Birthday Bash Interview & Book Giveaway with Ann Gabhart

Welcome, Ann! We're so glad you could stop by for our Birthday Bash! What is your most recent book birthday?

River to Redemption had a July 3, 2018 book birthday. Almost a 4^th of July book. A book making it out into the reading world is always an exciting time for its author.

The inspiration for River of Redemption was a true event that happened in Springfield, Kentucky, during the 1833 cholera epidemic. A slave named Louis, who was unaffected by the disease, put aside any personal desires for freedom to bury the fifty-five cholera victims in Springfield after all who could had fled town to escape the disease. Years later when Louis was to be sold by his owner’s heirs, the town of Springfield collected money to buy his freedom because of what he’d done during the cholera epidemic. My story is a fictional account wrapped around that nugget of true history of how that might have happened. The story begins with a young girl losing her family to the epidemic and being cared for by Louis. Adria Starr never forgets what Louis did for her and is determined to find a way to free him, but in 1840s Kentucky, she needs all the courage and strength she possesses and more.

Oh, wow. That sounds like a great story! If Adria Starr was invited to our birthday party, would she come? What would she bring?

Adria would come if she didn’t have to work at Billiter’s Mercantile Store that day. She’d probably bring an attitude and maybe her soapbox since she has strong and often unpopular opinions about women’s rights and the abolition of slavery. However, since her aunt Ruth sells baked goods to supplement her schoolteacher income, she could bring some delicious sugar cookies or perhaps a yellow cake with caramel icing.   

Yellow cake is a favorite! If we asked Adria to sing us a happy birthday song, what would happen?

She wouldn’t sing the traditional happy birthday song we know that is attributed to two Louisville sisters who wrote the song in 1893. However, I’m sure Adria has a lovely voice, and she’d be glad to sing a special song to the birthday person. Perhaps it would be one her aunt Ruth wrote since besides being a schoolteacher and a baker, she loved writing verse. A verse written with the birthday person in mind might be something Adria could sing.

How interesting that her aunt was so accomplished. Now let's switch to Ann Gabhart. What was your most memorable birthday? Why?

My 33^rd birthday was memorable for two reasons. One was a very sad reasons since three days before my birthday, my sister-in-law was killed in a freak accident when a gate broke off of a horse trailer instantly killing the driver of a pickup truck that then crossed the median and collided with the car my sister-in-law, who was nine months pregnant, was riding in to the doctor. She and her unborn baby boy were killed by the collision. So you can imagine how terribly sad that birthday was as I attended her and her baby’s funeral.

Frankie - Ann's current canine companion.

But that birthday was memorable for a happier reason as well. I had always talked about how I loved this little cocker spaniel my aunt had for a brief time when I was around eight. My aunt had to give it away since it killed chickens, but I did love that little dog. So all those many years later, my husband decided to surprise me with a cocker spaniel pup. We didn’t have much money at the time so he sold his class ring that he loved to wear to get the money to buy the pup. Of course, he couldn’t know the tragic events that were to happen before my birthday, but that little pup was a gift of love that helped get me through a very sad time.  

I can't imagine and shock and sorrow of losing a family member like that, but your husband's sacrifice was so touching. Wow. You married a keeper for sure. Now let's shoot off some questions in our Rapid Fire Round:

Birthday cake or Ice Cream?

Both please, but if I have to choose, let’s make it strawberry ice cream.

Streamers or confetti poppers?

The only time I’ve had birthday decorations was when I turned fifty and my church threw a surprise birthday party for me with a black cake and black streamers.

Do you like surprise parties?

I’ve only had that one actual birthday party that my church family hosted for me, so I guess the answer is yes.

Books or gift cards?

A gift card to a bookstore would be perfect.

Wrap up questions:

Where can readers find you online?

You can always find out more about my books by visiting my website, www.annhgabhart.com where you can also read my blog posts on One Writer’s Journal and the Heart of Hollyhill. I enjoy interacting with readers on Facebook, www.facebook.com/anngabhart and Twitter, www.twitter.com/AnnHGabhart. You can see book research pins and more at https://www.pinterest.com/annhgabhart or check out my Goodreads profile at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/311723.Ann_H_Gabhart.

  

Anything else you’d like to share?

I do like celebrating a new book birthday, and I like those getting older birthdays too, even my own which is coming up soon. These days they all seem to come up soon instead of taking forever the way they did when I was anxious to go from twelve to thirteen so I could be a teenager. Now I don’t bother counting up the years and just enjoy the gift of a new year coming my way. One thing about getting older, you sometimes get to add a few grandkids into the family. Those grandkid birthdays are always fun times. I hope you have many fun things to celebrate in your life. 

And now a question for your Stitches Thru Time readers: What do you like best about birthdays? Leave your answer and email address in a comment to be in a drawing to win a copy of my book, River to Redemption.

Thank you so much for being with us and for offering this wonderful giveaway to one lucky reader!