Happy Veteran’s Day!
I want to take the time to thank y’all for your past service to our country. May you enjoy the day and end on a bookish delight. 🙂
For you reader friends visiting, I have Sally Jo Pitts with me. We’re talking about her book, Stumbling Upon Romance. Grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and chat with us.
Interview
Toni: Thank you so much for joining me today! I’m so excited to talk about Stumbling Upon Romance. But first, let’s
get to know you a little better. What made you want to become a writer?
Sally Jo: As a youngster, for fun, I wrote storylines that played out like movies in my head. Writing was a creative passion that gave me great pleasure. However, in college my career path led me into home economics education, and I became a teacher and later a guidance counselor. After retiring, writing ideas began nagging and nudging me to get back to my first love. Now I enjoy living in the imaginary world of my characters and creating a world of my own making that I hope will bring entertainment and inspiration to others.
Toni: Awesome! What three authors have influenced your writing the most and how?
Sally Jo: Susan May Warren- she has taught me a ton about writing and the writer’s world through her My Book Therapy program. Ruth Logan Herne- I love her Love Inspired sweet romance stories. Lorena McCourtney- Her Ivy Malone Mystery series is a fun read.
Toni: Great choices! Do you prefer coffee or tea?
Sally Jo: Coffee with hot cocoa mix added.
Toni: Yum! Chocolate or candy?
Sally Jo: Chocolate
Toni: I agree. Mountains or the beach?
Sally Jo: Mountains (I live near the beach, so mountains are a treat.)
Toni: That makes complete sense! Books or movies?
Sally Jo: Books
Toni: I figured, but one day I’m thinking someone will say movies. Now, let’s talk about the Hamilton Harbor Legacy series! How do the books connect? Can they be read as standalones?
Sally Jo: The fictional Hamilton Harbor setting connects the series. Characters know each other but the plot lines can be read as standalones.
Toni: Great! Tell us a little about Claudia? What’s a normal day look like for her?
Sally Jo: Claudia’s typical day starts with a five-mile treadmill run in her upstairs apartment, a light breakfast while reading her morning devotion and then trotting downstairs to go to work at her dog grooming shop. She’s clumsy but when it comes to working with dogs, she’s a natural.
Toni: I’m clumsy as well. And Pete? How did you make this handyman authentic?
Sally Jo: Pete learned home maintenance skills by watching and helping his father take care of his grandmother’s old house. He can do everything from carpentry to electrical and uses his talents in the Help Hands Ministry at his church.
Toni: What a great ministry. I absolutely love that Claudia has a giant schnauzer. Are you a pet person? Do any of your other books have pets in them?
Sally Jo: I am a pet person, and own a miniature schnauzer, Gibbs. I have friends who have a giant black schnauzer who lumbers about like an overgrown pup making him a perfect choice for the opening scene in Stumbling Upon Romance. An upcoming romance has a cat and I featured a pet pig in a romantic suspense that I may have to cut due to word count. (sigh) Maybe I can use him in another story.
Toni: Schnauzers are adorable. Last but not least, what can we expect from you next in your writing journey?
Sally Jo: I’m working on a seasonal mystery series beginning with Autumn Vindication and book #3 in the Hamilton Harbor series, Designed for Love, which stars interior designers.
Thank you, Toni, for this opportunity to share!
Toni: You’re welcome! Reader’s do you have any questions for Sally Jo?
About the Author
Sally Jo Pitts, is a private investigator, licensed lie detection examiner and retired guidance counselor with over twenty years teaching experience in the field of family and consumer sciences. She brings to the fiction page a career of experience in investigative work and affairs of the heart. Sally Jo is author of the romance novel, And Then Blooms Love, Book #1 of the Hamilton Harbor Legacy series. More about the author and things she investigates can be found at www.sallyjopitts.com
About the Book
God gives everyone a purpose—what we make of it is our legacy.
Come visit the quaint town of Hamilton Harbor. Nestled on the bay in Northwest Florida, this sleepy community is waking up as revived businesses, new friendships and budding romances come together in the salty coastal air. But renewal also rekindles mysteries from the past and a legacy of faith and hope for the future.
Some secrets need to be uncovered …
Accident-prone dog groomer, Claudia Stewart, is a newcomer to Hamilton Harbor, Florida. She hopes to shed her black cloud image, fit in the community, and find a guy who will knock her off her feet.
Instead, Claudia and her giant schnauzer client knock handyman Pete Cullen off his feet and leave him dangling from an overhead beam.
Pete, rejected by a past love, wants to focus on restoration projects and avoid romance at all costs. But Claudia, even with her bungling ways, threatens to steal his heart.
Was their crash meeting just another one of Claudia’s mishaps? Or did the encounter put them on a collision course with romance?
Toni Shiloh 