As you may know, She Reads has recently formed a partnership with the lovely ladies at Novel Matters to bring readers and writers together. And we thought it was high time that we made formal introductions since they are now part of our little family.
The first of these authors that we’d like you to know a little better is Patti Hill. She spent some time with us last Friday shattering common misconceptions of the writing life and we brought her back today to hear a little more about her latest release, Seeing Things:
Birdie Wainwright, 72, loves her independence, so she isn’t all that concerned about seeing things others can’t. For a woman who climbs mountains and likes to tango, the impractical visions brought on by macular degeneration are considered another gift from God. She does, however, keep the visions to herself.
One of her favorite visions—an alpine meadow where her stairs ought to be—nearly robs her of her freewheeling ways. She missteps to tumble down the stairs and breaks her ankle. She’s delighted and chagrined to be under the care of her family. Delighted to reconnect with her grandson, Fletcher, chagrined to rely on her daughter-in-law’s administrations. Birdie seizes the moment by teaching her grandson how to drive and chipping away at a damaged mother-son relationship.
Birdie has nothing but time. She listens to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Fletcher for a school reading assignment. The line between reality and whimsy turns brittle for Birdie when a bedraggled Huck Finn appears to her. The literary character gains voice and substance over the course of his visits. Trouble follows wherever Huck Finn wanders, that’s for sure. Birdie relies on her faith, friends, and a pudgy Romeo to chart a course back to normal—or something like it.
Seeing Things is a story about family, reconciliation, and hearing from God in unexpected ways.
Click here to read the first chapter.
1. Thanks for spending a little time with us today, Patti. Can you share one odd writing habit that you have?
I may be odd, but I’m clean. Let’s start with that.
I keep crayons that write on wet tiles because the shower is where I get my best ideas and untangle plot problems. And trust me, I’m not even thinking about the storyline. There’s something about the rush of water that frees my mind to solve plot inconsistencies I don’t know exist until I lather up the washcloth. I consistently get ideas in the shower—one or two—but I’ve been known to take four-idea showers on occasion. Until I bought the crayons, these ideas swirled down the drain. Now, a word or two scribbled on the tiles seals the ideas in my memory until I can get to my computer.
This is odd, isn’t it? You aren’t going to tell anyone, are you?
2. What was your “ah-ha!” moment for Seeing Things – when you knew this idea could be a book?
My oldest son, an engineer, lives in Vancouver where the sun rarely shines, and I live in the high desert of western Colorado where blue skies dominate. We needed something to talk about besides the weather when he called. And so, I listen to science-related podcasts. All that to say, I possess five minutes of knowledge in a subject area in which my son holds advanced degrees. It’s humbling, but we’re not talking about the weather.
One week, a program told the story about a man with retinitis pigmentosa who also suffered from Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS). With CBS, a person who was once sighted will hallucinate. The man in the story hallucinated literary characters. Oh, oh, oh! I was walking my dog out in the middle of a corn field. No pencil. No paper. No crayons. A man sees literary characters? Honestly, does it get any better for an author? What an amazing premise for a story—What is real? What is illusionary? What is mental illness?
I sat in front of my computer for several days researching CBS. The research proved interesting, but I needed more to build a story, so I interviewed women with CBS. Oh my, they were a plucky bunch, full of fun and strong—great protagonists. Still, I needed more to build a story. I needed CONFLICT.
A fertile place for conflict happens to be my little bag of fears. And I have lots of, um, concerns. Here are the questions that buzzed through my head as I developed the storyline for Seeing Things: What would happen if my son married an uber ambitious woman who treated me with contempt? What if my mental health came into question? How can my prayers express the kind of faith that moves hearts? Can broken relationships be restored? Can God use a misfiring imagination to move his people?
Once I wrestled with those questions, I knew a story would emerge to entertain and inspire.
3. Novelists are notoriously solitary people. How do you balance the need for time and space to write with cultivating the relationships in your life?
