What was your favorite picture book as a child? What did you love about it?
My favorite childhood book was Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman. I loved the tenacity of the little bird who is trying to find its mother. Rather than feel dark and scary, the book is lighthearted as the bird asks such creatures as a cow, a plane, and a car.

What was your favorite chapter book? What did you love about it?
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith was my favorite chapter book. I’m not sure how old I was when I first read it, perhaps 11 or 12, but the book strongly resonated with me. My family moved a lot because of my dad’s job when I was a child, so I could relate to the changes and upheaval in the protagonists’ lives.

Have you ever had a book recommended to you that you didn’t like? No names, but what didn’t you like about it?
Yes! A book by a best-selling, popular writer was recommended to me, and try as I might I could not get through the book. I thought the plot was contrived, and I didn’t like the female main character. She seemed difficult and arrogant. People raved about the book.

I love asking that question so people can see that reading is always subjective (I think we’ve all had that experience!) Now, if you could visit any fictional place, where would you go?
I have really enjoyed Keely Brooke Keith’s Uncharted Series that takes place on an island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It would be intriguing to meet the characters who pioneered this remote colony, and to see the place where they made their new beginning.

If you could turn any of your books into a movie, which would you pick? Who would cast as the main characters?
Spies & Sweethearts features Emily Strealer and Gerard Lucas who train with the Office of Strategic Services during WWII. They parachuted into occupied France to help the Resistance. I would select Katie Holmes to play Emily and Kavan Smith for Gerard.

Share five books from your TBR (to be read) pile.

Vera’s Vengeance by by Marlene Bierworth
The Chalky Sea by Clare Flynn
Miramar Bay by Davis Bunn
Silver by Krystal M. Anderson
A Pursued Heart by Elaine Manders

Lots of new-to-me authors—I love seeing new names!

And finally, If you could change the ending of any story, what would you change? Why?
As much as I love Gone with the Wind, I would change the ending so that Rhett and Scarlett get a happily ever after. The novel is brilliant as it is, but I would love to see them find happiness together.

She thinks he’s high-handed and out for her gold. He thinks she’s difficult and money-hungry. Will they discover that love is the true treasure?

Scarred in a childhood accident, Caroline Vogel has yet to find a man willing to marry her, so she heads to the Pike’s Peak goldfields to pan enough ore to become a woman of means. When she and the handsome assistant trail boss hit it off, she begins to hope her future may not be spent alone. Then she catches wind of dark secrets from the man’s past, and she’s not sure what or who to believe.

Orphaned as a teenager, Oliver Llewellyn stole to survive, then used his skills for the army during the war. Nowadays, he applies his knowledge to catch dangerous thieves for the Pinkerton Agency, so guarding a young woman during a wagon train journey should be easy. But he didn’t count on the fact she’d angered a man bent on revenge. He also didn’t count on losing his heart.

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is a former trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

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