Monday, September 2, 2013

Ann Gabhart is here for a visit


Q: Hello, Ann, I understand you are a country girl. Tell us about your animals, and why you love the country so much.

A: As Barbara Mandrell used to sing, I was country before country was cool. I like living in the country because I love nature. To me, the air just feels better out here in the sticks. I like being able to walk on the farm and see the flowers, trees, and birds along with the occasional skunk, raccoon or deer. I do try to keep my dog away from those skunks. My husband has beef cows, but that’s the only stock we have. I’m down to one dog of my own now. That’s Oscar, my lab mix. He’s a great dog and is always ready to go walking with me. He’s very photogenic and often makes appearances on my Facebook page. Everybody loves Oscar! Two Heinz 57 little neighbor dogs spend a lot of time on my deck. I think they’ve forgotten where their home is except they must go home to eat because they don’t look hungry. Then another neighbor dog, Roxie, a big St. Bernard, goes for walks with Oscar and me if she sees us starting out down the road. She has also made a few appearances on my Facebook page from time to time.

Q: So you started writing when you were ten. What part did books play in your life as you were growing up? Did you always have characters and storylines going through your head?

 
A: I think I was around ten. I don’t remember for sure. I just know that as soon as I could write in cursive, I was writing stories in my notebooks. I’ve always loved books. I got to go to the library when we went to town, and I remember the feeling of being in a treasure room with all those books around me. I suppose my own stories and characters have always been in my head, but lots of other fictional characters created by various writers hang out there too. I love stories.

Q: How did you feel when you got your first paycheck for writing? What was the hardest part of getting people to recognize you as a writer?

A: I didn’t frame that first check for $44.00 I received way back in 1971 for a story published in a Sunday school leaflet for teens. We needed every dollar in those days, but it did feel good to actually be paid for something I wrote. It was almost a year before I got another check. That one was $3.00 for a little poem in Home Life magazine. My first novel was published in 1978 and even then I was hesitant to tell anybody I was a writer. So I don’t think the hardest part was getting others to recognize me as a writer, but the hardest thing was me claiming out loud that I was a writer. I guess I was afraid somebody would laugh at my high hopes. Or expose me as the imposter I felt as though I was sometimes when I thought about being a writer. 

  
 
Q: How did you get started writing your Shaker novels and how many of them have you written?

A: That’s a long story and in many ways an amazing one that proves everything in its own time. So settle back and remember, you asked. I wrote a book about the Shakers that I titled The Gift of Knowing in 1980 after Warner Books published my first two historical romance books. Theypassed on my Shaker novel as not right for their needs. My agent at the time sent the book around to several publishers over the next couple of years. My most favorable rejection (if a rejection can be favorable) was from Harlequins who claimed to like the story but that it was too religious for their line. Eventually my agent gave up and stopped submitting the manuscript. I put the Shaker novel on a shelf in my closet and moved on to other stories and other hopes.

Fast forward about twenty-five years. After some ups and downs in my writing career, I finally wrote a book I loved, Scent of Lilacs, about a preacher and his family in a small town during the 1960’s. Even better, an editor at Revell Books also loved the story, and I was on the way to being published again after a long dry spell. That editor, Lonnie Hull DuPont, decided to pay me a visit way out here on the farm. I had never attended any type of writers’ conference so she decided if she was going to meet me face to face, she’d have to come to Kentucky. We had a nice chatty visit about books and whatever, and then as she was getting ready to go out the door and head on to some sort of meeting in Tennessee, she asked if there wasn’t a restored Shaker village near where I live. When I said there was, she said she wished she had time to visit the village because she’d always been fascinated by the Shakers. In an offhand way, I sort of threw out the fact that I’d written a story about the Shakers once. I was surprised when she said she would like to read that story.

So after she left, I dug around on my closet shelf and pulled out the manuscript. I had written it prior to having a computer so I had to type it into my computer. That gave me plenty of opportunity to do some rewriting. I added a few faith journey threads for the main characters and polished my words as best I could before sending it off to Lonnie. Months passed while she tried to decide if the story was one her company could use, but finally they made an offer on it. After all those years, The Gift of Knowing became The Outsider and found readers. In fact the early sales were so good for the story that Lonnie called and asked if I would write more stories about the Shakers. That wasn’t something I had given any thought to doing. I didn’t want to be a “Shaker writer,” and not be free to write other stories set in different places. But she dangled the carrot of perhaps gaining more readers, not just for the Shaker books but for any other books I might publish in the future. That convinced me to revisit my fictional Harmony Hill Shaker village and write The Believer and The Seeker. Then I had this character, Lacey, who kept whispering in my creative ear that she had a Shaker story to tell. So I wrote her story, The Blessed. That was followed by another character I enjoyed, Jessamine, in The Gifted. Now, coming in September, Christmas at Harmony Hill will be my first ever Christmas novella. So now you know the whole story and maybe much, much more than you wanted to know. LOL.

