Giveaway: Looking for Me

I can not contain my excitement for you guys! We have a hardcover, autographed copy of Beth Hoffman's new novel Looking for Me up for grabs. Just fill out the form below and cross your fingers!!

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Looking For Me

Author Interview: Beth Hoffman

Yesterday I reviewed Ms. Hoffman's latest novel, Looking for Me and today she willingly answers our questions.

GJR: What was the inspiration for the novel?

BH: After touring with Saving CeeCee Honeycutt I had no idea what I would write next, and to be honest, I was too tired to give it much thought. One day I was upstairs in my little writing library cleaning a file cabinet when I came across a large envelope filled with old photographs. Some dated as far back as 1883, and several of the photos were of my grandparents’ farm where I lived as a child. The more I sifted through the photos the more I yearned for the simple days of my youth. I missed the smell of freshly tilled earth and the taste of sweet corn grown on the land that had been in my family for generations. 

Just as I picked up a photograph of my younger brother when he was a little boy, something flashed in my periphery. I glanced up to see a red-tailed hawk land in the tree outside my window. He settled on a branch, then turned his head and looked in the window. There I sat, surrounded by old photographs of my family and the farm I had loved so much while the hawk and I quietly considered each other. And then—wham—I knew I had the soul of my story.

GJR: How much research went into the wildlife portions of the novel?

BH: Since early childhood I’ve loved (and studied) wildlife and nature, so those scenes were easy to create. On my grandparents’ farm the crop fields backed up to hundreds of acres of dense woodlands that I often explored with endless curiosity. Fox, white-tailed deer, raccoons, beavers, rabbits, woodchucks and countless birds (from raptors to tiny chickadees) were frequent visitors to our farm. Wildlife was a big part of our everyday lives.

GJR: You used to be an interior designer, so I’m guessing that the furniture restoration parts of the novel are something you know about. What was the best piece you ever placed in a house or restored.

BH: Well, the best (as in most valuable and historically significant) was an eighteenth-century French armoire that I found for a client at an estate sale. It was made of walnut and so beautifully crafted that I literally gasped when I saw it. But my favorite personal piece is a 1908 antique Herschell-Spillman carousel horse that I have in my dining room.

GJR: Was there a secondary character you thoroughly loved writing? If so, why?

BH: I love all of the secondary characters, and for different reasons—but if I had to pick just one, it would be Albert. In subtle yet profound ways he was instrumental in not only helping Teddi become a master at her craft, but also in helping her find some semblance of ballast after her brother’s disappearance. While writing the manuscript, Albert frequently surprised me. I’d hear him speak in my mind and be moved not only by what he had to say but how he said it.

GJR: Why did you choose Charleston as the place that Teddi makes her life?

BH:  Above all, the atmosphere of the story I want to create will determine the setting. I need to feel connected to a location’s history and culture. One of my favorite things to do while crafting a novel is to explore opposites. The juxtaposition of Charleston’s refinement to Slade, Kentucky’s rugged wilderness intrigued me. Red River Gorge is wonderfully wild and mysterious while Charleston is known for its gorgeous architecture and gentility. The downtown area of Charleston was the perfect place for Teddi to reach for her dream while Kentucky was ideal to hold her roots.

GJR: My husband loves hawks, if you could be a bird of prey, which one would you be? Why?

BH:  I love hawks, too. But if I had to be a raptor, I think I’d like to be an American Kestrel. They’re fast and stunningly beautiful birds.

GJR:  Are you working on another novel (please say yes)? If so, can you give us a hint what it’s about?

BH: Though I do have some characters chattering my head, I don’t imagine I’ll come up with any solid ideas until after I finish my book tour. There’s no doubt I will write novel number three. I just can’t say when I’ll begin or how long it will take. 

GJR:  Is there a certain place you write? Please describe it to us.

BH: I write in several locations. A good number of scenes in Looking for Me were crafted on my visits to Charleston where I rented a small house in the heart of the historic district, and I’ve also stayed at a charming old inn called Wentworth Mansion. Many of the Red River Gorge scenes were written on location, too. While there, I always stayed in a rustic place called Hemlock Lodge.

GJR:  I’ve heard in order to be a writer, you have to be a reader; so what are some of your all-time favorite, go-to books?

BH: Truman Capote, Reynolds Price, and Carol Shields are the authors I most often turn to for pure reading joy.

GJR: You’re having an author get-together, dinner party. Who’s on the guest list, which recipe would you grab, and why? 

BH:  This is a tough question for me to answer, and here’s why: I’m a card-carrying introvert, and when I hear the word “party” I’m stricken with wide-eyed fear. LOL! So, if I were to host an author dinner party I’d keep the guest list small and would invite Pat Conroy, Alice Walker, Bailey White, and Ron McLarty.

I adore Italian cuisine, and though I have celiac disease and can’t eat wheat pasta, I’ve found many excellent substitutions. As for which recipe I’d grab, I’d make my all-time favorite—lasagna, served with a salad of spinach, pine nuts and figs, and to round out the menu there would be warm homemade Italian bread. The wine selection would be a smooth but robust Chianti and I’d make tiramisu for dessert.

