The Fish Bowl by Heather Webber

JENN McKINLAY: I'm thrilled to have a long time friend Heather Webber join us today to talk about her latest book THE FORGET-ME-NOT LIBRARY. I've been a fan of Heather's work forever and particularly enjoy her magical realism novels, with her latest being particularly poignant. Here she is to tell us more about what inspired her.

HEATHER WEBBER:

On a shelf in my office sits a fish bowl.

It doesn’t contain fish.

It holds memories.

I’ve been dealing with memory issues for a long time now. Most of my childhood memories are gone, with only a handful remaining. My teen years are slipping away as well. All my medical tests are fine, so I figure my brain can only hold so much. If something new comes in, something has to go out. Decluttering at its worst.

Fortunately, every once in a while, a long-lost memory returns to me, sparked by a song, a scent, a photo, a dream, a conversation.

I consider those memories as gifts.

Treasures, really.

The warm, wonderful feeling that comes with a returned memory is what inspired the idea for The Forget-Me-Not Library, my newest novel, due to be released this week. The story takes place in a small Alabama library where long-forgotten, treasured memories are hidden within the books. Memories that bring about peace and comfort and happiness.

Oh, how I wish it were a real place.

I’m doing everything I can to hold on to the memories I’ve been able to keep, which is where the fish bowl comes in. It holds mementos that I’ve been collecting for the past thirty years or so. Bits of my life that have been important to me for one reason or another.

Along with many other things, in that bowl are the first library cards of my children (who are now in their 30s!). The kids were each five years old when they signed up for their cards and had to print their names on them. Seeing those cards with those carefully-crafted, shaky letters always brings a smile and helps me to remember how excited they were to check out as many books as their tiny arms could hold.

Definitely memories to treasure.

Do you have a way of holding on to memories? Or recall your first trip to a library? I’d love to hear about it. One commenter will win a copy of The Forget-Me-Not Library.

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A detour. A chance encounter. Two women who alter the pages of each other’s story.

Juliet Nightingale is lucky to be alive. Months after a freak accident involving lightning, she’s fully recovered but is left feeling that something is missing from her life. Something big. Impulsively, she decides to take a solo summer road trip, hoping that the journey will lead her down a path that will help her discover exactly what it is that she’s searching for.

Newly single mom Tallulah Byrd Mayfield is hanging by a thread after her neat, tidy world was completely undone when her husband decided that their marriage was over. In the aftermath of the breakup, she and her two daughters move in with her eighty-year-old grandfather. Tallulah starts a new job at the Forget-Me-Not Library, where old, treasured memories can be found within the books―and where Lu must learn to adapt to the many changes thrown her way.

When a road detour leads Juliet to Forget-Me-Not, Alabama, and straight into Tallulah’s life, the two women soon discover there’s magic in between the pages of where you’ve been and where you still need to go. And that happiness, even when lost, can always be found again.

HEATHER WEBBER is a national bestselling author known for crafting stories that celebrate the power of family, friendship, and community. Her novels, including Midnight at the Blackbird Café and At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities offer comforting tales of love, hope, and personal redemption. Heather loves to spend time with her family, read, drink too much coffee and tea, bird-watch, crochet, and bake. She currently resides in southwest Ohio.

Learning to Fly By Heather Webber @booksbyheather

 Lucy Burdette: I'm so excited for today's guest. I've known Heather for a long time as a fellow denizen in the cozy mystery universe--and as you'll see, she survived the merger and downsizing of Penguin Random House with flying colors. I was delighted when I heard that she'd sold her first women's fiction (to Hank's editor, yay!) Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe will be published on July 16 and I cannot wait to get my copy. Welcome Heather!

Heather Webber: At the end of 2014, my husband and I finally joined the twenty-first century by signing up for Pandora, the music streaming service. We quickly added our favorite songs and music from the Beatles was included on our playlist. But as much as I enjoy the Beatles, for some reason I’d never heard “Blackbird” until Pandora suggested it.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

-The Beatles

I became obsessed with the song, listening to it again and again. I was haunted by the above lyrics. The writer in me took notice, and a story idea sparked for a women’s fiction/magical realism novel.

