Interview

Hi Brit.   Thank you for joining us at RomanceJunkies.   Let’s get started!

 

Writing and Motherhood offers interesting challenges. What do you do to keep everything balanced?

 

While I have three small ones in the house with me, they are not my sole responsibility unless their mother is ill and right now she's in remission.   Frankly, my writing has suffered with the third cross-country move in two years and the third real estate venture in less than six weeks. Hopefully, my life will return to normal soon.

 

We are selling the Victorian this week and are due to close next week on a very large home surrounded by large and tall trees.   We counted today…28 very large trees and an assortment of smaller ones.  I used to believe my muse was in the trees…I'll soon see.

 

What do you find you need most to be able to write?

 

Uninterrupted time, without a doubt.  It doesn't have to be a lot of time, but MY time.  I wrote MUSIC MAN while on a Mexican cruise.   And my husband and I joined everything…did excursions at each port and never missed dressing for dinner. We even participated in “Cruise Survivor”””.  He was voted out first and I was second.

 

You recently moved from Arizona to Ohio. What do you miss most about your former home?

 

I miss our mountain and the solitude.  I don't, however, miss the rattlesnakes.  We'd had one too many close encounter of the deadly kind.

 

What are you enjoying most about your new home? Have you gone exploring?

 

My daughter, Tiffany, was just talking about a Green-living fair where we can learn how to tap trees to make our own maple syrup.  Hopefully, just one of those new trees is a maple.  This weekend we are starting a garden.  The house we are buying is beautifully landscaped with all varieties of flowers and we want to learn about them.

 

Ohio is big on county fairs and festivals.   We always go to the popcorn festival and the bratwurst festival in Marion and Bucyrus, but now we are looking forward to extending our range.  Our yard is almost two acres and I need to have a big garden to cut down on mowing time.  

 

Do you enjoy traveling? Where was your favorite place to visit?

 

Definitely Hawaii.  We took my mom for her 50th wedding anniversary.  Dad died a month before our scheduled trip, but she came anyway.   I wrote TWO WEEKS IN PARADIISE based on that trip.

 

My son now works for the State Department in US embassies, so we are looking forward to more exotic locales.    He's planning on applying to China and Australia in the future.

 

You mentioned on your blog that you are restoring your Victorian home. That sounds like a lot of fun and hard work. Are you doing the work yourself?

 

Someone should have taken a gun and shot me…it would've been less painful!  I bought the house while mourning my mother's death.   Then if you read my blog…my daughter's cancer took me back to Phoenix not long after I lost my mother.  Since I still owned the house in Ohio, I needed to address what I'd done.  Just two days after we finally moved in, I wanted OUT!

 

Do the work myself?  I couldn't get to that point. I put a new roof on, new wiring, new water lines, one new furnace and fixed the other. I paid for a new hot water heater and a new kitchen faucet.   I added air-conditioning because the single night we spent here last summer nearly killed us!

 

I'm sitting here waiting for a call from the title agency.  The man who roofed the house is buying it for his daughter. He's already successfully restored two.   And I'm taking a big loss.

 

With the stress of moving, home repairs and the everyday trials of motherhood, how have the events of the last few months affected your writing?

 

I'm just starting to get back into the swing of things…and I plan to make up for lost time.

 

What were you surprised to discover about yourself?

 

It surprises me to see how much I've grown…especially with the book I wrote for Avalon under the name Judi Thoman.   At this point in time, I have the number three book at Romance at Heart – ANIMAL ATTRACTION; the number three book at Triskelion – WILD COWBOY DOMINATION; and the number ten book at Amber Quill Heat – WANTON WARRIOR.   My Triskelion book has been in the top three for seven weeks now.  The Amber Quill book had only been released a week and made the top ten list.  I'm really anxious to see what the next few months bring now that I'm writing again. And, THOROUGHLY MANNERLY MILLICENT is a lead book for Avalon.

 

What words of wisdom would you offer to your fifteen year old self. Do you think you would of listened?

 

I didn't know at fifteen that any dream is possible…any!  If you can see yourself doing something, you can do it if you follow through.  "I think I can" is not allowed in our house and minds…because it should be "I know I can!"

 

Are you a fan of home improvement shows? Do you have a favorite? What colors are you drawn to in decorating your home?

 

THIS OLD HOUSE…avid fan…anyone got a gun?!   Put me out of my misery!  It took me away from my love…writing.

My first house was red accents, as well as the second, very oriental.  The third house was muted browns and beiges and very boring.   The forth was blue accents.  The fifth was green.  The Victorian was dirt and spider carcasses.  And I'm not sure what the seventh will be. 

 

MORE FUN…

 

How do you choose to relax?

 

Most of the time writing relaxes me.  I think it's because I go bonkers if I can't write when I want.   I always loved my roses in Phoenix.  Some of my rose trees reached the roof of the house.  It will more than likely be the same here. We have the added bonus here that my husband will be able to keep me away from herds of javelina and guns.   Do you know you have to pull back that little thingy before the gun will fire.  The trigger doesn't do anything if you don't remember to pull IT back first.  And if you don't fill all the holes with bullets, it's kind of useless. Note to self: don't piss off the javelina if you don't know how to shoot.  

 

Congratulations on the double nominations for a 2007 EPPIE. Does this change the way you look at your books? 

 

It gives me confidence I'm on the right track!

 

If a genie gave you three wishes but you could only use them on yourself, what would you choose?

 

1. I will never suffer with anyone in my family being critically ill. (See how I got around that?) 2. I will make my loved ones proud I'm in their lives.   3. I will make a difference.

 

What popular heart throb do you have trouble admitting that you like or had once liked? 

 

I don't have trouble admitting I liked anyone.  Right now I have a thing for or see my heroes as; Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt's lips, Matthew Mcconaughey's everything, Viggo Moretensen's chin and lips,  Patrick Dempsey's sparkling blue eyes, Leonardo Decaprio's dark stare that crinkles to a bright smile and transforms his face and the list goes on…

 

How close have you been to a rattlesnake?

 

Arms length or closer.  We had one in our bedroom in the middle of the night. The dog stared it down and made it rattle.   The sound was terrifying.  Our bed was really high, the kind where shorter people use steps.  The snake was on the floor at the end of the bed.  Somehow, I made it out of the bedroom, and got my son-in-law, Jarod.   He fearlessly went in the bedroom as my husband dived out the door.  A few seconds later, Jarod calls, "Where's the salad tongs?"  I'll stop the story here because I don't want to repeat what I said.

 

Four of our dogs shared five rattlesnake bites.  I can't tell you how many times we found one in my roses.   We had more encounters than I can count.

 

Thank you for join us today. We wish you success with your writing.

By Zoe Knighton

Romance Junkies Publishing Editor

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