Greetings Michelle!
I really enjoy reading novels that take place in rural America. Do you think they have become more I demand lately? There is so much to learn from the settings, the culture and the strong people both past and present. Keep writing!
Womenâs Basketball in the 1940s? Sign me up! That sounds amazing.
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Which of your characters took the most surprising turn? And if you want to get into specifics, we do have a spoiler tag. It looks like this:
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⌠only without the xxxâs.
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And I guess hearing that your characters evolve as you write them, I have to ask if the same is true of your plots. And, of course, what turn did one of your plots take that you didnât expect?
I read that like Daisy from The Flower Sisters, you interned at a newspaper and wrote obituaries. Do you think Daisy is the character thatâs closest to your heart? If not, which one is? Is there one that was particularly challenging to write?
(And as an older woman myself I have to admit I love the fact that youâve written some really great older characters who still get things done. Theyâre not confined to rocking chairs just because theyâve got grey hair!)
How did you get your first novel into the hands of a publisher? Did you have an agent or did you contact them yourself? How did the process for getting the second book accepted differ from the first?
Hi Holly!
Thanks for your encouragement! Yes, I think novels about rural America are in demand for the reasons you mention â strong, resilient people who are overcoming difficult obstacles to survive, including the whims of Mother Nature! It is always interesting to learn about something different to our current way of life, and of course, most of us in America now do not live on a farm! Before the 1920s, the majority of our country was rural, and now it is a much smaller percentage.
But I also think the popularity of this type of historical fiction is because it is read as an escape â a chance to return to what is perceived as a simpler time, especially when what is happening in the current day is difficult. In this sense, I think there are other fiction genres enjoying popularity, too â including romantasy and romance.
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Interestingly, the character that took a surprising turn as I was writing the novel is not one of the major ones â and yet the consequences of her actions rippled throughout the lives and stories of everyone else. Alta, the mother of the three Strong girls, throws herself from a barn loft in order to end an unwanted pregnancy. But about two-thirds of the way through writing the book, I began to have a feeling that the baby wasnât Hiramâs⌠and of course, that changed everything! I not only need to know how this happened, but also how this changed the stories of Lidy, Shine and Hiram!
And yes, plots have taken interesting turns, too! Originally, I had imagined Shine would deliver justice to Jed in the barn loft⌠but it became much more interesting when her character falters, wobbling between a desire for revenge and the knowledge that meting it out will fundamentally challenge her belief that she is a good person. I was delighted when big sister Rebecca saves the day for everyone, which was a later development!
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Kim, I love this question!
Yes, Daisy from The Flower Sisters is a character very close to my heart. Like Daisy, I did have a newspaper internship at my hometown paper, The West Plains Daily Quill, as a teenager, and I learned all of the things that she did, from writing obits to photographing oddly shaped vegetables! So she was easiest for me to write, as so many of her experiences aligned with my own.
But honestly, Rose â the female funeral home character â was probably my favorite. She is strong, says her mind, has a wicked sense of humor and is honest in her assessment of her life, the good and the bad, including the mistakes and regrets that have shaped who she is. Like you, I enjoy reading novels with older characters who are not peripheral, but integral to the story. Those of us with gray hair are still very much adventuring and enjoying life and dealing with its complications â but we have the benefit of experience and wisdom gained along the way. That makes for rich, complex characters and I love that!
Getting The Flower Sisters into the hands of a publisher was a long journey. I discovered that publishers did not want to hear directly from me, the author â and that I need an agent as a go-between. The process of researching agents that could be a good fit (those who represent historical fiction, or maybe like small-town or Midwest stories or womenâs or âbook clubâ fiction) was long and difficult.
It required a âquery letter,â a three- or four-paragraph letter introducing myself and my book, summing it up in just a few short sentences and â very importantly â comparing it to other current novels. These âcompsâ allow an agent to quickly understand the type or style of book you believe youâre offering them and are often the hardest thing to come up with!
Mostly, you receive a âno,â either right away or within a few months, typically a form letter. But if an agent likes your query letter, they might respond with a request for part or all of your manuscript, which you send off⌠and then wait. And wait. And wait some more! Sometimes you never hear from these agents again. Other times, you eventually receive a âno.â
I queried for nearly a year and was close to giving up. Researching agents and sending off letters was taking all of my precious writing time⌠and Iâd much rather be writing a novel. But when I sent out what I had decided would be my last five letters, one of them responded favorably and wanted to sign me! That was my agent, Marlene. So after a year and 46 rejections, I finally received the one âyesâ I needed to try to get my novel out in the world. It took her eight months to sell the book to Kensington, and that was a two-book deal which included The Moonshine Women.
