Rhode Island Authors Showcase - Featuring Terry Schimmel!
The Rhode Island Authors Showcase is back! Each day in November, I’ll be featuring a different RI author. Each post features a giveaway – a book, an anthology, or something else! All you have to do to be eligible for the daily drawing is leave a comment on the blog post. I’ll use a random number generator to pick a winner one week after the blog post (to give you time to catch up).
By commenting on each post, you’re also entered to win our bigger prizes: GRAND PRIZE is a $250 Amazon gift card, BONUS PRIZE is a $100 Amazon gift card, and the CHEER UP YOU WON SOMETHING PRIZE is a $50 Amazon gift card. The big prizes will be chosen, again using a random number generator, on December 7.
Really happy to welcome author Theresa (Terry) Schimmel to the blog today. She's got a brand-new novel out and I have some questions.
Where is your hometown? South Kingstown, RI
What genre(s) do you write? Adult fiction and children’s fiction
What have you written? Sunny (2012); David’s War/David’s Peace (2013); The Circus Song (2015); Braided Secrets (2016); The Carousel Adventure (2017); Yankee Girl in Dixie (2022)
Who are your favorite authors? Barbara Kingsolver, Kristen Hannah, Roland Merullo, John Irving
What were your favorite books growing up? A Wrinkle in Time; The Black Stallion; The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
What do you like best about writing? Using my imagination to create the story and develop characters
What do find most challenging about writing? Finding just the right words to express what is happening and the emotions of the characters in a given situation.
Where do you draw your inspiration? From experiences that I’ve had or people that I’ve met, although sometimes a singular image or event will trigger a story.
You’ve just been given the chance to collaborate on a book with Kristin Hannah. What’s the title going to be? Long After You’re Gone
YANKEE GIRL IN DIXIE: Long before Confederate symbols made front page news, they triggered racial strife in the deep South. Yankee Girl in Dixie, a historical novel, is based on actual events that took place in Pensacola, Florida in the 1970s. Newlyweds Cassie and Jack are excited to move to Pensacola to start their new life together. But it is 1972. There is a war in Vietnam and civil unrest at home. Both will change their lives forever. When Jack’s helicopter crashes in Vietnam, Cassie struggles to move on. But grief isn’t her only challenge. As a new teacher in the South, she is naïve and ignorant of the pattern of racism and extreme poverty. Confronted with situations that both shock and disturb her, she remains determined to make a difference in the lives of her students. Her allies in this effort are Reina, the African-American social worker in the school, and Grant, a high school history teacher, who has his own challenges, as the high school erupts in racial turmoil over the use of Confederate symbols.
The story is told through the eyes of both Cassie and Grant, whose budding romance is thwarted both by Cassie’s grief for her lost husband and the unfolding traumatic events in Pensacola. Cassie is initially resistant to Grant's romantic overtures, but life-threatening events and an unexpected messenger help her to embrace new love and purpose.
Terry is giving away a copy of Yankee Girl in Dixie. For a chance to win, answer this question: What makes a book a memorable one for you; one that ‘sticks with you’ long after you’ve read it?
Find out more about Terry and her books by visiting her website https://www.tamstales.net/
