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
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.
"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.
