Author Interview - Kathi Macias

Anne: I love interviewing Kathi Macias--maybe because I just love this beautiful Christian lady! She's a woman who puts her faith and her passion for issues into print so that you understand why this is something God also cares deeply about. Although Last Chance for Justice [see review HERE]isn't an issue-driven novel, there are a few peeking out from between the pages. I always want to know first off, Kathi--What made you write Last Chance?

Kathi: It was a thought that had been rolling around in my brain for a while, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it until my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray, asked if I’d like to be part of the proposal for a multi-author fiction series about a little town named Bloomfield. My idea about this story fit perfectly, so I jumped onboard. The rest, as they say, is history.

Anne: This book isn't in your usual issue-driven style--why is that?

Kathi: For the very reason I wrote in the answer to the previous question. Because it was so different I had no idea what to do with it myself until Tamela invited me to be part of the Bloomfield Bunch. It was a definite deviation from my usual more serious fare, but a lot of fun to write.

Anne: I know you write fast, but maybe the readers don't. How long did it take to write, edit, and publish this one?

Kathi: I wrote and edited it in just under three months. Then it was slightly over a year from the time I turned it in until it released.

Anne: The character around whom the novel revolves has such an unusual name. Why did his fictional parents name him Last Chance?

Kathi: Last Chance Justice was born into a family of about a gazillion girls and no boys. The parents were getting older, and Mrs. Justice was sure her late-in-life baby would be a boy, her “last chance” at having a son. She made that point so strongly before he was born that the name somehow stuck.

Anne: I love the name of the "high-scale" restaurant there in Bloomfield--Fancy-Schmancy--tell us the story of how you chose THAT name.

Kathi: I love that too. It sounds like something my dad would have called a real “upscale” place. However, I can’t take credit for it. One of the authors who wrote a Bloomfield book before me (I believe it was Gail Sattler, but it could have been Debby Mayne) came up with it. I just adopted it into my story.

Anne: Did you travel to Bloomfield to do your research? Or is this a fictional place?

Kathi: Bloomfield is fictional. That’s why we [the authors] never name an actual state. It’s sort of a heartland “anywhere/everywhere USA” location, where nearly everyone can feel at home.

Anne: And finally--Would you like to tell us about your next release?

Kathi: My next release is The Doctor’s Christmas Quilt, book two of the Quilt Series from New Hope Publishers. It releases in September 2013, and is a modern-day story that revolves around the pro-life issue, told against the backdrop of the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in America.

Anne: I can't wait. You can bet I'll be lining up to buy it! Thanks for coming by today, and God bless!