[ #Interview + #Giveaway ] Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise by Gail Priest

Hi guys!  We are back today taking another look at Gail Priest's  Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise.  I am pleased to be able to share a chat that Gail & I had.  I hope you enjoy the interview & make sure you have entered the giveaway! 

Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise
by : Gail Priest

Publication : Hayson Publishing (July 23, 2013)
ISBN: 0615858864
ASIN: B00E4XX16Y
Length : 413 pages


Book Description :

 Annie Crow Knoll- Sunrise is the story of a place where people come to restore their spirits, heal their pain and reclaim their lives. Annie is a determined young woman who is left to run her family's property after the death of her parents. Managing fourteen summer cottages with only the help of a family friend, she struggles to survive on her own. When she meets Drew, a young college professor, Annie thinks she's finally found a love she can trust. But years of conflict and pain destroy their bond and leave Annie alone again, unless she can find lasting peace and passion in the most unlikely arms. In this family saga, love, loss and history twine together the people whose lives are changed by Annie's determination and the magic of her knoll nestled along the head-waters of the Chesapeake Bay.  

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Interview Time : 

Let’s start out easy. Tell us a little bit about your book.

Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise explores themes of family dynamics, prejudice, loss and the healing powers of friendship and nature.  The story spans twenty-seven years in the life of Annie, a high-spirited woman who becomes the dedicated proprietress of a Chesapeake Bay summer cottage community.  As a pre-teen, she is determined to uncover the truth about her critical mother's parentage.  In her twenties, she desperately fights to hold onto the cottage property left to her.  In her thirties, she struggles to overcome the grief of her failed marriage and her estranged relationship with her young son.

What inspired you to write this story?

The setting of the Chesapeake Bay and a cottage my husband and I rent every summer and fall at the headwaters where five rivers feed the bay. 

 It sounds like a lovely place!! I can imagine it just begs to have a story set there! :) 

What is the main lesson that your book is trying to teach?

Live and let live. People should to be free to pursue their lives no matter who they are.  No one deserves to be held back due to race, gender, education, economics, family baggage or anything else.  Also that the healing power of nature can be a strong factor in moving past boundaries and problems.

  Love this!!  I agree 100% ! 

Moving on to your writing career, how long have you been writing? Did you always dream to become an author?

I always wanted to work in the theatre arts and have been able to in some related way most of the time.   I wrote songs and poems as a teenager.  I continued with that during college (theatre major) and also wrote a children's play. In my early forties, I began writing with more direction and commitment after reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. When I completed The Artist's Way workbook, I wrote my first full length play and made submissions.  It was produced, and that's when I fell in love with writing and saw it as my way of expressing myself as an artist.

 How exciting!!!  I love that you stuck with your passion thru the years!

I’m always curious whether or not authors read the same types of books that they write.  So tell us, what book genres do you love to read? to write?

I have read a lot of plays as an actor, director and a theatre arts teacher.  I enjoy many different theatre genres, but when I'm reading books, I lean toward literary fiction.  When I can see the story as I read, like a play or film, then I'm engaged.  I see the action and hear the characters when I'm writing.  It's like a film in my head whether I'm writing a play, screenplay or novel.

What are you reading right now?

The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley and Dog Lived (and So Will I) by Teresa J. Rhyne

Have any particular authors inspired you to write? If so, can you name one and what you like about their style?

There are many, but one that comes to mind as an early inspiration is Anne Tyler.  I began reading her in college.  Her characters are vulnerable, real and funny.  I always care about them.  I love the families she creates.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

I'm working on the second book in the Annie Crow Knoll series.  Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset will focus on Annie's son Nate.  It begins when his parents' divorce and goes through his early adulthood with difficulties in his own marriage and his ultimate return to the Knoll.  He and his mother will have to finally confront their estrangement.  Beth Ann and Packard will return, and Nate's wife June is a significant new character.

 Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me, Gail!  I enjoyed getting to know you and your book even better ! 

Gail Priest lives in New Jersey and summers in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband and their cockatiel. In addition to writing novels, plays and screenplays, she teaches and directs in a high school performing arts program. She loves theatre, reading, birding and being out in nature

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