Happy weekend to everyone in the Reader Room! Today, the amazing Ann Brodeur joins me on the blog to talk about her life and work. Keep reading to find out more:
offering sweet hope and happy endings.
When she’s not reading, writing, chasing after her kids or enjoying long chats with her husband, Ann can
be found drinking coffee. That’s been reheated several times throughout the day. She aspires to drink a
hot beverage in one sitting.
Welcome to the blog, Ann! I’m so happy to have you here. Let’s kick things off with one of my favorite questions to ask authors: What are your favorite books from childhood, and why?
The Elizabeth Gail series by Hilda Stahl were my favourite stories of all time growing up. I read the series
several times. I think it was the fact that I loved music and this was a story about a foster girl who
eventually becomes a concert pianist. It gave me hope that someday I could accomplish the same thing
(I majored in piano performance in college – so I guess those stories really did influence me!).
I was a voracious reader back then, and still have all the series I loved to read: Mandie, Nancy Drew, The
Babysitter’s Club, Sleepover Friends, Little House on the Prairie, and Anne of Green Gables. As a tween, I
started reading Janette Oke, and classic authors like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, the
Bronte Sisters and Victor Hugo.
I’ve kept all my books from childhood, too. They feel like old friends! Moving on to more recent favorites, what’s the last book that had a significant emotional impact on you? It might be a story that made you
cry or one that had you delirious with laughter. Why do you think it had that impact?
There have been several wonderful books that have released this past year that left an impression on
me. Off the top of my head, the first one of 2021 would have to Melanie Dobson’s The Curator’s
Daughter – a story that wouldn’t leave me for weeks afterward. The atrocities of war and the innocent
people who got caught up in evil’s wake.
But perhaps the most impactful story was Cynthia Ruchti’s Facing the Dawn. It’s the first time I can recall
ever feeling so deeply connected to a character that I ugly cried my way through the entire story. One
evening my husband found me red-eyed with a pile of Kleenex beside me. He just looked at me, and I
dropped the book in my lap. “This poor woman! I know she’s not real, but I just don’t know if she can’t
take one more thing going wrong!” The writing is beautiful, telling a heart-breaking story. But there is
hope for readers who make it through the story.
I haven’t yet read either of those books, but I can certainly understand the sentiment. I felt exactly that way the last time I read one of Connilyn Cossette’s books. How amazing, that fiction can have the power to affect us on such a deep emotional level. Let’s jump topics a little to discuss writing. Describe a typical day-in-the-life for you, from sunrise to sunset. How do you squeeze in writing time with all your other life demands?
It doesn’t matter how early or late I rise in the morning, little ones get up with Maman. 🙂 When I get up, I eat and then have my quiet time before waving my husband off to work and corralling my four kiddos to do homeschool. We work through the morning and then break at lunch. After lunch it’s usually piano lessons and chore time, after which the kids find other activities to do or finish their schoolwork from the morning. I try to write at this time, but many days I find myself instead catching up on author emails or correspondence. I try to reserve one to two days a month to work strictly on social media, scheduling everything so I don’t have to be online every day.
Supper prep starts and then hubby gets home. Family dinner time with some family conversation or a walk around the neighbourhood. Kiddos go to bed, leaving me with an hour or so to write if I haven’t managed to do so earlier. I write when I can, and try to stay focused during that time (which means social media and emails are off).
I admire you, for being able to write in the evening. I always have the best of intentions and plan to work after I put the kids to bed for the night, but realistically, if I don’t get my work done in the morning, it’s likely to stay undone! What about life outside of writing? What hobbies do you have? Do you ever write about them in your books?
I love to bake and crochet, which is about all I have time for these days. My love of baking made it into
my novel, Snowbound in Winterberry Falls. Tilly, the owner of the B&B in town, loves to bake for
Christmas and she’s known in the town for her Christmas goodies.
I’m sure crochet will make it into one of my novels someday.
It’s always fun, to see authors’ real-life interests take shape on the page. I think it makes the characters feel more multi-faceted, too, which is a good thing! Which part of the book creation process do you like best– brainstorming, writing, editing, marketing?
Since I’m still relatively new at this, every part of the process is still fresh and exciting for me. It’s exciting
to come up with an idea and see that idea grow into a story as I create an outline of a full-length novel.
As I create my outline, I’m also developing my characters and creating a backstory for them that will give
them life and colour on the page. It’s interesting to explore the possibilities of where my characters have
come from. I’ve found that when I get to the 20K point, the newness and excitement of the story wears
off. At that point, I have a good idea if the story is working or not. Editing is probably my least favourite
part as I tend to comb through details and after two or three rounds of it, I’ve had enough. I love
passing the manuscript off to my agent and trust her to find a home for my stories. But the best part is
holding the final product in my hands.
Agreed on that, and I’m sure lots of other writers feel the same way. Having that completed novel in hand after months of challenging work is such a reward. Speaking of completed novels, why don’t you tell us a little about your most recent release?
Unwrapping their past – one secret at a time...
Owning her own PR firm is all reporter Stephanie Clark wants for Christmas, but the idea of running a
prestigious election campaign in the country’s capital throws her stomach into knots. A last minute
vacation road trip to focus and seek God’s direction for her life ends up in disaster when she gets caught
in the worst snowstorm to hit Vermont in over a decade, crashing her into a small town and the one
person she’d rather forget.
Former photojournalist Jason Miller hadn’t planned on being solely responsible for saving his family
business from financial ruin. He’s barely keeping the newspaper in print, his News Editor has gone AWOL
during the town’s most celebrated holiday festival, and reports of missing Christmas decorations have
everyone on edge.
When a desperate knock at the newsroom door brings a ghost from Christmas past back into his life, can
Jason make up for his prior behavior without breaking his promise to Stephanie’s father? Will
Stephanie’s quest to solve the town’s Christmas caper—and uncover the truth about Jason’s
disappearance—cost her everything she’s ever wanted?
Readers, if you’re interested in purchasing Ann’s book, click on through for the info!
You can also purchase an ebook here (Ebook Canada) or a paperback copy here.
Your book sounds wonderful, a perfect read for the Christmas season. Thanks so much for sharing. If readers want to find you online, where should they look?
Join other readers in finding out the latest news from me and for bookish fun, by signing up for my newsletter on my website: https://brodeurwrites.org/
Check out novel inspiration, book reviews and more on my Pinterest page: https://www.pinterest.ca/brodeurwrites
Follow and Like my author page: https://www.facebook.com/annbrodeurauthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20786619.Ann_Brodeur
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ann-brodeur
Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Ann-Brodeur
Library Thing: https://www.librarything.com/author/brodeurann
Thanks so much for joining us today, Ann. It’s been wonderful to have you on the blog!
Keep reading!
Shaen
*Photo by Gino Castillo on Unsplash
