We're happy to have Kelly Pizarro with us today talking about her book Shanty by the Sea.
Please give us the first page of the book.
I caught a glimpse of a couple holding hands, staring
through the window of a high-end boutique at a display of china. Yes, the kind
that everyone swears they’ll have when they get married, but only a few make it
a point to put on their registry and even fewer actually receive as a gift. I
didn’t get a good look at the set, but I’m pretty sure it was blue. I was too
busy studying the couple.
I know, I know. So staring at them over my steaming paper
cup of coffee is not “catching a glimpse.” It may not be healthy to sit on a
bench and watch shoppers accomplish their private-though-public tasks,
wondering if their lives mimic your own in any way. But what else is a girl to
do on a Thursday afternoon after work? So I sipped the last of my amaretto and
honey breve and savored every moment of the view before I ran out of sunlight.
The couple, appearing to be in their early thirties, were
dressed in matching sweaters. Cute, if you’re into that sort of thing. I don’t
know if I am or not. My boyfriend only wears one coat, every single day of the
year. Gray with black stripes, white around the collar. It’s pretty hard to
find anything matchy-matchy when your boyfriend stands a foot tall and spends
more time in one day grooming himself than you do all week. Ok, so I don’t have
a boyfriend. I have a cat, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. That’s sort of the same
thing, right?
From the back cover:
Scarlett Cooper’s goals in life up to this point have been
simple enough: run The Little Latte coffee shop by day and finish a novel-in-the-making
by night. When her creative writing juices dry up, she visits the local
bookstore for inspiration and leaves with a flier promoting an upcoming
writer’s retreat in Cape Cod.
When announced as a winner, Scarlett crosses the state line from
New Hampshire into Massachusetts. What she doesn’t realize is the retreat is
themed The Great Writers of History, and she has been selected to play the part
of starving artist Charles Dickens.
Hilarity ensues as Scarlett dresses in costume and competes against
two fellow writers playing the parts of Jane Austen and William Makepeace
Thackeray, spends her nights in a tiny shack on a cliff overlooking the sea,
and finds herself developing feelings for a local man hired to tend to the
retreat pet: a decrepit donkey named Janet.
Although things at the retreat don’t run as smoothly as Scarlett
had hoped, and the competitive nature of the other writers tests her in a way
reminiscent of Job who lost half his donkeys (one of which was probably named
Janet), she learns that no amount of adversity is worth letting go of one’s
dreams.
Please tell us five random things we might not
know about you.
I prefer rainy, autumn weather over sunshine.
I have Pinterest boards for coffee shop and tea house ideas
because I'd love to open one someday!
I impersonate my English Bulldog, Purple Haizely, on a daily
basis. It's become the norm in my house.
Although most people might think I am unapproachable at first
(it's the face), I'm the goofiest, weirdest human you'll meet and I love random
conversations with strangers.
I love cooking and eating Italian food. One day you might catch
me spending a summer in Italy. If you do, don't judge how much I have on my
plate!
Why did you choose to write this book?
After my diagnosis of breast cancer on my 27th birthday, I began
prioritizing many things. One, I realized I spent way too much time worrying if
my house was perfect and meals always 100% homemade. I realized I stressed too
much over what people thought of me and my writing, and that is why I'd never
completed a single book I'd started. Since I was young, I've filled notebooks,
typed on old typewriters, and had random computer documents filled with bits of
books that would never come to fruition. After chemotherapy was complete and I
was able to start life again, I decided I would let a few stresses go and write
a story that shows what life might have been like for me had I taken a few
different turns. Been born somewhere else, pursued my dreams of running a
coffee shop, worked toward finishing my books, etc.
A few years back I made a friend who is my age and had never had
a boyfriend or been on a date. She is my kind of quirky, and an absolute
delight to talk to. You never know what's going to come out of this girl's
mouth. She's just that random. I combined my story with parts of each of our
personalities, threw in my dream of visiting New England in the fall, and bam!
Shanty by the Sea.
What one thing about writing do you wish
non-writers would understand?
Writers are people with normal lives who are kept up by their
imaginary friends. We write because we love it, and because we must, and we
thrive on reviews. Every time you review a book, an author somewhere gets their
wings.
What is the toughest test you've faced as a
writer?
The many rejection letters that come from uninterested
publishers. It makes thick skin, for sure.
What do you hope readers to take away from
your novel?
Even with life's crazy obstacles, pursuing the dreams and goals
God has given you is worth the hard work. You don't need anyone to give you
permission to chase after that dream. Not everyone you meet along the way is
your cheerleader, either. At the end of the day, you feel better knowing you
have taken a few steps forward, despite the great effort it often takes.
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of,
writing-related or not?
Homeschooling my children is one thing I'm proud of. My oldest
turned sixteen this year and graduated her high school studies. She's sitting
across from me painting on canvas as I type this. She'll go to work within the
next couple months and start college next fall. My other two kids are preparing
for a similar path. Getting to be part of this is one of my biggest blessings.
Also, the sheer excitement of finishing five books and coming
close to finishing two more is overwhelming. I am proud of myself for that.
Life is crazy busy, and I have to make a lot of sacrifices on sleep and time to
make this happen.
What do you do for fun when not writing?
Travel, read, cook, visit family, play in the garden, and sit at
my favorite local coffee shop and people-watch. These are my favorite things.
What are you working on now?
Two books at present.
One, Blackwater's Daughter, is about a woman, Alesia, who takes
a live-in housekeeping and assistant job at Blackwater Plantation in Louisiana.
The proprietor is handsome and moody, and has a book full of family secrets
stashed away in the spare room. Alesia stumbles upon this book and uncovers
more than a brief glimpse into the plantation's past.
Another, which isn't presently titled, features an eccentric
twenty-something woman named Lydia who owns and operates a pet bakery in Salem,
Massachusetts. When her ex-boyfriend's new love interest is found dead by
poisoning with a half-consumed treat from her bakery in her possession, Lydia
is the primary suspect. She pulls together with her best friend and a couple
other townsfolk to prove her innocence and get her bakery back to running.
Involving herself in the tangles of this murder mystery puts Lydia and her
Frenchie, Pierrie, in grave danger, but this doesn't keep her from seeking out
the truth about the murder... and a few other things she's been avoiding
dealing with in her life.
I hope both of these to be finished by the end of the year and
ready for querying come January.
Where else can readers find you online?
Here are some links!
https://www.facebook.com/authorkellipizarro/
https://twitter.com/KelliPizarro
https://books2read.com/SBTS
https://dustybookends.blogspot.com
Kelli Pizarro was born in East Texas, where she now resides with
her husband Julian, and their three children, Lexi, Aly, and Trent.
Christian dystopian and historical novels, with romance
sprinkled in here and there, are her favorite reads. She is currently working
on her sixth and seventh books.
Most evenings she can be found curled up with a cup of coffee
and her laptop. She hopes to own a coffee shop or tea house one day. Her goal
as an author is to touch as many hearts as she can with stories that encourage
people to seek to know God and His Son, Jesus, more intimately.
You can find Kelli on Facebook and Twitter where she loves
connecting with her readers.
