Angela, here is a friend of mine from Chiat/Day days, Hillary Jordan. She's now written a book, Mudbound. It's a story about racism and well kept secrets set on a desolate farm on the Mississippi Delta at the end of WW II. Among other things it won the Bellwether Prize for fiction - an award founded by Barbara Kingsolver and awarded to unpublished writers that address issues of social responsibility. Kingsolver writes "Hillary Jordan writes with the force of a Delta Storm". Nice!....i must admit i couldn't wait to get the little rug rats in their beds each night as i ripped through this book! And at the end i kept thinking about these characters that she'd developed so fully and analyzing the choices they made (especially the character of Laura, who was inspired by Hillary's Grandmother).
As Hillary was flying this way and that on a book signing tour (i'm so impressed) i e-mailed her some questions:
Where do you live?
In a little village called Tivoli in New York's Hudson Valley.
What do you like most about it?
Being surrounded by extreme beauty every day.
What is your favorite object in your house?
A painting by a dear friend of my dog Ella, who passed away a year and a half ago.
Tell me about a perfect day you've had.
Paris, last December: croissants for breakfast, spending several leisurely hours in the Pompidou Center, jambon et fromage at a cafe in St. Germain, strolling the Champs-Elysee with all the trees lit up for Christmas, solving the worlds problems over a marvelous French dinner and a superb bottle of red.
What is your favorite place in the world?
A cottage in Hulls Cove, Maine.
What do you like to do there?
Sit on the deck and watch the sea change colors. Write. Cook extravagant meals with friends. Go tidal pooling on the rocky beach.
What is the kindest thing you have ever done?
Held a sick, squalling infant with a dirty diaper on a storm-tossed airplane while its mother (who was sitting next to me) threw up into an airsick bag.
What is the most illicit thing you've done?
Does anyone answer this question?
Who are your favorite authors/artists?
Shakespeare, Austen, Flannery O'Connor, Kazuo Ishiguro, Tolkien, Chagall, Velasquez.
Miss Hillary 5 years old
How are you inspired/what do you find inspiring?
Conversations, reading. Walks in my neighborhood. Traveling. I find it very inspiring to talk to other creative people, which is one reason i like to go to artists' colonies (that, and they are a great place to get work done, and they're often in beautiful places like Switzerland -Le Chateau de Lavigny or Andalucia to name two i've gone to).
Who would you have drinks with who's, well, passed on?
Shakespeare.
Who would you have drinks with who's still with us?
President Obama.
Where are you right now?
On an airplane to Denver.
What are you doing?
Doing a reading and a book signing tonight at Tattered Cover Bookstore.
Hillary is nominated for Best New Writer of the year by the Galaxy British Book Awards. Good Luck to her!
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