Patti Lacy - WHAT THE BAYOU SAW - Free Book

Welcome, Patti. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

Lena, I’m passionate about sharing the secrets women keep and why they keep them. And ever since I read People and Places, a primer my great aunt used when she taught teach third grade, I’ve dreamed of sailing away to exotic countries. Now you see why the tagline “Spanning Seas and Secrets” fits me like a girdle!
Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

When I gave birth to each of my children. My daughter, born December 22, was an early Christmas present, and also an early bird. I held the delicate little doll so close and sang her my favorite carols. Songs about the Holy Infant pierced my soul, and I saw Him in a wonderfully different way! My precious son was born March 13 and was an early birthday present. Because of his blue eyes, I sang “Baby Blue” to him. Even though he was a newborn, his gaze fixed on me, and I fell in love…forever.

How has being published changed your life?

Because of book signings, library appearances, and guest speaking, I have opportunities to share “all my broken pieces” with more people. In each book I write, I try to show, kaleidoscope-style, how God can make a lovely, unique piece of art with shards of glass and bits of metal. He can do the same with us if we give all those pieces to Him.

That is so true. What are you reading right now?

Jill Eileen Smith’s Michal. I just finished The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner and End of the Season by Linore Rose Burkard. Also Daisy Chain by Mary DeMuth. Another great book for the summer will be Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana, by Melanie Dobson (I got a sneak peak at this one!) As you can see, I’m an avid reader and truly believe that every good book I read teaches me something about the writing craft. Books have been my friends since I was five, and oh, I have so many friends now! They’ve taken me around the world, gotten me in awful fixes and into some lovely times. Oops! Back to the question. Shape of Mercy helped with dialogue and tightening a framed story. Linore had great flow and control. Mary got me into the heart of a young teenaged boy (not easy!) Melanie has captured the fear of oppressed people. Great job, writers!

What is your current work in progress?

My Name is Sheba. Here’s the tag line: Preacher’s wife Sheila Alexander loves a husband who doesn’t know her and a son she never knew. Then the past comes knocking, in the form of a young soldier and a prostitute, and threatens to expose her deceptive ways. I’ve been to New Orleans and St. Paul and Thailand with this book, the latter two, only in my imagination and through those best friends, books! Thank you, Sandy Sperrazza, for your willingness to share this story. I’m actually going through a second edit to add “visceral reactions” and “tighten the POV.” Those are my “areas of learning” right now!

What would be your dream vacation?

Right now, China, scene of my next work in progress. My husband and I also yearn to plod the cobblestones of Italy and be steered along the waters of the grand canals in Venice before they sink in the ocean. I’ve also heard of a place, Cinque Terre, where five villages nestle in green rolling hills, all in view of an azure sea. Sigh…maybe one day…

How do you choose your settings for each book?

Setting becomes a character in my book and pulses in the lifeblood of the other characters. In My Name is Sheba, my bold little twelve-year-old skips through the noisy farmers markets, ducks into the seedy alleys, and stands behind the artists at their easels in 1940s New Orleans. I usually hear a story that inspires me, like Sandy Sperrazza and her time in a Home for Unwed Mothers in St. Paul, Minnesota, then research that area through either visits, books, or lots of interviews with the inspirer.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

Besides family and friends, I’d say Billy Graham, who has led so many to the Lord through the Holy Spirit’s work. In My Name is Sheba, I seize upon a historical appearance Graham made in Chicago to include him in my main character’s conversion. If things really went well, his daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, one of my favorite writers, might be seated across the table!

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

Since an old boyfriend introduced me to jogging in college, I’ve loved to clear my mind and move my stiff limbs by running. It’s a cheap—and easy—way to exercise my dog, Laura, who is used to sitting for hours while I pound away at the keyboard. My family also looks forward to vacation times, when we can hike the national parks. Sarah, my daughter, just returned from her second mission trip to Costa Rica, and she wants to gather us up and take us there soon. We all have been bitten by the travel bug!

I love to travel, too. What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Adding emotion and visceral feeling to my work! Also, unlike many of my ACFW friends, I tend to write slowly, so my day starts at five a.m. to get my set number of daily pages behind me.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Read, read, read, and write for the Audience of One.

Tell us about the featured book.

Since leaving Louisiana, Sally Stevens (of An Irishwoman’s Tale) has held her childhood secrets at bay, smothering them in a sunny disposition and sugar-coated lies. No one, not even her husband Sam, has heard the truth about what happened to her when she was twelve years old.

Now a teacher in Illinois, Sally has nearly forgotten the past herself. But when one of her students is violently attacked, Sally’s memories of segregation, a chain link fence, and a blood oath bubble to the surface like a dead body in a bayou. As Sally’s story comes to light, the lies she’s told begin to catch up with her. And as her web of deceit unravels, she resolves to face the truth at last—whatever the consequences.

I'm hooked. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Oh, I’d love to have you visit http://www.pattilacy.com/! I host monthly contests for a $15 Barnes & Noble card and post book reviews of some of ACFW’s latest good reads.

Thanks, Lena, for hosting me today! Happy writing—and reading!

And thank you, Patti, for spending this enjoyable time with us.

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