Pump Up Your Book Chats with Marta Perry, author of “Katie’s Way”

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A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania, where she still lives, and her own Pennsylvania Dutch roots led Marta Perry to write about the Plain People and their rich heritage in her current novels. The author of more than forty novels, with over five million copies of her books in print, Marta is active in her church and community. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Pennwriters. When she’s not writing, she and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening, and visiting their six beautiful grandchildren.

For more information, visit Marta on the web at www.martaperry.com, on Facebook at Marta Perry Books, and check out her blog at www.booksbymartaperry.blogspot.com.

On Katie’s Way

Q: Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

Katie’s Way is book 5 of my Pleasant Valley Amish series from Berkley Books. Since I started the series, I’ve wanted to write a book that focused on quilts, and I was finally able to do that with this book. I have an endless fascination with and admiration for women’s hand-work, and it seems to me that quilts, especially Amish quilts, are a wonderful example of how women express artistry while creating something useful for their families with the materials at hand. So Katie Miller and her quilt shop were born.

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

The scenes which show the group of Amish and Englisch quilters may have been the most difficult to write, because I wanted to show the diversity of the women while also emphasizing their common bond in the quilts they made.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

The story is about forgiving the past and using even painful experiences to grow and create something new. In a way, the quilts become the visual symbol of that theme.

On Writing

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was eight and discovered my first Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret in the Old Clock. I often say, when asked a question like this, that most little girls read that book and want to be Nancy Drew. I read it and wanted to be the person who created that wonderful world.

Q: What’s the most frustrating thing about becoming a published author and what’s the most rewarding?

The most frustrating thing about being a published writer is that much of the time you used to spend creating is now eaten up by other things: promotion, blogs, updating web sites, working on edits, setting up speaking appearances. It’s really crucial for a writer to gain control of her time so that the actual writing always comes first, and that’s not an easy task, especially if you’re readily distracted by the latest news on the writers’ loops!

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

It’s crucial to read widely in the genre in which you want to be published. Read the classics in the genre and also read the very newest books. Once you have the parameters of that type of story firmly in place in your mind, you’ll find it much easier to identify the right ideas and find a way to tell the story. And then write and write and write. Every writer has to write a lot of wasted words just to get down to the bedrock—to the stories she was born to write.

On Family and Home

Q: Would you like to tell us about your home life? Where you live? Family? Pets?

My husband and I live in a centuries-old farmhouse in a valley in central Pennsylvania. We’ve been here for over forty years, but we’re probably still considered newcomers! We have twenty-five acres, much of it in woods, and two streams, which I love except when they decide to flood. We have a garden, and I still do a lot of canning and preserving, even though we don’t have children at home any longer. It just tastes better!

When our children were young we had dogs, cats, and horses, but now that we’re alone and able to travel more, we’ve decided that’s something that had to go. Each year we escape the snow and cold for about three months, heading down to South Carolina and our second home.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

I always wanted to have a book-lined office, and I finally do, but I can write anywhere. I like to take a break from the computer now and then and compose on my little AlphaSmart in my comfy recliner. When we travel, I always have work with me, and I find I can do some of my best writing in the passenger seat of the car on long trips.

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

As I mentioned, we enjoy travel. It’s wonderful to visit our three kids and six grandchildren in different parts of the country, but we also take off on our own now and then. Last fall we took our camper and headed out west to see the Grand Canyon, and this past summer we took a cruise to Alaska. There’s something about seeing different places that really stimulates my creativity.

On Childhood

Q: Were you the kind of child who always had a book in her/his hand?

Yes, always. My mother was constantly saying, “Put that book down and go out and play.” So I interpreted that to mean take the book out to my favorite perch in the weeping willow tree and read there!

Q: Can you remember your favorite book?

My favorite was always Little Women, and I must have read it several times before I realized that it was the Civil War in which their father was serving! Obviously history hadn’t kept up with literature in my education. I also loved all the mystery series for girls: Nancy Drew, the Dana Girls, Trixie Beldon… you name it, I read it.

Q: Do you remember writing stories when you were a child?

I constantly made up stories in my head, but I seldom wrote them down. That was actually my bedtime routine—to lie in bed and create stories until I fell asleep. I always believed that everyone had stories running constantly in their minds!

On Book Promotion

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

When I first started being published, I began collecting addresses of readers, so I’ve built a good list of people who really enjoy my books. Now, after a number of books, I have a long string of things that I do, utilizing all sorts of different ways to contact readers, but in my opinion a writer still always builds a following the same way—reader by reader.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

I have a website, www.martaperry.com, and a blog, www.booksbymartaperry.blogspot.com, and a Facebook page at Marta Perry Books. I also participate in Goodreads and Amish Living and the Love Inspired Authors blog, and I keep my Amazon Author Central page updated. I’m currently running a couple of contests on Goodreads, which I think is a great way to get the word out about your book.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

With the advent of the internet and especially social media, it’s crucial to stay active on the web. For some writers, including me, that doesn’t come naturally, so I have to pay attention to that, because I know that’s where many readers are. However, I also know that I have many fans who are not on the internet and actually write me letters, and I don’t want to ignore them. So anyone who contacts me, whether by email or snail mail, receives a response along with a signed bookmark and my brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes.

On Other Fun Stuff

Q: If you had one wish, what would that be?

I would wish that my six grandchildren would lead useful, productive lives with people they love.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

Right now I’m sitting in my office, looking out over the side lawn to the stream and the spring house, and it’s a very peaceful sight. However, since snow is coming, I might choose to be sitting on my favorite beach with a book in my hand!

Q: Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer. Who would you thank?

I would thank the Author of all creativity, my loving family, and my dear circle of writer friends who constantly encourage me.

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Question of the Day

How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

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