A
couple of years ago on our annual summer vacation
to Kiawah Island, S.C., I happened to bring
along a few books that I  was asked to review. Of
the three, I randomly selected Full
of Grace by Dorothea
Benton Frank because
I loved the cover! (You know how I am about
choosing books by their covers!) It seemed
like the perfect novel to be reading while
lying on the beach. Not only was I right,
but I couldn't believe how much I could
relate to the lead character as well as to
the author. It felt as if the book had
picked ME and not the other way around. How
eerie, huh?
As you may or may not know, I grew up
in the beautiful Garden State. I am a proud
Jersey Girl who hasn't forgotten her
roots. But on the flipside, there is
a special place in my heart for South Carolina.
Our family has been vacationing on Kiawah Island
since 1991. Here is my theory….since
I am a Vanderbilt University alumni and spent
four years of my life living in the South,
I am entitled to call myself part-Southerner. (I
never said my theory made sense. Just
go with me on this one!) When my husband and
I retire many moons from now, I guarantee that
you'll find us safely tucked away on
a hammock somewhere on Kiawah Island!
When the opportunity presented itself
that I could actually speak with Ms. Frank,
I was absolutely ecstatic, to say the least. Her
latest release, The
Christmas Pearl, is
just the perfect book for the busy, holiday
season. Set in Charleston, S.C., the
story will touch your heart and make you take
a step back and reevaluate what truly should
matter most in your life. It's
certainly not the gifts or the abundance of
decorations and sparkling lights.  Christmas
is all about family.
As part of this interview, Harper
Collins has graciously donated five
copies of The
Christmas Pearl. So,
please be sure to read the entire column
and look for the trivia question at the end.
The perfect holiday gift could be yours!
Good luck! Find this book in our catalog.
Please go grab a cup of hot chocolate
with lots of marshmallows and get to know my
friend, Dottie Frank.
Jen: I understand
that you split your time between South Carolina
and the New York area. What beautiful areas of the country
to be living in! Please tell us a little bit
about your educational and professional background
and how these places have become a part of
you.
Dottie: My family has been in the Charleston
area for over three hundred years. There
are no statues in the parks of them but they
did fight in all the wars, including that little
disturbance with our northern brothers and
sisters. My education looks a little
bit like a cafeteria tray as I attended a Baptist
college where I struggled to fit in and could
not, then I graduated from a fashion school
and made a rather successful career for myself
importing women's sweaters from Asia
while I painted at The Art Student's
League in New York. My original plan
was to be a painter. Then I married,
retired from Seventh Avenue on the birth of
my daughter, moved to New Jersey and began
taking more classes at a local college intending
to finish my undergraduate degree. I wrote
SULLIVANS ISLAND as part of a creative writing
exercise, sold it and dropped out of college
again. Oh, this time I was forty-two. It
did pretty well so I wrote a few more books
and the next thing you knew, I had a career. See,
you never know.
Jen: I read that your
writing career was spurred on by your desire
to reclaim your childhood home. What
better encouragement to get the creative juices
flowing! Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Dottie: No, I never wanted to
be a writer. I just was one
and I come from a long line of storytellers,
which is to say folks who sit on the porch
or around the table and tell the same stories
over and over, arguing over the details. I
never tried to write professionally because
I didn't know anyone who did. I knew
school teachers, nurses and nuns. Those
were the professions/vocations offered to young
women of my day. I must have seemed unsuitable
for any of those arenas because I was encouraged
to learn to type. This has come in handy. And,
yes, I tried to sell my first book with the
intention of reclaiming my childhood home. I
did not succeed in buying my family home but
I do have another one nearby and it matters
most that I have a presence on Sullivans Island. Momma's
house has less appeal because it's haunted
like crazy anyway.
Jen: Please take us
through your writing process. Plot first? Characters? Outline? What
is the most challenging part of a book for
you to write and why? Which part is the most
enjoyable and why?
Dottie: My writing process? How
much time do you have? Each book is so
very different, just like our children. Sometimes
it starts with a “what if?” Sometimes
it's to make a point. The most
fun is thinking it up followed by seeing it
in print. Everything else in between
is very hard work. I definitely use an
outline to be sure that I spread the weight
of the story on many shoulders…also
to follow the ARC (Advance Reading Copy.) It's
a lot easier to fix a forty page outline than
a four hundred page manuscript.
Jen: Your latest release, The
Christmas Pearl, is
the perfect tale for the season. How
did you arrive at the premise?
Dottie:
We had a HUGE family fight last New Year's Day night that was so stupid
I thought to myself, if Ella Wright – who
is the Gullah woman who raised me – could
see the way this family is behaving themselves
she would get up out of her grave and give
them all the devil. And then I realized
that a large part of the problem was that I
had become passive in my own home. I
let my family run roughshod over me in the
interest of getting through it all in a timely
fashion instead of standing up to what was
right and what was clearly wrong. There
are some family members who may not like this
book but I hope they read it to get the point. In
fact, I might give them all copies!
