WHAT READERS HAVE ASKED

Q:  Is Tucker’s Ferry a real place?

A:  There might be a Tucker’s Ferry out there...it would be great to hear from people who live there and see if their town is similar to what I wrote!  As a child, I spent my summers in Culloden, West Virginia...which also has just one stoplight. 

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Q: Are any characters in your books inspired by real people?  

A:  Growing up, I knew a man that had a beautiful rose garden. He was a widower, just like Old Red. I never spoke to him other than saying “hi”, and I never once stole his flowers. (Honest.) My grandmother canned all sorts of vegetables, fresh from her garden. There is a bit of her in Miss Martha as well. 

Q: Did you know someone that had Alzheimer’s?

A:  Yes. My grandfather had it. And he forgot me, just like Old Red forgets Delia. But he remembered my voice. I wove that bit of my life into Delia’s story in What Flowers Remember. 

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Q: After The Summer of Hammers and Angels, you said you weren’t going to write about Delia again. Why did you change your mind? 

A: You’re right! I did say that. One day I was on an airplane, taking a five hour flight and I realized that Delia, Tommy, Mae, and Old Red had one more tale to tell.  

Q:  What were some of your favorite books as a kid?

A:  Oh, there are so many! I was a voracious reader. Let’s see.....Judy Blume, Noel Streatfeild and all her dancing shoes books - I wanted to be a ballerina for many years growing up! I loved John Christopher’s Tripod Trilogy, which are wonderful science fiction. I recently reread them and enjoyed them just as much now as I remembered as a kid! I also loved Robert C. O’Brian, particularly Z for Zachariah and The Silver Crown, and also read all the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I could go on and on....