I love this exclamation. It gives the story a little more meaning for me. I had not thought of it that way. I did want her to get her revenge. I much prefer that she realized how it would change her
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I canât imagine what it must have been like to get that two-book deal. Were you jumping up and down when you heard the news?
It seems like with the internship at the newspaper you probably had your eye on a career in writing from an early age. What made you decide to set aside time to write a novel? Were you working outside your home at the time, and do you still have a âday jobâ?
Did you already have other novels in mind when you landed your second two-book contract, or was it more panic-inducing (âOh my gosh, I have to come up with two more ideas!â)?
When we were exchanging emails earlier this week, you mentioned you were at a book event. Have you done much touring for your novels? Whatâs that like? Do you set up your own events, or does someone do that for you? Are there any stories from the road youâd like to share?
Yes! A 2-book deal was both exciting and terrifying! But I had already started The Moonshine Women, so I suppose it could have been worse. 
I have always wanted to be a writer from an early age. Growing up on a 60-acre farm, my younger brother and I wrote a little ânewspaperâ called The Family Press on lined paper, which we illustrated, too. With just a family of five and no nearby neighbors, I would say the stories were not that scintillating⌠but it is definitely evidence of how I wanted to write, even back then.
I got a journalism degree at the University of Missouri because I thought it would be easier to find a job with that as opposed to an English degree â which I know I would have enjoyed! I spent 20 years in advertising and marketing, working at ad agencies and my own freelance writing business and even teaching ad copywriting as an adjunct professor. But I always wanted to write a novel!
When my youngest child went to kindergarten, I went back to school and got an MFA in Fiction from Warren Wilson College. Thatâs right around the time I learned the story of the Bond Dance Hall explosion in West Plains, MO (my hometown) and I just knew it would make a terrific novel!
At that point in my life, I was spending most of my time as a busy mother of three and writing whenever I could find time. The timing of my first book deal was perfect: I had just sent my youngest to college, and could devote myself to writing novels full time⌠my dream!
For this second contract, I had to submit a proposal for Book #3 along with the first fifty pages⌠so I was off to a decent start. But as for Book #4⌠I donât have an idea for that yet, so it is a little bit nerve-wracking! I am just trying to trust the process, which includes lots of reading and curiosity. Good ideas always make their way to me eventually!
My publisher (Kensington) has been great about setting up both book tours; the support has been fantastic. The most important part, I think, is their willingness to send me to large bookseller conferences six months or so ahead of publication. That has allowed me to meet lots of independent bookstore owners and staff from across the Midwest, South and Mid-Atlantic regions â so they can get advanced copies early, be familiar with the novel when itâs time to order, and be prepared to hand-sell it to their customers. They are also more open to having me pop by for a visit after publication since theyâve met me already!
But budgets being what they are, we also try to piggyback off of any travel plans I have in place along with the main tour, so Iâm getting around as much as possible! For example, Iâm attending a music festival in Lexington, KY in June, so my publicist set up book events there and in Louisville. Iâm excited about that!
I just got back from a five-day swing through Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Lexington, MO. Part of the fun is that every event is a little different. It might include a short reading, a PowerPoint presentation about the bookâs history and research, audience Q&A, an interview by another author or a panel discussion. It typically ends with a book signing. The one I just did in Oklahoma City during a downtown festival called âMidtown Walkabout,â was really different: I walked around the bookstore and introduced myself to customers and shared a little about my book. I was nervous (thatâs a tough assignment for an introvert!), but I sold almost every single copy of both books because people are interested, generous and love to talk about books and writing!
Some of the authors Iâve spoken to have a group of other writers they collaborate with in a support group of sorts. Do you participate in anything similar? Who do you hash out your book ideas with, if anyone? Do you have a go-to person who reads your first drafts?
I think either of your books would make a super Netflix series. Are there any adaptations in the works?
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I have been in writers groups before and I think they are very helpful if you have people who are similarly committed to the work. Having accountability â like knowing you need to have fifteen pages done by a certain date â is great! However, Iâm not in a group at the moment. I tend to ask trusted MFA friends to do early reads and help me make sure Iâm on track.
I love hearing that my books could translate to the screen! The odds of that â according to my agent â are pretty slim. So nothing is in the works at the moment. But⌠a girl can dream!