Interview with Pat Gaines

http://www.patgaines.net/

First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toad…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.


Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

I didn’t. Writing was never my goal. I have been writing most of my life, just not for publication. I have been preparing-writing an hour- long Bible lesson every week for 35 years. I have written grants and press releases for 25 years in connection with my work in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. I have been writing 4-H speeches and demonstrations since my adult children were in school. I write them now for my grandchildren. I just never thought of myself as a writer.

I have, though, always been a storyteller.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

We have a journal written by my great-great grandfather during the period between 1838 and 1850, which fascinated me from my early teen years. I had so many extended family members wanting to read said journal that I decided to try to put in into print. It took me five years to read and interpret it, another year to get it ready for publication. My daughter, Terri Branson owns a publishing company and she helped me a great deal. I thought it would be better to try to get the journal published by the Indiana State University Press and I believe that they would have, but that takes so long. I am not young and so many of the family who wanted to read the journal are old, so we decided that it would be best for it to be published by Dragonfly so that we could do it quickly. One of my cousins who desperately wanted to read the journal passed before publication.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

My latest release is “O.O. Octopus: Sheriff of Blue Ribbon Sound.”

Sheriff O.O. is feared through the ocean because he has eight guns, can shoot them all at the same time, but only to save a life.


What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

For writing the Journal, it was my aunt, Nell Jordan, who valued

it so much that she kept it safe for the years during the depression and many years later, through multiple moves and hard times.

For my children’s stories, my inspiration has always been my grandchildren.


Let’s hear about your family, who I am sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

My husband, Jerry, and I have been married 51 years and we have two children and three grand children. Our daughter, Terri Branson, owns and operates Dragonfly Publishing, Inc. and has eight books that are published. Our son, Allen, is an engineer. He has two sons and one daughter.

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

Cookies.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

I go first to my computer and check my email. Dragonfly Publishing has this contest going right now for writers of Children’s Picture Books. Daily I am sending out contest entry forms and some contest entries are coming in already, even though the deadline is not until April 1.

Second, I go downstairs and have breakfast with my husband.

The third thing I do depends on the demands of that day.


If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

Everything is full. We have lived in the same house for over 45 years and we never throw anything away. We have wonderful antiques inherited from my husband’s family and my family and just cannot part with anything.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

Blue. I love everything blue the color of God’s blue sky.

Who is your favorite cartoon character?

I don’t like cartoons. Even as a child, I never read the funny papers and I don’t like to watch cartoons.


Which cartoon character is most like you?

I don’t know.

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I would go to New England in the mid to late 1600’s. My ancestors were here building America. I have so much information about them due to what is given in the Journal of Amos Hannah, that I would love to get to know some of those wonderful grand parents. I would not, however, want to stay very long because I like my comforts. I don’t think that there was anything easy or comfortable about their lives.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

Favorite type of music: Country and Western.

Favorite Male artist: Garth Brooks

Favorite Female artist: Patsy Cline

No, I do not listen to music when I am working. It is distracting for me.

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

I watch TV a lot and I watch mostly old movies on Turner Classic Movies. The last movie I saw at the theater was a kid’s movie that was 3-D. Can’t remember the name of it.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Read books that interest you. For me, reading a book is a special private time to spend with characters in a book that become real. I can get to know them to love or hate them. Read for you own pleasure and enjoyment.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

I am working on a series of stories about a little Indian boy who lived on Quapaw Creek not far from where we live. These were stories that I told to the grand children when they were younger and we were driving in the car a lot. Telling them stories would keep them quiet and not punching each other like kids do.

I have a several journals kept by my great uncle that range from the late 1800’s to 1938, the year he died. He was in France during WWI and stayed for a while after the war was over. He gives a record of the fighting, the wounded, the weather and how he managed to survive during this time. He was also a bachelor, a banker by trade and had girlfriends everywhere. I think his life would make a very interesting story.

I am also interested in writing a book about traveling on cruise ships. My husband and I have taken several cruises. In 2007, we met a very special young lady on the ship that has since become like family to us. In 2008 we cruised with her, met many other members of the ship’s crew, and learned about their homeland, their families and why they are doing this kind of work. Doing a book like that would probably require us to take more cruise vacations. Not a bad thing.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!