Interview with Laura V Hilton

Welcome to Cindy's Book Reviews Laura, we are so happy to have you with us today, for those of my readers who don't know Laura here is a bit about her...

 Laura Hilton, her husband, Steve, and their five children make their home in Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas. She is a pastor’s wife, a stay-at-home mom and home-schools her children. Laura is also a breast cancer survivor. Her publishing credits include Hot Chocolate and Shadows of the Past from Treble Heart Books; a devotional in a compilation from Zondervan; and the first book “Patchwork Dreams” in her Amish of Seymour series from Whitaker House. Laura has her business degree from Ozarka and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Laura is a professional book reviewer for the Christian market, with over a thousand book reviews published at various online review sites.

CR: Laura, you have a book that was just released, Patchwork Dreams, what was the hardest part about writing this book?
 Oh, I didn’t feel at all qualified to write an Amish book. I didn’t feel I could measure up to the authors already published in this genre. The hardest part though was the heroine—Becky. It took her a long time to “open up to me” about what her secrets were. She was very “closed-mouthed.” I know that sounds weird to a non-writer, but writers will understand.
CR: When you "grow up" what 3 authors do you most want to be like?
 Beverly Lewis. Suzanne Fisher Woods. And this author doesn’t write Amish, but Kristin Billerbeck, because she is so good at deep point of view. But actually, I have lots of favorite writers in different genres.

CR:  I know you read and review lots of books, what is your favorite genre to review?
 That depends on the author, really. I prefer contemporary anything over historical. But some contemporary books are very dark and hard to read, and some historicals are page-turners. So, it depends on the author.

CR: Tell us about the the other books that are coming in this series.
 A Harvest of Hearts is releasing in September 2011. The third book (untitled) will release in April 2012. They are published by Whitaker House.
CR: So tell us a bit about how you got the idea for a book about Amish in Missouri, since most Amish books are set in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
 Two reasons. 1. I wanted to be different. I have never seen an Amish book set in Missouri. 2. Seymour, Missouri is only two hours from me, I’ve seen Amish there in that community for years, and it is easy to get to when I want to research or just spend time around there. I’ve been to Pennsylvania and Ohio, but I haven’t been near an Amish community there, so I couldn’t write knowledgably about them.
So what kind of book would you absolutely love to write, perhaps your "dream book" on the other hand what kind of book do you never see yourself writing?
I love to write Amish, it’s great. I love chick lit, contemporary romance, and I think I could write romantic suspense or historical…But I never actually tried the last one. I tried a romantic suspense, and it got “close”…
I don’t think I could ever write Science Fiction, Christian horror (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?), or fantasy. Or the dark stories… And some suspense authors are too scary for me.


CR: Tell the readers of Cindy's reviews where they can find more about your book, and learn more about you...
http://lauravhilton.blogspot.com/ or I’m on facebook: Author Laura V. Hilton