Interview: Rhonda Hayter

Please join me in welcoming the author of The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams - Rhonda Hayter.

(pictured here with her adorable dog "Kitty" - more about that in the interview!)

Congratulations on your debut book The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams! Is it an exciting or nerve-wracking time for you?

RH: It occurred to me just yesterday that this is what empty nest syndrome must feel like. You’ve raised your baby, loved her extravagantly, done all you can for her and now you’ve sent her out in the world and she’s on her own. Sure, you’ll still support her in any way you can, and you’ll check in on her a lot, but she’s got to make her own way...and you’re left home alone to worry. By the by, my fingernails are completely chewed off and my fingertips are mere nubs too.

Abbie does quite a bit of time traveling in the book. Is there a period of time you would like to visit, or a person from the past you would like to meet if you could time travel?

RH: There sure is, and I intend to meet them in the next Abbie installments. I get to go back in time to watch Harriet Tubman leading a party of escaped slaves to freedom and then in the third book I’m going to hunker down with Susan B. Anthony when she makes an unexpected visit to our time. It’s so much fun doing the research and getting immersed in these people’s incredible lives. Just another way to time travel that’s all.

I felt like there were endless possibilities for future adventures with Abbie. Is this a beginning of a series? (*crosses fingers*)

RH: Ooops. I guess I just answered that in the second question. I’ve got a lot of Abbie books in me just waiting to come tumbling out...We’re going to meet some more of her relatives— she’s got a Grandpa who comes to visit and gets a little flirtation going with Susan B. If readers like my Abbie and ask for more, she could go on and on.

• Now for the quick (& silly) lightning round:

*chocolate or potato chips?
RH: Oh how I wish I answer “celery sticks” to that but I’m grieved to report that I eat chocolate every, single day of my life. In moderation of course...at times.
*cats or dogs?
RH: I was a cat person all my life until last June when a scruffy little terrier-poodle mutt wandered onto the campus of the school where my husband teaches, begged him to rescue her and threw herself into his arms. He was smitten, I was smitten and my kids were smitten. We called her Kitty though and got the best of both worlds.
*fall or spring?
RH: I love ‘em both and I don’t get either living here in Southern California.
*the beach or the mountains?
RH: I used to love the beach but when my kids were little I came to hate it because I couldn’t relax for a second, I was so sure they were going to get sucked below the waves and never emerge. They had a ball but I was a wreck. Now that they’re 12 and 15, I might start hauling out my beach reads to see if I can enjoy it again.

Thanks for having me. This was a lot of fun.

Thank you Rhonda for stopping by! Great answers & a great debut! Check out my review for The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams HERE

*And don't forget to check out the Class of 2k10 of which Rhonda is a member of. There are more great books coming your way!