Lee Ann, can you please share with us a little about yourself
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I’m a rebel at heart, a dreamer and a storyteller. I grew up in the historic old river town of St. Joseph, Missouri in the shadow of Jesse James and the echo of the Pony Express. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents so I ended up being raised in the 1960’s and 1970’s with my head in the 1930’s and 1940’s. I’m married with three kids, one dog, and I live in what I like to say passes for the suburbs in a small town in the Missouri Ozarks.
Have you always wanted to be an author?
Absolutely. One of my earliest memories is of dictating a story to my mother I wanted her to write down for me. I grew up writing and telling stories. I tried my hand at a novel in the fifth grade, still have the manuscript.
What is your most interesting writing quirk?
I like to write with music – and the music often suits what I’m writing. If it’s contemporary, it may end up being what my characters like, if it’s set in the past, I’m listening to Big Band music (which I love) or jazz.
Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?
Dust Bowl Dreams is set in the 1930’s, during the Dust Bowl period and the Great Depression. It begins when a young man desperate to save the family farm for his widowed mom and younger siblings decides he’ll have to rob banks to get the money. His gal, a schoolteacher, is against the idea and so is his kid brother but Henry decides to do it anyway. Things get complicated in a hurry especially after the local chief of police begins courting Mama.
How did you come with the idea for this story?
I grew on Depression era stories from my grandparents and watched how frugal they were because of those years. I also am fascinated with Charley Floyd – better known as Pretty Boy Floyd, a name he hated – an Oklahoma outlaw. I’m fond of Oklahoma, living basically next door and one of my great-grandmothers’ family pioneered there when it was still Indian Territory. So all the elements combined together to create the novel.
Who is the one author that you would love to meet someday and why?
I wish I could have met Frank McCourt, author of “Angela’s Ashes” and “’Tis” before he passed away – he wrote with such honesty, such raw power and I loved his work.
What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?
Grow a thick skin, understand the editor is there to help you, and never give-up. And always be willing to improve and keep learning.
Can you share with us something off your bucket list.
I want to be in Hollywood, at the Hollywood Forever cemetery some time for the annual Rudolph Valentino memorial held each August since his death and burial there in 1926.
What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?
Well, I’m eager to get my hands on the next Outlander book from Diana Gabaldon but I think it’s still about a year away. And I’m about to start “The Tarot Diaries” by Elicia Seawell.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you so much for interviewing me!
Links:
leeannwriter@gmail.com
Twitter: leeannwriter
Facebook: my personal page is Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy plus I just kicked off an author page – From Sweet to Heat: The Romance of Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Website/blog: http://leeannsontheimermurphywriterauthor.blogpspot.com
Blog: Rebel Writer: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
http://leeannsontheimermurphy.blogspot.com
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Ann-Sontheimer-Murphy/e/B004JPBM6I
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/4543214.Lee_Ann_Sontheimer_Murphy
TRR/Manic: http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/4543214.Lee_Ann_Sontheimer_Murphy
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