Hello! I've got another gem of a writer this morning! Romance Gem and USA Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty has joined us to tell us a little bit about herself and her romance THE HEALING SUMMER. First, let's ask Liz a few questions...
When did your love for writing start?
I’m not positive, to tell the truth, but I can give three possibilities. (1) In the first grade, when I got my first Dick and Jane book and it was discovered that I was a really good reader and I figured out that was how I wanted to spend all my time. (2) I read Little Women until the covers literally fell off and I had to Elmer’s Glue new cardboard covers onto the book. (3) My aunt had a Royal manual typewriter my brothers and I were fascinated by. I spent an exhausting afternoon hunting-and-pecking a story on it when I was nine. The story was awful, but I was permanently hooked on the process.
What is something you struggle with when you write?
Focus. I am too all-over-the-place. Because I am much more character-driven than plot-driven, I’m sooo interested in my people (and everyone else’s) that I write much more into them than is necessary for a story.
Hmm...sounds like someone else I know...
Where do you live? Where would you love to live?
I live in the country in north central Indiana. I have lived here always. It’s politically uncomfortable and I don’t always love its weather, but it is nevertheless home. If there was only me to consider, I’d love to live in Vermont. It’s my single favorite place in the world. Of course, I’m fairly certain I’d skip town in a heartbeat during the months of January and February to go somewhere warm—preferably with a beach attached.
I feel those beach vibes, too!
Name your favorite children's story.
How much room do you have here? I loved so many of them, but if I could only have one, it would be Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s Understood Betsy. I first read it when I was eight or nine and have probably read it 50 times since then. It gave birth to my love for Vermont. There is something about Betsy’s character arc, and the arcs of some of the other characters, that is so satisfying to me. I even have it on my Kindle, and there are certain scenes I’ll seek out and read for the comfort of them.
I've never heard of it. I'll have to check it out. I love to hear when others love the same books I do, but it's also good to discover others. Thanks for sharing that!
What is your concept of a fruitful day?
I’m in my office before daybreak. I get some words in. My husband and I spend time together. We may go out for lunch. I might see a kid or a grandkid. More words. I laugh a lot.
That sounds wonderful! Well-balanced! Thanks for joining us, Liz, and we look forward to hearing more from you in the future!
Bio ~
Retired from the post office and married to Duane for…a really long time, USA Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty has had a heart-shaped adult life, populated with kids and grands and wonderful friends. She admits she can be boring, but hopes her curiosity about everyone and everything around her keeps her from it. She likes traveling and quilting and reading. And she loves writing.
YOU CAN FIND LIZ HERE:
Email her at lizkflaherty@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlizflaherty/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizFlaherty1
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/liz-flaherty
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3336348.Liz_Flaherty
Newsletter signup: http://eepurl.com/df7dhP
Email her at lizkflaherty@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlizflaherty/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizFlaherty1
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/liz-flaherty
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3336348.Liz_Flaherty
Newsletter signup: http://eepurl.com/df7dhP
Blurb ~
It’s a summer romance--what happens come September?
When Steven Elliott accidentally rides his bike into Carol Whitney’s car at the cemetery, the summer takes on new and exciting possibilities. Long friendship wends its way into something deeper when their hearts get involved. Feelings neither of them had expected to experience again enrich their days and nights. But what happens when the long summer ends? When Carol wants a family and commitment and a future, Steven isn't so sure. He’s had his heart broken before—can he risk it again?
YOU CAN BUY THE HEALING SUMMER HERE:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X8DGPM6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i6
B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-healing-summer-liz-flaherty/1133411458
Google Books: https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Healing_Summer.html?id=kj64DwAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-healing-summer
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X8DGPM6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i6
B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-healing-summer-liz-flaherty/1133411458
Google Books: https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Healing_Summer.html?id=kj64DwAAQBAJ
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-healing-summer
Excerpt ~
Once inside the cemetery, Steven left some flowers on his mother’s grave and more on Promise’s mother’s before lowering himself to the ground beside his wife’s granite marker. “Hey,” he said, leaning forward to straighten the flowers he’d stuffed into the vase on the base of the stone, “what’s new, darlin’? I had a rotten morning, let me tell you.”
And tell her he did. Not only about this morning but about the six weeks since he’d last been here. He knew people who swore their dead loved ones talked to them, but he never expected that. It would have scared the bejesus right out of him if Promise answered his ramblings, although he knew what she’d say.
Get a life, Desperado.
He wanted to. Some days, anyway. Other times, most times, he didn’t give a good damn. If he hadn’t realized the depth of losses his sister and his best friend had already endured, he’d have considered an “accidental” overdose a long time ago. They wouldn’t forgive him if he offed himself, and God probably wouldn’t either. Steven didn’t always attend the church in which he’d been raised, but he believed in the hereafter, and he certainly didn’t want to piss off the One who ran things there.
The cemetery was shadowy with approaching evening by the time he straddled Dillon’s bicycle again. The air had cooled considerably. He was exhausted, wrung out by the emotional merry-go-round the day had been. With any luck at all, the weariness and the quietude of home would make for a good night’s sleep. Peacock wasn’t referred to in travel brochures as a “sleepy little town” for nothing.
That was, in retrospect, the only possible reason he could come up with for not looking either way before he rode the bicycle into the one-lane road that dissected the cemetery.
Ooh! Great hook! I can't wait to read it!
