Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Twelve Trivial Truths About Me:
1 – I’m part chameleon. Not because I can change colors on demand (which would be AWESOME!), but because I can move my eyes independently of each other. It gives me a serious eye-strain headache, but it’s entertaining. I may post a video one day ….
2 – I live in Southern California, but I can’t stand the sun. It burns my eyes and makes my skin turn glittery–er, I mean, red. I should live somewhere like Ireland or Scotland where it rains a lot.
3 – Speaking of Ireland, I ran The Dublin Marathon in Dublin, Ireland, in the year 2000. That was my “epic millennial triumph” for the turn of the millennium. It rained the whole 26.2 miles. Chafing and blisters commenced.
4 – I am adopted. It’s pretty cool. I come from nowhere, anywhere, and everywhere.
5 – Speaking of being adopted, one of my favorite pastimes is people-watching. In airports, and waiting rooms, etc., I pretend to read, but really, I look for people who might be my long-lost birth relatives, then I write reunion scenes in my head. Some day, I might publish those reunion stories.
6 – I still read aloud to our 20-something year-old married children after dinner during our weekly Family Night. We like all things Middle Earth, Otherworld, Time-travel, and non-Muggle. We keep it real, baby.
7 – I have a secret that I can’t tell you.
8 – My children have some incredible tattoos.
9 – Book stuff: I love to read historical fiction, but I usually write contemporary fiction. I keep threatening to put out a nonfiction book … but I kinda like the whole … ahem … ‘creative license’ thing with fiction. Baby, I was BORN TO LIE! (Bumper sticker, anyone?)
10 – I grew up in the boonies, so we had no television. But one of our supporting churches sent a shipment of all the Nancy Drew books ever published to us for Christmas one year. No, I wasn’t Nancy. I was George.
11 – Another of my favorite novels while growing up was Louis L’Amour’s Down the Long Hills. I first read it because my dad loved Louis L’Amour, and I wanted to be like him. (Dad, not Louis. Except for the writing a gazillion books and making a living at lying part.) I still have that original hard-back copy in my library.
12 – Speaking of Louis L’Amour, I’m what’s considered a “Pantser” – I tend to write by the seat of my pants. My stories come out of snippets of dreams, from songs, from other books or movies that resonate with me, or out of glimpses of every day people doing every day life. They usually only show up as a scene or a moment in a character’s life, but I rarely map much out until I’m actually writing the book. What does that have to do with my buddy, Louie? During an interview, he shared this: “One day I was speeding along at the typewriter, and my daughter – who was a child at the time – asked me, ‘Daddy, why are you writing so fast?’ And I replied, “Because I want to see how the story turns out!” ~ Louis L’Amour.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Nettles and Nests – Garden Variety Lovers Book 1
I’m a hobby herbalist and I’ve always wanted to write a story about a woman who owns and apothecary and herb farm. This is it! Nettles and Nests is located in a small town called Briarwood Grove, a place populated by people as varied as the plants Lavender Blackmore grows.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I often choose only one song that represents a book to me, and I play that song on automatic repeat when I need to shut out distractions. My brain tends to convert it to background sound so I can work, but it also “subliminally” stimulates my creative juices and helps me sort through the details of a book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I adore pretty much anything from Kristan Higgins, I am inspired by Sarah Addison Allen’s magical realism, and Carolyn Brown always makes me giggle and sigh. Denise Hunter and Lisa Wingate are favorite Christian authors.
What are you working on now?
Nettles and Nests and the rest of the Garden Variety Lover Series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Awesome Gang, of course! And BookBub, some of the Fiverr vendors, and My Book Cave – these have the best ROI for me.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t get too attached to your first book. Or your second. Or any of your books. Readers want what readers want, not what you want readers to want.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t get too attached to your first book. Or your second. Or any of your books. Readers want what readers want, not what you want readers to want.
What are you reading now?
Julia London’s Homecoming Ranch
What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing more books in the Garden Variety Lovers series, as well as more episodes of my ongoing Pemberton Manor Serial Novel on Amazon.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My Bible, Finding Loved Even When Stranded on a Desert Island, Outlander, and the complete collection of Kristan Higgins books.
Author Websites and Profiles
Becky Doughty Website
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