Awarding-winning novelist VirginiaMcCullough is here today chatting about her newest romance, The Jacks of Her Heart.
During her virtual book tour, Virginia will be awarding a $25 Amazon or
Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a
chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning,
feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too.
Bio:
Virginia McCullough’s award-winning novels
speak to hope, healing, and plenty of second chances, with humor and laughter emerging
even in her most serious stories. The
Jacks of Her Heart is her fifth released novel, with The Icing on Her Cake soon to follow. Her other titles are Amber Light, Greta's Grace, Island Healing, and The Chapels on the Hill.
A lifelong writer, Virginia broke
into publishing in her twenties, when her family moved to Maine and she began
writing articles on family living, sailing-cruising topics, women’s issues, and
children’s literature. Later, Virginia broke into book publishing as a coauthor
and ghostwriter with titles written with and for healthcare experts,
professional speakers, business owners, and many others. Her most recent
medical book, The Oxygen Revolution,
was coauthored with Paul Harch, M.D., a pioneer in hyperbaric medicine. Virginia
has written well over 100 books for her clients, including 12 titles for
neurologist Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., the creator of the popular weight loss
program, Sensa.
Virginia also writes about writing-related topics with Lynda
McDaniel, cofounder of The Book Catalysts (www.bookcatalysts.com), a book writing
coaching service. They’re the authors of the e-book, Write Your Book Now: An A to Z guide to
unleashing your creativity, writing your book fast, and finishing strong, and two other titles.
Welcome, Virginia. Please tell us about
your current release.
Lorna
Lindstrom and Jack Young fell in love—and married—in the heady atmosphere of moonlight
and dancing on a tropical cruise. But now they’re back in chilly Capehart Bay,
Wisconsin, and it’s time to face the music. Feeling like a couple of fools, it seems
that ending the marriage is the best solution. Their three adult kids sure
think so. But, what do their hearts want?
Lorna, a
professional organizer and lifestyle coach, is a
little too wedded to her spotless
home. She fell in love with Jack’s generous heart, but must he rescue every
abandoned dog in town? Jack, a laidback kind of guy, owns a popular, nostalgia
café, with menu items named for ‘60s and ‘70s songs. He feels right at home in
Lorna’s bedroom, but he might as well be a stranger everywhere else in her
perfect house.
Once they decide to give their
marriage a shot, it’s only a matter of days before they become entangled in
each other’s families, and between them that includes two elderly parents,
three kids in their twenties, and a toddler grandchild. Lorna soon puts her
organizing skills to work to help Jack’s elderly father make a difficult move,
while Jack takes on a new rescue mission, this one involving Lorna’s daughter.
But despite good intentions, Jack
and Lorna are a classic “opposites attract” duo and can’t quite get in sync. So,
they’ll either have to admit defeat and go their separate ways or find a way to
make peace with their dueling quirks and have some fun with their second-chance
romance.
What inspired you to
write this book?
I got the idea for The Jacks of Her Heart after overhearing
a couple of sisters in their twenties complain about their parents’ “behavior.”
They were criticizing relatively small things, too, like their parents heading
to Vermont to ski, when they’d never been skiing before. And their parents had
a lot of nerve putting their house on the market! Without that huge home
available, where will the whole extended family have Christmas?
My eavesdropping not only amused me,
it spurred my imagination, resulting in Lorna and Jack, two fiftyish people who
fall under the spell of a tropical cruise—and getting married on impulse. Whoa!
What will the kids think of that? And how will this couple make sense of their
own actions, especially when they discover their differences—great big ones?
The new book was born, and now Book 2 of The Capehart Bay series is underway (The Icing on her Cake).
I’m not sure where I got the inspiration
for Both Sides Now, Jack’s ‘60s and ‘70s nostalgia café, but I had great fun creating
the menu—every dish, from the “Love me Tender Roast Beef Sandwich” to “Happy
Together Mac ‘N Cheese” to the “Brown-eyed Girl Bran Muffins” are named after
popular songs of the era. I ended up creating a Playlist of more than 50 songs
mentioned in the book. To add to the nostalgia theme, I added a vintage
clothing tent sale—I got to dress up some characters in swing coats,
midi-skirts, and bell bottoms.
Although Jack’s canine friends
become a big part of his conflict with Lorna, I especially enjoyed hearing
Jack’s conversations with the dogs he rescues. I don’t have pets myself, but as
a dedicated eavesdropper, I’ve heard many of these one-way conversations. It
seems that dogs and cats—and horses, too—are the most understanding companions.
