Peeking Between the Pages

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Guest Post & Giveaway with Susan Wiggs, author of The Goodbye Quilt

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Please help me welcome Susan Wiggs, author of The Goodbye Quilt which released on March 29, 2011 to Peeking Between the Pages today. This is another author that both my mom and me read and we’ve read a few over the years and always enjoyed them. I’m really looking forward to reading The Goodbye Quilt myself and I have to say how much I really love this cover – it matches the title to me and the simplicity of it just comes across as beautiful. Susan joins us today to talk about her writing space…

My writing spot isn’t a particular space so much as it’s a state of mind. I have to get quiet in my head and step into the world of the story, and I’m there. This can happen at home in my favorite chair, seated in a waiting room or airport somewhere, on the ferry, on the patio or at a friend’s house. It often happens on vacation, when I’m not supposed to be working at all.

Photo Caption: My favorite writing chair, with my ever-present notebook and pen.


I had The Goodbye Quilt mostly written in my head by the time I’d dropped my daughter off at college back in 2002. All it took was to transcribe those thoughts and emotions into the shape of a novel, and the story of Linda and Molly emerged. That’s oversimplifying the process a lot, I admit, because I’m not one of those writers who sets down words as if taking dictation from God. I tend to ruminate, rewrite, throw things out, regret the things I’ve thrown out, talk to myself, get frustrated…The process is hugely entertaining to me, but never easy.

In my fiction, I seem to return to life’s deepest themes again and again, whether I’m writing about a mother and daughter on their final road trip, or a couple falling in love…or falling apart. The stories that emerge celebrate all the loves that fill a woman’s life–family, friends, lovers, children, even pets.

The Goodbye Quilt is a deeply personal book, but Linda isn’t me, and Molly isn’t Elizabeth. Real people are too messy and random to make for good fiction. Linda is every parent who has ever said goodbye to a beloved child, and Molly is every young person who has ever struggled with finding her own way in the world.

The Goodbye Quilt is my gift to readers. There’s lots more for readers on my web site. Click here for a beautifully letter-pressed and signed book plate. And here to view a lovely song by Alice Peacock and slide show with images that inspired the book. And subscribe to my e-newsletter here to get information on how you can enter to win a $500 travel voucher to bring your college kid home, or to take you anywhere you’d love to go.

About the Book (from Amazon.com)

Linda Davis’s local fabric shop is a place where women gather to share their creations: quilts commemorating important events in their lives. Wedding quilts, baby quilts, memorial quilts—each is bound tight with dreams, hopes and yearnings.

Now, as her only child readies for college, Linda is torn between excitement for Molly and heartache for herself. Who will she be when she is no longer needed in her role as mom? What will become of her days? Of her marriage?

Mother and daughter decide to share one last adventure together—a cross-country road trip to move Molly into her dorm. As they wend their way through the heart of the country, Linda stitches together the scraps that make up Molly’s young life. And in the quilting of each bit of fabric—the hem of a christening gown, a snippet from a Halloween costume—Linda discovers that the memories of a shared journey can come together in a way that will keep them both warm in the years to come….

Check out the book trailer…

About the Author (from Susan Wigg’s website)


Using blunt scissors, pages from a Big Chief tablet, a borrowed stapler and a Number Two pencil, Susan Wiggs self-published her first novel at the age of eight. A Book About Some Bad Kids [I still have this-CL] was based on the true-life adventures of Susan and her siblings, and the first printing of one copy was a complete sell-out.

Due to her brother’s extreme reaction to that first prodigious effort, Susan went underground with her craft, entertaining her friends and offending her siblings with anonymously-written stories of virtuous sisters and the brothers who torment them. The first romance she ever read was Shanna by the incomparable Kathleen Woodiwiss, which she devoured while slumped behind a college vector analysis textbook. Armed with degrees from SFA and Harvard, and toting a crate of “keeper” books by Woodiwiss, Roberta Gellis, Laurie McBain, Rosemary Rodgers, Jennifer Blake, Bertrice Small and anything with the words “flaming” and “ecstasy” in the title, she became a math teacher, just to prove to the world that she did have a left brain.

Late one night, she finished the book she was reading and was confronted with a reader’s worst nightmare—She was wide awake, and there wasn’t a thing in the house she wanted to read. Figuring this was the universe’s way of taking away her excuses, she picked up a Big Chief tablet and a Number Two pencil, and began writing her novel with the working title, A Book About Some Bad Adults. Actually, that was a bad book about some adults, but Susan persevered, learning her craft the way skydiving is learned—by taking a blind leap and hoping the chute will open.

Her first book was published (without the use of blunt scissors and a stapler) by Zebra in 1987, and since then she has been published by Avon, Tor, HarperCollins, Harlequin, Warner and Mira Books. Unable to completely abandon her beloved teaching profession, Susan is a frequent workshop leader and speaker at writers’ conferences, including the literary institution Fields End and the legendary Maui Writers Conference. Her novel The Charm School was voted one of RWA’s Favorite Books of the Year. She is the proud recipient of three RITA awards for Lakeside Cottage, Lord of the Night and The Mistress, and is often a finalist for the prestigious award. Her books appear regularly on numerous “Best Of” lists.

