TLC Book Tour Stop & Giveaway - The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran

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Welcome to the next stop on the TLC Book Tour for Johanna Moran's The Wives of Henry Oades.   Recently Johanna made an appearance at an independent retailer in my area, The Vero Beach Book Center.  Approximately 40 people were in attendance for the event, and we had a wonderful time getting to know Johanna.   Her lovely sister Karyn introduced her, describing Johanna when she was a child and her transition from flight attendant to published author.   Before taking questions, Johanna spoke for a few minutes, sharing with us her thoughts behind Oades, yet without offering any spoiler material.

For the better part of an hour we peppered her with questions about her life, career, Oades and her next novel.  Among other details, she shared that she has a wonderful husband who brings her breakfast in bed every day, they exercise together in the morning, and then she spends much of her time doing research and writing.  Unlike some writers, she really enjoys the research process.  For her latest work, she is currently researching the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

While she doesn’t usually have a Words Per Day goal as she’s writing (usually in bed, on the laptop), Johanna tends to finish a scene before taking a break from her manuscript.  For example, if a family in her novel is having dinner, her goal might be to get the meal finished and the characters ready for the next scene.  Sometimes she writes quite a bit in one day, and on other occasions she might only get one page written.  She doesn’t consider herself to be a prolific writer and likes to take her time with her craft.

There are no current plans for a movie adaptation of Oades, but Johanna hopes that one day this might happen.  “From your lips to God’s ears,” she said in response to an attendant’s hope for a film.  I asked her who would have the lead role of Margaret, and she felt that Nicole Kidman would make a good casting choice.  If I remember correctly, Colin Firth would be her choice for Mr. Oades.

After the Q&A time Johanna stayed for a little while, signing books and discussing things further with individuals.  She was very welcoming and kind, and I was pleased to meet her and accept her generous compliments regarding The Calico Critic.

**CONTEST CLOSED - Winner: Karen K!!**

While I was there I had her sign my ARC of The Wives of Henry Oades.  If after reading my review you’d like to have this copy, here are the instructions to enter my giveaway contest.  Be sure to read them carefully!

• Leave a comment below; this counts as your entry.
• Entries accepted until 11:59pm on Saturday, March 27th
• Open to U.S. addresses only.
• Make sure your posted comment includes your email address. 
• I will compile the entries and the winner will be chosen by Random.org, so even one entry can make you a winner!
• Should you win, I will contact you on Sunday the 28th.  Please take measures to ensure that my email will make it past your spam filters, lest you miss my message! (CalicoCritic@gmail.com) You'll have 72 hours to respond before I pick another winner.
• More information on the giveaway policies can be found on the Contact / Policies page.

Bonus Entries (Please make note of your bonus entries in your comment(s)):

• Follow the blog by clicking on the Google "Follow" button on my sidebar (old or new followers both get the bonus entry, just let me know you're following).
• Follow me (@LHartness) on Twitter (Please tell me your @UserName).
• Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter.com; be sure to use an URL to this contest in your tweet. You may do this as frequently as every 8 hours between now and March 27th.  For each tweet, please come back and post the direct URL link to that specific tweet, not just your @Username.

For more information on The Wives of Henry Oades, visit Johanna's website for more historical details, a reader's guide and more!

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck to the contestants!