My guest today is Cerridwen Press author, Jenyfer Matthews. This week Jenyfer has a brand new contemporary release out called All the Way Home.
Here’s the blurb:
Maggie Dean and Sam Callahan grew up in the same town, knew each other in school, admired each other from afar, but never dated. She was just a little too straight and narrow for this bad boy. Now they’re all grown up and back in their hometown, she to deal with a family crisis, he to prove that he’s changed his ways.
After enduring her parents’ loveless marriage and coming home to help her sister pick up the pieces of her broken one, Maggie isn’t interested in relationships. Sam Callahan is not only still gorgeous, but he’s still available. Neither Maggie nor Sam can deny their attraction but they’re still at odds. Can Sam be the one to convince Maggie marriage can work?
CONTEST:
Jenyfer is giving away a download of All the Way Home to one lucky person. All you need to do is post a comment and you’re in the draw. Don’t forget to drop back on Sunday to see if you’re the winner!
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One question I’ve always disliked is “where are you from?” – which comes up with great regularity since I live in Egypt and it’s pretty obvious I’m not from here. I can sometimes skirt the question by answering “America” but there are times when more a more specific answer is required and expected.
It’s an innocuous question and it should be easy to answer. Not for me. Even before I went abroad with my husband, I had moved around a lot. Twelve times to be exact. Most of the time when people ask where I’m from I answer Louisiana because it was where I spent most of my formative years. But even though I lived in Louisiana from the ages of 5 to college, natives would never let me forget that I wasn’t really from there. I wasn’t born there and my parents being transplanted Midwesterners made me a Yankee by default. I’m probably lucky that I survived the time when I was ten and I pointed out that the North had won the war when the other kids were teasing me about being a Yankee. (It was news to them!)
The question of where I’m from comes up a lot in airports, when people make chit chat in the gate area. If I were alone, no doubt I could bury my nose in a book and ignore everyone but when you are travelling with small hyper children – children who talk to people – you sometimes get sucked into conversation. And while I might lie when asked the question, just to simplify things, my kids always pipe up with the truth. “Cairo!” they announce to anyone within ear shot. “We live in Egypt!”
That revelation always requires a lengthy explanation of how we got there, what my husband does for a living, how long we will stay (don’t know) and are we afraid of being blown up by terrorists (not much). A mini interview and more information than I would normally share with a stranger in an airport when jet-lagged and sleep deprived.
The usual reaction to all this information seems to be puzzlement. Even most of my friends and family are puzzled at why we live so far away and travel so much so I can hardly expect strangers to react any differently, can I? What might surprise them though is that I am equally puzzled at why they stay put.
The longest I’ve lived in any one place is 6 years. I’ve never had the luxury of being too big a packrat and most of my childhood books, papers, and toys have long gone. I don’t have a family home to return to because my parents have pretty well been as nomadic as I have. There are few people who have known me more than 10 years and fewer still that have known me more than 15. And there’s something kind of nice about being able to reinvent yourself with every move. When no one knows you, you can start with a clean slate every where you go. Even your wardrobe gets a new lease on life.
As mystifying and unsettled as my life might seem to others, I can’t really imagine what it must be like to *not* move. To stay in one place your whole life. To know that your kindergarten art work is in a box in the corner of the attic at your mother’s house – which is just down the street. To have gone to school with the same people for the whole time — and still socialize with them. To know who all of your neighbors and their children are. To remember when the Waffle House on the corner used to be an independently owned diner and before that a vacant lot. To have worked at the same job for your entire career.
Yes, there are times when I dream of finding a nice little house somewhere where I can paint the walls any color I like, plant a vegetable garden and stay put for the next forty years or so. But the world is a big place and I haven’t found my ideal spot – yet.
I keep dreaming though. And maybe that’s why I tend to write books that take place in small towns. Maggie, the heroine of my current release ALL THE WAY HOME, is reluctantly returning to her home town after an extended time away. She’s ambivalent about her return – until she runs into her high school crush and finds out that not only is he still gorgeous but he’s still single too. Maggie’s had a restless spirit, can Sam convince her to settle down?
(Come on - It’s a romance novel! How else would it end?)
As for me, I’m sure that one day I’ll find the perfect place to settle down. And when I do, I’m staying put too!
When I turned fourteen, I counted backwards and discovered I’d attended twice as many schools as I had birthdays and had lived in every State in mainland Australia. The military, then seagoing kept me moving after that and it was not until 1979 that we settled down where we are now. (our children had reached a stage where stability was desireable).
by Amy Gallow March 14th, 2008 at 2:25 amI’m seventy now, and looking forward to the point where I will have lived longer in this house than the rest of my life (I’ll be eighty-two).
Amy
We sound rather like kindred spirits, there, Jenyfer! Since my parents divorced when I was 12, I hadn’t stayed anywhere longer than 3 years - maximum.
