A Passion for Books: Author Interview: Rhonda Hayter

Rhonda Hayter

Books:

The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams

Abbie Adams and her family come from a long line of witches, and she’s having a tough time keeping it a secret from her best friend and the rest of her school, especially the day her little brother morphs into a wolf and tries to eat his teacher. That’s also the day her father brings home a kitten.

But when Abbie looks into the kitten’s eyes, she realizes there’s a boy in there! He’s under a spell and soon the whole family bands together to rescue him.

They are shocked to realize he’s none other than the young Thomas Edison, and if they don’t save him fast, he’ll never change the world with his inventions.

My book in five words or less?

Magic means trouble. Who knew?

When and why did I begin writing?

When my older boy was 10 and my little guy was 7, I finally got five minutes to myself. So I did something I always wanted to do. I wrote a book.

What advice would I give to people who “run out of creativity” while writing?

Hmm. Well, I guess they could do what I always do...stare at the screen in despair, get up and do laundry, tidy the house, play a thousand games of Internet Scrabble, go out and buy chocolate... and then sit down and write something...anything...no matter how terrible...until an idea finally comes.

Are there any books and/or authors that I feel have influenced my writing? If so what are they?

When I was a kid my mom had a beautiful, hard copy edition of Little Women that had been hers when she was young. I read it and its sequel Little Men about ten kajillion times and I loved the character of Jo, who wanted to be a writer when she grew up. I knew that Jo was Louisa May Alcott’s alter-ego and that she really did become a writer, so I guess that’s what first made me realize it was something that was possible to do.

If I could travel back in time, what time and place would I choose? And if I could only take three things with me what would they be?

It’s funny that you ask me that because my character Abbie Adams does travel back in time and she gets to visit places I’d like to, like Greece for the Original Olympics and Philadelphia for the signing of the Declaration of Independence. She’s not allowed to bring anything with her though, poor thing. So let me see what I’d like to have. Um. Well, I gotta say, it’s mighty hard to think about living without a computer—pounding on those old typewriters had to have taken forever, especially with all the mistakes I make, so my computer would be number one. And number two, I’d have to have my glasses because I wouldn’t be able to see a thing otherwise. Number three? I’d make sure I had a warm sweater because you just never know about those drafty old places without central heat.

Is there anything I’d like to say to your readers?

I hope you have as much fun with my Abbie as I did.

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Thanks Rhonda for stopping by!