The Shaker books are all stand-alone stories that can be read in any order. They are set in the same Shaker village, but with new characters each story and in different time periods. But if you want to read them in the order I wrote them, here’s the list:  The Outsider, The Believer, The Seeker, The Blessed, and The Gifted with Christmas at Harmony Hill coming in September 2013. I am beginning work on a new Shaker novel tentatively titled The Innocent.

Q: Angel Sister was a great book. I love Depression-era stories and thought you did a wonderful job with this one. You will have a new book published this summer that will continue with these characters five years later. Tell us a little about Small Town Girl and what readers will take away from this book.

A: I’m so glad you enjoyed Angel Sister. That’s a book of my heart since the echo of my mother’s memories of growing up during the Depression are threaded throughout that story. I moved a bit away from my mother’s experiences when I wrote a follow-up story about the people in Rosey Corner. Small Town Girl came out in July. As you say, the story picks up the Angel Sister characters’ lives five years later as World War II is raging in Europe and ominous war clouds are darkening America’s horizon. Yet life is going on in Rosey Corner as the Merritt sisters are heading down some romantic pathways. Kate is ready for love, but she’s not sure she can trust her feelings. I really enjoyed writing about Jay Tanner and about Kate too as an adult searching for what next with her life.

I would hope that those who read Small Town Girl will first and foremost enjoy the story and live it with the characters. Many of my stories have an underlying theme of forgiveness and that’s true with this story too along with the need to give people a second chance. I would hope readers would be encouraged in their own faith journeys as they read about Jay’s and Kate’s. Then it would be nice if the reader is swept away by the romance too, of courses.



Q: I thought Words Spoken True was an excellent piece of historical fiction, taking place in Louisville in the 1850’s. Some exciting things happened in this book, and the competition between the two newspapers was similar to the competition we see today. Tell us how you make historical fiction so believable and exciting.

A:  I did a lot of rewrites on that story before it found a publishing home with Revell Books. It was another story that spent some time on my reject shelf. So I got to know the characters really well. Blake was a great hero and Adriane was a spunky heroine. I do quite a bit of research for my novels. In this one, I was so amazed when I read Louisville’s history for that volatile summer of 1855 that I couldn’t wait to drop my characters down into the history of the day to tell the story. I also loved learning about the newspaper business. Newspapers were how people got the news in that era prior to radios. Editors used their ink to advance their personal ideologies and fire up their readers.

I enjoy delving into history and finding places and events where I can see my characters living out their stories.  

Q: And I'm sure that quality is what makes your stories so read. Tell us about Christmas at Harmony Hill that debuted in October, just in time to be purchased as Christmas presents.
 
A: I love giving books as Christmas presents. It’s a tradition in my family that all my kids, kid-in-laws, and grandkids get a book from me for Christmas–whether they want one or not. LOL. That’s a double bonus for me because I get to shop for the books. Love bookstores. But back to the question now that I’ve inserted this little ad for buying books as gifts.

When my agent and my editor suggested I write a Shaker Christmas book, I had no idea whether I’d be able to do that or not. In my Shaker research, I’d found very few mentions of Christmas, but I like challenges in writing. So I agreed to give it a try. Once I had my characters and my historical period in mind, I was on my way.

Here’s the back cover copy. “It is 1864 and the nation is still torn apart by civil war when Heather Worth discovers she is with child. She has been working as a laundress with her husband’s army unit, but when the army gets orders to march south to Tennessee, Gideon insists Heather go home to have their child under safer conditions. Heather agrees, but returns home to another kind of devastation–deaths in the family and a father who refuses to forgive her for marrying a Yankee. With nowhere else to turn, Heather seeks refuge at the Shaker village of Harmony Hill, where her great aunt Sophrena lives. There, after many peaceful years as a Shaker sister, Sophrena is having doubts about her Shaker path. Both women are in need of love and forgiveness–whether given or received. With Christmas coming, can the miracle of new life fill their hearts with unexpected joy?

Q: Please tell us something about yourself that readers would be surprised if they knew.

