ANN HAYWOOD LEAL'S A FINDERS-KEEPERS PLACE: AUTHOR INTERVIEW, REVIEW, AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
A FINDERS-KEEPERS PLACE

BY ANN HAYWOOD LEAL

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Esther Page has been trying to keep things together for as long as she can remember. Valley—that’s her mama—has always gotten funny notions like gardening indoors or living as the Amish do, without any electricity. And Esther has always cleaned up after those notions and watched our for her little sister, Ruth.

But Valley’s notions are getting wilder, and too many people are asking questions about what’s going on at home. It seems to Esther that the only person who can help is Ezekiel—the father she can barely remember.

Ezekiel was a preacher, that much is certain, so Esther takes Ruth on a search through all the churches in town. Somebody, somewhere, must know about Ezekiel . . . You can find out more by reading an excerpt of A FINDERS-KEEPERS PLACE HERE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ann Haywood Leal is an elementary school teacher and the author ofAlso Known As Harper. She has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and enjoys spending time with her husband, Andy, and daughters, Jessica and Holly. She lives and writes in Waterford, Connecticut.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

1. Thank you for agreeing to do an interview. Is there any personal information or websites you would like to share with my readers before we get started with some questions?

My website is  http://www.annhaywoodleal.com.  I also have a blog:  http://www.annhaywoodleal.blogspot.com.

2.  What is the next or current book/project you are working on?

I am having a lot of fun with my work-in-progress.  It has an unusual setting and my main character is a twelve and a half year old boy, named Freeman Henry Dufay.  He’s caught in a situation where his life is spinning out of control.

3. What have you just finished reading?

I always have about three or four books going at the same time!  I recently finished THREE RIVERS RISING by Jame Richards, ROCKY ROAD by Rose Kent, NEVERLAND by Douglas Clegg, and ROOM by Emma Donoghue.  I just began I REMEMBER NOTHING AND OTHER REFLECTIONS by Nora Ephron. 

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

I would have to say FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E.L. Konigsburg, THE WOLVES OF WILLOUGHBY CHASE by Joan Aiken, and anything by Roald Dahl and Judy Blume.  Judy Blume is edgy and not afraid to tell the truth with her writing.  I really feel that she gives kids what they need and want to hear. 

Two books that have really helped me as a writer are ON WRITING by Stephen King, and BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott.  Both books have such solid, practical, and usable advice.

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

I am most often inspired by settings.  I love anything that is old or broken-down.  It gets me wondering about the story behind it—who has lived there, and what might have happened there?  If I see an interesting place, I like to stop and take pictures of it—my way of saving the setting for later!  There is a place I go by sometimes on my bicycle, and I think I want to use it in my current work-in-progress. It’s set back from the road a little, so to really get a good picture, I’m going to have to ride back there.  The only thing is, I can’t tell if it’s abandoned, or if someone actually still lives there.  It would be just my luck to have someone peering out the window at me right as I am aiming my camera!

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

Let’s see…I wish I had some deep, dark secret that I could reveal here!  J
Oh, I guess I do have something—less about me, and more about a relative of mine.  Just before my Aunt Lila died, she gave my cousin, Lynn, a box tied up with an old piece of twine.  Lynn moved to another state shortly after that and she stashed the box in a closet.  

She ran across the box again, right after ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER came out.  After she went through the box, she called me and said, “I found something, and I think it belongs to you.”

My brother and sister-in-law had a party for me after a bookstore signing, and my cousin handed me the box.  It was full of our great-grandmother’s stories! 

She had been a writer, and nobody knew it.  The stories seemed to have come out of nowhere.  Anyone who might have known anything about them had passed away.

My great-grandmother had lived on a dairy farm, and I know she must have started her day long before the sun came up.  I pictured her late at night, after her family was asleep, writing away! She must have had an incredible imagination, too, because I don’t think she ventured far from that farm, but her stories are full of adventure and intrigue!  I wish so much that I could sit down with her and talk to her about writing.     

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

Write every day and set aside a certain time of day to write.  Make a goal for yourself, even if it’s just a half hour a day.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do it (including yourself!).

8. What is something you would like to share with us about writing your favorite genre in general?

My mom used to take my brother and me to the public library every Wednesday.  I can still remember exactly where the Nancy Drew books were located.  (I could probably still walk straight to them with my eyes closed!)  I loved that feeling I got when I was squatting in front of the shelves and I hadn’t chosen anything yet.  I want to write books that will make a kid feel as if that book in front of them on the shelf was written just for them.

Thank you, Ann. I know my readers will find this just as interesting as I did!

PRAISE FOR A FINDERS-KEEPERS PLACE:

“Mature beyond her years, able to make the best of a bad situation and blessed with impressive survivor skills, Esther proves an admirable heroine in this poignant story.” --Kirkus Reviews

“Leal excels in pithy characterization, mainly through spot-on dialogue, yielding sympathetic characters, a gripping plot, and no shortage of heartbreaking moments.” --Publishers Weekly

“The author of Also Known as Harper (2009), Leal creates strong, individual characters and a convincing narrative of a family in disarray.” --Booklist

 

MY REVIEW/THOUGHTS:

It is easy to see that Ann Haywood Leal knows children. As a former elementary teacher myself, I was drawn to Ann's first book, ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER by the characters and A FINDERS-KEEPERS PLACE is no different. The more you learn about Esther and the life she leads, the more you feel for her. Her trying to care for EVERYONE at such a young age, is not fantasy, unfortunately, in this day and age. I think Leal captured the essence of this young girl and the pain, as well as reason for her pain, in this book. I would highly recommend this to readers and especially to intermediate/young adults as well.

GIVEAWAY

 THANKS TO ANN, I HAVE ONE

AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THIS

WONDERFUL BOOK TO GIVE AWAY!

 

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GOOD LUCK!