 Have you guys ever had someone you loved and admired even though you'd never met her? Well, today I'm sharing one of those people with you. Micki Clark and I have never met in person, but we've been at the same publisher for several years now, and I've followed her through publishing and cancer and life--she's awesome. So, I wanted you to meet her, too. Read on. Micki, I'm so glad to have you on here. I very much enjoyed your book Don't Ask Me to Leave You. What gave you the idea to loosely base your story on the book of Ruth? My husband and I used the book of Ruth for our wedding vows, so those words are constantly in my head. One day, I started wondering what would happen to Ruth and Naomi in a modern world, and the story was born! I know you incorporated quite a few places from your home area into the book. What are your favorites and why did you pick them? I did—almost all of the locations in the book are real! I did change a few details here and there to make it fit the storyline, but you can go and tour all of the places mentioned yourself! I also have a YouTube video with photographs of some of the locations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooghJjgGnpQ. My absolute favorite, of course, is the Ruth Hunt Candy Company, because I have a killer sweet tooth and their cream candy is amazing. My children love to stop by there when we visit my family and get Ale-8 suckers (Ale-8 is a local beverage also featured in the book). The kids love Berryman’s Tasty Treat, which is a diner not too far down the street from the church where my husband and I were married. Did you always want to be a writer? Oh, for sure! When I was little, I was constantly writing stories and forcing them upon unsuspecting friends, family members, and church members to read. As a high school English teacher, how has being a published author helped or hurt with that? What are some ways you incorporate writing into your classes? I teach English 101 (freshman comp) to my juniors, and I use this as an example to point out to them that I won’t ask them to do something I’m not willing to do myself. When I tell them to “show, don’t tell”, I have a reason behind it! I am also the sponsor of our school’s Young Writers Club, and the students really benefit from asking questions about the writing and publishing process. It’s opened a bunch of eyes! It's been several years since you released this beautiful story, and I know you had a major fight against cancer in the meantime. Do you think you might write a story about that someday (I think it would be a great idea!)? I think for the moment that I’m still a little too close to the cancer journey to write a novel about it—there’s a lot of emotion that’s still connected there. I will someday, though. What I’m hoping is to be able to get back to the story I had planned to write before cancer robbed me of all of my free time, haha. Even if you don't write a story about it, is there anything about your cancer journey you'd like to pass on to the people reading this right now? The most important thing, to me, was keeping my faith and a positive attitude. No amount of being upset about cancer was going to change anything. However, keeping a positive outlook throughout helped me move through everything—and my doctors generally agreed that my positive energy helped me heal faster. We learn from all of our experiences in life. Yes, cancer was miserable. 10/10 would not recommend. But. My husband and I became so much closer after my diagnosis. I learned a lot of things about myself and others. I’ve grown and I think I’m a better person now. Do you have anything in the works we can look forward to reading in the near future? I am hoping to get back to my project, The Soldier’s Wife. I think, though, that the time away from it has given me some really good ideas for plot lines and twists! The Soldier’s Wife is very loosely based on the story of David and Bathsheba, in the sense that one of the characters in the novel gets confused about reality, suspects my protagonist of Bathsheba-like behavior, and kidnaps her, hoping to show her the error of her ways. I’m hoping to do NaNoWriMo with this project along with my students in the Young Writer’s Club, so fingers crossed. Yay! That sounds like a great idea! Okay, last but not least. Can you leave us with one thing about yourself that very few people know about? I love learning new things. I’m a really creative person and I’m always looking for new ways to challenge my mind. I just started teaching myself to crochet a few weeks ago and I’m loving it. Aww, another yay. I love to crochet, too. :) Thanks so much for joining me today, Micki. I look forward to hearing you have another book come out in the future. And for the readers, keep going, because the links for her book and website are below.  Newlywed Rachel Miller has everything she could want from life—the perfect husband, her dream job, and a cute little house in the country—but the daydream is shattered when her husband is killed in a tragic accident. Her mother-in-law, Nadine, takes her in as she tries to pick up the pieces, and their handsome neighbor Beau is willing to help…if Rachel will let him. Does she dare open her heart for a second chance at love? Find out more here. Micki Clark (1980 - ) was born in Lexington, Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, she has loved the written word since childhood (when she was often captured hiding in the closet reading instead of doing mundane things like cleaning her room). She now teaches high school English in Western Kentucky.
http://www.micki-clark.com/
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This is a place for me to tell you about what I'm writing, talk about the process or where some of my ideas came from, or even have other authors come in and talk about their books.
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