Marjorie Hill's "Xeno Oaks" interview & book giveaway

Hey All! Please join me in welcoming Marjorie Hill to my blog. She's here to share with us a little about herself and her boo, "Xeno Oaks."

JOYE, please contact me ASAP. You're the winner of Marjorie's book, but I can't contact you through the email address you left in with your comment. Thanks.

Tell us a little about yourself.

 I live in the small town of Walterboro, South Carolina, the front porch of the low country. Huge oak trees draped with Spanish moss, old plantations, swamps with alligators, sand gnats, that sort of thing. We’re about an hour from Charleston, South Carolina, and an hour from Savannah, Georgia. We have four wonderful children: Three daughters and one son and have been blessed with seven grandchildren.

.Why do you write the kind of books you do?                                                                    

I write what I enjoy reading. My mother was not a reader (except for cookbooks. She would curl up with a new cookbook as I would with my fiction) but she was a great storyteller. Her specialty was fantasy tinged with the supernatural. She would entertain my friends to the point that we would have to follow them home and be sure they were safe inside with their door closed.
My books are a type of coming of age with a dash of fantasy added for good measure. I have always enjoyed the novels of George MacDonald, also C. S. Lewis. So many times folks will listen to fantasy and the Truth can be told in and through the lives of the characters. The characters will often ask questions that need to be answered not only for the character but for the reader.
Most of all, I find that the vital message of my writing must be redemption. We are constantly making choices. I pray that my readers can find hope and healing as they live with my characters and watch them make their choices and the consequences that follow.

Besides writing, what are some of your favorite hobbies?

Reading goes without saying. I usually have at least three novels I am reading: one in my purse, one on my bedside table and one by my favorite place in my sitting room. Also I enjoy gardening. There is something wonderful about seeing a new plant sprout and grow. I find gardening therapeutic. The weeds represent my problems as I pluck them out of the ground and dispose of them.
I spend a great deal of time at the Veteran’s Victory House Nursing Home where my husband of fifty three years is a resident diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. There I try to reach out to some of the other residents. Its rewarding to see them smile.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I have always made up stories in my head. I thought everyone did that. They do, don’t they? So, yes, I have always wanted to write.
My parents as well as my grandparents were storytellers. They wrote the stories on my mind as I imagined the characters and their fights and victories. So in a way, I have always written. Also I kept diaries, notes, and whatever is at hand. I find words fascinating as they string together like pearls in a treasured necklace.
We (my grandchildren and I) have had an unending story going on for years. They volunteer their ideas as the story evolves. One morning, we were waiting for our breakfast in the Airport Restaurant in Sedona, Arizona. As the two five-year-old cousins became restless, we continued our story.
In the midst of the telling, my husband said, “Shhhh. Everyone’s listening.” The kids and I turned to see a man with chin propped in one hand, and coffee cup in the other.
“Don’t stop,” he said. “I want to hear the ending.”
Five-year-old Joe answered in his drawl, “It never ends.”
And so go the stories in my mind...they never end.

 What advice would you give to a beginning writer?

Don’t give up. Keep on writing. I know how difficult it can be...especially when a story you have loved and slaved over is rejected. But that is just one person’s opinion. Learn to look at your work with fresh eyes. Get someone you trust to read your material. Keep on keeping on. Do keep a notebook handy so you can jot down your idea before it escapes.

What book are you currently working on?
At present, I am working on a sequel to Xeno Oaks about Penny, the oldest of the four Britton children. I am in the initial stage of gathering information, making notes and jotting down ideas as they present themselves.

Please tell us a little about your book.

Xeno Oaks is a coming of age book. Eleven-year-old Molly thinks her life is perfect until a series of events which begins with her mother’s death in childbirth causes her to take a serious look at life. She is sent to live with her evil Aunt Tess and Grandpapa Britton at Xeno Oaks, a lovely old plantation in
the lowcountry of South Carolina. The problem is: the other three siblings are sent to live with their maternal grandmother. As she struggles with her problems, she is befriended by her grandfather, a raccoon named Sassy, and a young girl, Melody. When strange happenings occur, Molly must make a choice.
Will she choose healing and happiness?

How can readers find you on the Internet?
Amazon author’s page: www.amazon.com/author/marjoriehill
Website: www.xenooaks.tateauthor.com
Weekly devotional blog: www.indieauthors.com/blog/MarjorieBHill’s blog/
Facebook author’s page:www.facebook.com/xenooaks/marjoriebhill

Drawing will be held, November, 16