I am amused God made me a novelist. I’m the original people person—I’m that old. Nothing energizes me like discovering a connection with folks. The minute I finish my writing goal for the day, I’m on the phone or out the door to be with real people. I actually think this makes me a better novelist. I love all of my characters—the sweethearts and the villains. I desperately want them to be loved and understood, even when they’re naughty.
4. When the name Patti Hill comes to mind, what is the one thing you’d like readers to think of?
“I get a fresh glimpse of grace when I read Patti’s stories.”
5. We hear you’re working on another novel that will release in 2011. Can you tell us a little about it?
I’m writing my very first historical. It’s a bit terrifying and exhilarating this meshing of fictional time and real, historical, somebody-took-notes time. I feel like I’m spinning plates, running from stick to stick to give them a twist before the plate crashes to the floor. There’s so much to keep track of, but I’m loving it. Again, I’m asking people to stretch their understanding of what’s seen and what’s not.
Sorry. Got carried away. Here’s the premise: Overseas, World War II rages. In Wisconsin, Lucy, 16, is an orphan with two younger (aged eight) twin siblings—Goodness and Mercy. When she learns her brother, who goes by Goody, is about to be adopted by a farm family, she spirits the twins away from the orphanage and heads west. They end up on a peach farm owned by her aunt. Lucy is determined to blend into life in Colorado, but her siblings make this difficult. Goody idolizes the Lone Ranger and Mercy epitomizes her name. Soon, the little girl is attracting attention for knowing things she shouldn’t know and for healing people with a touch, emotionally and physically. When the press sniffs out a story, Lucy must decide who to trust.
If you’d like to win a copy of Seeing Things, just leave a comment on this post and tell us the strangest thing you’ve ever seen. Patti will select the winner at the end of the week!
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
the strangest thing that i have ever seen??? how about a woman adorning her hair w/ black plastic combs…lots of them.
Yes, Karen, hair is a great source of strangeness. A woman I saw in a Chinese restaurant became a character in one of my books because her hair moved on her head like a bell. And the part was a landing strip. Very strange.
I grew up with a mother who was legally blind and yet she could see more and understand things that the people who had full vision missed. As my brother said at the time of her death, “There were times that I doubted that she couldn’t see.”
I’ve seen two strange things. Does that make me strange? A man had a beard down to his chest–in dozens of tiny braids. My dd was 10 at the time, and we were quite rude, because we happened to look at each other after he walked into the restaurant. That’s when the unfortunate giggling started to happen.
Also, true story, a few days ago, two bald eagles were in a mid-air fight while I was driving my car. In the midst of their conflict, they flew right in front of me, and I about hit them. (We live in Alaska, so seeing eagles wasn’t a strange occurence, but the fight was.)
Blessed day!
Voni
Patti, the strangest thing I ever saw was while driving out on a country road I saw a beautiful bird which I thought was a pheasant crossing the road ahead. As I neared and it turned toward me I realized it was a vulture. My mind went immediately to a magnificantly beautiful creature to one of dread.
Marcia, thanks so much for sharing about your mother. In Seeing Things, Birdie shares that attribute with your mother. She also uses her heart to picture the faith she needs.
Beverly, wow! That is an amazing picture of what we may think is beautiful but is in fact evil. Lucifer was the most beautiful of the angels. Hmm.
This may not seem terribly strange, but one time I looked out the window because it smelled like rain. It was raining all right but only on the far side of the street. Exactly half of the street was wet, right down the middle and on the other side from me. If two cars were driving towards each other, one would be using their windsheild wipers, one wouldn’t! Weird!
Several years ago I was on a business trip to Huntington Beach, CA, when I saw a very strange sight. There was a young man walking nearby the beach sporting an earring of sorts. Now mind you, this was not just your average diamond stud. He had this contraption inside a hole in his earlobe and it was so heavy that his earlobe was almost hanging to his shoulders. I was amazed! Since then I have seen several variations of piercings, but that one really grabbed my attention.