Excerpt from Jacks of Her Heart:
Lorna inched to the
edge of her bed, but before sliding out, she glanced over her shoulder to watch
the even rise and fall of Jack’s back under the sheet. If she rolled toward him
she could reach out and rest her palm against his bare shoulder and soak up the
warmth of his skin. No. The man’s
warmth—on all levels—got her into this trouble in the first place. That and
moonlight, and okay, since she’d started a list, she might as well add the long
nights of delicious slow dancing.
Once out of bed, Lorna
tiptoed to her reading chair in the corner, retrieving her bra and panties from
the floor along the way. Then she pulled the throw off the back of the chair
and wrapped it around herself like a towel. Only dim light seeped through the
closed blinds, but she felt around the floor and came up with the silk shirt
and slacks she’d worn on the flight home the night before. With her clothes
draped over her arm, she stepped around the open suitcase blocking the way to
her bedroom door. She reached for the doorknob, ready to escape, but took a
last look at the scene she was about to leave behind.
A trail of jeans, a
sport jacket, and a dark blue shirt led straight to the mound in the bed named
Jack Young, age fifty-two, noteworthy only because, by coincidence, she and
Jack were mere months apart in age.
Loathing messes as she
did, it took all Lorna’s strength not to grab the two half-empty glasses and
the champagne bottle that sat as accusers on her nightstand. She slipped into
the hallway and shut the door behind her. Home free—more or less. Leaning
against the wall, she closed her eyes and exhaled a long breath to quiet her
jittery stomach. It worked for a second or two. Next step, get to June’s house
as fast as her legs would carry her there.
Lorna brushed her teeth
and dressed quickly in her guest bathroom before grabbing her winter jacket off
the hook in the kitchen. She escaped through her back door and jogged down the
slope of her yard that led to the footpath bordering the lake, the fastest
route to June’s house.
She maneuvered around
the muddy patches and pools of water left behind from last night’s rain. The
dampness left the April morning air fragrant with the promise of spring.
Lacking a breeze to disturb it, the lake perfectly mirrored the trees and
houses lining the water’s edge. In the stillness, the sounds of a barking dog
and children’s voices carried across the water from the opposite shore. A mere
day ago, she’d been more than a thousand miles away, tilting her face toward
the sun and sighing from happiness as sultry tropical air caressed her skin.
She and Jack had made love to the nearly imperceptible rhythm of the cruise
ship, dodging any talk of what they’d do when they arrived back home in
Wisconsin.
What a disaster. Maybe
she’d try to make light of their escapade. After all, Jack was a decent man, a
really great guy, if also thoroughly unsuitable for her. He also had a terrific
sense of humor. Maybe they could have a good hoot over their silly mistake.
“Isn’t this the funniest thing?” she could say while trilling in a charming
sort of way. Ha ha, titter titter. She could hold out her hand in a gesture of
friendship. “What do you say? We figure out the easiest way to put this
embarrassing little episode behind us?” More light-hearted laughter.
At last June’s white
frame cottage came into view. Lorna hurried up the stone path and through the
picture window spotted her friend standing at her kitchen table with a tall
pile of laundry in front of her. Lorna waved to get her attention and when June
looked up her face broke into a welcoming smile.
“Come in, come in,”
June said after she’d opened the door and with a sweeping gesture invited Lorna
inside. “I hoped you’d come over this morning. Help yourself to coffee and tell
me all about your exciting cruise while I make my way through my boring laundry
basket.”
Shrugging out of her
jacket, Lorna peered around the corner of the kitchen into the hallway looking
for any sign of June’s nine-year-old. “Is Bonnie gone?”
“The school bus picked
her up a little while ago. Why?”
“I want to be sure
we’re alone.” Lorna surveyed the table, with the laptop and a pile of fat file
folders and legal pads at one end and the heap of laundry at the other. A full
basket of clothes sat on the floor. “You’re really busy. I could come back
later.”
“Don’t be silly,” June
said, shaking out a crumpled bath towel. “This is laundry, not legal analysis.”
Lorna filled a mug from
the carafe and went back to the table. Then she drew in a breath. “I’ve done
something really stupid.”
June’s eyes narrowed.
“Sit down and tell me about it.”
Lorna made a fast
decision to blurt it out. “I got married. To Jack Young. In the Dominican
Republic…”
What exciting story are you working on
next?
