Exciting Events Approaching

So many things are happening right now, I feel like a beautiful rainbow has opened up for me. I have a great event coming up it is a charity called Paws for Troops. The event is called Paws-atively Purr-fect Fund Raiser. It is to help both our veterans and animals heal from the trauma they had been through together. Its a great cause! I am very proud to help out. I donated my books and I will be signing at the event and my Mom donated one of her beautiful needlepoints. So exciting! For more information please check out http://www.pawsfortroops.com/

My new magazine is coming along very well. It is called The Jewel Box and here is the new logo. What do you think of it? My on-line magazine that celebrates the beauty and sentiment of family jewels. Pieces that you collected from your mother or grandmother. I am also going to focus on hot new pieces of all different types as well as historical pieces. It is a special, personal project of pure love. It will be premiering at the end of the month and I can't wait!!!

I have a new article in Working Writers it is about inspiration. One of my favorite subjects that I feel is deep and mysterious. Here is the link; http://workingwritersandbloggers.com/2011/06/16/inspiration/ . Let me know what you think?

I would like you all to welcome my new guest for my interview series author Cindy Jones. She wrote a wonderful book called My Jane Austen Summer; A Season in Mansfield Park. Welcome Cindy!

What was the first book you remember loving? Do you still own it?

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was the first book to have special meaning for me. I read a copy from the school library in fourth grade and remember having to renew it at least once in order to finish it. Although I had been reading novels since second grade, especially Nancy Drew mysteries. The Secret Garden was different. The walled garden, the locked door, and the secret relationship provided my first experience with Gothic elements in literature and started my love affair with books.

What kind of books do you like to read? Do those books affect your writing?

I like to read books that have literary sensibilities and commercial tendencies. I crave complex characters and beautiful prose but need a tension-filled plot to go with them. And since I write the books I would like to read, my craving dictate my writing. My favorite contemporary book is The City of Your Final Destination by Peter Cameron. I also love Jane Austen, Henry James, Edith Wharton and Daphne Dumaurier.

Of all your work what is your personal favorite?

My personal favorite is whatever I happen t be working on at the moment. Writing a novel is an intense experience and I lose myself with the characters and the story of each project while I'm working on it, starting with the novel I wrote in the fifth grade, followed much later by the first novel I wrote as an adult (now buried in a drawer), to My Jane Austen Summer and my current work-in progress. I love them equally, especially during the time they need the most attention from me.

Do you have a favorite character that you created?

My favorite character of my creation is also the protagonist of my current work. Working closely over a period of years tends to make them come alive in my imagination so that sometimes I think I catch a glimpse of them in the real world, or I refer to them in conversation before realizing what I've said. A man drove a golf cart past a window where I was sitting one day. I remarked to myself, "There goes Henry," (the male lead in my current project), but I immediately realized my lapse. Another time I suggested we stay with my character while traveling in England, before realizing my mistake.

What is your favorite character from another writer?

I love Fanny Price, a bookish woman who becomes the heroine of her own story, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I identify with a person who creates an interior world through reading, and I admire her courage in taking such a strong stand against the villains in her story.

Do you prefer on genre to another?

I have a preference for complex and compelling fiction.

Do you like the feel of a book in your hands or do you prefer an electronic devise?

I was surprised to discover that I could lose myself in an electronic novel just as completely as I could in print. I enjoy the convenience of an e-reader and the rich feeling of an abundance of titles waiting for my attention. However, if I am reading carefully for research or discussion purposes. I like to have the printed version in my hands for ease of flipping back and forth through pages, highlighting and note taking. I'm sure the electronic reader will evolve to address this issue or I will adjust by necessity, but until such time, I mainly use my e-reader for pleasure and stick to print for work related reading.

Can you tell us about your current work-in-progress?

I'm working on a novel about contemporary women who trade places. The story involves travel, India, Romantic Poets, and the power of imagination.

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Thank you so much for joining us and giving your take on reading and writing. I really appreciate it:)

If you have any questions or suggestions please email at rithebard@yahoo.com or on twitter @rithebard.