ALL OF ME by Lori Wilde: An Interview With "Bingo"

ALL OF ME

by Lori Wilde




AN INTERVIEW
WITH "BINGO"

MEET THE AUTHOR: Lori Wilde

Lori Wilde is the bestselling author of more than forty-five books. A former RITA finalist, Lori has received the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers' Choice, and numerous other honors. She lives in Weatherford, Texas, with her husband and a wide assortment of pets. You may write to Lori at P.O. Box 31, Weatherford, TX 76086, or e-mail her via her home page at www.loriwilde.com. Lori Wilde teaches Romance Writing Secrets via the Internet through colleges and universities worldwide at www.ed2go.com.

LORI WILDE: AN INTERVIEW
WITH "BINGO"

Welcome, Lori to BOOKIN’ WITH BINGO. Thank you for helping with our Tour of ALL OF ME. What kind of things have you been working on currently?

I’ve started a new open-ended series for Avon about a small town in Texas. The first book comes out in November and it’s called The Sweethearts’ Knitting Club. The second book is called True Love Quilting Club. Here’s a short blurb for the series.

Twilight, Texas (pop. 6,000) is a quaint tourist town on the banks of the Brazos River that feeds in Lake Twilight. With its stately courthouse, surrounded by lovingly refurbished buildings of old west style architecture, Texas Monthly voted Twilight the Prettiest Town Square in Texas. The combination of the pristine blue lake and the intriguing history—Jesse James reportedly used hidden river caves near Twilight as a hideout—lends a magical air to this quirky, but close-knit community filled with warmth and small town camaraderie. In the summer months, tourists flock to Twilight drawn by the water, the odd little curio shops, acclaimed community theatre and lively town events.

Twilight was founded in 1875. How the town got its name is a subject of heated debate, but the prevailing legend among romantics involves two teenage sweethearts separated during the War Between the States. Circumstances tore them asunder, but they never stopped loving each other. Fifteen years later, they met again at twilight on the banks of the river in the spot where the town now stands. A statue in their honor has been erected in the park next to the town square.

There’s a rumor that if you throw pennies into the park’s fountain you will be reunited with your high school sweetheart. Because of this romantic legend, Twilight has been nicknamed Sweetheart Town. Many reunited high school lovers come to Twilight to get married and in fact, there is thriving matchmaking business in town, focusing exclusively on helping people reconnect with long lost loves.

The heart and soul of Twilight resides in the local knitting club, a group consisting mostly of town matriarchs who not only give advice and counsel to town citizens, but they also provide comic relief and run interference for star-crossed lovers. These older women will appear in every book and with their meddling, entertaining and good-natured ways, will serve as mentors, allies, threshold guardians, and tricksters.

What have you just finished reading?

Black Out by Lisa Unger. She’s an amazing writer.

What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out?

To Kill a Mockingbird, Lonesome Dove, The Thornbirds, A Prayer for Owen

Meany, The Stand, Tom Sawyer, The Grapes of Wrath, just to name a few.

What gets you started on a new book? A character or story idea or….?

Sometime it’s a character, sometimes it’s a story idea.

What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?

At the time, I was the youngest person in the state of Texas ever admitted into a

licensed vocational nursing program. I was sixteen.

What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?

Read, read, read, write, write, write, never, ever give up.

What is something you would like to share with us about writing ALL OF ME or writing in general?

Don’t confuse me with the characters. The characters in All of Me hold a political viewpoint that is not my own, but I had to be true to who they are. Some readers however don’t get that. I’ve received hate mail because of characters’ political beliefs. I have to say it’s been very shocking to be personally attacked for beliefs that belong to fictional people. I’ve learned my lesson. From now on all my characters will have no political views.