Jen:
Pearl's summation of what
has gone wrong in our world brings many sensitive
issues to light. What message, if any,
are you sending to your readers through this
character?
Dottie: That parents have the
responsibility to raise their children with
loving respect, thoughtful guidance and to
give them ability to make good choices for
themselves by their own example and by talking
through their youthful decisions with them. That
families should not simply BE in a house together – that
they should engage, support and get to know
each other. Home is supposed to be a
haven, not a place where anyone of any generation
walks on eggshells with each other. And
that mature love is about putting not just
the needs but the dreams of others before your
own. And can we be nice, please?
Jen: The book is a
complete package…from
the photographs to the beautifully crafted
pages. How did you create this work of art?
Dottie: Thank you! Nope,
this was the creation of the art department
at William Morrow and the shared vision of
many others. I played a teensy role by
supplying the story. It is a little
gem, isn't it? I'm very proud
to have my name on it.
Jen: One of my favorite parts of the
book is the collection of recipes that you
have included. Are these family recipes
that you have shared? I just have to
ask…is fruitcake one of your favorite
holiday treats? And if not, what is?
Dottie: I adore fruitcake and
could eat it for breakfast, but only this particular
recipe. My sainted sister, Lynn is the
fruitcake guru in our family and she makes
them for all of us. Lynn? Are you
listening? And yes, these things are
what my family makes every year, unless we
are feeling too fat.
Jen: I understand that you are an advocate
for literacy programs and women's rights
as well as a devout fundraiser for the arts. Please
tell us about your passions and how you became
involved in these causes.
Dottie: Between my career as an
importer and the publication of my first book
I got involved in fundraising. It began
in my community and then spun out of control
until I was on one too many boards, one too
many committees and then my mother's
death occurred. That was when I realized
I needed a new career. I still support
many organizations – Literacy Partners,
The Montclair Art Museum, The National Breast
Cancer Coalition, my church and my children's
college. Everyone should do a stint as
a volunteer anything – it's unforgettably
rewarding.
Jen: What has surprised you most about
the publishing business? And, if you could
go back and do one thing over in relation to
your career, what would it be and why?
Dottie: The biggest surprise is
how collaborative it is and how it needs to
be this way for maximum success. You
have to partner with your publisher at every
step. No divas allowed, please. Sometimes
we all have the dog/tail problem. But
we have to remember that we rise together. If
I could do one thing over I would have started
writing much earlier.
Jen: Please walk us
through your website. Do
you have e-mail notification of new releases?
Newsletters? Mailing lists? Do you participate
in author phone chats? And if so, how
would my readers go about arranging one?
Dottie: I do participate in phone
chats with book clubs but that has become a
little more difficult lately because of my
travel schedule. Anyone wishing to set
one up should contact Buzzy Porter at buzzy.porter@harpercollins.com He's
a peach and if it's possible I always
say yes because I love to talk to readers.
I try to update my home page every month. William
Morrow sends out notices of new releases through
their First Alert e-cards, which I totally
appreciate since my mailing list is too troublesome
for Outlook.
Jen: Has there been any talk of perhaps
having one of your novels made into a movie?
I would love to see Full
of Grace on
the big screen!
Dottie: Me too! Right now
PLANTATION is optioned and a screenplay is
almost written. THE CHRISTMAS PEARL
is also floating around out there in Hollywood
but nothing firm to report yet. Fingers
and toes are crossed!
Jen: Are you currently
at work on your next project? If so,
what can you tell us about it?
Dottie: Yes, I am finishing a
book – read: yanking out hanks of hair – tentatively
entitled BULLS ISLAND, blogging for Publishers
Weekly Magazine and trying to plan for some
peaceful holidays! BULLS ISLAND is about
a cast of power crazed liars who all get nailed. Like
Momma said, honesty is the best policy!
Jen: It has been an
absolute pleasure to be able to speak with
you! If your schedule brings you to the Baltimore
area, please let me know. Best of luck
with your career!
Dottie: The honor and pleasure
are all mine. Um, and I can come to Baltimore
anytime! I adore it! The ultimate
crab cakes! And thanks for having me
here – I had a blast! Happy Holidays
to you and to everyone!
I hope you have enjoyed my interview
with Dottie. The first five readers to e-mail
me at jensjewels@gmail.com with
the correct answer to the following question
will win a copy of The Christmas Pearl.
What is the title of Dottie's
first book?
On December 15, I will be bringing to
you a very special interview with the Top 8 Jen's
Jewels from the past three years! And,
just in time for the holidays there will be
a spectacular book give-away!! You won't
want to miss it!
Until next time…Jen
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Meet
the Author: featuring Jen's Jewels