A: Surprising, hmm? Not sure how surprising this might be, but I did marry very young. By the time I was nineteen, I had two children. My husband and I often struggled to make ends meet, but when a financial crisis came up, somehow the Lord always showed us a way to get through it. Nothing surprising about that. But some people are a little surprised to find out I never attended college. That is, unless you count the College of Experience. That’s an educational opportunity open to all and one that’s been very useful in my writing. My first book was published thirty-five years ago. A lot of words under the bridge since then.

Q: Do you have any advice for a new writer to help them in his or her quest to be known and published?

A: Perseverance. That’s a good word to hang onto while you’re working toward being published. Believe in your stories, but be willing to work to improve your writing skills. Don’t fasten all your hopes and dreams to one story. Write the story on your heart. Then turn it loose and write another.

Probably the best advice I ever read was from Dorothy Unthank, a mystery writer. She said she wrote her first novel and started sending it out. In those days you packed up your manuscript in boxes and mailed it to the publishing companies, one at a time. Then you waited for some kind of response. If the response was no, you mailed it to the next possible publisher on your list. Unthank said that by the time her first manuscript landed back on her doorstep after being submitted and rejected a dozen or more times, she had the second story ready to begin making its rounds to the publishing houses. Persistence pays off if you’re working to improve as well.  So the best advice is simply to write and then write some more. And don’t forget to read. That somehow helps the words accumulate and stand at ready for your own stories.  

Q: Thank you, Ann, for taking the time to answer questions for readers of my blog. I look forward to reading many more of your books in the future. And now, readers, it's your turn. Post your comment on here, on facebook, or send me an email, and I'll enter your name to win a copy of Small Town Girl, signed by Ann. I will review this book on Wednesday of this week on my blog. It is a great read.
 
A: Thank you, Juanita, for inviting me over. I’ve enjoyed my visit. I do appreciate you taking the time to read some of my stories and I hope your readers here will give one of my books a try. I enjoy meeting new reading friends.

One of the questions I answered was what part did books play in my life as I was growing up? So I’m turning that question back to you readers. What part did books play in your life as you were growing up? Have you always loved books and stories? You’ve read my answers. Now, I’d love to hear yours.
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OK, readers, it's your turn now. Comment here, on facebook, or send me an email (mjnobles{at}charter {dot}net) and I'll enter your name to win a copy of Ann's new book Small Town Girl. I've read several of her books and you're going to love them. And I hope you'll answer Ann's question about books. She'll be checking to see what you said!

Oops! Ann's download of The Blessed for $2.99 was on until yesterday!  Today it's back to it's normal price. Sorry-- I didn't realize that special price was not still good. :(


 

 
 


 


 

43 comments:

  1. This is an inspiring interview and chock full of information for writers. First, I love that you kept writing even during your dry spells and that you took advantage of an opportunity to get back out a story that was on the back burner for a while. And that story being on the back burner didn't stop you from writing! Thank you for this. As for books, oh my, I've always loved to read. And I always loved series. I was a huge Trixie Belden fan and my mom let me buy them all in order from the bookstore, which is where I always begged to go when we went to the mall. ;)

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    1. I'm met lots of Trixie Belden fans, Margo. Somehow I missed those books. Maybe I was too old by the time they were published. I did love the Hardy Boy mysteries.

      I'm so glad you liked the interview. I've always wanted to keep writing even at my most discouraging times. That new story, that new idea, somehow that would awaken new hope. I would have begged to go to bookstores too if there had been any in our town, but the library was almost as good.

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  2. Hi, Margo, and thanks for reading and commenting. Ann is a treasure house of information for persistent writers, isn't she? I'd love to meet her in person some day.

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    1. It would be fun to meet you in person too, Juanita. I guess everybody always telling me I had a stubborn streak a mile wide turned out to be a good thing for me as a writer. LOL

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  3. I remember being totally taken by Dr. Seuss when I was young and I still love his books today. As I grew older books just integrated into my life as a natural process. I love to read and Christian fiction is my genre of choice. I read every day as long as my health allows. I love Ann's books and I have been wanting to read Small Town Girl. Thank you for the chance!

    Wanda Barefoot
    flghtlss1(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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    1. Hi, Wanda. I loved reading Dr. Seuss to my kids. He knew how to make words fun, didn't he? I do so appreciate you reading my books. And my newsletter too. I just sent one out on Sunday and now I'm getting to talk (via internet) to so many of my reading friends. Such fun! If any of you reading this would like to get my newsletter, you can sign up from my website, www.annhgabhart.com or from my Facebook author page, www.facebook.com/anngabhart. Nearly always a fun giveaway in those newsletters.

