This Week’s Feature Author Interview with
Vicki Goodwin
Hi Vicki Goodwin, welcome to the Indie Publishing Group website. Introduce yourself to us. Tell everyone who you are, where you’re from, what do you enjoy doing, hobbies and interests.
I am actually Vicki Goodwin and I write as Sojourner McConnell. I started out hiding behind Sojourner then Facebook and Google forced me to reconcile the two into a package deal. I am from Birmingham, Alabama and now I live in Kentucky where I see a lot more snow and a lot less humidity. Every day I read at least one book. Sometimes I read more, but I rarely read less. I have an Australian Shepherd named Beau. He is a sweetheart. I also love history and so I tend to read a lot about historic events, places and people.
When did you start writing and why?
I have always written, poems and short stories. I’ve always carried a notebook with ideas and little plot threads. I was surfing the web and saw an ad for NanoWriMo and decided on October 30th to sign up and try my hand. 26 days later I had the rough draft for The Path of the Child.
Which is your favorite book you have written and what gave you the idea for it?
I have to say so far it has been The Path of the Child. With that book the characters spoke to me in a way none had before. It was the opening of a floodgate to voices making themselves known to me and showing me their personalities.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
While I was writing the book the path kept coming to mind. Life is a journey, the path is hard, people putting stumbling blocks in someone’s path, so I chose The Path of the Child.
Who helped you with the cover? Or did your design it yourself? What was your inspiration for your cover design?
The cover came from the vision I had of a young Melanie crossing the mountain in the book. My cousin, Terry Turner, took my vision and put it on paper. I loved his cover and was glad to put Sojourner’s name on it.
What are some of the themes of your story?
Life is hard, but survivable. A bad start doesn’t mean you can’t find your own happiness. Family is so important.
What’s your process when you sit down and decide to start writing a book? What is your process and do you have a system?
I take my first vague idea and I just start writing. I write without editing for a few chapters. Once I feel I have connected with the characters and know where they are going, I then go back and see how I can make the first pages more enticing.
Who are some of your favorite characters and why?
I loved Mary Lennox in the Secret Garden. A sour little girl that found her own happiness. Ebenezer Scrooge because he was unrepentant, until he repented. I loved John Thornton in North and South because he wanted to be loved and saw himself as unlovable.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Charles Dickens of course, Jude Deveraux because she made me fall in love with time traveling romance. Jack Finney who just made me want to travel through time.
Have you got anything you’re working on now?
Four books, I know it sounds like a lot, but one is in editing so it’s out of the way for a few weeks. Two more are in various stages of being written. When I get bogged down on one, I go to on of the other two. It is not as chaotic as it might come across.
If you could have any super powers what would they be?
I would want to successfully do whatever I put my mind to. Then I could solve so many problems for everyone.
If you could travel to any location in the world where would you go?
I would go to Scotland. Home of the McConnell’s and the furry stout horses.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years’ time?
I hope to be sitting on the bestseller list while cranking out several more book that make people feel good about life in general.
Thanks so much for taking the time to do an author interview. Take a minute and check Vicki Goodwin out on the links below!
2 Responses
Thank you for asking such great questions!!
Thanks for taking part Vicki!!