Thursday Thirteen - 114 - 13 Reasons to Read Mirror Blue by Thomma Lyn Grindstaff

I met Thomma Lyn Grindstaff in the comments section of fellow writing-life bloggers, and eventually found myself addicted to her posts about her daily hikes up her East Tennessee mountain, complete with you-are-there photos.

It's easy to rejoice with her when she encounters tadpoles evolving in a mountain stream, when she discovers rare ghost flowers deep in the forest and to be patient if she doesn't blog for a few days. I know that means she's working on her next story, so it's all good.

1 - Mirror Blue is a Literary Love Story imprint from Black Lyon Publishing, released in May 2009. It is available in both Ebook PDF format or as a paperback.

2 - Mirror Blue is Thomma Lyn's official debut novel.

Her unofficial debut was actually a story called Thy Eternal Summer. She sold it to an e-publisher that folded not long afterwards. Did Thomma Lyn let that get to her?

Ha!

3 - Being published was just a matter of time for Thomma Lyn. "I recall when I was eleven years old," she writes, "and a teacher asked my class to write an essay about what we hoped we'd be doing as adults. I wrote that I wanted to be a novelist. Writing has always gone hand in hand with reading, and I can't remember a time when I wasn't in love with words."

4 - Her readers get to bask in her lifelong passion for words. Mirror Blue is pearled with poetic gems like "Her crush on Isaac had turned into a sword, and she'd cut her hands fondling the blade."

By the way, all I had to do to find that line was to open the book. It was right there on the first random page that opened up. Page 40, if you must know.

5 - We meet Aphra Porter, child of hippy philosopher parents, a southern woman who designs web sites and has had a crush on writer Isaac Lightfoot since her teens. She can't believe she's in a fan girl line-up at one of his book signings. She can't believe how she feels when he looks her straight in the eye and talks to her long enough to make the line-up behind her get fidgety.

6 - Isaac Lightfoot, decorated Vietnam vet with his Silver Star and more than one Purple Heart tucked away in a shoebox, can't believe his luck. Not only does the enchanting woman whose fan letter he remembered after all these years show up at his book signing, but she mentions that she's a web designer. His current author site sucks. It certainly isn't hard to find her on the web - how many people are named after a goddess?

7 - I really, really love the heartbreaky tone to this love story. I know, I know - quelle surprise.

Once these two Harley Davidson riders take their first ride on the open road together, their romance begins. But there is a 20-year age gap between them, not to mention Isaac's 30-year relationship with his former wife and the ghosts of combat past that rear up in the night. Aphra struggles to convince herself that she's not in over her head, and Isaac fights to make his spoken words as compelling as his written ones when Aphra keeps retreating from the onslaught of Isaac's complicated baggage.

8 - As a Literary Love Story, the sexual dynamics are frank yet lyrical. Thomma Lyn's big strength is focusing on the intricate emotional landscape within every erotic encounter. Here's a taste:

"They were, each of them, famished for the other. This, Aphra realized, was what was missing from her lackluster, poor liaisons: this need, licking along the surfaces of her bones like thick liquid being heated."

9 - She intertwines a subplot concerning Isaac's grown son, Aphra's sister and the impending bundles of joy coming to each of them. With Isaac past child rearing and Aphra insisting she was never interested in the first place, all the exposure to families starting up makes these lovers question the impact a childless life would have on the other.

10 - Thomma Lyn really knows how to end each chapter with a hook. Like this, for example:

" 'What about Cheryl, his wife? How does she fit in?' said Aphra.

'She's like Norma.'

'But she seems so quiet and mousy.'

'She is quiet and mousy, and yeah, Norma's got a mouth on her like a siren. But they're the same type of woman under the surface: cold, manipulative and self-centered. They thrive on attention. Same song, different dance. I hate it for Sam. I really do. But it's what he's used to in women, it's what he grew up with.'

'Be up front with me, Isaac. Are you sure spending time with me won't bring too much stress upon your head? You'll be dealing with aggravation all around: from Norma, from your mother, and from Sam. Do you really need that, at this point in your life?'

'What I need is you. And as for stress, that's a laugh. You're forgetting who you're talking to. Norma's shenanigans are nothing compared to a nest of NVA snipers. Remember that.'

Aphra hoped he was right. Alas, doubt's gloomy specter kept tap-tapping on her mind's window."

11 - At just under 200 pages, Mirror Blue looks like it would be a quick read. But Thomma Lyn's language is so rich, her novel must be savoured like a dark chocolate dessert. Pull up a chair, stir your coffee or tea and sit a spell. This is a character-driven novel with its own pace.

12 - Check out my my interview with Thomma Lyn which appeared here at A Piece of My Mind just before her May 1st release date.

13 - I leave you with an excerpt. Enjoy!

