Interview with debut romance novelist Virginia’dele Smith

Today’s special guest is romance author Virginia’dele Smith and we’re chatting about her new wholesome, heart-felt small-town romance novel, the first in her Green Hill series, Grocery Girl.

During her virtual book tour, Virginia will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky 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:
Ashli Montgomery is a wife, a momma, and an author whose passion is sharing love stories, books, quilts, yoga, recipes, and all of her favorite things in life. She is quilting to mend the mind by spearheading and educating a community of friends who love quilts and quilting but hate Alzheimer’s disease through Quilt 2 End ALZ, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit she launched to use her quilting hobby as a platform to advocate for an end to Alzheimer’s disease.

Ashli writes under the pen name Virginia’dele Smith to honor Syble Virginia Tidwell, Adele Gertrude Baylin, and Etta Jean Smith. These three cherished grandmothers were beautiful role models, teaching Ashli to love without judgment and to always put family first. Through Grandma Syble’s journals and appetite for books, through Momadele’s priceless cards and handwritten letters, and through many, many hours of visiting over fabric at Mema’s kitchen island, Ashli also learned to treasure words.

You are invited to join Ashli in Green Hills and learn more about Virginia’dele Smith by subscribing to Ashli’s newsletter, The Gazette, at AshliMontgomery.com.

Welcome, Ashli. Please tell us about your current release.
Grocery Girl is my debut novel and Book 1 in my Green Hills series of wholesome and heartfelt, small-town romance books. Our two main characters, Maree Davenport and Rhys Larsen have both known great tragedy, but they’ve approached life after those losses in very different ways. When their attraction demands they make a choice, they must decide if they are courageous enough to choose love.

What inspired you to write this book?
The meet cute scene of the book came to me when my daughter and I purchased fruit for a local shelter on a weekly basis and almost always saw a crew of firefighters shopping for their shift at the same time. Once I had envision two people colliding into their soul mate in the produce department, the story refused to leave me alone until I captured it on paper.

Excerpt from Grocery Girl:
And then her gaze locked with a set of uniquely gray eyes.

Maree had never seen this firefighter before. Their stare held for a smidge longer than a split second. Then he nodded a brief acknowledgment and kept walking. It took her a blink or two — or maybe ten — to get her wits about her.

He was definitely new in town, because there was no way she would have forgotten having seen him before. Taking a deep, intentional breath and with a little shake of her head, she broke out of the mini-trance she’d found herself in, forced herself to refocus, and finished her shopping.

She giggled at herself when she recounted the whole second-and-a-half time lapse of the not-quite interaction to Miss Sadie when she delivered her fruit a half hour later. When Sadie asked what the rest of him looked like, Maree honestly had no idea.

“Miss Sadie,” she confessed, “I didn’t make it past those eyes.”

“Well, that’s surely a shame,” Miss Sadie crooned. “Now you’ll never know if it’s the same fellow when you meet him in town or simply walking down the street.”

She was giving Maree a hard time, teasing in good fun, but Maree wasn’t worried.

“Oh, I’ll know him,” she replied with dreamy confidence. “I’m certain I’d know him anywhere.”

What exciting story are you working on next?
Book 2 is about Maree’s big brother, Max. He is a professional football player used to living in the spotlight. When his interest in Janie Lyn is piqued, he knows she is equally attracted to him. So why does she refuse to be part of his life? Janie Lyn has had a crush on Max since the first day she arrived in Green Hills, but the only way to keep him — and her newfound family of friends — safe is to remain in the shadows. Will she be willing to fight in the trenches if that’s the only way to win their happily ever after?

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve enjoyed writing since I was a child, and I had a fun and fabulous English teacher my freshman year of high school who taught us that we were talented writers with creative minds and a knack for HOTS (higher order thinking skills). Even when I was focused on a math degree in college, Mrs. Walton’s lessons remained, so I guess I’ve always considered myself a write. Now I can add published author to that role.

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?
I write every single day, but not all day, so I guess I am a part-time writer. I also run a nonprofit quilt business called Quilt 2 End ALZ, Inc. that connects quilters with the fight to end Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to these businesses, I am a yoga instructor, avid cook and baker, home manager, momma, and wife.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Most all my story ideas and plot twists come to mind while lying in bed at night and sometimes as dreams while I’m sleeping. For this reason, I always keep my laptop plugged in next to the bed, and I’ve been known to grab it at random hours to type those scenes before going back to sleep.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A wife and momma. Those roles in life are my greatest dreams come true, my most cherished gifts, and the blessings I hold most dear.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
In writing my first novel, I created a fictional town that represents what I think the very best communities in the world should be. I called it Green Hills, and it is located just off the Indian Turnpike in southeast Oklahoma. I’ve also formed an online community so we can enjoy Green Hills through a secret Facebook group, be neighbors and friends who support and encourage one another, and share our stories and journeys. I hope you will join me there!

Links:
Website | Newsletter | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads Author Page | BookBub Author Page

Thanks for being here today!

a Rafflecopter giveaway