Author Interview-Charlene Ann Baumbich-BOOK GIVEAWAY-Finding Our Way Home

FINDING OUR WAY HOME by Charlene Ann Baumbich is a wonderful book that I know you will love. Here is my review link so you can see what the book is about and what I think of it.  http://thelifeandtimesofwanda.blogspot.com/2012/04/finding-our-way-home-by-charlene-ann.html 


Here is my interview with Charlene and below that a book giveaway for one fortunate follower.

Has being published changed your life? 

Being a published writer/authors has:

--helped pay the bills. 
--affirmed that what is entertaining to me is usually entertaining to others.
--ignited wonderful affirming emails from readers.
--delivered interesting new “people” (characters) from whom to learn. Seriously, my characters teach me a lot.
--made me appreciate, value and honor the power of story.
--given me a chance to travel to places I’d never have otherwise seen, especially when I wrote the Dearest Dorothy series for Penguin Books. They sent me on several marvelous book tours, from coast to coast and up and down.
--out of necessity, delivered lots of time alone, which I’ve always craved.
--helped my discipline. Deadlines!
--educated me on my utter NEED for good editors!


What do you find harder to do come up with a character, get the scenery or the plot?

I don’t actually come up with any of them; they come to me. When I am “absent” enough, they have room to arrive.

First a character shows up, one with a dilemma. They arrive the same way my imaginary friends used to: one day, they’re just there. Although this happens relatively often, I don’t write anything down. I just wait to see if they hang around, keep my attention, bug me until I simply must sit down with them for a spell, “listen” with my fingers, record what I start to see/hear, which runs like a movie in my head.

If they’re not memorable enough to keep my attention until I start writing about them, why would they be interesting to a reader?

Scenes begin to come into focus as I mentally follow the characters around, fine-tune my listening, surrender to their lives, not my version of their events and personalities. When I am listening well, the plot unfolds, as do the nuances about the characters. Eventually, they tell me where we are. As I begin to look through their eyes, I see what’s around them, meet their friends and relatives—learn their secrets and desires.

For me, writing is LISTENING, not TALKING to the page. My job is to get out of the way. Record well. Let the characters be who they are, where they are—even though I sometimes yell at them.

Which do you enjoy more e books or print books?

I enjoy books any which way, including audio. I spend a lot of time in my car, so audio books get their fair amount of attention from me. I have a longstanding membership with Audible.com, so I get a book and subscription a month. (I’m grandfathered into some old plan.)

I own a Nook Simple Touch, which I really like. I also have the Nook app on my Android smartphone. The two sync, which is nice. Since I always have my phone with me, I can read away from home whenever I find a few minutes without my eReader or a book around.

The Nook fits in my handbag, which is nice. But my favorite place to read it is in bed, even though I usually don’t stay awake long after I start reading.  I love sleeping in a cold room, and I can bundle the covers all around me with nothing out but my one hand holding the Nook. It’s even easy to turn the pages this way. LOVE it!

If, however, you saw the piles of books that surround me, and that I continue to buy, you’d wonder what I’m doing with a Nook.  New, used, rereading … 

It’s the words—the story—that matter most. Not how I consume them. A captivating story will keep my attention, no matter how it's consumed.

But in the end, seeing books on a shelf is more satisfying than seeing them on a “shelf” in a fragile electronic. I’m hard on books. I like writing in the margins, starring, underlining, arguing, dog earring, making notes in the front of books so I can easily find favorite things again …  We live in an unincorporated area, so I don’t have a library card. For the amount one would cost per year, I can buy a fair amount of books. Good thing, since I’m sure the library wouldn’t take any of mine back. 




Thank you so much Charlene for this wonderful interview. I thought you answers were most intriguing. 
Followers here are the rules for the giveaway.

Leave a comment with your name and email address. You will not be entered unless you leave a comment AND your email address.


Here are the ways to get extra entries:
~Be or become a follower  +1
~Be or become an email subscriber +1
~Be or become a networked blog follower +1


Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org.  ENTRY DEADLINE  May 19, 2012