pioneer days in Kentucky was published by Warner Books in 1978. So I’ve been at this writing thing a long time. My first inspirational novel, Scent of Lilacs, came out in 2005.
7) What process did you go through to get published?
The “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” process.
8) Where do you write? And, when? Do you have a routine you follow?
I want to write every weekday, but sometimes life intrudes. And sometimes, even though I want to write, I sharpen pencils instead. That is, I put off the hard work of creating by checking e-mails, Facebook or gosh, my birdfeeder is empty. I mean who can work when the birdfeeder is empty. But once I get the delaying tactics out of the way, I settle in to work. I treat my writing like a job and spend a lot of hours at my desk. I do like to set goals, but instead of words I usually think in pages. That’s because I started writing on a typewriter and not a word processor. Back then, you watched the pile of pages grow. I have written books in six months but I’m more comfortable doing a book a year. My novels are usually around 100,000 words although the mysteries are shorter than that. And there’s that history to research for my historical novels.
9) How many books have you had published?
Along a Storied Trail is my thirty-seventh published book. I have three more books contracted with the next story, When the Meadow Blooms, due out in 2022.
10) How would you classify your work?
My last twenty-two books are published in the inspirational field. I’ve written eight historical fiction books set in my fictional Shaker village of Harmony Hill but the physical setting is based on Pleasant Hill Shaker Village in Mercer County. My Heart of Hollyhill series is set in the Sixties and Hollyhill is much like I remember my hometown being when I was a kid. Then my Rosey Corner books go back to when my mother was growing up in a little community out in the county. I based the background of Angel Sister on the memories Mom and her sisters shared about their life during the Great Depression. The story is completely fiction, but Mom’s memories are threaded through the story. My Hidden Springs mysteries are set in a small town, again like my hometown or how my hometown might be if the big box stores hadn’t moved in and put most of the small local stores out of business. I’ve enjoyed going to the Appalachian region of Kentucky for several of my recent stories. I love a story where I can drop my characters down into some interesting historical times.
While I don’t think I can classify my work, I do sometimes say I write small town stories about people you might like to meet in real life. Of course, except the murderers in my Hidden Spring mysteries.
11) When did the latest book come out?
Along a Storied Trail was released in June 2021. It’s set in the 1930’s and has history of the Packhorse Libraries, a Depression era work program that had women carrying books up into the hills like a bookmobile on mule or horseback.
12) Why did you use a pen name with your mysteries?
My publishers asked if I would use a variation of my name for the Hidden Springs mysteries since these stories are quite a bit different from my previous books. They thought readers who had liked my Hollyhill, Rosey Corner or Shaker books might be upset if they got the mysteries without realizing they were getting a different kind of story. So the initials instead of my first name are a kind of signal to readers. “Hey, take notice. She’s doing something different here.”
It really wasn’t much of a stumbling block for readers since I had published a variety of different types of books before I did the mysteries. In fact, I dedicated one of my books to my readers who had followed me from Hollyhill through Harmony Hill to Rosey Corner, back to 1855 Louisville for Words Spoken True and now I can add on the little town of Hidden Springs for some mysteries, to Springfield, KY for a cholera era story and up to the Appalachian Mountains for three more. Many of my faithful readers always seem to be willing to try some “doing something different” stories.
13) What advice would you have for aspiring writers?
Read a lot. Write a lot. If you’re serious about writing don’t let rejections discourage you. Just realize that everything you write is practice and practice is how we get better at doing things.
Of course, the writing world has changed since I published my first books in the 1970’s. Back then, publishing your own books with a vanity press, as they were called then, was frowned on and very expensive. These days it’s not that difficult to self-publish your books without going through the submission and rejection or acceptance stages with a traditional publisher. While I still work with a traditional publisher, Revell Books, many writers prefer the independence of publishing on their own.
Thanks for reading this Q & A.
So, now it’s your turn. Why don’t you answer question 2 or 3 for fun? Your favorite book as a child? Or your favorite memory from high school?
Love it when you stop by.
Ann
Comments 16
When I was five and living in Upstate New York my favorite book was THE TALL BOOK OF MOTHER GOOSE. I read it over and over to myself and to my younger sister. Her favorite books were The Pokey Little Puppy which I read to her, also. When I was in elementary school it was every Bobbsey Twin book I could get my hands on! After that it was historical fiction books. What fun thinking back. Favorite memory in school was out 7th grade trip on the Monon Train from Frankfort, IN, to Chicago, IL. Now that was a field trip!!! Have a pleasant day! 😊
Author
I love the Pokey Little Puppy story. I have a compilation of Golden Book stories that my grandkids used to like for me to read out of for them. And here you are, Karen, another Bobbsey Twin fan. I’m beginning to think I missed out on something by bypassing those stories.
And wow! That was some field trip. Good memories forever.
I loved The Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew books. And the Lennon Sisters. I don’t remember much about high school, I was too shy and didn’t participate much.
Author
Were the Lennon Sisters books, Kathy? I’m thinking singers. As I told Carlton, I could never get into the Bobbsey Twin books. I didn’t like the dialect much of the book had, but then again, I didn’t really give but one book a try. So could be, I just missed out on some good stories. My sister read a Nancy Drew book to me and my other sister. That might be the only Nancy Drew book I read. I did like those Hardy Boys though.
I used to be very shy too, but I sort of came out of my shell in high school. And even more now. I once had someone look at me as though they thought I must somehow have lost my mind when I said I used to be painfully shy. They couldn’t believe it.
