Best-selling and award-winning author Anita Higman has
penned over thirty books! Her latest, titled
A Marriage in Middlebury (Abingdon Press) tells the story of a
woman who has been unlucky in the love department until her first love
magically steps back into her life. Will their feelings still prove strong
after all the years? Anita answered our questions about her newest novel.
WHERE DID YOU GET THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS NOVEL?
I’m not sure where the actual storyline came from for A Marriage in Middlebury. However, my idea for the heroine and her career came from getting to know a woman named Linda Becker who owns a couple of tearooms in the Houston burbs called Tea for Two. Throughout the years I’ve enjoyed her tearoom fare as well as the quaint ambiance. Tea For Two has always been a gathering spot for friends, a place to eat home-cooked food, and a place so cozy it’s hard to leave. As a writer I thought it might be fun to create a heroine who owns a tearoom similar to Linda’s and set it in a small Texas town.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO SET IT IN TEXAS? AND IS MIDDLEBURY FICTIONAL?
I’ve lived in the Houston area for about thirty years. I’m so familiar with the city now as well as the surrounding towns that I feel more confident setting my stories here than anywhere else. Middlebury is a fictitious town, but the general area where I set Middlebury is real.
WHAT ELEMENTS DO YOU FEEL MAKE FOR A GOOD ROMANCE NOVEL?
I like to see the inner struggles of both the hero and the heroine. I like clever but realistic dialogue. And I like romantic scenes, but without them being swoony or cheesy.
CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT CHARLOTTE’S LOVE INTEREST, SAM? AND WHAT IS IT KEEPING THE TWO APART?
Sam is a good man, but he’s a little bit lost in life. He moves back to his hometown and discovers that he is still in love with an old high school sweetheart. Sam is torn between the love of his life and the solemn vow he made to his new fiancée.
WHAT NEW PROJECTS ARE ON THE HORIZON FOR YOU?
I finished a novel entitled, A Question of Destiny, and I think the release may be some time in 2014. It’s mostly romance with some comedy. I like to say that my stories have a soft landing—because life is hard.