What a fun post. I simply loved this book, Patty, so if you pick the strange thing I saw, I’d gladly take another of your books. No pressure, though.
Every evening I go for coffee at my local Quik Trip which is also a hub for teens. For several weeks I’d noticed the “goth” crowd hanging out when I went in. Studded dog collars. Piercings everywhere. Black leather. Black lips. Black fingernails. One boy, though, cracked me up. He had on all the requisite black, a few piercings, and had long hair spiked in that Mohawk chicken look. Cute kid, and as I went up to the counter, I looked at his feet. He had on leopard print fuzzy scuffs. I smiled and said, “Nice shoes.” He smiled back and shrugged, “Yeah, these are my mom’s. She let me wear them.” Priceless moment. Even these tough-acting kids had real moms. Like me. I wanted to hug him. Would have, but I didn’t want to mar his image.
The strangest thing I have ever seen (but most beautiful) was in September-a fire rainbow in the sky! The sky was a beautiful sky blue with white clouds and suddenly this rainbow (not the arc shape) was in the sky. I felt God’s presence and was so thankful for such a beautiful blessing! I was awesome. I had seen pictures of this in e-mails, but that is the first time I ever saw one in reality.
This isn’t going to be an easy choice. Vonni, you’ve seen the sublime and the ridiculous. And Catharine, rain can be capricious. In my hometown I can watch a veil of rain skitter across the valley. I love it. Myra, I’ve seen those piercings. At my age I’m cautious about wearing heavy earrings. I don’t want to encourage gravity one little bit. Do you think that boy will ever regret wagging earlobes? You’ve discovered what I learned about kids as a teacher, Carla. They all have mommies. Isn’t that our unifying commonality? We come from very human parents and we’re headed toward our Heavenly Father. Beverly, I hope to see a rainbow fire in the sky someday. Oh my.
My brilliant child’s 1st semester college grades were the strangest I’ve ever seen. (Oh, I guess that should be unexpected, not strange!) He totally underwhelmed me. Anyway! One summer in Kosciusko, MS I spent a week with my best friend at her grandmother’s house. (We were 12) There were grasshoppers bigger than my thumb! We couldn’t believe the size of those creatures!
A winter morning a few years ago, I stepped outside to find the air sparkling with something like fairy dust. I looked to the people around me, to see if anyone else noticed, or if perhaps I was “seeing things.” Someone explained that the temperature had dropped so quickly that the mist froze to tiny ice crystals, so light they floated. I take my magic where I find it.
One of the strangest things I have seen is a deer running through my neighborhood in between parked cars. I had to blink a few times just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Another thing was a man who had just a small halo of hair left and he let the right side grow realllllllly long and combed it over so it would look like he had a lot of hair. Years later I saw him again and he was totally bald and looked sooooo much better.
I would love to be entered into your giveaway.
Blessings,
Cindy W.
Lucy, Katy, and Cindy~Thanks for sharing your “strange” things. I think most things are strange in the insect world, especially under a microscope. Did you know some spiders have 8 eyes! Grasshoppers as big as thumbs–oh my! I’ve seen the frozen mist, Katy. It’s like walking in a snow globe. And Cindy, there’s nothing stranger than a man trying not to look bald.
Thanks to all who commented. I enjoyed your company and your stories very much.
There’s no way I could decide, so I put your names in a hat and pulled out…drum roll…Cindy Woolard!!! Send me your snail mail address at patti@pattihillauthor.com.
The strangest thing I have seen happened when I was ten. (Although my Dad was Navy and we moved a lot, so I have seen lots of strange things over the years.) We were at recess on a dirt schoolyard in Florida, (this was back in the 60′s) and it was a very windy spring day. As often happened, a dirt-devil appeared in the schoolyard. They fascinated me, so I was watching as it grew, and grew, and GREW, until it was huge, and the teachers finally started to shoo all the children back into the school. Except for two. Me and a little boy near me who stated, “I’m not scared, I’ve always wanted to see if one would pick me up!”
