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| Click Here to Visit Peggy Bird's Art |
Beginning Again is a story about starting over in love and life, finding happiness and fulfillment at any stage of life.
Not long after Liz Fairchild opens an art gallery in Northwest Portland, a sexy and mysterious sculptor named Collins bulldozes his way into her gallery, her life and her bed. In spite of her determination not to, she finds him irresistible. But he's holding something back. What are the phone calls he makes when he thinks she isn't looking? And what's the real reason he walked into her gallery? Liz doesn't know what worries her more--that she's falling for him or that she could lose him.
So without further ado...Here's the lovely Peggy Bird!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Peggy: Well, I'm a writer, glass artist, wife, mother and grandmother living in the Pacific Northwest. I've blown through about five careers, apparently incapable of settling into a specific one but I've always written. I now believe this is where I was always meant to be, I just needed to get a few things out of my system before I got here.
How did you choose the genre you write in?
Peggy: It chose me. I've had children's stories, memoir pieces and a couple plays produced and always assumed I'd write mysteries. Then these characters started obsessing me. When they fell in love, had obstacles in their way but came out happily ever after, I recognized the story arc and knew I had just become a romance writer.
Do you work with an outline, or just write?
Peggy: To outline or not to outline, that is the question at every writers' conference. I do both. Sort of. I always have a clear idea of the beginning, middle and end of the story. I don't outline scene by scene. Tried it a couple times and ended up with characters behaving badly. Now I get to know my characters, know broadly where they're going and then I write.
Can you tell us about your upcoming book?
Peggy: Beginning Again which is out now, is the first book in a series I think of as the "Three Degrees of Separation" series. Everyone in the Portland area is separated, at most, by three degrees and so are my characters. This first book is the story of Liz Fairchild who finds herself starting over in mid-life with an art gallery and her lover, Collins. Next up, Amanda St. Claire, a glass artist, and Sam Richardson, the police detective who helps prove her innocent of murdering her boyfriend and falls in love with her.
Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or is it purely all imagination?
Peggy: I have been asked by a number of friends and family members if any of the book is true to my personal experience. I've avoided answering, but I'll tell you if you'll keep it secret. The easy answer is--I was a member of a co-op gallery for five years so Liz's preparation for opening her gallery is pretty true to life. The fun one is--the helicopter scene at the beach is true.
Peggy: I have been asked by a number of friends and family members if any of the book is true to my personal experience. I've avoided answering, but I'll tell you if you'll keep it secret. The easy answer is--I was a member of a co-op gallery for five years so Liz's preparation for opening her gallery is pretty true to life. The fun one is--the helicopter scene at the beach is true.
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
Peggy: The helicopter scene at the beach. Good memory.
Peggy: The helicopter scene at the beach. Good memory.
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| Click Here to Buy BEGINNING AGAIN |
What project are you working on now?
Peggy: I'm working on the fourth book in the series. Numbers two and three, "Running Scores" and "Closing Arguments," have been contracted by Crimson for release in the fall and early next year. My work-in-progress has been fun for me. "Intersecting Lives" takes place partly in the San Juan Islands so I get to visit in my writing some of the most beautiful real estate in Washington state. And I get to listen to Latin music because my hero is Cuban-American and I always use music to get me into a scene.
Peggy: I'm working on the fourth book in the series. Numbers two and three, "Running Scores" and "Closing Arguments," have been contracted by Crimson for release in the fall and early next year. My work-in-progress has been fun for me. "Intersecting Lives" takes place partly in the San Juan Islands so I get to visit in my writing some of the most beautiful real estate in Washington state. And I get to listen to Latin music because my hero is Cuban-American and I always use music to get me into a scene.
Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Peggy: The best advice I ever got was "writers write." So keep writing. Just keep writing.
Peggy: The best advice I ever got was "writers write." So keep writing. Just keep writing.
Now for the clever-silly question, if you were a t-shirt, what would you say?
Peggy: If I were a T-shirt I'd either say "Adam was a rough draft" or "Writer's block is when your imaginary friends stop talking to you." Hard choice.
Peggy: If I were a T-shirt I'd either say "Adam was a rough draft" or "Writer's block is when your imaginary friends stop talking to you." Hard choice.
Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?
Peggy: The idea that I have readers and fans makes me smile, giggle and blush. Okay, I don't blush but it's such a surprise to think that someone other than my writing buddies are reading my work. What I hope is that Liz's story touches them, convinces them that that love and fulfillment and a happily-ever-after ending is our right at any age or stage of life.
Please be invited to visit Peggy at her website! It is as beautiful and as classy as she is.
