Rhode Island Authors Showcase - Featuring Debbie Tillinghast!
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.
My friend Debbie Tillinghast is here today, and I couldn't be happier. Naturally, I've got questions:
What name do you use as an author? Debbie Kaiman Tillinghast
And where is your hometown? Prudence Island, Rhode Island during my childhood, Now Chepachet, Rhode Island
What genre(s) do you write? Fiction, Memoir, Poetry
What have you written? The Ferry Home (memoir), 2015; A Dream Worth Keeping (novel), 2020; A Gift of Cookies, A Gift of Love (cookbook and memoir), 2022. My poetry also has been featured in all seven of the ARIA anthologies (https://tinyurl.com/nhexeku6)
Who are some of your favorite authors? Jenny Colgan, Elin Hilderbrand, Debbie Macomber
What were your favorite books growing up? All the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Nancy Drew Mystery series by Carolyn Keene; Mr. Poppers Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
What do you like best about writing? I lose myself in words and stories, and I can write myself to peace. I can live everything twice. I see the daffodils in the spring, but I can write about them any time and experience again their dancing yellow dresses swirling in the air. Details in life matter, and moments that might have vanished unnoticed, I save on the page.
What do you find most challenging about writing? Sometimes my mind disappears when I want it to be present. It wanders through bills to be paid, laundry to be washed, or the lawn that needs mowing. I want to call it back, to sit and tell my pen what to write, but it can't be bothered. It gets lost in a world of concrete blocks, and I want to stroll through a field of tulips.
Where do you draw your inspiration? When I walk, my brain takes flight in unexpected directions. My mind moves with my body, it spins a story in time to my steps, and I write dialogue to the rhythm of my feet. I wrote The Ferry Home and A Dream Worth Keeping as I walked, with a recorder in my hand.
You’ve just been given the chance to collaborate on a book with Erin Hilderbrand. What’s the title going to be? Island Girls
You can find out more about Debbie and her books by visiting her website http://www.debbiekaimantillinghast.com
And find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/debbiekaimantillinghast
Debbie is offering a CHOICE of books to the winner - her memoir The Ferry Home, her novel A Dream Worth Keeping, or her soon-to-be-published cookie cookbook A Gift of Cookies, A Gift of Love. For a chance to win, just mention below in the comments your favorite family holiday tradition!
You can pick up your own copy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/195821762X