And before I could stop him, he ran into the whirlwind, was picked up and turned slowly around! Twice! A hysterical teacher ran up next to me and told me to go into the school, so I never saw what happened, but was informed later that he hadn’t been injured!
The second strangest thing happened several years ago when my daughter and I were on a day trip together. We passed a field with one huge lone oak tree in the back of the field ,about 1/2 mile away from the road, and in it sat what looked to be an eagle. “It won’t be there when we come back this way,” I thought, but low and behold it was, and there were two! My daughter turned the car around and parked it on the side of the road so we could get a better view….but the eagles were so far away that we weren’t absolutely sure. I said, “I wish they would fly, so we could see for sure what they are.” My daughter said, “God, if they are eagles, let them fly so we can see.” I said, “Amen.” and just like a shot!–one got up and flew to the north and one flew right at us. From that day my daughter has never doubted the existence of God!
Patricia, LOVE your stories! I would love to talk to the boy who “flew.” Don’t you wonder what sort of things he did later in life? I mean, this kid ran into a humongous dirt devil! Where did his courage take him? Hmm
One day my daughter, son-n-law and I were riding down the road on the interstate near our house.
As we were riding, out of nowhere a white dove appeared out of nowhere. All 3 of us saw it so it wasn’t an illusion of the mind..Well we kept driving and the bird was right by the window of the truck then suddenly he disappeared as if he was an angel.
Later during the week I was randonly watching a Christian channel on TV and at the bottom of the screen was a White Dove.
I never confirmed what the white doves represented but I do know it was “Pure”.
Not really weird I would say maybe unusual.
The strangest thing I’ve seen would have to be…
When I was seeing CATS the musical, this little girl had to be under/maybe 6 years old…Tell me why she knew every word/song! And musical routine in CATS?!! She even knew the tapping sequences. I’ve been taking tap for longer than she’s been alive and I don’t know the tapping sequences. And I have the CATS dvd to boot!
The strangest thing I ever saw was a vision of me–the shy lady who never speaks in front of people–in a play. And then something stranger than that–was the crowd I saw when it actually happened!
Mary! Wow! A white dove represents the Holy Spirit, the part of the trinity who lives in us when we say yes to Jesus. This is how God stays close to us. He gives us comfort, power, and love. Very cool.
Lenci~Did she perform for you? Someday she will.
Cynthia~God sometimes previews His plans for us. I’m so encouraged to see how He grew you into this amazingly talented woman. And so bold. Bravo!
The strangest thing I’ve ever seen was in a vision that came to me after my ten year old son had been having night terrors for six months. He would crawl up into bed with me shuddering and crying, “The whispering just keeps getting louder!” He had been complaining about whispering in his ear while he tried to sleep, but he just couldn’t understand the words.
I got a vision of large hands opening up and a small girl about the age two crawled out and climbed up on my lap and began to whisper into my ear. Then she leaned back to look me in the eyes to give me a vision of her and my son playing. I went to my neighbor to tell her the story, and while I was telling her, streams of tears began to flow from her eyes. “I had been waiting for God to give me a sign.”
My hair stood on end as the reality hit me. Her first daughter was two years old when she got killed in an accident. I had never met her first born, so I had forgot about that. My neighbor was raised Catholic and she had never had her daughter baptized, so she was unsure of her child’s fate.
On vacation last summer in Minnesota we saw a man swim to work. He lived on one side of the St Croix River and worked on the other side. Because a bridge was out, he used a small swimming raft to swim across the river.
He carried a backpack on the raft, and once on the Minnesota side he got out of the water, opened the backpack, dried off with a towel and threw clothes on over his wet swim trunks.
My family laughed for days thinking of this experience. Funny thing was it was 5 at night when we saw him, so he must have had to swim back home to Wisconsin in the dark.