I’m so excited to interview award winning author, Donna Jo Stone, today! If you’ve been lucky enough to read her novelette, “A Wedding to Remember” you already know how touching her writing is. Her debut novel “Joann”, part of the Apron Strings series, releases this month and we get to hear more about it today! Without further ado, here’s Donna!
First, let’s learn a little bit about you. Can you share a few things about yourself that have nothing to do with writing?
When I was a young child, I once won a gardening contest. Unfortunately, my green thumb disappeared as I grew into adulthood, though I keep buying plants.
My favorite places to visit are small, interesting places along the way to somewhere else, a habit probably developed from road trips with the family in the old station wagon. Tiny museums, small town libraries, and thrift shops draw me like a bee to honey. I could spend hours poking around in such places.
I collect teapots, and have given a few teas. I adored having tea parties for my daughter and her friends. And my sons were always happy to taste test the trifle and scones
That’s fascinating! I love road trips with my family and may have to start collecting a few things along the way, as well :) What drew you to write?
I’ve always loved writing and reading.
My father was a great storyteller and would regale anyone who’d listen with a tale or two, so I think it’s inherited. My mother loved to read and we visited the library regularly. Books were special in our house. My mother didn’t write novels, but she was constantly writing letters.
I wrote my first “book” at age seven. I made a booklet with illustrations and a green construction paper cover. In my story, when the princess found the frog and kissed him, he didn’t turn into a prince—she became a frog.
You wrote your first book at seven? Your love for story is evident! How do you come up with your story ideas?
Sometimes I get fascinated about the history of a place and start wondering what life would have been like. The next thing I know, a story seed starts blooming. When I was a young child, we lived in a rural area. I was the sort of girl who loved fairy tales and the woods were the perfect place to dream up all sorts of characters and scenarios.
My stories are often sparked by a photo, a song lyric, or a quote, but I also have fun with putting my own spin on assigned stories, working within set perimeters to create a novel.
The idea part is usually easy. However, that does not mean the execution is!
We’ve all been waiting. Tell us about your new release. Joann is part of the Apron Strings Series, correct? Can you share a little bit about the series and where this story fits in the series?
Joann is book five in the Apron Strings book series, a collection of inspirational novels connected by one cookbook, Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book, as it changes hands from woman to woman. There is one novel for each decade from 1920 to 2020 featuring a new character. All of the stories are set in small towns or rural communities.
My novel is set in the 1960s. Joann lives in Pecan Grove, Louisiana, and helps in the family store. During that period of history, women were often forced to choose between working or getting married. There’s a romance, and a sister story. Of course, I had to put music in a story from the 60s.
The Apron Strings Series is the brainchild of Jenny Knipfer. I was thrilled to join the lineup of inspirational authors Naomi Musch, Amy Walsh, Patti Wolf, Jessica Marie Holt, Sandra Ardoin, Lisa R. Howeler, Dawn Klinge, Regina Walker, and Dawn Kinzer. It’s a wonderful series, and a wonderful group of ladies.
Are there certain themes explored in the story?
Joann is a practical type of person, the kind who rolls up her sleeves and tries to make things better. She’s the oldest and feels responsible for her family, so it’s hard for her to lean on others, including God. She has to work out the balance between her desire to be in charge of her own destiny and her need to let someone else steer the ship a little bit.
The 60s were a time of huge change and pivotal events. I wish I could’ve explored more of the topics of the decade, but there were so many, more than enough to write ten books! We can learn a lot from those who went before and how they faced upheaval and change.
The characters in your books always feel so real. Do you have any favorites ?
Can I say all of them? They are all unique. Some break your heart a little more, due to the circumstances they face. I have a few stories featuring teens on the autism spectrum and those get me in my emotions. Teens are often alternately heart-tugging and humorous.
What are you working on now?
I have two projects I’m currently working on for release later in 2024.
When the Wildflowers Bloom Again, a southern, coming-of-age set in 1978 rural North Louisiana. My character, fourteen-year-old Marigold Parker, is part of a close-knit family. When she’s assaulted by her older male cousin and turns up pregnant, she doesn’t know who to turn to for help. This book will be out later in 2024.
I believe with all my heart God helped me write When the Wildflowers Bloom Again. It needed the most editing (read that as total gutting and rewriting) of anything I’ve written. When the Wildflowers Bloom Again has won multiple literary awards.
Also slated for release later this year is a domestic suspense with romance as part of the Our House series, a collaboration with a wonderful group of inspirational fiction authors. The books are set in different eras, some historical, some contemporary, and are of different genres, but all share the same location, an English Village in Suffolk. I could not resist joining this project, since my mother was from England. She would’ve gotten a kick out of it.
My book is set in 1983. My main character is a successful real estate agent but her deepest wish is to reconnect with her birth mother. Then, when she gets a letter threatening her mother (there’s a shady business deal she knows about and the bad guys want to shut her up) she flies to England and must find her.
When you’re not writing, what do you enjoy doing?
I’ve always enjoyed all sorts of handicrafts. I took up quilting about fifteen years ago but still consider myself a beginner. I make about one quilted jacket a year, and one quilt. My storytelling finds its way into that as well, though. When my mother went into the hospital and we knew it was for the last time, I began designing and sewing a grieving quilt.
I posted the pattern and the meaning behind the quilt here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xl6sM5yI2x9tx8qXf_nupn2hlWEoqAyk7osy7IqXnIA/edit?usp=sharing
This past year I made a quilted jacket from a sweatshirt using fabrics and scraps from my stash. I have great fun practicing free motion quilting. Just don’t look too close at the stitching!
Twenty-four-year-old Joann Kincaid’s life ambition is to one day run the family’s general store in Pecan Grove, Louisiana. It’s 1965 and the times may be a-changing, but Joann’s father is stubbornly hanging on to old-fashioned views about what he wants for his daughter. She’s just as determined to prove she’s a capable businesswoman.
In the past, she entertained romantic dreams alongside her vision for the store but discarded those notions when her high school sweetheart, Nathan, left for college. Now he’s back to reestablish his family’s farm—and a relationship with Joann. She still loves him but isn’t sure she can trust him.
As the conflict in Vietnam escalates, there’s a real possibility Nathan could be drafted. Should Joann pursue her lifelong dream to continue her family’s legacy? Or give Nathan a chance to prove he’ll be her true and committed love before it’s too late for them?
JOANN Apron Strings Book Five, releases May 15 and will be available for kindle, in paperback, and on KindleUnlimited.
Connect with Donna Jo:
Website: https://donnajostone.com.
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556916105499
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donnajostone/
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7768860.Donna_Jo_Stone
Amazon author page:https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donna-Jo-Stone/author/B0CR8VJT1S
Almost an Author Writing Column Writing for YA : https://www.almostanauthor.com/category/genre/writing-for-ya/
Email: donnajostone@gmail.com
