First Line Fridays: Among the Crepe Myrtles (Mini-Interview & Giveaway!)

Happy Friday, reading friends! Today we have a first line, a mini-interview and a giveaway! High-fives all around 😀

Today’s first line is from

Among the Crepe Myrtles
by Kim Williams

1916
Commerce, Texas

“Two days ago he was a husband.”

Amazon | Goodreads

Intriguing first line! Makes me want to read more, how about you?

We’re also honored to have Kim Williams stopping by for a chat today. Please join us in welcoming her to Hoarding Books!

Hi Kim! We want to know… which books/authors do YOU hoard?

Kim: I am so glad I wasn’t limited to one author in this question! I read leadership, children’s ministry, spiritual growth, and parenting books for my ministry job. My shelves are filled at work. Personally speaking, I have been a book hoarder since childhood. I tried to purchase and read as many of the classics as I could as a teen, and later used those to start my personal library in my classroom when I taught school. My son, a lit and comp teacher, inherited my book hoarding gene. At this point in life, I read primarily Christian Fiction, especially Historical Christian Fiction. I especially enjoy Kristy Cambron, Kate Breslin, Cathy Golhke, Elizabeth Camden, and Sarah Sundin. I definitely hoard their books. Author LN Cronk, who writes in the YA genre and for whom I have beta read, encouraged me to put my own words onto paper. I hesitantly gave in to buying ebooks so that I could carry my hoard of books with me (current hoard is 273), but I love the feel of a book, so I end up purchasing many in paperback. I shamelessly read my favorite books many times over.

  

Carrie: Let’s not talk about how many ebooks I’m hoarding on my Kindle…

Do you have a favorite reading spot?

Kim: The beach. Ha! Since I don’t live anywhere near a beach, my favorite spot is a cozy couch in my den overlooking my backyard.

Carrie: A fair substitute 🙂

Tell us a little bit about Among the Crepe Myrtles.

Kim: A few years back, my family had gathered to celebrate my parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. At dinner, my cousin began talking about letters she had found in her deceased mother’s things. These letters were written by my great grandfather to my great grandmother. I found them heart wrenching when I read them. They were letters of a husband begging to be forgiven by his wife and asking to be reunited with her and their child. The story of my great grandparents’ romance and tragedy remained locked in their generation. What I do know is that the forgiveness never took place. Among theCrepe Myrtles is a fiction story based on the emotions in the letters. The foundation of the story is the need most anyone can relate to — the need to forgive and to be forgiven. The story points to ultimate forgiveness through Christ. The setting is rural Texas during the mid 1900’s.

Carrie: Wow! What a moving story-behind-the-story!

What can you tell us about the next installment of the Letters to Layton series?

Kim: I am so excited about the next book in the series. The story picks up exactly where Among the Crepe Myrtles leaves off. Readers will further get to know the inner struggles of the characters as they continue to face what life gives them. I am very excited for readers to meet a new character who has grown to be one of my favorite people and has more to tell than I can fit into this installment. Hint. Hint.

Carrie: Ooooo sounds like a character to meet for sure!

What are you working on now?

Kim: I am currently in the re-write stage of my next installment. I am also doing research for the third book in the series. Its storyline hits close to home for me personally, delving into an issue many families face.

Carrie: Can’t wait to learn more!

About the Author

A former school teacher, Kim Williams has spent the past twenty-five-plus years on staff at her local church. Kim has traveled in both the US and abroad conducting training in leadership and ministry to children. She had a desire to write for a long time; one day her story met her head on, and she got busy making words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into chapters.
She resides in the Atlanta metro area with her husband, whom she met the summer after fifth grade. They have two grown children who are educators and who have the best spouses a parent could hope for.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

What are you reading?  What is your first line today?
Open the book nearest you and post the first line in the comments below.

Giveaway

For a chance to win a copy of Among the Crepe Myrtles, click on the Rafflecopter link below (US addresses only for the giveaway)

A Rafflecopter Giveaway

Giveaway is open until 11:59PM on March 15, 2017

For the purposes of this giveaway, Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies apply.

Don’t forget to join the Linky below with the URL to your blog POST (not your blog), your name and your email (which will remain hidden). Then bounce around the Linky and see what everyone else is reading!

Remember! Next week (March 16) is our special St. Patrick’s Day edition of First Line Fridays!