In
The Icing on Her Cake, Lorna
encourages her best friend, June Angleton, an attorney, to get out in the world
and have more fun. Yes, June is a great mom to 10-year-old Bonnie, but June’s
life has become a bit too predictable. June’s life starts to change when she
dons a 1970s-era bright red evening gown at Lorna’s vintage clothing tent sale,
taking place at Capehart Bay’s nostalgia music festival. Out of the blue, a
good looking stranger surprises her with a tap her on the shoulder and asks her
to dance. Then, before June has a chance to even learn his name, he says
goodbye to the “lady in red,” and disappears into the crowd. But the experience
makes June agree with Lorna. She needs some fun in her life.
June
and Bonnie soon sign up for a family-oriented cake decorating class, taught by
none other than celebrity pastry chef, Camp (Campbell) Swift. Camp has moved to
Capehart Bay to be closer to his daughter, Nina, who also happens to be one of
Bonnie’s best friends. Camp is regrouping in other ways, too, because he’s made
some huge mistakes that led to the cancellation of his Boston TV show. June and
Camp are both flustered when they realize they shared a dance at the festival,
but somehow they find themselves falling in love. And that means both are
forced to make some important life choices. June’s decisions involve trusting a
man again, something she vowed never to do, and Camp’s are about leaving behind
the glitter and lure of celebrity in favor of life on the smaller stage of
Capehart Bay.
When did you first
consider yourself a writer?
I
know many writers start scribbling stories as little kids, but I wasn’t like
that at all—I was an avid reader, but I didn’t think I could ever be a writer. But
in my mid-twenties, some inner voice nudged me in the direction of writing and
publishing magazine articles, and after completing my first piece, I knew I’d
found my calling. I also realized how lucky I am to truly love writing, even when
I’m struggling to make a project work. I eventually moved on to writing
nonfiction books and ghostwriting, and finally, my first love, fiction.
Do you write
full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than
write and how do you find time to write?
Some
people say they envy my life because I write fulltime and can set my own
schedule, and while that’s true, writing is a business like any other. So, most
of my time is spent working on nonfiction books I’m either writing or editing
for clients. I’m also writing about writing these days, which is part my
coaching practice. I have to laugh sometimes, because my work schedule sounds
so incredibly dull. I start very early in the morning, often around 6:00 or
7:00 and I try to finish up for the day around mid-afternoon. See? Nothing very
exciting or exotic about that. In order to write fiction, as well as keep up
with client work, I often work weekends, and my very best days are those set
aside to be with my characters and work on my novels. The next best days are
those I spend with my writer friends. Do I want to write fiction fulltime one
day? Absolutely. That’s my most important current goal. But I realize how
fortunate I’ve been to have had an independent writing business virtually all
my adult life.
What would you say is your interesting
writing quirk?
My
writer friends tell me that the way I feel about my characters and their lives
after the novel ends borders on “eccentric.” It’s true that I see them in their
locales going about their new lives. It’s as if I refuse to say goodbye to
characters that mean so much to me. In writing about them, they become like
family and friends, so why would they not simply go on with their lives, you
know, have kids, take vacations, buy new houses? All the usual things we do in
“real” life.
As a child, what did you want to be when
you grew up?
I
was a lucky kid, in that I grew up in Chicago with access to all kinds of
opportunities. That meant my dream of being a ballet dancer could be matched
with a Russian-trained, very strict dance teacher, who turned out professional
dancers. At one point, I took the train from my city neighborhood downtown several
times a week in order to take five dance classes in a single week. Wow—it was
all about discipline and practice. I loved it. For various reasons, I decided
not to become a professional dancer, but the discipline and focus I learned
carried over to writing and was enormously beneficial. When I see young kids
practicing their scales on the piano or devoting themselves to excelling in a
sport, I think of the wonderful training they’re getting. No matter what they
do in the future, that focus they’re experiencing will carry over. So my
childhood dream has served me well!
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
I’d
like to thank readers for continuing to read stories, even in this age of so
many choices. I sure love movies and the wonderful TV dramas being made today,
but is there anything quite like the solitary experience of losing ourselves in
a book? Like most writers I enjoy picturing readers curled up on their couches
or sitting at their kitchen tables or on the beach or traveling on a plane. I
like to imagine readers absorbed in my characters’ dilemmas and joys and
wondering what will happen next. There’s nothing trivial about storytelling,
and I think about today’s readers and writers as being just like our ancient ancestors
sitting around a fire listening to a good story. The yearning for stories is a
part of us—our brains are wired for stories.
Links:
Thanks, Virginia!
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