I want to welcome my cool writerly blogging friend, Tess Hilmo. We were pals in our early blogging days. She’s one of my first followers. Bless her! And I have learned a lot from her in the past couple years. Her book, With a Name Like Love debuted on my birthday. Thanks for that Tess! HA!
What made you decide to become a writer? I’ve always loved reading and literature but it wasn’t until I was put on 30 weeks bed rest with my second child that I started to write. I had so much time and was tired of the television so I turned to books and began writing stories. That child is now 12 years old!Will you ever or have you considered writing a sequel to With a Name Like Love? No, I think it would take away from the charm of this story.
Was Ollie based on you or anyone from your life? A little bit of myself, I think. Ollie longs for a stable home. Growing up, I had a single mom who bought and sold real estate. We lived in ten different homes by the time I was 14! So, in that way, my wants aligned with Ollie’s. The name comes from a distant relative on my father’s side.
How did you come up with the name Binder? Real town? Not a real town, but a real law firm! I was taking a break from writing and heard a TV commercial for a local law firm, “Binder and Binder.” The name stuck in my head and so I made it into a town.
What kind of books do you enjoy reading the most? Anything middle grade!
Who are your favorite characters from With a Name Like Love? Jimmy is by far my favorite character. He is in a terrible mess. His mother is in jail for killing his horribly abusive father and yet he never once questions her innocence or his own self worth. He believes in himself so deeply. That kid is amazing.
What are your tips for aspiring novelists? Believe!!! And, some advice I heard was that writing is not a race, it is a marathon and there is room for all of us at the finish line.
What are you working on right now? Divulge my secrets? Hmmmm….ok! I am working on another middle grade story. It is set in Wyoming, modern day and has a fun cowboy flare to it. It has been a blast to write!
Tess, I have loved having you here. I truly wish you great success and I am one of your biggest cheerleaders. Everyone go buy Tess’s book, With a name Like Love. It’s awesome. Just look at that cover! Wouldn't you pick this book up if you were browsing?Tess is having a humongous giveaway over at her place. Head over, ASAP! Tess's place and visit her awesome website too.
Buy this lovely book at:
Nice interview. And I like the cover of her book. So nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Robyn. Tess, the sound of your book is so intriguing. Will add it to my huge TBR pile. I also started on my first novel with determination while recovering from surgery. Told myself this one was going to be finished, no excuses. I did finish it but it was awful, but I didn't stop. I kept at it and that was six years ago. Now I have three books out in a mystery series. Some of the best things do happen when you are laid low.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Wendy
W.S. Gager on Writing
Lovely post and thank you for the marathon comment. It's perfect!
ReplyDeleteI love that: Writing is a marathon and there's room for all of us at the finish line.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview.
BTW: Happy Birthday.
Lovely cover and it sounds like an interesting story. Nice to see how an interview is done, Robyn!
ReplyDeleteThat last comment was from me, I accidentally pressed Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview! Tess was also one of my early followers. I love the part about the marathon. So true...
ReplyDeletehi robyn
ReplyDeletehow are you? I hope you are well. I just wanted to say once again thank you so much for your help on my blog you ROCK!! Infact one of my recent posts was about that very thing!!
Hugs eve.xx
Great interview and her book cover is so simple but lovely!
ReplyDeleteBTW- I linked to you today Robyn at my site. :O)
I agree that there's a certain catchy mood to the cover! Congrats to Tess and best wishes with the next story!
ReplyDeleteOh, I moved a lot when I was a kid too so I totally relate.
Two of my favorite blogger/writers in one place! That was a lovely interview, and I wish Tess tons of book love.
ReplyDeleteThank for hosting me, Robyn and thanks to everyone for stopping by. This has been such fun!
ReplyDeleteRobyn, thanks for the interview.
ReplyDeleteTess, good luck with the book. Interesting that your mom was a real estate agent and you moved 10 times. The manuscript I'm querying now has a character whose mother moves nearly every year. The teen girl hates it.
Great interview! Thanks Robyn, for the intro to Tess. This book sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteBlessings and hugs, amigo,
Karen
I am going to keep chanting "believe" to myself. That's some real good advice for this struggling writer lately. Loved the interview Robyn. Thanks! Hope you're doing well my friend :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful interview, Robyn! I just wrote a post (my first after a year . . . thanks for your encouragement, btw!) mentioning Tess' book and am also linking your interview. I read an excerpt of Tess' book on amazon & was hooked! I can't wait to read the whole thing! :)
ReplyDeleteMy copy arrived in the mail a week ago. I won it on Tess's blog. Thank you! It has a great cover. I put it in my music room, just in case one of my students gets curious.
ReplyDeleteI say many thanks to the father of the website admin I read this, because at this website I know a lot of information information that I did not know before his
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