I’m creeping up on 37, and since I’ve lived in Italy for four years, I answer that “Where are you from?” question regularly, usually upon meeting new students or new teachers at the school where I work, or en route to the States to see my family.
Fortunately for me, the story of how I came to be in Italy is one I love to share, and it never fails to amaze the people I meet (in airports, on trains or planes, or what-have-you) who ask that same question.
Also like you, I’ve had a longing for a place to call my own. To be able to do what I want with my surroundings and know that I can keep it that way sounds like Heaven to me - and I’m finally getting that goal under my belt. My hubby (an Italian who has lived in the same city in Italy all his life - and has moved only ONCE, across town) and I are slowly making this place our own since his father left it to us and moved down the street.
I have an almost-office of my own, with a computer desk and everything - and I’m thrilled! I write every day and I’m glad to have my own little bit of space that’s mine, mine MINE! Whee!!!
I’ve often said that I don’t know how people can stay in one place all their lives, but people like my husband and his friends have all done just that. They are amazed at all my moves in my life (thirteen moves in ten years, before I came here), and wonder if all Americans do this. LOL!
Some of us were born to be gypsies, I guess. If nothing else, it inspires our work, and that’s something to be glad for.
I am, anyway.
Ciao!
by MsMenozzi March 14th, 2008 at 3:08 amGreat blog, Jenyfer. I know how annoying the where-are-you-from question can be. I traveled a lot too, visited thirty-five countries and almost all the US states but I was always lucky to come back home to my Midwestern house and say God Bless America.
I love your book cover and I will love your story. Happy release day.
Shelley, you may see me visiting one of these days. Who knows.
by Mona Risk March 14th, 2008 at 3:18 amOh the book sounds wonderful. I too love to move every once in awhile to get a new start and perspective. But you’re right the whole why are you here so far away from “home” question is bothersome. My hubby and I were in the Navy and traveled the world for awhile and keep moving around looking for that perfect place as well. So when they ask how we ended up “out here” I usually just say the Navy and they’ll leave me alone. The new book truly sounds lovely.
by Amy W. March 14th, 2008 at 3:27 amI’ve moved a few times, but never out of Texas and rarely far from Houston. So I have managed to collect all that “stuff” — I come from a long line of packrats — and am occasionally jealous of folks who move around. One of my sisters was in the Air Force for over 20 years so she’s accustomed to getting rid of stuff and lives in a nearly clutter-free house as a result. But on the other hand I love my stuff and it is fun to go through it periodically with my sisters or kids. I guess the bottom line is that we make peace with the way our lives work out and we enjoy it!
by Teri Thackston March 14th, 2008 at 6:53 amI hate that question too for the exact same reason that you do. I’ve been living in different places around Europe for almost six years. Whenever someone asks me where I’m from it never fails to spur a whole boat load of questions as to why I’m here, what I’m doing, how long I’ll stay etc., etc., etc.
Your book sounds fantastic.
by Kelsey Simmons March 14th, 2008 at 7:59 amHi everyone! Thanks for stopping by! So great to hear all of your stories and know that you guys can relate!
There are times when I’m feeling chatty and don’t mind sharing the story of my life to explain how I ended up where I am now and other times I wish I could just say “if I told you I’d have to kill you” and leave it at that :)
Two of my oldest friends have both lived in their hometowns their whole lives - one is still in her family home and has never even flown in a plane! I know they shake their heads at me and my wandering ways.
Ms. Menozzi - I think you and I could be twins, right down to the parents divorced at 12 thing (mine thoughtfully waited until a week after my 13th birthday!)
by Jenyfer Matthews March 14th, 2008 at 10:21 amI’ve always lived within 15 miles of where I grew up, heck my parent’s have lived in the same house for 50 years. When I got married we decided then, that having family around was important to both of us, especially so when our kids were born. One of my boys plans to move back to the area when he graduates college, but I do have one wanderer, my second son, who joined the Navy. He plans to get all his traveling done during the next 10 years, then he will be back to this area too.
by Cathy M March 14th, 2008 at 10:36 amI’ve lived in NY all my life. As a kid I always wanted to live somewhere else. I guess I didn’t realize how hard it is to pick up and leave all the familiar things and friend. I still haven’t moved to another city, so I guess I love my hometown, but Egypt sounds fascinating, wouldn’t mind living there.
by Jane March 14th, 2008 at 10:46 amI can totally relate to the “where are you from” question. Since I just moved again I am hearing it frequently.
My parents also liked to pack up and move, sometimes with no notice. I came home from school one day to find my mother packing stuff into a trailer! Then I joined the military, married a military guy and have moved several more times. I like the opportunity to reinvent myself and love to live in and explore new places. I agree about the annoyance factor if you aren’t feeling chatty, I like the “if I told you I would have to kill you” answer, LMAO. I just say “lots of places, my parents liked to move” military brat? they ask. I say nope, just liked to move. Yours is much shorter and easier.