"One shadow separated itself from the rest of them and crabbed across the doorway of her bedroom. It was too big to be one of the cats. But if it was Isaac, he didn't make a sound.

Aphra reached for the lamp on her nightstand and flipped it on. Maybe no one was breaking in and Isaac wasn't pining for his ex. Maybe he was in the kitchen making a sandwich.

She didn't have to go far to find Isaac. Six feet from her bedroom doorway he appeared, looming over her. She didn't hear him coming, nor did she see him, until he was there. She had a quick glimpse of his face in the light that spilled over from her bedroom - stony eyes, an unrelenting jaw - before he had her in a headlock; her back was to him, and she didn't remember him turning her around. He was fast, big and strong. And he could break her neck like a twig.

She let out a squeak; it was all she could manage. He abruptly spun her back around and pressed her up against him. 'My God, it's you. You startled me. Oh, please forgive me. What a sorry-assed son of a bitch I am!'

Aphra was shaking.

He held her tighter. 'Look at you, I've scared you half to death. Did I hurt you, honey? God almighty, I'm sorry. I woke up crazy-headed, plumb off my rocker.'

She hugged him back and nuzzled his chest. 'Do you mean you had a nightmare?'

'Not a nightmare, at least not one I remember. All I know is I woke up in a cold sweat. I felt like something awful was going to happen. So there I was, looking for potential ambush sites and figuring out the best defensive positions against them. I don't know what got into me, but I know it hasn't gotten into me for a long time.'

'Are you saying you do this often? Wake up and go into battle mode?'

'It used to happen pretty regularly. Not any more. Mostly when it happens these days, it's triggered by stress.'

'I'm stressing you out?' "

- Thomma Lyn Grindstaff, 2009

Join me next week when I tell the incredibly romantic tale of two east coast girls and their Russian sailor adventure - as the Tall Ships arrive in the port of Halifax for Tall Ships 2009!

Devilish Southern Belle says You've piqued my curiosity - I may just have to get this book!

Paul says Thomma Lyn is a wonderful writer.

Brenda ND says Julia, you're a wonderful reviewer.

Thursday Thirteen - 103 - 13 Questions For Thomma Lyn Grindstaff, Author of Mirror Blue

For my second interview here at A Piece of My Mind, I've got Thomma Lyn Grindstaff joining me from her home in East Tennessee in the United States. A big Down East welcome, Thomma Lyn from me here on Canada's east coast.

1 - Your novel Mirror Blue releases May 1st. Will you be doing anything special on that day?

I'd thought of having a Virtual Book Release party on that day, but I've decided to postpone the party until my book trailer is ready, date TBA on my blog. Otherwise, on May 1, I'll be working on additional promotion activities, and my hubby and I are planning a celebratory hike on the mountain!

2 - Is this your first sale?

No. In 2006, I sold a novella, Thy Eternal Summer to a small e-publisher which went belly-up the next year. Yeah, bummer. But it's okay - I kept on plugging.

3 - Mirror Blue tells the story of a web site designer who meets an acclaimed author she's admired for some time as a reader. The designer and the author begin a relationship that spins her world onto a path she couldn't have foreseen, but must now fight for.

If you were in her shoes, which real-life author would tip your world upside down if he arrived in the flesh?

What a fun question! Well, I'm married, so its my hubby who tips my world upside down, but thinking as though I were single, I have several answers for this one. Authors who are still living: Sherman Alexie and Neil Gaiman; authors who are no longer with us: John Gardner and Ernest Hemingway.


4 - Your book is published by Black Lyon Publishing. How did you and your publisher get together?

Thanks go to my friend Ann Pino. She sent me a link to Black Lyon Publishing and told me that they were looking for Literary Love Stories, which sounds much like what I write. I thought immediately of Mirror Blue (which I had recently reworked) and sent Black Lyon a query.

5 - Your female character, the web designer, is Aphra Porter. Tell us a little about her.

Aphra is a free spirit. Her family loves her, but they don't understand why she isn't more normal, like her sister Di who is married and has a baby on the way. Aphra works as a website designer and has never been in love, at least not with a man she's met. For years, though, she's had a crush on Isaac Lightfoot, an acclaimed regional author. Since childhood, Aphra has felt second-best to her sister Di, who is more conventional and outgoing and wants what, in their mom's words, "most women want." Though Aphra wants love in her life, she marches to the beat of her own drummer and doesn't want the same things as her mom and her sister.

In Mirror Blue, Aphra's dream comes true: when Isaac hires her to update his web site, they fall in love. At that point, her challenges begin in earnest. Isaac's ex wants to reconcile with him, she turns their grown son against Aphra, and even Isaac's mom wants Aphra out of the picture. In order to become the person she wants to be, Aphra must learn to hold on to what her heart desires most, despite her fears of pain and rejection, and despite a lifetime of feeling second-best.

