What is the title of your latest release?
EVIE WALTERS TAKES THE WHEEL
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A 71-year-old widow shocks everyone when she buys a camper van and hits the road in search of the sender of an exotic orchid—and along the way, she rediscovers herself.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I travel all over the country in a Sprinter van, so that’s the inspiration of place - on rural roads and in campgrounds.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Absolutely! Dare I admit to wanting to BE Evie Walters!
What are three words that describe your hero?
Brave. Willing. Kind.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That writing is possible even when you only have small increments of time.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I wrote EVIE chapter by chapter and edited chapter by chapter. But I knew the ending, I just had to figure out how to get there.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Coffee, my liquid food.
Describe your writing space/office!
At home, I write in my little She Shed. On the road, I write in the jump seat of my van, at public libraries, or community rooms at campgrounds.
Who is an author you admire?
Those authors who use their platforms for awareness of local and global issues. Barbara Kingsolver, Isabel Allende, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Matt Haig, John Green, and so many others.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Every book I read leaves an imprint on how I see and understand the world.
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.
My agent, Leslie Zampetti called me with the news. I did a wild happy dance through my house – my dogs joining in with lots of barking.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Women’s fiction.
What’s your favorite movie?
Legally Blonde. I love that everyone changes around Elle Woods, but Elle stays true to herself. I’m not embarrassed to say, I’ve watched it over 30 times.
What is your favorite season?
Spring
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Quiet dinner out.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’ve been obsessed with HACKS. My favorite podcast is HOW I BUILT THIS with Guy Raz.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Mexican. But if baked goods count as a cuisine, then that wins.
What do you do when you have free time?
Garden. Make stuff. Read. Clean the house. Go out with friends.
What can readers expect from you next?
Expect another witty and warm-hearted novel about an older woman carving out a different life for herself in unexpected ways. I’m writing it now.
A Novel
In this warmhearted and witty debut, a mysterious gift spurs a widow to take a cross-country journey to find its sender—and along the way, she rediscovers herself.
Evie Walters has lived most of her seventy-one years according to others’ expectations. But on the day of her husband’s funeral, she receives an anonymous delivery: an egret orchid. The same flower a Montana ranch hand once gave her decades ago—Novel Daniels, the boy who thought she could do anything.
So now, she does.
Defying her children’s plans to move her into a retirement home, Evie buys a camper van and leaves life in North Carolina abruptly behind. Accompanied by her devoted rescue dog, she heads west to find her cowboy, befriending an unlikely cast of characters along the way. Free-spirited young vanlifers, roadside waitresses, eccentric billionaires, and kindhearted widowers all show Evie a side of life worth living.
But Evie’s drive toward the future takes her back to the past, to memories of the family ranch and childhood dreams. Now, with a second chance as open as the road before her, there’s no telling who Evie Walters will become.
Fiction Adventure [ Amazon Publishing, On Sale: October 6, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781662544019 / eISBN: 9781662544002 ]
Kathleen Fox is a wanderer, happiest when her van is packed, her dogs are snoring in the passenger seat, and the road ahead promises at least three good stories and one questionable decision. An explorer of back roads, small towns, and the wonderfully weird corners of the world, Kathleen grounds her fictional work in underrepresented rural voices and unexpected moments that only “van life” brings.
When she’s not chasing horizons or trading puns with her husband, Kathleen calls the coast of South Carolina home. She is the author of two children’s books, and this is her first novel.
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