The book looks great, congrats.
by Christina Cross March 14th, 2008 at 11:09 amJenyfer, this looks fabulous, and that cover is so heartwarming - covertible, sunshine, sunFLOWERS and blue sky. Very welcoming.
Best of luck with the book!
by Sunny Lyn March 14th, 2008 at 12:25 pmI’m a bit of a gipsy, too.
It’s not a bad place where I live now but I would move tomorrow if a better chance (for a job, a house, whatever) offered itself. Nor am I restricted to stay in Germany, I’d be equally at home in England, Scotland, Scandinavia, or France. The only place I don’t want to return to is Vienna.
Where am I from? I usually reply I’m born in Hamburg.
by Gabriele March 14th, 2008 at 12:56 pmCathy M - 50 years!! I can’t conceive of living in any one place so long. Yet, while I live half a world away from my parents, I do hope that my own children will settle close to me. Otherwise I may end up stalking them, LOL :)
Thanks Sunny Lyn - I love my cover! The book isn’t bad either, ha ha
by Jenyfer Matthews March 14th, 2008 at 1:20 pmI was born in North York Ontario, I grew up in Whitby, lived for five or six years in Peterborough and Norwood Ontario and then fell in love and moved to London. Where I reside.
The place I still call home is Whitby. I spent my entire childhood there and I miss it. My parents live near me now, so no going home. *sigh*
by Amy Ruttan March 14th, 2008 at 1:21 pmI still only live 100 miles south of the town I was born in. In the same state.
by Estella March 14th, 2008 at 1:27 pmYour life story is much like mine. Like you I don’t have a home town or an old family home to visit. And like you I can’t imagine not having a gypsy life. Our daughter attended twelve different schools before graduating from university. Our son attended nine. before university graduation. Then he did ten years in the Canadian Forces.
Loved your life story and look forward to reading your book.
by Anita Birt March 14th, 2008 at 3:09 pmI live in a very small town. My husband and I have lived here all of our lives. (I’ve known him all my life.)
I live next door to my parents and two miles from my husband’s parents.
I would love to see the world, but can’t imagine living anywhere but here.
by Janet H March 14th, 2008 at 3:54 pmApart from the times hubby and I have been traveling overseas, we’ve lived in pretty much the same area, mainly because both our families are there and we like it. It IS home for us.
The question about where you live ranks up there with the question about what do you do for a job? I don’t like that question!
All the best with your book, Jenyfer. It sounds great and I LOVE the cover.
by Shelley Munro March 14th, 2008 at 6:46 pmSo interesting to hear from everyone! You know, there are times I would dearly love to have one spot that I could return to and know I was “home” - a place where not only my friends and family were settled but a place where I actually enjoyed living. I have several friends who have that place, but not me. I have fond memories of some of the places I’ve lived but haven’t had a burning desire to return to any of them. And my family is so spread out I could spend the year traveling just to visit them all!
I’m an optimist though - one day I’ll find that perfect spot…
by Jenyfer Matthews March 14th, 2008 at 10:25 pmOh, wow, the book seems intriguing.
I’m from Fort Wayne, Indiana (the Hoosier state). I was born there and grew up there. There are four seasons in Indiana, but winter seems like the longest. The only time I’m into ice, snow and frozen-nose weather is on Christmas Eve. I’ve always wanted to live someplace where it doesn’t snow.
So when I got divorced three years ago, I moved across the country to California. I needed to begin anew in more ways than one.
However, I won’t be staying here. Hollywood isn’t for me. The problem is deciding where to go next.
But I’ll answer the question WHERE ARE YOU FROM with: Indiana. I’m a Hoosier Girl.
by Unhinged March 15th, 2008 at 6:05 pmThanks for stopping by, Unhinged. Sorry to hear CA isn’t your style but half the fun in finding the right place is the trip along the way. Ask me, I know :)
My best friend dropped me an email yesterday to tell me how much she LOVED the book and said it was my best yet - if that holds water with anyone :)
by Jenyfer Matthews March 15th, 2008 at 11:24 pmWINNER ANNOUNCEMENT:
I’ve used the handy-dandy random number thingie to choose the winner and the winner is….
Christina Cross
Congratulations, Christina! I’m sure you’ll enjoy Jenyfer’s book.
Email me at shelleymunro @ gmail.com (no spaces) and I’ll get your prize to you.
by Shelley Munro March 16th, 2008 at 2:40 amCongrats, Christina! Hope you enjoy it!
by Jenyfer Matthews March 16th, 2008 at 4:53 amWhoohoo, yay, awesome and all those other yippee words. I can’t wait to read it, looks great! Thanks!
by Christina Cross March 16th, 2008 at 8:16 am