6 - Your male character is famous author, Isaac Lightfoot. What does he write about?

Isaac draws on his experiences as a Vietnam veteran. He wrote two nonfiction books, one about the origins of the Vietnam conflict and another called On Self Reliance in which he chronicles and laments the decline of individual self reliance in America. He's written several novels, and it is his novels which have garnered him the most recognition. Some of them are about the Vietnam conflict, such as The Lion and the Cobra, about the struggles of an American medic following his return from Vietnam, but not all: his first novel, Red Sands was about a young Appalachian soldier in World War II who was part of the D-Day invasion, and his most recent novel, The Smallest Survivor, is the story of a young orphan boy's struggle to survive in the frigid ruins of Stalingrad during the height of the pivotal World War II battle.

7 - There's an age difference between the characters in your book. How does each character feel about that?

Isaac is fifty-three and Aphra is thirty-three. Despite the twenty-year age difference, they have a great deal of common ground in their interests and in their characters. But the age difference presents plenty of challenges. Aphra worries that Isaac sees her as a groupie and that he is secretly ashamed of how their relationship looks to others, particularly to his son. And though Isaac is not ashamed - he loves Aphra for herself - he doesn't want his son or his mom to view Aphra as a Trophy Wife in the Making.

Aphra shares the same concerns, and their age difference exacerbates her insecurities over Isaac's history with his ex. Isaac and his ex were married nearly thirty years. How, Aphra asks herself, could anything he might share with her compete with all those years he shared with his ex, even though their marriage was far less than ideal?

8 - Isaac has been through experiences Aphra can never truly share. How do you think this affects their relationship?

If they're not careful, it hinders communication. Because of their age difference and the vast discrepancy in their life experiences, misunderstandings can easily arise. They have to be sure that they're talking to each other, not around each other. The discrepancies in their ages and experiences also work to hammer at their insecurities - Isaac worries that perhaps Aphra would be better off with a younger man (like the one her sister Di has been trying to set her up with), and Aphra worries that perhaps Isaac would be better off to reconcile with his ex, to go back to what's familiar to him instead of taking a chance on someone new.

9 - Do you have any other projects coming up?

You betcha! *wink* Right now, I'm working on a novel called Patchwork Stained Glass. It's a story about a young atheist woman who falls in love with a graduate student who's also a country preacher. To have a future together, they must work not only to find common ground but they must deal with disapproval from those around them - everyone from the preacher's family and congregation to the atheist's closest friend.

Next up is my novel Heart's Chalice. I started work on it last year, but because of the complexity of its world-building, I'm letting it bake in my mind's oven for a while. It's a magical realism tale: through sightings of a mysterious cat, a piano professor mired in an unhappy marriage is empowered to travel to an alternate reality in which she built a life with her first love, whom she desperately hurt but never forgot.

10 - What are your writing habits? Do you write daily or do you write in bursts of creativity?

I try to write every day. When a story is rocking and rolling, every day sparkles with bursts of creativity. But for a story to rock and roll for me, I have to be emotionally invested in the characters and their situation. Also, I like to write at night. I'm a night owl, and nighttime is the most peaceful time of day for me - I can better relax my mind and allow creativity to flow.

11 - When you're not writing, what are your favorite things to do?

I love to play piano and write music. I'm a classically-trained pianist, and at some point, I'm hoping to fuse my music with my writing, perhaps on my web site in some way. I'm still brainstorming the possibilities! And I'm fortunate in that I live close to mountains, and I hike regularly for exercise, for mental and emotional renewal, and to recharge my creative batteries. I'm a voracious reader, and I also love to blog, cook, and ride the Harley-Davidson motorcycle with my husband. And you could call me a crazy cat lady - we have four cats, and guess what: they have their own blog (which they manage to share without too much hissing, haha!).

12 - Where will readers find your book?

My book can be ordered from Black Lyon Publishing, and it will also be available for purchase online from Amazon.com (United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, England and France), BarnesandNoble.com, Target.com, and Books-a-Million.com. The novel can also be ordered from book stores in the United States and Canada.

13 - Will you be doing any book signings or online events for Mirror Blue's release?

I'm planning on doing some local book signings, and I will be holding a Virtual Book Launch Party once my book trailer is available. I'm currently in party-planning mode, and keep an eye on my blog, because I will announce the date for the party as soon as I get it figured out. I hope to see everybody there! There'll be lots of fun and prizes, too (including autographed copies of Mirror Blue).

Thanks so much for the interview, Thomma Lyn! It's hard to say who's more excited - me or you! Well, okay, probably you. But I'm pretty psyched!

Hehe, yes, I'm stoked!

Lori says Thanks. :)

Colleen says Good interview. Thanks.

Claudia says I like the way you draw her out to talk about the characters. That's not often done!