We're pleased to welcome Kristan Higgins
to DPL BookTalk!
Kristan is a bestselling author and two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA award. She divides her time between home in Connecticut and summers on Cape Cod. She's the mother of two lovely kids, the wife of a brave firefighter, and a
devoted Ben & Jerry's fan. Previously a copywriter, Kristan began writing
fiction when her children graced her life with simultaneous naps...so much more
satisfying than folding laundry. She holds a BA in English, which enables her to
identify dangling participles and quote many great novels.
DPL: In your newest book, Somebody
to Love, you revisit Gideon's Cove, which was the setting for Catch of the Day. Do you
think you'll revisit any other locations in future books?
KH: Gideon’s Cove, Maine, was always special to me. I loved the
beauty and scruffiness of the town, as well as its remote location (nearly in
Canada). When I was seven, my dad took me out on a lobster boat in Perkin’s
Cove, and I never forgot it (even named the hero’s boat after the boat we went
on). It was a real joy to go back to the town, especially through the eyes of a
stranger in Somebody to Love and see
my old friends again.
For now, I have no plans to go back to any town other than
Hammondsport (though my fictionalized version is called Manningsport). But you
never know.
DPL: Would you tell us a little about the new series you're
working on?
KH: Sure! It’ll be three books (maybe more, but we’ll start with
three) based around Blue Heron Vineyard, family-run operation in the Finger
Lakes region of New York. The Holland family consists of a widowed dad and four
grown kids: Prudence, Jack, Honor and Faith, and the series kicks off when
Faith returns to town three years after being left at the altar. At the moment,
I have no idea what or whom the other books will be about. Better get on that…
Setting is hugely important to me as a writer, and when visiting
the area last fall, Terence and I fell in love with Hammondsport…as in, “Let’s
check out some real estate while we’re up here!” The town for the Blue Heron
series is very closely based on that village.
DPL: When did you realize you have an obsession with Derek
Jeter? :)
KH: Early on, Patti, early on. Derek and I have been together
since my daughter was a baby, and we have no plans to split up anytime soon.
DPL: What did you like most about the library when you were
a child? Who was your favorite author?
KH: The DPL was a magical place for me as a kid. Back then, the
children’s library was in the basement of the old building, which was often
damp and chilly (or stuffy and hot, as I recall…not a lot of in-between). Even
though it was tiny, there always seemed to be a corner I hadn’t found. I loved
the Thornton Burgess Mother West Wind series (Little Joe Otter was my
favorite), as well as Bullfinch’s Greek Mythology. Around the age of fourteen,
I started sneaking romances into my mom’s bag of books, and the damage was
done.
DPL: What is a completely random fact about you that most
people don't know?
KH: Many years ago, I went to a ball game at Fenway. Of course, I
wore something with the Yankees logo on it, and some guy made a disparaging
comment, to which I responded, “Get a life, loser.” My boyfriend said, “You
know that was Stephen King, right?”
DPL: Name one book you think everyone should read.
KH: The Odyssey. It’s got everything.
DPL: Favorite movie based on a book?
KH: I’d have to say The
Hunger Games! It took everything great in the book and made it a little
better.
DPL: What is the proudest moment in your career?
KH: I got a letter from a young woman named Tiffany a couple of
years ago…she was in an abusive relationship for a long time and wrote, “Your
books taught me what love should be and what I deserve, and I want you to know
I’m not with him anymore.” If people ask me why I write romance, I generally
quote that letter.
DPL: What’s the funniest question you've had from a reader?
KH: “How could you put a snake in a book?”
DPL: And the most important question...when will there be a
cat on one of your covers again??
KH: I do love cats, especially my own Huck, but in my heart of
hearts, there’s a wriggly little puppy.
DPL: Thanks for talking
with us, Kristan!
--Patti
Mary's pick is A Daughter's Tale: The Memoir of Winston and Clementine Churchill's Youngest Child, by Mary Soames
A thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step inside Mosco’s Traveling Wonder Show, a menagerie of human curiosities and misfits guaranteed to astound and amaze! But perhaps the strangest act of Mosco’s display is Portia Remini, a normal among the freaks, on the run from McGreavy’s Home for Wayward Girls, where Mister watches and waits. He said he would always find Portia, that she could never leave. Free at last, Portia begins a new life on the bally, seeking answers about her father’s disappearance. Will she find him before Mister finds her? It’s a story for the ages, and like everyone who enters the Wonder Show, Portia will never be the same.
Gina's staff pick is The Dressmaker, by Kate Alcott. (This is the second recommendation for this book.)
Synopsis: The three Beauchamp
women--Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid--live in North Hampton,
out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town
seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet,
uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret--they are
powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect
people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her
bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots
that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally,
there's Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure
most any heartache.
Mary's pick is The Train of Small Mercies, by David Rowell
High in the Italian Alps at the turn of the twentieth century, Ciro, a strapping mountain boy, meets Enza, a practical beauty. But when scandal rocks Ciro's tiny village, unbeknownst to Enza, he is sent to hide in America. When disaster strikes Enza's family, she, too, is forced to go to America.
Melanie's pick is The Sting (DVD).
Synopsis: When he receives word that somebody has confessed to the 1995 homicide of Marie Gesto, Detective Harry Bosch is surprised and relieved. For more than a decade, details of this savage murder had eaten away at the sensitive investigator. His emotions heighten, though when he hears the murderer speak and learns that police missed a clue that could have led them to Gesto's killer and thus prevented nine subsequent murders. the realization leaves Bosch reeling with uncertainty about his colleagues and his own commitments. (Barnes & Noble)
Synopsis: From 1939 to 1942, more than 400 Jewish children were kept safe from
Nazis in the small French village of Chabannes. This powerful
documentary follows two of the now fully grown youths who were rescued
from the Holocaust as they return to the town. Reflecting upon their
experiences there, they analyze how the members of the community opened
their hearts to them--despite the considerable risk.
Synopsis: Diagnosed with Stage IV
thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical
miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 
Synopsis: Lucy Bloom is broke, freshly dumped by her boyfriend, and forced to sell her house to send her nineteen-year-old son to drug rehab. Although she’s lost it all, she’s determined to start over. So when she’s offered a high-paying gig helping clear the clutter from the home of reclusive and eccentric painter Marva Meier Rios, Lucy grabs it. Armed with the organizing expertise she gained while writing her book, Things Are Not People, and fueled by a burning desire to get her life back on track, Lucy rolls up her sleeves to take on the mess that fills every room of Marva’s huge home.
Bonnie's pick is the Hamish Macbeth series, by M.C. Beaton
Synopsis: Robert Grainer is a day laborer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century—an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainer struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime.
Synopsis: Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones.With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century. 
Michelle Sanderson may
appear to be a strong, independent woman, but on the inside, she’s still
the wounded girl who fled home years ago. A young army vet, Michelle
returns to the quaint Blackberry Island Inn to claim her inheritance and
recover from the perils of war. Instead, she finds the owner’s suite
occupied by the last person she wants to see.