Q & A with Kristy Woodson Harvey and a Giveaway

Over 8 years of writing this blog I’ve made some wonderful friendships with some really creative and inspiring people. I love watching as my friends succeed and grow, and also give back.

One of these people is Kristy Woodson Harvey who I met through her blog Design Chic. She is an award-winning writer and her latest book came out in May. Kirsty is a wonderfully talented author and blogger, but also a really giving person as you’ll see in this Q & A. She’s also offered to giveaway an autographed set of her Peachtree Bluff Series – these books are the perfect summer read! (this post contains a few affiliate links for the book titles mentioned).

Hi Kristy! I can’t believe so much time has passed since our last chat for Creativity Over Coffee. Back in 2015 you shared your thoughts with me here. In celebration of the release of The Southern Side of Paradise, the final installment of your Peach Tree Bluff Series I thought it would be fun to have another Q & A.

So much has happened in 4 years! You’re a best selling author, your design blog has won many awards, and Dear Carolina has been optioned for a film deal!

This is the final installment of the Peachtree Bluff series. Was it hard to write the last book? I feel like I know all these characters. I assume as their creator you’ve become very attached to each of them.

I am so attached to them! It was very hard for me to wrap it all up and leave them behind. But you can bet I left a few tiny doors open in case I want to come back to Peachtree! I loved Peachtree Bluff and the Murphy women, but I also have so many other ideas that in some ways it was fun to move on too. I think it was the right time.

Of your characters is there one you most identify with? I think there are bits and pieces of all of my characters that I identify with, but not one in particular that sticks out as “me” per se. Interestingly, although I am 25 years younger than she is, I really identified with Ansley’s struggle to care for two generations at the same time. We have lost both my husband’s parents over the past several years, one to a very long illness, and that pull to care for them but also your kids is very real.

What, in your opinion, is the hardest thing about being a writer? Before I was published, I would have said getting the book deal! Now, I’d say keeping up with all the parts of being a writer that have nothing to do with being a writer like the publicity and marketing and social media. It is a huge blessing in so many ways, but I feel like I’m always behind!

Do you come up with the storyline first or does that come out of the writing process? That’s actually a question from my 13 year old who’s working on his first novel. That is a great question! And yay for him!! That is so cool that he is getting such an early start. For me, it comes out of the writing process, but there’s really no right way. I know writers who have every last detail plotted out before they begin. It’s such a personal choice!

Can you share any details about the film version of Dear Carolina? That’s really so exciting! I don’t have many details on that, but I can share that CBS Studios has optioned the entire Peachtree Bluff Series for TV! I am SO EXCITED. It has been in the works for a while now, and I adore the producer and writer and their vision for my books. I would love to see them come to life!

Looking back on our interview, what has changed and what has stayed the same?

I laughed so hard looking back at our interview. So many things have changed, but quite a few are still the same! One major difference is that I was talking about my book tour, which, at that point, was like fifteen events, and I really thought it was hard. Now I’m doing like 85 events a year including six straight weeks and 40-45 cities each Spring when my new book releases. I didn’t even know what a book tour was back then! But I guess I had a smaller child to so maybe it evens out!

I also love looking back at that sweet schedule of walking my son to preschool. I miss those days! But, truth be told, now that he’s in school until three, I have much more time to get everything done. And that’s great because in those days I was staying up until at least midnight every night and now I have to get to sleep by 11 on weekdays to be at my best the next day.

Back then I was working on the blog and social media at night after everyone else was in bed. I promise myself every year that that is going to change, but, alas, I’m still doing it! Last night, I was writing about a new home from Marshall Watson in East Hampton at 10:45 when everyone else was dreaming. Maybe one day…

I was lamenting then that I had so little time for exercise, meditation etc., and, while, no, I’m still not getting those weekly blowouts, I made a vow to myself that when my son was in school all day I would prioritize exercise and meditation, and I’m proud that I have stuck with that. I even managed to get in like two workouts a week when I was on tour these past six weeks or so, which I am kind of astonished by! But it makes me feel so much better!

One day I dream of writing. I think many people do. What advice would you give all of us? When I started I never imagined I would have been doing this interview with you the day after I turned in my sixth novel, which is to say that there are so many hurdles to overcome, but holding that belief that you will get where you want to be is so incredibly important. Also, I think when it comes to writing it has to be something you do because you can’t not, because you love it so incredibly much. It’s too hard to do it for any other reason because all those reasons might never pan out. Even now I know that nothing in this business is guaranteed, and, in some ways, that’s what makes it so amazing! And I can’t wait to be interviewing you about your book some day soon!

Thank you so, so much for having me, Danielle–and for all your support from the very beginning! I am so grateful!

Win a signed set of Kristy’s Peachtree Bluff Series Novels

Kristy has generously offered this amazing giveaway for readers of Finding Silver Pennies. Simply follow the Rafflecopter below.

You must be 18 years of age and a resident of the United States to enter.

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