Broken people with emotional wounds. Learning to metaphorically fly.

Almost every character—and even the fictional town of Wicklow, Alabama—is broken in some way in Midnight at the Blackbird Café.

But how to heal everyone?

That’s where the blackbirds come in. If blackbirds could sing messages in the dead of night, what would they choose to tell us? What do we most want to hear? Blackbird research led me quickly to the Song of Sixpence with its “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie,” and then a tidbit in Celtic folklore revealed that blackbirds were considered guardians and messengers of the "Other world.” With that, the heart of this book took form. What if blackbirds with their songs could pass messages from dearly departed loved ones through, of all things, pie, to bring comfort and love to those left behind?

The only problem with my story idea was that I didn’t have the time to write it. In 2014/2015 I was writing two to three books a year for Penguin-Random House (as Heather Blake). Finding additional time to write a 90-100k word book seemed impossible.

Then toward the end of 2015, PRH abruptly downsized their cozy line. I decided that if I was going to make a change, career-wise, this was the time to do it. Suddenly, the impossible seemed possible.

So I took a chance…and learned to fly.

Questions for Heather?

Midnight at the Blackbird Café is a captivating blend of magical realism, heartwarming romance, and small-town Southern charm.

Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café.

It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about.

As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.

Read an excerpt of Midnight at the Blackbird Café

"Webber infuses her charming Southern small-town tale with lighthearted magic and gentle humor, and the cast of supporting characters adds to the quirky fun. Readers of Sarah Addison Allen and Joshilyn Jackson will enjoy spending time at the Blackbird Café" – Booklist

Heather Webber, aka Heather Blake, is the author of more than twenty-five novels. She loves to read, drink too much coffee and tea, birdwatch, crochet, and bake. She currently lives near Cincinnati, Ohio, and is hard at work on her next book.

Where There's a Witch

 

 LUCY BURDETTE: Yesterday we heard from an incredibly prolific first-time writer. Today, meet Heather Blake AKA Heather Webber, a seasoned pro who started out writing cozy mysteries, then moved to romance, and now has a new paranormal mystery series out. I asked for her secret method of writing fast--she said "I sit down and type." Sigh. Since that won't fill a blog post, she's here to talk to us about the fun of writing a witchy mystery. 

Welcome Heather!

 Heather Blake:  The tag line for my recent release A WITCH BEFORE DYING is “Where there’s a witch, there’s a way.”

Which (witch?) is so true of the series, but it started me thinking about witchy-type powers. 

My main character can grant wishes. Others can disappear into thin air, bake a mean cupcake, grow amazing flowers, craft a spell...

But what power would I want?

There’s something to be said about invisibility. Think of the conversations you could overhear, the hilarious pranks you could pull.

Or maybe telepathy. Knowing what others are thinking. On second thought, cross that off—there are some things I probably don’t want to know.

Ooh, flying. That could be...amazing. Broomstick optional.

Oh, oh! Or maybe unlimited free shopping? Groceries, clothes, appliances (can you tell my washer and dryer are about to die?).

All pretty good options, but ultimately I think I’d choose teletransportation. Only being a blink or a twitch away from another destination holds a lot of appeal. Especially when stuck in a traffic jam. Or when looking at the cost to fly to Paris from Cincinnati, OH (not that I’m discouraged or anything).

What would you choose for your witchy power? Heather will be around today to chat about magic and answer your questions!

The first book in the Wishcraft series, It Takes a Witch, came out in January:

Darcy Merriweather has just discovered she hails from a long line of Wishcrafters-witches with the power to grant wishes by casting a spell. She's come to Enchanted Village to learn her trade but finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation...

"Blake successfully blends crime, magic, romance, and self-discovery in her lively debut..."

-Publisher's Weekly

 

Congratulations on the new book Heather!