{"id":8438,"date":"2011-07-11T00:23:41","date_gmt":"2011-07-11T05:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/\/?p=8438"},"modified":"2011-07-02T18:24:49","modified_gmt":"2011-07-02T23:24:49","slug":"love-finds-you-in-groom-texas-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysongreflections.com\/?p=8438","title":{"rendered":"Love Finds You in Groom Texas Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s chat with novelist Janice Hanna Thompson<\/strong>, author of Love Finds You in Groom, Texas<\/em><\/strong> (Summerside\/Guideposts, June 2011).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Janice Hanna (also published as Janice Thompson) has published more than seventy novels and non-fiction books. She has also published more than fifty magazine articles and several musical comedies for the stage. Janice makes her home in the Houston area near her children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Please tell us three random things we might not know about you. <\/strong><\/p>\n

My dad was the president of the University of Houston Cougar Cagers Club, so my birthdays, holidays, etc. were spent at basketball games. Our family traveled to Mexico with the U of H Cougars to watch them compete, which was great fun. When I was eleven, I got to play (for fun, of course) with the Harlem Globetrotters, who came to Houston for a visit. To this day, I love a good basketball game.<\/p>\n

I once lied to a fellow camper at church camp, telling her that my dad (Billy Hanna) was William Hanna of Hanna\/Barbara (Flintstones) fame. That lie still haunts me, though, to his credit, my dad did eventually work as a movie producer on our co-authored movie, Liar\u2019s Moon<\/em>. (Yes, it\u2019s true. I got to meet and work with Matt Dillon. Eat your heart out, girls!)<\/p>\n

I occasionally bake wedding cakes. In 2009 I baked a lovely four-tiered white cake with strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting that toppled less than an hour before the wedding. I managed to piece together two very messy\/ugly layers. Thankfully, the bride did not murder me. It made for a great scene in a later book. (Nothing ever gets wasted, not even a mashed piece of cake.)<\/p>\n

Please tell us a bit more about the plot of Love Finds You in Groom, Texas<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Always the groomsman, never the groom\u2026 It\u2019s 1914, and Jake O\u2019Farrell has gained an unusual reputation among the locals: He\u2019s played the roles of groomsman and best man in all four of his older brothers\u2019 weddings, but he\u2019s never been able to find the woman to capture his heart. And now with the upcoming wedding of his best friend, Jake will become the last single man in the town of Groom.<\/p>\n

Anne Denning has made the difficult decision to move with her sisters to Texas, but a train derailment forces them to seek shelter in Groom, near Amarillo. Mrs. O\u2019Farrell, hopeful that Anne will catch her youngest son\u2019s eye, invites the girls to stay at her home until the train is repaired and ready to pull out. Anne has no idea of the blissful chaos that lies ahead!<\/p>\n

Tell us something interesting about the town of Groom: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Groom boasts a nineteen-story high cross<\/a>. More than 100 welders worked together to erect it in 1995. Now you can see why I toyed with the idea of writing a contemporary novel! I wanted to include the cross. Because I went with historical, I decided to give the heroine a small cross necklace to wear, one that symbolizes her faith (and alludes to the \u201cbigger\u201d cross to come).<\/p>\n

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What is your favorite memory of the Texas panhandle region? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Just one? I love, love, love Palo Duro Canyon<\/a>, which is not terribly far from Groom. This breathtaking canyon always surprises visitors because you don\u2019t see it coming! Look to your right and see nothing. Then, a few yards up the road, look to your right again and you see a crevice forming. That crevice deepens, then deepens some more until. . .lo and behold! You\u2019re looking at one of God\u2019s most magnificent \u201csweeps of a fingertip.\u201d Truly glorious. One of my favorite memories was taking my daughters to see the play \u201cTexas\u201d in Palo Duro Canyon when they were little. We camped overnight in the state park, ate BBQ and saw the show. Amazing!<\/p>\n

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What is it about your lead character that will make your readers care about her?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Readers will care about Anne because she\u2019s been through so much and still chooses to move forward. They will also love her relationship with her younger sisters. She\u2019s the only remaining parental figure and takes that position very seriously.<\/p>\n

Tell us a little about your hero? Is he true hero material? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jake is a hunka-hunka Texas man! He\u2019s a railroad man who loves his job, loves his family and loves the heroine. He\u2019s got a great sense of humor, which is perfect for this story, because the heroine\u2019s little sisters are loaded with antics! Jake has a lot to deal with: he\u2019s the town\u2019s last single man, which has made him the brunt of many a joke. His older brothers (all married with children) taunt and tease. Jake can never catch a break. Unless he\u2019s with Anne, of course. Then he catches far more than a break. . .he catches the woman of his dreams!<\/p>\n

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What about your sub-characters? Call you tell us about any of them? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I love writing stories with fun sub-characters! Those who read my \u201cWeddings by Bella\u201d series know that I spend a lot of time creating my cast! Love Finds You in Groom, Texas <\/em>is no different. Some of my favorite sub-characters are Emily and Kate (Anne\u2019s younger sisters). Emily was patterned after Margaret O\u2019Brien\u2019s character in \u201cMeet me in St. Louis.\u201d Lots of fun! Another fun-loving character is Maggie, Jake\u2019s mother. She knows just how to get what she wants! Even sour old Uncle Bertrand turns out to be a fun guy. . .in the end.<\/p>\n

Why will readers enjoy your novel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In spite of the lead character\u2019s tough situation, the story is filled with comedic elements. Anne\u2019s two younger sisters are a hoot. So is Maggie (the hero\u2019s mother). She\u2019s an Irish spitfire! I think readers will appreciate the romance between Anne and Jake. It\u2019s filled with all sorts of sweet and comic moments.<\/p>\n

What sorts of transformations take place in this book? <\/strong><\/p>\n

How much time do you have? (Ha!) Seriously, there are so many! The heroine, Anne, has been through tremendous losses and struggles with her faith from the get-go. By the end of the story, she is a woman transformed. Likewise, the hero has been through far too much taunting and teasing. He, too, has faced losses. With Anne\u2019s hand in his, transformation comes. Even precocious Emily, Anne\u2019s younger sister, goes through a bit of a metamorphosis as the story progresses. The biggest change of all, however, is in Uncle Bertrand. I don\u2019t want to give away too much. You\u2019ll have to read the story to see for yourself!<\/p>\n

What are you working on now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I just turned in Love Finds You in Daisy, Oklahoma<\/em>, a fun historical about a single woman in her late 30\u2019s who moves from the Gulf Coast to the landlocked state of Oklahoma to become the director at an orphanage. It\u2019s a love story, of course! She falls in love with the town sheriff, who has adopted two of the unruliest boys from the orphanage. I\u2019m currently writing Wedding Belles<\/em>, the first book in the Belles and Whistles<\/em> series for Summerside\/Guideposts.<\/p>\n

I notice you write under two names (Janice Hanna and Janice Thompson). Why? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Those who\u2019ve been reading my romances over the past several years know me as Janice A. Thompson. My joy is mixed with a smidgeon of sorrow as I explain the change in my last name for some of my current releases. In 2006 I lost my father to bone marrow cancer. His last name (Hanna) is my maiden name\u2014and it\u2019s a name that means even more to me now that he is gone. In memory of my father, I use the Hanna name in my historicals. My Revell books will still release under Janice Thompson. I hope you my readers will stick with me, no matter which name I use!<\/p>\n

Where else can readers find you online? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I love to connect with my readers at the following places:<\/p>\n