Strictly Southern…Meet Patricia Preston…

 

Patricia Preston is a Southern author who writes historical and contemporary romance as well as humorous Southern fiction. and is a winner of the William Faulkner award for short fiction.

Tell us about yourself

 

You might not want to know. But here goes. I love chocolate. I get ill if I don’t have chocolate. I never miss The Walking Dead. Best acting and writing on TV. I’ve always been interested in history. I’m an old soul. Love taking pictures and doing anything creative. I used to make macramé pot hangers! I’m a total introvert.

 

Was your road to publication a delightful stroll in the park or a tiring jog over hot coals?

 

Let me change the word, tiring, to painful, and I’ll go with that. Or maybe that should be infuriating jog…or even laborious jog…how about nerve-wracking…I could go on all day.

 

Where is your favorite place to write?

 

In my writing cave. It is the only place where I am surrounded by all my good stuff. Research books, music, plot boards, corkboard with notes pinned all over it. And a magnolia coaster for my glass of iced tea. J

 

What music are you listening to lately?

 

Depends on the story. For historical, I go with epic music. For contemporary, mostly modern instrumentals by Simply Three, Lindsey Sterling, Josh Vietti, plus others.

 

If you could switch places with one of your characters, would you?

 

I’d switch places with the heroine in To Save a Lady. Why? Because Elise is living in the French Quarter and she has a rugged army captain infatuated with her. What’s not to love about that? Of course, living in 1814 would have its drawbacks like no shampoo, no deodorant, no penicillin…

 

What advice do you have for new writers?

 

Work hard at your craft. Never stop learning or improving. Write what you love. This is a new era. It is the best time ever to be a writer.

 

 

Tell us about your latest release. 

 

The title is “Decoration Day” and it is published under Patricia Ann Preston.

 

“Decoration Day” is a humorous short story set in the South in 1950. Some of the setting is based on my memories of Decoration Day. As a child I went with my parents to a church in Tennessee, which dates back to the 1800’s where many of my ancestors are buried including my maternal grandparents and great-grandparents. Besides decorating graves, dinner-on-the-ground was a big part of the fellowship on Decoration Day.

 

However, the story and characters in the story are definitely fictional. I just loved Melanie Sue Haddock, my narrator. It does have a bit of an inspirational twist to it and I felt it was poignant in a couple of places. Otherwise, I think Melanie Sue’s take on Decoration Day and her family is a lot of fun. And I do love the cover as well!

 

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/1EEPQZi

 

Where can readers find you?

 

I have a webpage that has links to my blog, my newsletter, contact information, and social media accounts. Go to www.patricia-preston.com

Patricia Preston’s publishers include New Love Stories, True Romance, Affaire de Coeur, Cloverdale Press, The Blue and Gray Magazine, Sea Oats Review, and Carina Press. She won the William Faulkner Award for Short Fiction, the Lone Star Writing Competition for Historical Romance, and Harlequin’s World’s Best Romances Short Story Competition. Her short stories have been best sellers on Amazon.

Have you ever been to a Decoration Day? If so what was the best part? If not, would you like to? Leave a comment and be entered for a copy of Patricia Preston’s short-story, Decoration Day.