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    2. Hi, Wanda, glad that you came back to my blog this week. I'm having fun reading everybody's comments about books. I can remember several books when I was a little girl, but one special one was "The Little Girl with Seven Names." I think I can still remember her name--it was Alissa Melissa Miranda Amanda Cynthia Jane Farlow.

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  4. I have always loved books and stories- my favorite childhood stories of all time are those from Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read those books so much they are falling apart, but I still have them :)

    colorvibrant[at]gmail[dot]com

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    1. Heidi, a lot of girls agreed with you on those Little House on the Prairie stories. My granddaughter read some of them recently. Stories are such a treasure and fun part of growing up. I'm so glad I had a mother who would take me to the library and encourage my love of reading.

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  5. I was the kid who not only liked the school library but also asked to go to the town library. It was, at that time, a one room brick building; now it is two floors, just humongous...with a gift shoppe!

    Enjoyed your interview, Ann. Hugs.

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    1. Hi, Loretta. Always fun to see your comments. Libraries have changed since we were kids, but the best part of those libraries is still there. The books!!

      Thanks for coming over to read my interview.

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    2. I went to the town library too, and lovingly carried my books home, looking at them and deciding which one to read first! There was no money for books from the store.
      Loretta, please come back and leave your email address so I can notify you if you are the winner in the drawing.

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  6. I've always loved books! My parents used to read with my sister and I before bed, and when I got older, I would read books with my mom. I read a LOT more now than when I was younger, but I know that my love of books came from the times that I spent with my family reading together. =)

    Thanks for the great giveaway! This looks like such a great book!

    lubell1106(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. I don't remember my mother reading to me, Elyssa, but my sister read my other sister and me a Nancy Drew book once. I did read to my children every night before they went to bed. I loved it as much or more than they did. Such fun to read those kids' books. And my children all love to read now and their children love to read or have books read to them too. Books are wonderful.

      Good luck in the drawing. :)

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    2. I don't remember my mother reading to me, either, but she was always reading something. And she still reads several books a week at her retirement apartment. She's 94 now and her mind is still active. We are so happy for her.

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    3. Hello Elyssa, it's so nice that you came by to add your comments this week while Ann is visiting. I hope you'll stop by for interviews again on my blog--I have them the first and third Wednesdays.

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  7. Books were always important to me! I was the manager of a bookstore when I was in my late teens/early twenties, and I also worked for a publishing company. I was able to get my hands on advanced copies of books, and enjoyed reading them. Unfortunately I don't have much time to read these days, but I do love a good story when I have the chance!

    jennycohen104(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Hi, Jenny. I used to think it must be almost a perfect job to work in a library or bookstore. Guess I didn't think about having to work and not just sit around reading books. LOL. I don't get to read as much as I used to either and I thought I'd have more opportunity to read after I got older. But I'm busy writing now and reading for research (that's not the same as a great fiction story) and caring for my mother who has dementia. Life can get busy, but I'm doing my best to carve out more reading time in my schedule.

      Juanita, it's wonderful having a reading mother. My mother used to read a lot too, but dementia stole her ability to follow a story line. She still picks up a book occasionally and will read a few words, but she can't enjoy the stories the way she used to.

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  8. Hi, Jenny, thanks for stopping by to share in our love of books. I was taught to love reading by my mother, and now she is 94, but still reads at least 3 books a week. She is someone to emulate--such a reader at her age!

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  9. Ann I love your books. As soon as I see your name on a book I buy it. I may have found a few in your interview that I have never read before so I will check my list again. I had almost given up reading until I discovered how many good clean historical fiction books could be found. Thanks for putting good wholesome Christian books out in the market place. I have kicked around the idea of writing a book one day.I come from a family with a rich pioneer history. My grandparents built thier farm from scratch and were able to raise my mom and aunt quite will through the depression years. Thank you again. Marsha marshagraha@yahoo.com

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    1. What a nice thing to tell me, Marsha! Thank you. I think I like you and hope you have a lot of friends just like you. lol. You do sound as if you have a background for a story. That's sort of the background of my book, Angel Sister, since I based a lot of the setting on my mother's stories of growing up during the Depression. I may have already told you that in the interview. But that was one of the advantages to country living during the Depression - you did have your garden and cows and chickens and maybe even bees like my mother's family and so had food. That is, unless you were in the worst drought stricken areas.

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    2. Hi, Marsha, thanks so much for stopping by to comment. I've so enjoyed these comments by people who tell about their love for reading.