Thanks to Ms. Hoffman for taking time out of her schedule to answer our questions. Watch for Looking for Me on shelves May 28th, 2013.

 

Julie's Review: Looking for Me

Summary: A Southern novel of family and antiques from the bestselling author of the beloved Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. Beth Hoffmans bestselling debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, won admirers and acclaim with its heartwarming story and cast of unforgettable characters. Now her unique flair for evocative settings and richly drawn Southern personalities shines in her compelling new novel, Looking for Me.
Teddi Overman found her lifes passion for furniture in a broken-down chair left on the side of the road in rural Kentucky. She learns to turn other peoples castoffs into beautifully restored antiques, and eventually finds a way to open her own shop in Charleston. There, Teddi builds a life for herself as unexpected and quirky as the customers who visit her shop.  Though Teddi is surrounded by remarkable friends and finds love in the most surprising way, nothing can alleviate the haunting uncertainty shes felt in the years since her brother Joshs mysterious disappearance. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi is drawn home to Kentucky.  Its a journey that could help her come to terms with her shattered family—and to find herself at last.  But first she must decide what to let go of and what to keep. Looking for Me brilliantly melds together themes of family, hope, loss, and a mature once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. The result is a tremendously moving story that is destined to make bestselling author Beth Hoffman a novelist to whom readers will return again and again as they have with Adriana Trigiani, Fannie Flagg, and Joshilyn Jackson. ~powells.com

Review: Looking for Me is an intense novel about what happens when a family member suddenly disappears and years go by with no answers. It is not hard to fall in love with Teddi as a reader. Ms. Hoffman's style immediately pulls you in and makes Teddi accessible. Teddi is the friend all of either wants in our life or wants to be. Although deep down, Teddi is wounded.

Through deftly written flashback chapters, we learn about Teddi's life on her farm with her family and her extremely close relationship with her younger brother, Josh. It is through these flashbacks that you begin to understand the impact all of this had on Teddi. By the end of the book, you just want to know what happened, so Teddi can move on with her life and be at peace.

Ms. Hoffman's detail is exquisite. I had no clue about restoring furniture before reading this book and now I could at least understand what people are talking about in a conversation. It is evident that Ms. Hoffman knows her details about wildlife and birds of prey in particular.

The title, Looking for Me, has different meanings as you read through the book they begin to come to light. I loved that the book was set in Charleston. I haven't been there since I was a kid but it's somewhere I long to go to again.

Ms. Hoffman is indeed a gifted writer. With both Looking for Me and Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, she has won me over as a fan for life. They are two very different books but both pull you in and hook you. You fall in love with her characters and never want to leave them. I look forward to reading whatever she writes next.

Looking for Me has something for everyone. It is a bit mystery, a bit family, a bit of a love story. This wonderful novel comes out on May 28th. I can't recommend it enough.

Final Take: 5/5

Thanks to Ms. Hoffman for an ARC of the novel.

Julie's Review: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Summary: Steel Magnolias meets The Help in this Southern debut novel sparkling with humor, heart, and feminine wisdom. Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell. In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie's all- knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer. Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, "packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart." It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others. ~amazon.com

Review: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is a wondrous novel. It is heartwarming, charming, and funny. It is all the things I like in a Women's Fiction novel. It has vivid, 3 dimensional characters that will resonate with me for along time. It tackles serious issues without being preachy and overbearing. It bring Savannah in the 1960s to life.

Ms. Hoffman covers many issues but the one that permeates for me is that we all need a sense of belonging. We all need to be loved and to love. CeeCee felt loved by her mother but her mother had her own issues to deal with and her father was never around. After a tragic accident, CeeCee is picked up by her great-Aunt Tootie and taken to Savannah to live. Within the arms and hearts of her great-Aunt, her aunt's cook, Oletta and some other very influential women, CeeCee begins to blossom. I don't always take quotes from books, but Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is one that deserves a few.

Friendship
"As I watched the silent exchange between Sapphire and Miz Obee, it occurred to me that that's what friends should do: cherish the good and pretend not to notice the harmless rest. ~page 181

Life
"It's what we believe about ourselves that determines how others see us." ~page 249

"People is wise 'cause they get out in the world and live. Wisdom comes from experience ---from knowin' each day is a gift and accepting it with gladness. You read a whole lot of books, and readin' sure has made you smart, but ain't no book in the world gonna make you wise." ~page 290

There are so many gems like those in this novel, that this whole review could be quotes.

This book for me was very similar to The Secret Life of Bees, which happens to be a favorite of all time book. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt now goes on that list as well. I can't wait until my daughter is 12 so that I can share with her this magical and powerful novel. If you haven't read it (I know I'm late to the party), I can't recommend this book enough.

I would love a sequel but only if Ms. Hoffman feels that it's right. I'd love to see what they are all up to in 5-7 years. Before CeeCee goes to college. 

Ms. Hoffman has her new book Looking for Me coming out in May and I am fortunate enough to have a copy sitting in my TBR pile for April. After experiencing this story, I can't wait to read her next one.

Final Take: 5/5