Her is Ashley's interview with
Brenda Hill, author of Beyond
the Quiet and Ten
Times Guilty
What inspired you to become a writer?
My grandfather read to me and told
stories about knights of olde and castles in his native France. Since
then,
I’ve always had a book open and several waiting in a must-read stack.
However, I never thought I
could
become a writer - someone literary
who writes lyrical prose that almost sings as you read – until I owned
a
bookstore in the 1980s and met published and aspiring authors. Some
asked me to
edit their manuscripts and I realized most were ordinary people,
working men
and women who were housewives, store clerks, business owners, doctors,
and
attorneys. But the aspiring writers believed that with work and
dedication to
the craft of writing, they could become published authors. Some did
while
others kept working at the craft. That taught me a valuable lesson:
keep
learning and never give up. While I’m still not a literary writer and
never
will be, I do hope to entertain with my stories.
What inspires you to write about
women and their
struggles?
Probably because of the struggles in my own life.
In my first novel, Ten Times
Guilty, my female lead, Tracy, is a struggling single mother trying to
do the
best for her son. At one time I had the entire responsibility of
raising and
providing for my own son, so I knew of Tracy’s desperation and her
struggle to
do better on limited funds. While I didn’t experience her sexual
assault, I’ve
survived other traumas, so I could write about panic, hopelessness, and
finally, the determination to take control and survive.
Beyond the Quiet tells about a grieving widow who discovers
her happy marriage was a sham. I wasn’t a widow, but I did lose my
husband of
thirty years to divorce, so I knew all the emotions: loss, shock,
grief,
betrayal, and rage. Some of my character’s other experiences, such as
meeting a
man who made her toes curl, hasn’t actually happened yet, but I have an
active
imagination. I’d love to meet a Terry O’Neal in my own life.
My Amazon Short, Am I Wife or
Daughter? is based on my own experience with my mother’s care. Again,
what
happened in the story wasn’t my actual experience, but all the dilemmas
and
emotions - the indecision, the resentment, and guilt – were all there.
Who inspires you?
Anyone - man, woman, or child -
who has a dream and works at achieving that dream. They may fall at
times, as I
have done, but I admire and learn from those who pick themselves back
up and
continue on the path to their goals.
Do you have a favorite character
from one of your books?
Who do you relate the most to?
Lisa, in Beyond the Quiet. She
experiences all the emotions that accompanies loss and betrayal, yet
she grits
her teeth and goes back to work, determined to learn why she was
betrayed. In
her quest, she learns about herself and emerges as a stronger, loving
woman.
What books would we find on your
bookshelf?
Quite a variety ranging from
Memoirs of an Invisible Man to The Da Vinci Code. From fantasies to
biographies. I also read some paranormals, love stories, and thrillers.
What advice would you give to
aspiring writers?
The lesson I learned years ago:
Keep learning all you can about the craft of writing, and never give
up.