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  10. I have truly enjoyed reading this interview with Ann. We come from very similar backgrounds: small town, rural community and yes, a love affair with books and reading. My brother and I were given small allowances and each Christmas, we exchanged the same gift, year after year. I gave him a model car kit and he gave me a book. This was when a book from Whitmore Publishing cost 79 cents and a model kit was less than $1.00. I never tired if getting that book and by the afternoon of Christmas Day, I had already started reading it. The year that our public library was finally opened in a small storefront in our small town was one if the happiest times of my life. I often give books as Christmas gifts and never tire of giving them. I am very excited that Ann has written a Christmas story and look forward to reading it!!

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    1. Hi, Connie. Always fun to read your comments. I love getting books for Christmas or whenever. Now if I just had the gift of a few extra hours a day to read all those books. The two of us do have some of the same roots and that makes being reading friends even better. Thanks for coming over to read the interview.

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    2. Thanks for your comments, Connie. I grew up in the city (lived on the farm for part of one year, but that really didn't count, did it?), but books have always been important to me. I remember my dad reading to me or to anybody who would listen. He would be reading the paper or an encyclopedia or anything and when he found something interesting, he just started reading aloud.

      Please remember to COME BACK AND LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS so I can enter your name in the drawing.

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  11. A wonderful posting...thanks for sharing your story, Ann. Yes, I love read....I remember ordering books in grade school...lots of books :)

    karenk
    kmkuka at yahoo dot com

    PS: GO Blue!

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    1. Love hearing from you, Karen. Our Big Blue didn't do too well Saturday, but then Round Ball season is on the way. :) Thanks for reading my story and hope you'll keep ordering lots of books!!

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    2. Hello, again, Karen. So nice of you to visit again. Ann is such a wonderful author-- I hope I get to read all of her books.

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  12. My 3RD grade teacher gave me a copy of The lion the witch and the wardrobe over the summer. I loved it. I grew up in the country with lots of animal friends. Reading was (and still is) a way to escape and have an adventure. I loved Where the Red fern grows broke my heart. I also loved horse stories:Misty, Black Beauty, and King of the wind. I love discovering a book Small Town Girl set in the 40s my favorite era. I will try to find it this payday. I loved the part about having financial struggles and that the Lord will help you through. We are having car repair issues and I know somehow it will work out with the Lords help :) Thanks for an awesome interview and a chance to win a great book!!

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    1. Brandy, your teacher made you a beautiful gift of reading and discovery when she loaned you a book. You mentioned several that I've loved too. I cried a river over those dogs in Where the Red Fern Grows and Black Beauty too. I hope you'll enjoy Small Town Girl when you get a chance to read it. And may the Lord help you out with those car repairs.

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    2. Brandy, I hope you'll come back and leave your email address. I notify the winner by email, and so I need it for that! Thanks for your comments and I hope you will visit my blog again.

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    3. Sorry I totally forgot thanks for the reminder!!

      brandyanne_2005@yahoo.com

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    4. Thanks, Brandy, you're on the list now! I hope everybody remembers to leave their email addresses.

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  13. Books have always been a part of my life from being read to as a child to finally being able to read on my own, to now where I read a couple hundred books a year! My oldest sister was the one who really nurtured my love of reading. She was the one who taught me to read, she would often read books aloud to all of us kids, and she had an extensive library of books that she was always letting us read!
    Great interview!
    gatorade635(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. What a blessing to have a nurturing, reading sister, Abbi! Reading has added such fun to my life that I'm always wanting to get everybody to read and share that fun.

      Thanks for reading the interviews. Glad you enjoyed it.

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    2. Abbi, thanks for your comment. Books are the greatest, aren't they?

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  14. Hello Ann, my friend. I loved the interview with you. More than any I've read. Thanks to Juanita for having you. You told us so much. I too married at a young age. One week after my sixteenth birthday. I was in 10th grade and when I finished that year, my asthma started getting much worse and the doctor suggested we move back to this part of Texas where I grew up. Well, it worked, but had had no intention of moving away from my mother and daddy. Just before I was seventeen I had my first baby, then just before my nineteenth had a second. My husband made very little money so we had it rough at times, but I learned from my mom how to get buy. Only buy what you need and always pay what you owe before spending for something you want. No one to help us so GOD helped us make it. Couldn't finish school for no money for an extra car and none for babysitter. I grew up in the country also, and loved it. As for reading the main thing I remember was daddy reading the bible to us every daay. When I started school I loved reading the school readers. No library tho, No money to save for books because my folks had eight children and no spare money, but loads of love and laughter. When I did have books tho I loved reading. And, I still do. And, always ready for another. But, I love my computer, and not fast, so hard to do as much reading as I used to do. I hope I can win this book. Thanks for the give-away. MAXIE mac262(at)me(dot)com

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    1. Always fun to read your comments, Maxie. Thanks for sharing about your life and your love of reading. Hard times sometimes make for precious memories. Your mother gave you good advice on how to get by. I had two babies by the time I was 19 too. That can grow up in a hurry, can't it?

