Author G.G. Vandagriff On Writing And A Giveaway

Please join me in welcoming author G.G. Vandagriff to Thoughts in Progress today as she makes a stop on her Nurture Virtual Book Tourz.

G.G. is the author of 4 very diverse books. They include THE ONLY WAY TO PARADISE, a women’s fiction/romance; THE ARTHURIAN OMEN, a fiction-suspense; THE LAST WALTZ: A NOVEL OF LOVE AND WAR, a historical romance; and CANKERED ROOTS, a fiction-mystery.

Thanks to G.G., Jaidis, and the good folks at Nurture, I have one print copy of THE ARTHURIAN OMEN to giveaway to one lucky winner who comments on this post between now and 8 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, Nov. 30. The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S., U.K. and Canada only. Be sure to include your e-mail address if it’s not included in your profile.

G.G. has joined us today to answer some questions about her writing.

Mason - Do you have a writing pattern (place, time, etc.) that you follow each day or does the writing decide what type of day it will be?
   
G.G. - I almost always write every day. WHERE I write depends on two things: the weather and my joint health. In the winter, spring, or fall, if my hip joints are healthy, I love to write in my west facing office which has a gorgeous view of the Utah Valley, Utah Lake, and the Oquirrh Mountains beyond. In the summer, or if my hips are complaining from too much sitting, I write in the basement where it's always cool and sit in my zero-gravity chair with my laptop.

Mason - If you could change places with any of your characters for a day, who would it be and why? 

   
G.G. - I would trade places for a day (if she was having a good day) with Roxie from THE ONLY WAY TO PARADISE. She is vacationing in my favorite place in the world--Florence. And  she is a gifted writer, obviously more so than I am. She also knows how to have a good time, being a fun-loving Cubana. Roxie deals with her anxiety in intriguing ways--mostly by Salsa dancing and singing "Mambo Gelato." She has also been known to do cartwheels. 

   
Mason - What inspired such diverse books?

G.G - Well, I write mystery and suspense, because it comes easily to me since that is what I read when I relax. I call those my "potato chip" books, and a lot of people like to read them to relax. My "real fiction" chose me, I didn't choose it. THE LAST WALTZ was the culmination of a 40 year project I undertook at age 27 when I was determined to write the almost unknown history of Austria between the World Wars. PIECES OF PARIS was inspired by the off-beat place I lived at the time--the Missouri Ozarks--but mostly by my PTSD over the death of a fiancé in Vietnam. I didn't know about PTSD when I wrote it. Paradise was apparently conceived in my sleep. I work in the morning with all four characters and their challenges in my head. Florence itself provided the setting and the solution--the pure, joyous, selfless love of the Italians.

G.G., thanks so much for guest blogging. Your inspiration for writing such diverse books is interesting.

When asked about  her background, this is what G.G. had to say: “I realize that I am one of those rare people in the world who gets to live a life full of passion, suspense, angst, fulfillment, humor, and mystery. I am a writer. Everyday when I sit down to my computer, I enter into a world of my own making. I am in the head of a panoply of characters ranging from a 19-year-old Austrian debutante (THE LAST WALTZ) to a raging psychopath (THE ARTHURIAN OMEN) and four women at once in THE ONLY WAY TO PARADISE.
 
How did this come about? I think I was wired to be a writer when I was born. Even though my formal career was in finance, writing was all I really wanted to do. There were a lot of things about my surroundings that I couldn't control during my growing up years, so I retreated to whatever alternate existence I was creating. The habit stuck, and now my family finds themselves living in my current reality during dinnertime as I overflow with enthusiasm about Wales or Italy.

I do genre-hop a lot, but I firmly believe that any endeavor that enables us to further understand ourselves, our world, and our loved ones is never wasted. I have chronicled much of what I have learned about PTSD from “Pieces” and “Paradise” on my new website. I welcome comments.”

G.G. won first place in the Ozark Writer's League's annual writing contest in 1988. For more about G.G. and her writing, stop by her website, visit her blog, find her on Twitter @ggvandagriff, on Facebook, and on her author’s tour page. 

Here’s a brief synopsis on each of G.G.’s books:
THE ONLY WAY TO PARADISE - After watching a romantic Italian movie together, four women in a therapy group discuss the question, “If Italy is so wonderful and therapeutic, what are we doing in Ohio?” Dubbing themselves “The Crazy Ladies of Oakwood,” they all take off for Florence, packing their worries with them. 

THE ARTHURIAN OMEN - In the tradition of Mary Higgins Clark, The Arthurian Omen takes Maren Southcott to Wales on a hunt for an ancient manuscript that precipitated her sister’s murder. Her own life in peril, she is also dodging a stalker/psychopath who is fomenting a Welsh revolution. Darting from castle to monastery in search of this relic that could prove the identity of King Arthur, she is unprepared for tragedy to strike at the heart of her family, impelling her to find the manuscript before MI5, Scotland Yard, her former husband, and a Celtic professor with extraordinary eyes. 

THE LAST WALTZ - In December 1913, the city of Vienna glitters with promises of the future for nineteen-year-old Amalia Faulhaber. Daughter of a prominent merchant, she is schooled in the fine art of flirtation by her aristocratic grandmother and in issues of conscience by her socialist uncle. Then, almost without warning, life takes a dramatic turn as simmering political unrest escalates into World War I, the most deadly war the world has yet known. 

CANKERED ROOTS - Combine a rifle-toting widowed grandmother with an angst-driven young widow struggling to find what went wrong in her family's past, and you come up with Cankered Roots, the first volume in a series of five about the adventures of genealogists Briggie and Alex, aka RootSearch, Inc. Who knew genealogy could be sure a dangerous hobby? No sooner has Alex confronted the father who sent her packing as soon as she graduated from high school, than he is murdered. What is the dangerous secret that has destroyed her family? The truth lies in the unexpected, secret-laden genealogy of Alex's father's family, that the brilliant sleuths uncover admidst comedy  and danger. 

You can also follow G.G. on her tour at the following sites:
Nov. 23rd - @ Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews Nov. 24th - @ News and Reviews from the Heart of the Dragons Den Nov. 25th - @ Stitch – Read – Cook Nov. 28th - @ Everyday Is An Adventure Nov. 29th - @ The Dark Circle Nov. 30th - @ News and Reviews from the Heart of the Dragons Den

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today. If you could change places with a character in a book, who would it be and why?