Interview and Giveaway for "White Picket Fences" by Susan Meissner

I am so excited to have Susan as a guest on my blog. Lets begin by posting the back of "White Picket Fences" and go from there. There will be a giveaway of a copy of this book so please look for the instructions later in the post. Thank you Susan for taking the time to spend with us!

Also, I'm having two giveaways this month and anyone who signed my blog this month will be entered into my special giveaway when I reach 100 followers!

Back Cover: The Janviers have the idyllic life -- a beautiful home, great jobs, two wonderful kids -- and surrounding it all is the proverbial white picket fence that protects them, offers them a serene sense of security... and hides all their secrets.

When her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her 16-year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: motherless and living with a father who raises Tally wherever he lands-- in a Buick, a pizza joint, a horse farm -- and regularly takes off on wild schemes. Amanda envisions that she, her husband, Neil, and their two teenagers can offer the girl stability and a shot at a "normal" life, even though their own storybook lives are about to crumble.

Seventeen year old Chase Janvier hasn't seen his cousin in years, and other than a vague curiosity about her strange life, he doesn't expect her arrival will affect him much -- or interfere with his growing, disturbing interest in a long-ago house fire that plagues his dreams.

Tally and Chase bond as they interview to Holocaust survivors for a sociology project, and become startlingly aware that the whole family is grappling with hidden secrets, with the echoes of the past, and with the realization that ignoring tragic situations won't make the go away.

Will Talley's presence blow apart their carefully constructed world, revealing the hidden past that could destroy them all -- or can she help them find the truth without losing each other? From the author of The Shape of Mercy, one of Publishers Weekly's best religious fiction books of 2008, comes a tale of family secrets smoldering behind a white picket fence.

About Susan: Susan Meissner cannot remember a time when she wasn't driven to put her thoughts down on paper. Her novels include The Shape of Mercy, winner of the Christian book award for fiction, and Blue Heart Blessed. Susan and her husband, a pastor and a chaplain in the Air Force reserves, make their home in Southern California. They are the parents of four grown children.

My Take: I won "White Picket Fences" quite a while back from another blog giveaway. I have to admit I had so many books to read that this one went into my "to be read pile" where it stayed for quite a while. The other day I was looking through those books for my next read. For some reason this one caught my eye. I really had no idea what the genre was or what the book was about. I just started reading.

The protagonists were three cousins as well as a friend to one of them. When I first started reading I thought it was geared to young adults, but after reading a while longer I discovered this was a story for all ages! It is a story of people holding onto secrets and not wanting to let them go for fear of what might happen - but in the long run the secrets begin to come out and effect those who are involved. This story is about the Janviers family who appear to have the perfect life to those who know them, but inside of their home more than one person is holding onto a secret that is beginning to destroy their lives from the inside out. Can an unexpected visit from their niece/cousin be the catalyst that begins a healing for this family. I urge you to read the book and find out. I believe this is something everyone can relate to at one time or another in their lives. I love it when I am pleasantly surprised.

INTERVIEW WITH SUSAN

1. How did you choose the plot/subject for White Picket Fences? How about the characters?

Five years ago I was a court-appointed advocate for children involved in protective services for the state of Minnesota. There were times when I saw that even in a less-than-perfect home, a child could be loved there. Just because a parent is unconventional or unsuccessful career-wise or makes choices that buck societal norms, it doesn’t mean that he or she is by default a “bad” parent. Likewise, parents who we would traditionally call “good” -meaning they provide, they protect, they don’t hit, they don’t ridicule - can still make decisions regarding their kids that have hugely negative effects and yet their outward appearance would never lead you to suspect it. Even if you live behind a white picket fence, you still have to deal with the reality of a living in a broken world. You can’t hide from it. The perfect, idyllic life is an illusion. Life is a weave of both good times and hard times and it’s precisely these things that give it definition and depth. To ignore what is ugly is to cheapen what is beautiful.

2. At first I thought the book might be geared to YA, but the more I read I realized this is a book for all ages. Was this your intention or did it just happen?

Because I have a couple of young protagonists, the feel of the voicing might seem like a YA read, but I intended the book to speak across the generations. Jodi Piccoult often has young protagonists in her novels and I read once that this is intentional on her part. The young have a perspective the mature often lose sight of.

3. When/How did you start writing? What is your next project and when will it be out?

Though I’ve always love to write stories, I let fear of rejection keep me from doing anything serious for a long time. I didn’t concentrate on a writing career until 1998, when I was named editor of a small weekly paper in southwest Minnesota. I was honored to win several awards over the years, but the best part of my four years as editor was having my paper named the Best Weekly Newspaper in Minnesota by the Minnesota Newspaper Association in 2002. That year became a rather pivotal one for me as a writer. My beloved paternal grandfather died in July 2002 and his passing had a profound effect on me. I knew I didn't want to come to the end of my life having only dreamed of writing a novel, and was ready to live with rejection, instead of regrets. I resigned as editor of the newspaper, which was a very hard decision to make, and set out to write Why the Sky is Blue. It took four months to write and ten months to be accepted by a publisher. That first book was published in 2004. White Pickets Fences is my eleventh novel.

My next book, Lady in Waiting, will release in September 2010. I like to weave a historical thread into my contemporary setting. For this one, I chose the tender and remarkably moving story of Lady Jane Grey. She was queen of England for nine days at the age of 16, during the mid sixteenth-century.

You can check out a book trailer on Vimeo right here, if you wish: http://vimeo.com/13889642

4. I always like to ask what advice you have for novice writers like myself.

The advice I give most often is don’t give way to disappointment. Writing is an isolating art and often one that fails to win you a large audience or much affirmation. But writing because you are good at it and love it is enough reason to keep at it. Writing to be published is a fine aspiration but one that you can only control to a point. You can write the best that you can and make every effort to seek publication but you cannot control the market or the industry. Do your best at the part you can control. Leave the part that you can’t to the God who loves you. I also have more writer’s encouragements on my website:http://www.susanlmeissner.com/writers.html

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

1. Be a follower or sign up as a follower.

2. Leave your email address so I can contact you.

3. Can you tell us about a book that pleasantly surprised you? We might want to read it!

4. Visit Susans website at

http://www.susanlmeissner.com and let me know if you've read any of her books.

5. The contest will end on Saturday, August 20th. Be sure and tell your friends!

HAPPY READING