Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Interview With Jill Landis!!



Well, I have had some real fun "meeting" the authors these past months, as I am sure you all have too. We have met lots of interesting and exciting people. Part of why I like doing the interviews is getting to know more about the actual person behind the book. And one of the people we get to meet today, is Jill Landis!! Her new book, Heart of Stone, is my type of book. It has an Irish girl in it:) I am a lover of anything Irish or Scottish. I will be posting my review of the book soon.

Thank you for being with us today, Jill!

Thank you for inviting me!

How long have you known you wanted to be an author?

Since I learned to write. When I was about eight years old I wrote a play for two of my classmates and myself to perform
at Christmas time. When I was ten I "published" a newspaper announcing my baby brother's birth and other family news. in Junior High I wrote a surfer romance.


Can you tell me a little bit about your newest book?

HEART OF STONE is the first in "The Irish Angels" series. It's set in New Orleans and Texas in 1875 and it's a really emotional story about a child who was given over to a brothel by her uncle and raised there. As an adult, she changes her name to Laura Foster and turns her life around and moves to Texas where she lives a new life, but she's constantly aware that her identity could be found out and her world would come tumbling down. When the town preacher comes courting, she is determined to spurn his attentions, but he's a man who won't take no for an answer. He's also a man with secrets of his own and though she fears that her past will bring him down, his own forces him to face the transgressions of his youth as well as defend the woman he loves. On a deeper level, it is about the true meaning of forgiveness and about not making judgments about others that aren't ours to make.
The next book in the series is HEART OF LIES and it will be on sale in March of 2011. Books 2 and 3 of the series are about Laura's sisters lives (the girls were separated as children) and how they are reunited.


When a reader gets done with your book, what do you want them to come away with?

My main goal is to move the reader to either laugh or cry or both. And I want them to pick up one of my books and not be able to put it down until they finish. From most of my readers' comment, I am doing my job. I also want them to remember the characters long after the last page.

Most of my books are about people who overcome great odds to triumph over challenges in their lives and the bonus is that they find love along the way. My inspirationals, I hope, are about learning of the power of love, of forgiveness, of God's gifts and plans for our lives. In my own life, I believe that no matter what challenges we face, if we have faith and hang on, then we will be stronger and better for the experience.


Is there a place you have always wanted to visit? A vacation spot, historical monument, overseas, etc?

My husband and I are blessed to have traveled a lot. We've been all over the United States and to most of Europe as well as to Fiji and Tahiti. I'm campaigning right now for a trip to the Cook Islands (we live in Hawaii so that's not too far) and to Japan. I'm partial to islands and warm climates. I've given up snow for good, I hope.

If you could have dinner with 2 people, who would they be?

Well, if they are two people from the past it would be my dad and Martin Luther King.

If they are two people from right now? Well, my mom and my husband. Of course we'd want to have my brothers and their families, too. (Sticking with two people is pretty impossible with us.)

If you meant two famous people...hmm....I think President Obama and the First Lady. I'd like to have dinner at the White House and see all the rooms and the china and crystal and the Oval Office and take in all the history.

What one event would you love to be at? Historical or future?

Historical: I'd like to be at the first meeting of the Founding Fathers to see what they were really thinking.

Future: The day the very last army is dissolved and there is world peace.

Do you have a favorite hobby?

I dance hula. I used to have lots of other hobbies like quilting and painting and playing the ukulele. I still have time to do some gardening. But mostly in my spare time when I'm not writing or reading, I'm practicing hula. It is a joy. I also love to swim.

Is there something about you most people wouldn't know?

Well, if I told that, then a lot of people would know, so I'm not going to.

Do you have any suggestions for the aspiring writer?

The only thing an aspiring writer needs to know is that it takes stamina and you have to put in the hours and do the work.
You have to sit down, type, type, type and then you have to revise, revise, revise. Then you have to submit, submit, submit.
You have to take suggestions and rejection. Lots of them. You have to be tough enough to listen to criticism and then tough enough to decide what you want to change and what you want to keep in your book. You can't please everyone. You have to be willing to get over wanting to be on Oprah and becoming famous (because most of us won't be on Oprah) and write because you love to write and you feel you have to write to stay sane. If you can't understand all of that, don't even start.

Any last thoughts for your readers?

Authors write at home alone in an office with very little contact except what comes through the computer most of the time.
If you love an author's book, do find the website and write to her. It keeps us inspired.


And how can they connect with you?

I'm on facebook at Jill Marie Landis as well as my website www.jillmarielandis.com
and www.jillmarielandis.com/blog

Thanks again for inviting me, Charity!
Aloha,
Jill

READERS-I don't have a giveaway for this but you might want to sign up for Jill's newsletter. She quarterly has book drawings, other goodies, etc.

2 comments:

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith said...

Thanks for this interview! Neat!

Bill ;-)

http://drbillsbookbazaar.blogspot.com/2010/06/help-settle-bet-ok.html
Author of "Back to the Homeplace"
and "13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories"

Karen Lange said...

Good interview! This book looks good:)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...