Susan enjoys many hobbies, including sitting in the hot tub while talking to her mother on the phone, kickboxing, cleaning the can opener, sculpting with butter and growing her hair. She lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with her family.

Check out Susan’s website.
Check out Susan’s blog.
Find her on Facebook.
Follow her on Twitter.
__________

Thanks so much for this terrific guest post Susan! Both my mom and I look forward to reading The Goodbye Quilt!
__________

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I have one copy of The Goodbye Quilt to share with my readers! To enter…

  • For 1 entry leave me a comment with a way to contact you.
  • For 2 entries follow my blog. If you already do, thank you, and please let me know so I can pass the extra entry on to you as well.
  • For 3 entries tweet or blog this giveaway to spread the word!

This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, April 23/11. Good luck everyone!

© 2010, Darlene of Peeking Between the Pages. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than Peeking Between the Pages or Darlene’s Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The Goodbye Quilt sounds like a book I'd want to read. I've made memories by quilting and taking a cross-country trip (not at the same time), so I can relate!
    I'm a GFC follower: itwasemotional (at) yahoo (dot) com

  3. I can't wait to read this book – I have a feeling it's a real tear jerker. No need to enter me.

  4. Sounds wonderful 😀 I would love to read it and the cover is super cute!

    I'm a follower 😀

    hense1kk AT cmich DOT edu

  5. No need to enter me for the giveaway, but I do want to drop by to say to you and to Susan. 🙂 This sounds like a sentimental book.

  6. The Goodbye Quilt sounds very good, and I do like her writing space. lol about the author enjoying hobbies such as 'growing her hair'…I never thought of that as a hobby 🙂

  7. I've been a long time reader of Susan's books. Really looking forward to this book as I dropped my only daughter off at college in 2002 as well. I am so blessed to have her living 45 mins. away!

    I am a follower.

    nisethusfarATyahooDOTcom

  12. I love stories that have quilting as part of the story! Thanks for the giveaway! Am a devoted follower!

    ladybook21 at yahoo dot com

  19. I can't wait to read this book. I have a daughter who recently moved away so I know it's going to touch home.

    mryward(at)yahoo(dot)com

  21. AHHH Love Susan Wiggs!
    Please enter me!

    forevereading at gmail dot com

    I am a follower

    I added it to my sidebar

  22. This one sounds great!! Thanks for the chance to win!!

    I also follow!!

    areallibrarian[at]gmail[dot]com

  24. The Goodbye Quilt sounds like a wonderful book. I have a quilt my grandma made for me that all the material holds fond memories. I would love to be entered to win a copy of The Goodbye Quilt. Thank you for the chance.

    Smiles & Blessings,
    Cindy W.

    countrybear52[at]yahoo[dot]com

  29. I just got done putting all my books in order and I have 2 of hers that I must read soon!!!

    Sounds lovely!

  32. I follow your blog and love the books you suggest! I am always looking for more books to read, my list always gets to small and I worry I will not have a book to read. Thank you for always having another one to add to my list! mjk7303@yahoo.com

  34. I love your blog and Susan Wiggs! A great combination! I'm a follower by email and gfc.
    dancealert at aol dot com

  38. I love this type of book, I'm going to check this author out for sure now.

    I am a GFC follower

    faefever25 at hotmail dot com

  39. This one sounds good. I've been watching this one and I'm anxious to read it. Please enter me!

    I follow.

    je2kids(at)gmail(dot)com

  43. What a wonderful interview! I always am so interested in hearing how authors engage in their craft, and this post was really fun to read. I would love a chance to be entered in your giveaway as well because the book sounds great! Please count me in, and thanks for hosting it!

    zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net

  45. Drawing on my birthday! That *has* to be good luck, right?

    PS–I'm a blog follower!

  47. I like the Susan Wiggs books 'Just Breathe' and 'Summer At Willow Lake' This one sounds good too. Love mother/daughter stories.

    My e-mail is wakeupangel at googlemail dot com

  51. I saw this at the bookstore yesterday and put it on my TBR list. Please enter my name for a chance to win!
    Thanks,
    Renee
    renee(dot)soriano(at)caltech(dot)edu

  53. After just becoming empty-nested from a daughter…yes, I can relate to this book and can't wait to read it (tissues at the ready!) Susan Wiggs never disappoints!
    sweepingnews(at)gmail(dot)com

  61. This book reminds me of when my own daughter left home. I would realy enjoy reading this book. Please enter me. Thanks!

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

  63. I am an avid quilter and would love to read this book. Thanks for the giveaway!

    lag110 at mchsi dot com

  66. Darlene, thank you for this giveaway 🙂

    I'm your GFC follower (an old one!)

    here's my mail: evieseo(at)gmail(dot)com

    HUGS!

  67. Would absolutely love to win this. And I love the interview.
    rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com