Yesterday I reviewed Treasure Me and today I have an interview for all of you from Christine Nolfi, the author of Treasure Me. Also, Christine has generously promised to give a lucky winner an ebook of this book. This is the perfect book to kick off your summer vacation with!
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| The lovely author, Christine Nolfi |
Interview:
1. How did you come up with the basis for the story in Treasure Me? Do you plan to re-visit Liberty in future writings?
Unlike every other novel I’ve written, Treasure Me was a bolt-out-of-the-blue experience. I awoke one morning with the image of a beautiful young thief dangling from a windowsill, trying to evade the man whose pocket she’d picked. That first scene arrived in a mad dash of typing—my critique partners couldn’t stop laughing when I read the first draft. As the novel progressed I enjoyed the challenge of making Birdie sympathetic to readers. Why any of us should care about a common thief becomes clearer once the reader understands Birdie’s past, and her infamous mother, Wish Kaminsky.
The next novel in the Liberty series, Second Chance Grill, will be released on Amazon in June.
2. Is Liberty based on a place you know?
The general layout of the town is loosely based on the quaint shops and pretty houses in Chardon, Ohio.
3. I also really liked the sort of mystery aspect of Treasure Me. How did you come up with the idea of Birdie's family's mystery? Do you have a particular interest in the Civil War?
As the Liberty series progresses, other eras of American history will be introduced through the past generations in Theodora, Ethel Lynn and Meade's families. Those notions of working in historical elements were derived from stories in my late mother's family. I have French and English ancestors who fought on both sides of the Civil War; there's even a yarn about an ancestor who worked as a spy for George Washington during the Revolutionary War. The plot thread regarding slavery was derived from a question I've always asked myself: on the French, Southern side of my family, do I have black relatives I've never met? This question is especially dear to me because I'm an adoptive mother of four Filipino children. Questions of why color unnecessarily divides people come naturally in my family.
I'd like readers to take away the idea in Treasure Me that “family” isn’t so much something we’re born into as something we create and nurture. The people you choose to love and who love you—day in and day out—are life’s only treasure.
4. I read in your bio at the end of Treasure Me that you worked for a PR firm. How did you make the jump from PR to writing?
I started my PR firm in my late 20s with the desire of finding time to write fiction in between paying jobs. Unfortunately, living from deadline to deadline made it difficult to do so. I finally decided in 2004 to begin writing fiction full-time--all 5 of the novels I've written will appear on Amazon in the coming months.
5. Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer?
Honestly, I can’t recall a time when I didn’t write. Poems. Short stories. Later, novels. After college, I owned a small public relations firm. But I was always moving toward the day when I’d write fiction.
Like all writers, I began with an insatiable hunger for books. When I was a child, I used to wander through libraries drawing my fingertips across the spines of books. I felt like I was touching other souls, reaching into other lives I would only know through their words.
6. If you were on a deserted island, which 3 books would you want to have with you?
The Bible, Emerson's essays and the complete works of Shakespeare.
7. Do you have any advice for future writers?
Believe in yourself. Make time for your writing, and join a critique group. Don't wait for loved ones to praise you for pursuing publication--they rarely understand the time commitment required to reach a large readership. And know that, with dedication, you WILL reach your goal.
About the author:
Christine owned a small public relations firm in Cleveland, Ohio. Her articles and press releases have appeared regionally in Ohio. Her short story, Night Hour, appeared in Working Mother magazine.
Christine closed the firm fifteen years ago after she traveled to the Philippines and
adopted a sibling group of four children. She has been writing novels fulltime since 2004.
Treasure Me is the first book of the Liberty, Ohio series, available at Amazon:
The second book in the Liberty series, Second Chance Grill, will be released on Amazon in June, 2011.
Contact Christine at http://christinenolfibooks.blogspot.com/
Giveaway:
Fill out the form below if you'd like to win an ebook copy of Treasure Me. Drawing will close June 10th! Giveaway open internationally (oh the joy of ebooks!)!!!
Meg, thanks for running the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the interview with Christine Nolfi. The book sounds great and I would like to read it.
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