The Bobbsey Twins books were my favorites as a child.
Favorite memory in high school? That’s a hard one! I guess I would say the field trips I took with my favorite English teacher. He would often take us to Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA to see plays, and it was wonderful to be exposed to that culture.
Author
For some reason I could never get into the Bobbsey Twin books, Carlton. Guess I was too ready to follow the Hardy Boy mystery trails.
Those plays your teacher took you to may have been one reason you started down the writing road and learned to love stories.
Nancy Drew and Little House on the Prairie were my favorites growing up . As a retired library employ I was able to see all of the new books come in which opened the door to many exciting and interesting volumes. Ann, I first discovered your books while I was working and was directed to your site by the info included in you bio ! I also enjoy cozy mysteries, the Mitford Series, Amish fiction, biographies, decorating ,gardening and inspirational books. I would like to thank my 93 year old mother who read the Little Golden books to me for countless hours and instilled in me the love of reading.
Author
I have a collection of Little Golden books I used to read to the grandkids. Loved those little books. Just right for bedtime stories for little ones. I don’t remember anybody reading to me, but I’m sure my mother did. I do remember reading every book I could get my hands on once I could read.
So glad you discovered my books at your library, Nancy. I do love libraries and what they can mean to a community and young and not so young readers. So many great books out there just waiting for a reader.
One day during the summer between 1st and 2nd grade a neighbor asked me to “babysit” her napping toddlers while she ran to the corner store. (My mother was handy in case they woke up.) I earned 50 cents for that first job. Those quarters burned a hole in my pocket til I got to the store. I’d had my eye on a book on their twirling book rack for weeks, and couldn’t wait to purchase my very own book. My mother was skeptical, telling me I wasn’t ready for such a thick novel. I took me most of the summer to finish it, but I read it, then went back to the beginning and read it again. And that’s why Black Beauty is my favorite childhood book.
A few years later my grandmother finished her master’s degree and became a librarian….and my world got a lot bigger than that corner general store’s book rack. I read all the Little House Books and then discovered biographies….The Silent Storm by Ann Sullivan, and The Diary of Ann Frank were among the first. I loved reading Christy, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and any mystery story I could find, including the Nancy Drew collection. I got my hands on the high school reading list and was laughed at on the school bus for reading The Grapes of Wrath for fun. And during my teen years, my church had a Bible study group after prayer meeting where I read the Bible through twice.
Thanks to my grandmother I can’t remember a time I wasn’t reading. Books opened up the world for a small town girl. 😊
Author
That is the greatest story, Lavon. Thanks for sharing it. I first read about dog hunger in Where the Red Fern Grows and I’ve read about book hunger too without it being named in books like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. So that’s what you had. Book hunger. I did too, but I got to get my fill at our local library when I was a kid and now I have stacks of books I really want to read and keep adding more. The same as you, books opened up the world for this small town country girl too.
P.S. I read Grapes of Wrath but can’t say I enjoyed the reading. Hard times.
There were so many books I loved as a child. My grandmother read to me from McGuffey Readers. I loved Heidi and Little Women, but sometime in my young years, I read Daughter of the Legend by Jesse Stuart. What a lasting impact it made on me, written about Kentucky people involved in the saddest love story! It may be a cornerstone of my becoming a writer,
Author
That’s a book I haven’t read, Sandra. Maybe I should look it up and give it a read. But saddest love story sounds like a challenge. I’m always hearing about books that I wonder how I haven’t read that yet.
My favorite books as I was growing up were the “Cherry Ames, Nurse” series – I had no desire to be a nurse, but her adventures were varied and so interesting to me. I still read constantly – in fact I always have a book on the end table in the living room and another on my nightstand. Then there are the many magazines I subscribe to covering the coffee table, and those are usually what I read while I’m having a meal. Sometimes, with the books, I have to back up and “get a running start” so that I can remember what happened most recently, but that’s okay! Other than your books (which I always enjoy) I’m a big fan of Jan Karon and her Mitford series, and Sarah Sundin, and the Heavenly Daze series by Lori Copeland and Angela Hunt, and Melody Carlson, and more than I have room to list! I also enjoy biographies and autobiographies of people I’m interested in, as well as books about the early years of Disneyland because I grew up in So. California and was there the first week it opened in 1955.
Obviously, reading is a big part of my life and I can’t begin to imagine it any other way!
Author
What a compliment to be in the reading piles of an avid reader like you, Patricia. That’s a good list of favorites. I’ve found I am more interested in biographies and autobiographies than I was when I was younger. Perhaps that is from researching for my historical novels. It always helps me bring my own characters to life when I can read about a person who actually lived and worked in whatever time I’m researching. That gives new insights into how it felt for that person that I can use to bring my fictional people to life.
That had to be fun to be at Disneyland when it first opened. What a thrill for you.
Nancy Drew books were favorites of mine during my school years. My favorite high school memory is working in the library during my free period. I loved books ever since I learned to read!
Author
I don’t know why but I read more Hardy Boy books than Nancy Drew, Suzanne. Maybe I was boy crazy. 🙂 I sometimes say I started that first book because I wanted to be a Hardy girl.
I would have enjoyed working with our high school librarian. Mrs. Smith was great. She didn’t put up with any nonsense but that makes teachers even better. Your high school memory makes me remember another fun one of mine because I worked in the principal’s office during my free period. No secretaries for the principal back then. So two students, usually girls in that time when being secretaries or receptionists was considered women’s jobs, manned the desk answering phones, running errands, etc.