Author Stop: Laura A.H. Elliot's Winnemucca & Character Interview

We welcome Laura A.H. Elliot back today. She has interviewed Ginny, from her debut novel,
Winnemucca: A young adult, small-town fairy tale (Volume 1).

Book blurb: When fear’s as blind as love, how far would you go to find your own happily ever after? One mistake will change Ginny’s life forever. One answer will set her free. Once upon a time Ginny’s road blood ripened, the day she got wise to love. Engaged to the high school quarterback, his quarter-carat ring and enchanting smile should have been enough for her. But, she stands him up and takes a walk where every step questions her happily ever after gone-bad and the fate of the mother she never knew. The mother her father refuses to talk about. Ginny fights to untangle her big, fat, lie-of-a-life on an enchanted road trip to Winnemucca, where she believes all her answers lie. To solve the riddle of her past, she must outrun everyone who wants a piece of her future–including a man determined to see she never has one.

Ginny, from Winnemucca by Laura A. H. Elliott, talks about the decision that changed her life & the scariest thing of all

Winnemucca is a small-town fairy tale about Virginia Mae’s enchanted road trip to her true self no matter who or what tries to stop her. I was sitting at a bar in Winnemucca, NV when Virginia Mae sat on the stool next to me and told me her story. That was five years ago. Well, that’s what I imagined in my mind while living in Los Angeles when I pulled out my spiral notebook and wrote down everything Ginny said. That’s when Winnemucca was born. Ginny whispered in my ear about the road. Over the next five years, we would find that fear’s as blind as love. Here’s the previously unpublished, very first thing Ginny ever said to me:

Well I know we’re just strangers and everything, and I know you never talk to strangers, let alone take their advice. But, I just got one question to ask you. What if, when you rolled out of bed this morning you put on a black shirt instead of a red one. You think that one decision is a life changer?  Well, I do. Wait. Before you say anything. Listen. This is really hard. I’ve been wanting to say this for a really long time. And I guess I might as well tell it to a stranger. Now you have to promise you won’t get mad. Swear.

[There’s a long pause. Then I agree.]

OK. It does a person good to tell the truth. I’ll tell you the truth I know. You’ve got to promise, before you answer, you’ll just think about everything I’m about to tell you and we’ll talk after, ‘kay?

So this is it. We swore. It’s time to answer, and get some answers of my own.

What if, when you rolled out of bed this morning you put on a black shirt instead of a red one. You think that one decision is a life changer? My answer: Only if you believe it is.

Now, it’s my turn.

Me: So, what is the truth you know?

Ginny: That when I tried to be everything everyone else wanted me to be, little by little, I lost pieces of myself along the way. Pretty soon, I didn’t know myself anymore. I was lucky my feet started asking me questions. I gained a clarity, while at the same time losing sight of things like what’s safe and what’s not. Anyway, I guess the biggest truth I know is that the road to yourself may not take a person where they expect, but at least you’ll be yourself when you get there. That’s the truth I know. Being a stranger in your own life is the scariest thing of all.

Me: What decision changed your life?

Ginny: I turned left when I should’ve turned right.

Me: Why’d you walk Highway 33?

Ginny: The irritation. I mean everything and nothing. It all came together the day I walked Highway 33. And since everything coming my way wasn’t what I wanted at all, like all of a sudden, I hit the road to clear my mind. And it was just like, you know, one thing lead to another. I walked around the circular driveway in front of my house one minute and then I walked down the road between ranches the next. Then, well, you know the rest. I put one foot in front of the other. 

Here's the trailer for Winnemuuca: 

If you'd like to link to the excerpt, it's here: http://laurasmagicday.wordpress.com/excerpts/

Here's a link to the dream cast of Winnemucca; http://www.abbiglines.com/2011/07/meet-author-of-todays-new-ya-release.html

About the author: Laura is the author of Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale which was inspired by her life-long love of a little-known town, Avenal, CA, and her equal love of enchanted teenage road trips. 13 On Halloween is the first book in the Teen Halloween series. Laura's travel and personal essays have been published in The Los Angeles Times and other Southern California newspapers and magazines.

She's currently on the road with her husband, who works in construction. Their first stop outside of LA was Big Sur, CA, where they lived for a few years. She has two grown daughters. She lives with her husband on their third stop along the way on the Monterey Peninsula with their Aussie shepherd, Oso. She's taken up residence in Portland, OR off-and-on. When she's there, you'll find her at the Holiday Inn at the airport, typing away, eating some amazing food at the pods, drinking some great Willamette Valley wine, and visiting Powell's Books of course.

We thank Laura A.H. Elliot.