      Glad you liked the interview.

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  15. Hi, Ann!

    Loved your interview & the new info I learned!

    Sounds like The Gift of Knowing was an example of God's perfect timing in your life - ensuring good reception of your future books. I am looking forward to your Christmas book - as a treat, I buy a new Christmas book & movie every year.

    Since I have always been a Home Life reader, I probably read that poem in Home Life magazine years ago - never dreaming that I would meet up with you years later over your fiction. I'm curious as to the name of that first novel, written in 1978, & whether it is still available?

    I gather you are a dog lover, as I have heard your mention your dog in several interviews. Funny story: My mother had a cocker spaniel when we were growing up, & became so attached to it that she never wanted to get another dog, after it died. A stray mixed lab wandered onto her farm a number of years ago, she called the pound to have it picked up, but felt so guilty & sorry for the dog, that she had my son go to the pound & BUY the dog back. He died a year or so ago, & she was just as attached to him, as the cocker spaniel. I don't have any dogs now, but have had several over the years, & one of my favorites was a St. Bernard - as you mentioned walks with you.

    I have always loved books! I can still remember the feeling I would get when looking at all the books in the school library, checking them out (especially the new ones), & bringing them home to read. A favorite book (that I still have, somewhere?)was a book called Bedtime Stories, I would read a story from it to my kids every night before bed - each story featured children & a lesson learned re: morals. It entertained me as much as my children.

    I can identify with having gone to the College of Experience. I didn't go to college, when I got out of high school, (much to my mother's dislike) because all I ever wanted to do was to get married & have children, & saw no need to. Now - of course, I wish I had, & I enrolled in a community college in my 50's & took night classes for two years, while working through the day. However, my College of Experience is my testimony - as probably, is yours.

    Juanita,
    Glad to see you back on your regular blog routine, congratulations on your new great-grandchild, & happy to hear that your mother is so alert at 94 years - no doubt, the reading has played a large part in that!

    bonnieroof60(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Hi, Bonnie. Always fun to see your comments. Thanks so much for sharing about your love of reading. Libraries are such wonderful places for people who love books. My hometown library made a big difference in my life - opened up a whole new world to me.

      I am a dog lover. I've not been without a dog since I was around eight years old. I'd be bereft. Now I'm down to one dog of my own. I usually have two or more. I used to have a cockerspaniel. The sweetest dog.

      My first published books were in the general market. A Forbidden Yearning was published in 1978 and A Heart Divided came out in 1980, both published by Warner Books. They've long been out of print, but might still be available at a used book store or on-line used book sales places. And I think you're right about the Lord nudging me over to the Christian fiction market. I like it here!

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  16. I actually wasn't a big reader when I was younger. I don't remember getting hooked until about 9th grade. Now I can't get enough! :) Great interview, thank you for sharing with us. I loved the "long" story about your first shaker book.
    lattebooks at hotmail dot com

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    1. Glad my "long" story didn't bore you, Susan. Thanks for reading the interview and your comment here. My daughter was sort of like you with the reading. My sons were big readers right away, but she took longer getting into books. Now she loves to read as I can see you do too.

      Juanita, the book you read back in the 70's was probably by Janice Holt Giles, a Kentucky writer. She based her book, The Believers, on the South Union village, I think. I read it back then too. I loved her books, Hannah Fowler, The Kentuckian, and I liked her autobiography too. 40 Acres and No Mule. I think she had another book about her writing life too. I worried about the similarity of her title and mine, The Believer, but my publishers didn't think it would be a problem. People will occasionally remember her book when looking at mine, but they can see they aren't the same. Her book about the Shakers was first published in 1957 according to what I saw on the internet.

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  17. Hi, Susan, and thanks for stopping by. I read a Shaker book way back in the '70s but I think it was before Ann started writing. It was so interesting reading about that lifestyle. Then, years later, my husband and I visited the Shaker Village in Kentucky and it was fascinating to see how they lived. I hope you'll visit my blog again.

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