1--What is the title of your latest release?
My new book is HAPPILY EVER ALASKA, book #3 in the Sweet Home, Alaska series.
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Lolly Crocker certainly knows how to bake up warm desserts in her chilly Alaskan village, but she has no idea how to handle the reigniting of an old flame, when her ex comes back to town.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
My wonderful editor, Tracy, asked me to write a proposal about small town Alaska and that’s how the Sweet Home, Alaska series was born. I was super excited to write the Alaska books because I have friends in Alaska!
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes, I would hang out with Lolly Crocker…in her kitchen with us baking up all kinds of goodies, while The Great British Baking Show played in the background.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Obedient to her mother’s wishes (at least in the past), Practical (the reason Lolly became a teacher, though, she’d always dreamed of being a baker), Caring because she bakes for those that need cheering up.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned about anti-predator gear for dogs, which protects them from flying predators and those on the ground. I modeled the dog in the book after my own Bichon-poo. We don’t need anti-predator gear where I live, but I thought my Bichon-poo would look pretty tough walking around in our neighborhood with one of the spiked jackets that the small Alaskan dogs need to wear.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit at all the stages of writing. When the manuscript is finished, I do a big edit with scene sheets and look for places where there might be holes in the logic or places that need tweaking.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Oh, where to start? For savory dishes, I choose pasta! For sweets, I choose lemon drizzle cake! Or maybe chocolate chip cookies. No, pies, all kinds. Okay, let’s just say that I have a lot of favorite sweets!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I have several spots in my house, where I write.
- I have my ‘Starbucks’—that’s what I call the small table I have set up in our library/dining room. The sunlight is great in my ‘Starbucks’ and I use the background coffee shop white noise from Freedom.to to help with the illusion that I’m actually at the real Starbucks.
- I love to write in my recliner with my feet up. I borrowed this idea from Sherrilyn Kenyon, when she spoke at our writing group many years ago. I believe that writing in a recliner (and the angle at which my hands and arms are) helps alleviate carpal tunnel issues.
- Lastly, I write at my desk (a.k.a. skinny card table) in my office. I seem to be able to focus more intensely when I’m writing in there.
Having different areas to write gives me a fresh perspective when I need a change.
10--Who is an author you admire?
It’s so hard to name just one! Jane Austen was the first person that came to mind so let’s go with her.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
It was while I was reading The Wedding by Julie Garwood that I had my first glimpse at a future where I was writing fiction. For my whole life, I knew I was going to write a book but I assumed that book would be nonfiction. To this day, I’m still shocked that I write novels!
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Oh, dear, do you really want to hear this? Alright, but don’t tell me that I didn’t warn you. Well, here goes:
I have a long history of kidney stones and was having kidney stone pain on the day that I got the call. To help with the pain, I usually sit in a warm bath for an hour or so. I had just gotten out of the tub and was feeling pretty shaky (I call these episodes ‘kidney stone hangovers’.) I didn’t feel good enough yet to get dressed, so here I was lying under a pile of blankets, naked, when my agent, Kevan Lyon, called. Kevan said that Tracy at New American Library was interested in To Scotland with Love, which is now the first book in the Kilts & Quilts® series. I had to ask Kevan several times to repeat herself because I had a hard time processing the news, especially with the day that I’d been having. Oh, and to this day, my agent doesn’t know I was naked while getting the news. So mums the word, okay?
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I read a lot of romance and women’s fiction. I love books that have a strong community.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
My favorite movie is the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley. PhD, my husband, gave me the soundtrack because I love the music so much, too. A close second to Pride and Prejudice is Star Trek with Chris Pine! I have watched that movie so many times.
15--What is your favorite season?
I love the fall season because of the cooler weather and the changing colors of the leaves.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I like to set aside time to work on a sewing project—usually a quilt for a loved one—and then finish off my day with extra hours of reading before bedtime.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
TV: The Great British Baking Show is so wonderful that I smile all the way through it every time. I love Shetland and This Farming Life on BritBox. For my sci-fi fix, I’m crazy about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. For virtual travel, I watch an episode of House Hunters International on HGTV nearly every day.
Movie: I just rewatched Love Actually and never tire of the cast of characters. Every time though, I wish that Laura Linney (Sarah in the movie) would get together with the man that she loves but sometimes a happily-ever-after means that you are always available for your sick brother.
Book: I loved The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins. It’s my favorite book of hers, though I loved all of the Blue Heron series, too.
Podcast: Dark Winter Nights, which are true stories set in Alaska.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
If I have to choose one then it would have to be Italian. PhD is half-Italian, after all. His mom makes the best meatballs.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
At first I laughed at this question because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of free time these days. But if I do have a free moment, I will work on a quilt, or read, or plot.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I am working on the next book in the Kilts & Quilts series. The working title is Hitched in Scotland. I’m also playing around with a new series. It’s always fun to dream up something new. However, another book in the Sweet Home, Alaska series keeps calling out to me. Lolly Crocker has a younger sister…and that wild child needs to be tamed!
Sweet Home, Alaska #3
A Clean Romance
Lolly Crocker bakes up warm desserts in her chilly Alaskan town, but can she handle the reigniting of an old flame?
Whenever things get too serious, baker Lolly Crocker knows it’s time to break it off with a guy. Without fail, her gut would tell her that the man she was dating was not Mr. Right.
The one exception is Shaun Montana, her high school sweetheart. With Shaun, life felt complete; but her mother convinced her she was too young to be tied down, and Lolly broke up with him the night before she left for college.
While Lolly keeps every relationship light, Shaun is never less than fully committed—and still somehow his romances have all ended badly. When he comes back to Sweet Home, his attraction to Lolly is as fiery as ever, but he's determined to keep things casual for once...just when Lolly is finally ready to risk her heart on a second chance with the man she loved so long ago.
Romance | Small Town [Berkley, On Sale: January 1, 2024, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593101513 / eISBN: 9780593101520]
Patience Griffin grew up in a small town along the Mississippi River. She has a master’s degree in nuclear engineering but spends her days writing stories about hearth and home and dreaming about the fictional small town of Gandiegow, Scotland.
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