Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The official story is that I’m the USA Today Bestselling Author of more than 75 books and the recipient of numerous awards. I write romantic comedies, cozy mysteries and women’s fiction as Peggy Webb and literary fiction as Elaine Hussey (a combinations of my middle and maiden names). The rest of the story is that I was born on a farm in Mississippi and I’m a country girl at heart. I adore gardening, playing the piano, singing first soprano in my church choir and sitting on my front porch with friends. I picture my gardens as resembling Bellingrath, but bugs and Southern heat have done me in.
I can barely operate a can opener but all things creative interest me. I dabble in pottery and paint crazy artsy chairs and compose a few blues lyrics at an antique baby grand that once belonged to a jazz musician. You’ll find some of those lyrics in my literary fiction novel, THE SWEETEST HALLELUJAH (MIRA, 2013) They were credited to Li’l Rosie! “Why Ain’t You Dead Yet” is one of my favorites! I have two children and four grandchildren, all brilliant and beautiful and loving, naturally, and I live in a country cottage with two of the most disobedient dogs on Planet Earth.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
STARS TO LEAD ME HOME:LOVE AND MARRIAGE (June 4, 2015) is my latest women’s fiction novel. It was inspired my lifelong friendships with women who have shared my secretes, my sorrows and my celebrations since I was six years old. Also, my Aunt Maxine inspired the secondary story line. At her death, she was the world’s second longest living recipient of a donor heart! Hers was a journey of courage and hope, and I’ve always wanted to tell it. Have your tissues ready when you read this book. But prepare for belly laughs, too. I have a warped sense of humor. If I can’t find something to laugh about every day, I take my temperature to see what’s wrong!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
With writers, nothing is unusual! Here are my quirks: (1) I always write facing a window. Put my desk facing a wall and my muse runs screaming for the hills! (2) I listen to music, but it has to be without lyrics because I’ll get caught up in them and want to sing along. Usually I play Native American flute CDs. (3) I keep little bits of whimsy on my desk – two dragon globes, a sassy painted pelican, an enameled cardinal (my power animal), a blue dolphin lamp, two unicorns and a fairy! (4) I have to have a cup of green tea chai nearby, winter or summer. Warm drinks are soothing to me. (5)My mouse pad is red and says, “Dear Dorothy, Hate Oz, took the shoes, find your own way home! Toto” I can’t seem to move a mouse on a dull, boring pad. (6) My writing room is filed with clocks, though I rarely consult them and even if I did, I’d be perpetually late – or early. None of them keep time. My two favorites are a red Mickey Mouse clock and a purple elephant clock. That’s about it. After reviewing my answer to this question, I figure I must be one step away from being carted off with a net!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I am strongly influenced by Eudora Welty’s sense of place, the playwright Tennessee William’s eccentric Southern characters, the lyric beauty of Pat Conroy’s and Alice Hoffman’s prose, the sheer storytelling genius of literary greats such as Flannery O’Conner and Harper Lee.
What are you working on now?
I always have multiple projects going. Currently, I’m writing another literary fiction novel as Elaine Hussey, this one set in the tumultuous times of the Deep South in 1963. Also, I’m creating another comedic cozy mystery/romance series titled MAGNOLIA WILD. The first book should be ready by the fall of 2015. In the works, as well, are more romantic comedy classics in my SUNDAY COVE series, and another women’s fiction in my Love and Marriage series. The title is MY LOVE WILL FIND YOU. I expect to have it out by spring of 2016.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
With a lot of help from my friend/web guru/filmmaker Roy Turner, I keep my website at www.peggywebb.com up-to-date with newsflashes, a what’s new section and current book pages. My blog is at www.elainehussey.com. I’ve found my ads with The Fussy Librarian to be very effective, as well.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you have a wonderful story and can’t imagine not telling it! Know your characters as well as you do your best friends. Know the theme of your story as well as the genre. Above all, find your unique voice and use it!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Always be kind.” The advice came from my daddy, and I’m certain he meant it as a life’s lesson. However, it applies equally to the crazy, ever-changing world of publishing. I believe we’re all just trying to do our best here. Whether I’m being told my book is the best thing since white bread or it should be weighted down and sunk in the deepest part of the ocean, I try to remember what my daddy said. I try very hard to smile, be kind and remember that this is not the end of the world. A new day will dawn and a new story will always find me.
What are you reading now?
Currently I’m reading FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES so I can figure out to how to kill somebody (in my cozy, of course) and make my readers die laughing (metaphorically, of course)! I’m also reading THE SOCIOPATH NEXT DOOR. I’m calling it research, but it fits so many of my relatives I’m now afraid to go to the next family reunion!
What’s next for you as a writer?
In my thirty years as a writer, I’ve done just about everything I set out to do. I’ve written in multiple genres, made the leap to literary fiction, been invited to join PEN American (founded by Robert Frost) and won many awards, including the prestigious Romantic Times Pioneer Award. My intention and my hope is that I can continue to write the stories I love.
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?
THE TREASURY OF GREAT SHOW TUNES so I could sing all the words to the music of the ocean. THE SWEETEST HALLELUJAH so I could reread my own work and remember the power of words and the feel of the keyboard beneath my fingertips. The Bible so I could have promise and hope within reach.
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