Hello! My name is Katelina, and welcome to Weekend Character Interviews. Using state of the art-mumbo-jumbo author magic, Jo has temporarily bent the laws of fictional space and time to allow various literary universes to converge long enough for me to ask different characters a few questions. Since I spend a lot of time in the Amaranthine series quizzing vampires on what they’re doing, where they’re going and why, Jo thought I would be the perfect interviewer.
Finding Grace
Today, not only are the literary universes mixing, but it seems someone’s doing a little time traveling! Our victim – er, interviewee – is Grace Langdon from the novel Finding Grace by Sarah Pawley, and she joins us from 1920’s America!
Katelina: Hello Grace, and thanks for joining us! Wow, you’re from the 1920’s. Anywhere I’ve ever been?
Grace: I came from Virginia, but I live in Lincoln Park now, just outside of Chicago.
K: I think I’ve been to Virginia, actually. For those of you who can’t see us, Grace has blue eyes and an interesting shade of hair. What is that called?
G: It’s dish-water blond. That’s a country term, which means I’ve got light hair in the summer and darker hair in the winter.
K: Oh! Yeah, I’ve heard that term before. So what would you say is your biggest challenge in “Finding Grace?
G: Finding peace. It seems everybody wants something from me in one way or another.
K: Oh wow! Do you have a lot of enemies?
G: I don’t figure on calling my Mama and Daddy my enemies, but we ain’t exactly friends. They never did think much of me, but that’s a long story and there’s no point in diggin’ it up. Then there’s Charlie, who used to be my friend when we were kids. He’s not anymore, and that’s all I have to say about that.
K: I’m sorry to hear that, but you’re right. No point in dredging it up. Hopefully, though, you get a chance to move past it.
G: I do. I learn to put the past behind me, and I learn to trust people. That one hasn’t been so easy for me.
photo by Stephen Cummings from Flickr
K: Trust is never easy, is it? What would you say is the one defining moment that changed your life?
G: Sounds funny to say, but when I was in school, my teacher gave me a copy of Jane Eyre and it changed my life. I’m not kiddin’ you.
(Jo: *prods Katelina* – “That’s by Charlotte Brontë. You’ve probably seen the movie.”)
K: *glares*. Yes, I know. *looks back at her guest* It definitely didn’t inspire you to be a governess! So it must be…
G: I want to be a writer. My imagination goes wild sometimes with all sorts of ideas. I really should get it all down on paper.
K: Exactly what I was thinking! I hope you’re better to your characters than the author I have! Speaking of that, are you happy with your writer?
G: Oh yes, I’d like to say thanks to her for getting me out of there. And thanks for my wonderful husband.
K: Oh Husband! I can’t believe I didn’t ask about that, already!
Chicago in the 1920's - from wikimedia commons
G: Yes, I’m a married woman now. My husband is Henry Shaw. He owns a nightclub in the city, and I worked there for a little while. He’s a stubborn jackass sometimes, but he’s got a sly sense of humor and a good heart, although he don’t like to admit it. He’s a pure city boy and I’m as country as they come, but we actually have a lot in common. We’re both from Irish blood, and out tempers prove it. We’ve both come from the school of hard knocks, as they say. And by the way, did I mention that my husband is a looker? He’s about 6’2” with baby blue eyes and black hair. I’m a lucky woman to have him.
K: *looking far too interested* He sounds like a looker…. *clears throat quickly* Of course, erm, that vampire I’m dating is, too… um… moving on… It looks like we’re about out of time. Before the rules of the universe fall back into alignment, is there anything you’d like to say to your readers?
G: Something my teacher once told me. Helen Keller said it. She said, “Never bend your head. Hold it high, and look the world straight in the face.”
K: Excellent advice! Thanks so much for coming to talk to us, today, Grace! It’s been a real pleasure!
G: Thanks for the talk.
K: You’re very welcome!
You can find Grace in Finding Grace (ha ha! Get it? find Grace in… oh never mind.) which is available from Amazon in both paperback and Kindle. Look for it in other ebook formats, soon.
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Grace-ebook/dp/B004T53AWW/
Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Grace-Novel-Sarah-Pawley/dp/1449559468/
A special thanks to Sarah Pawley for playing along with us today!
If you’re an author and would like your character(s) to be interviewed by me, then check out this very cool page that has all the details:
Amaranthine by Joleene Naylor 
sue
/ June 4, 2011gonna get the book – love the 20s 😀
Joleene Naylor
/ June 4, 2011yeah it sounds like a good read! 😀
Artswebshow
/ June 6, 2011Interesting interview.
It sounds like a really good book, maybe one day i will read it. lol
Joleene Naylor
/ June 8, 2011yeah, you have my problem – a lack of time, LOL!
thejissilly
/ June 17, 2011Sounds like a good time in a book. I think it should be on my maybe someday list
Joleene Naylor
/ June 18, 2011Yeah, I have a long one of those, too 😉