Peggy Webb | Finding Maggie

I’ve been writing for a very long time. Thirty years, in fact. My first book was a little story called TAMING MAGGIE that landed on me on the number one spot of romance bestsellers. Heady stuff!

I love the name Maggie, and if you’ve followed my career, you know that I’ve used it more than once. In its current incarnation, Maggie is the major character in STARS TO LEAD ME HOME, a woman so down-to-earth, so like your next door neighbor, your sister, your dearest friend that you’ll laugh and cry and cheer for her throughout the novel.

Where did the name come from and why is it my favorite go-to name for characters? Maggie was my husband’s grandmother, and I lived next door to her during the early years of my marriage, so close, in fact, that I could hear her screen door open every morning as she headed out to work in her gardens. Long before other people even thought about getting out of bed, Maggie Webb was dressed in calico bonnet and work boots, pulling weeds out of her garden and tossing them into the Radio Flyer wagon she used as a garden cart.

My daughter called her Ma, and she, too, was alert to Maggie’s every move. The nursery window faced Maggie’s gardens, and the first words I heard every morning came from my daughter, who’d be standing in her crib, bouncing up and down and calling out for Ma.

Ma lived alone well into her nineties, independent and feisty, intelligent and witty, compassionate and endearing to the end. Bits and pieces of her have found their way into my stories for all these years. Still, I reserve the name for landmark books, books such as STARS TO LEAD ME HOME.

This book reminds me of DRIVING ME CRAZY, a wildly popular novel I wrote in the NEXT line. It puts me in mind of TALK BEFORE SLEEP (Elizabeth Berg), THE DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA YA SISTERHOOD (Rebecca Wells) and STEEL MAGNOLIAS (Robert Harling). I could tell you many things about this book, but the truest thing I can say is that it celebrates wonderful, zany, unbreakable female friendships and you don’t want to miss it.

I’m doing some great giveaways for STARS TO LEAD ME HOME. You’ll find them in the contest section here at Fresh Fiction and also on my blog. Learn more about this book here and on my website.

Save forty percent by preordering STARS TO LEAD ME HOME! This savings will vanish on pub date, June 4.

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Happy reading!

About STARS TO LEAD ME HOME

If you’ve ever tried to pick up the pieces after a marriage goes up in smoke, you’ll know Maggie. If you’ve ever thought your daughter might not speak to you again or a life-threatening illness would claim your best friend, you’ll understand Maggie’s heart. And if you’ve ever wished on a star, you’ll cheer for her throughout this book.