Award-winning
author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou
Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction
as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational
with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier
and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.”
To
date, Pamela has 6 novels, 6 short stories and 2 non-fiction books published
and available for your reading pleasure! Pamela is the Marketing Associate for
Pelican Ventures which consists of Pelican Book Group>, TWJ Magazine and Christian Book Videos..
Pamela
is a firmly committed Christian, mother and grandmother whose main goal in her
writing is to encourage people into a deeper walk with God. She even includes a
letter to the reader in every book!
If you have 2 hours free
time tonight, what would you rather do? Why?
Dance!
Nothing energizes my body, frees my mind or soothes my soul like a two-step,
waltz or jitterbug across a sawdust covered floor in the arms of a gentleman.
What kind of books do you
love to read? Why?
Romance
or Women’s fiction but it must have a HEA ending! Nothing irritates me more
than to pick up a great book and it end with the hero or heroine dying! I know,
I know…reality but life has enough sorrow as it is I don’t want that in my
books. I read a lot more spiritual non fiction than fiction though because I’m
always seeking a deeper relationship with God and others and a truer knowledge
of who I am.
What type of music do you
enjoy relaxing to?
With
the exception of rap or heavy metal, I love just about any and all kinds of
music.
What is your stress buster?
Dancing!
I also read, swim, hike, horseback ride…. Just about anything outdoors and/or
away from the computer and/or the hustle & bustle of my life.
What is your favorite food?
What food do you seek when you’re sad, sort of a comfort food?
Bread is my weakness in its
every shape and form and I love chocolate, but I guess the one thing I reach
for as a ‘comfort’ food would be vanilla wafers and milk, in a bowl, with a
spoon.
Describe yourself in one
word.
Kindhearted.
If
a fairy grants you one wish and one wish only, what would it be? Why?
That there would be peace on earth. I know
that sounds trite but I am so saddened by the state of affairs between
people…families, communities, nations, countries….If everyone would vow to just
seek their own inner peace there would be a lot less violence and crime. If we
would relax and know that we live in an abundant universe held together by an
Omnipotent, generous, loving, God and share that knowledge in love with others,
this world would be a much better place. Imagine…..
What’s your biggest regret
in life?
That
my dream of a stay-home wife and mother with a house full of children didn’t
materialize. I’ve got two by blood and two by marriage and always had to work.
Not complaining though as everyone is healthy and blessed!
What is the most
adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
Hmmm
that’s a toss up between a boat tour in Alaska and climbing Enchanted Rock in
Fredericksburg, TX.
What makes you
happy/sad/disappointed/frustrated/hopeful/angry? (Pick one)
The
one thing that seems to have all of these effects on me is narrow-mindedness. I
dislike judgementalism and criticism of other people and try to live my life by
two mottos: Don’t mock what you don’t understand and Judge not lest you be
judged.
What are your wildest
dreams/fantasies/kinks/quirks?
Hmmm…
getting kinda personal here ;-)
Seriously I’m a pretty simple and stable gal. I guess my wildest dream
is to visit the Triple Crown races and, maybe one day, Ireland.
How would readers find out
more about you?
Website address: http://www.pamelathibodeaux.com
Face Book: http://facebook.com/pamelasthibodeaux
Twitter: http://twitter.com/psthib
@psthib
About Your Writing
When did you write your
first book? How long did it take you to write it?
For
years I wrote in 5 subject notebooks. When I bought my first word processor, it
took about 6 months to type/revise Tempered Hearts. Each consecutive book took
about the same amount of time except for The Visionary which the entire first
draft took only four months.
Did you encounter any
obstacles in writing? What are they? How did you overcome them?
One
of the biggest obstacles I had was in learning POV and how to say what I wanted
to say from a different characters point of view. The next obstacle I’ve
encountered is finding a traditional publisher for my work since I don’t write
conservative but “Inspirational with an Edge!” How I overcame/come is by
writing the book of my heart and if it doesn’t fit with a traditional house,
independently publish through my imprint, Temperance Publishing.
How did you feel when you
received your first contract? What did you do? Any celebratory dinner, dance,
event, etc to commemorate the occasion?
My
first contract was for Tempered Hearts with Writers Exchange E-publishing and I
was thrilled! I remember dancing around the house and calling everyone but not
sure if we celebrated with more than a glass of wine.
Any writing peeves, things
you wish you could improve on, things you do with exceptional talent?
I
wish I could write a super clean first draft, send it in to an editor and then
have a publicist do all the promotion LOL! As for exceptional talent….not sure.
I’ve been at this so long and it seems like just when I’ve gotten it down pat,
the rules change.
What kind of books do you
love/hate to write? Why?
I
love to write romance. There is nothing like the flush of new love, those giddy
emotions and watching the characters overcome their personal hang-ups to make
the relationship grow. Don’t think there is anything I hate to write unless
it’s something that involves a lot of research.
What do you think about
editing?
In
a word….UGH… at least at first glance but I love learning, growing and
improving my craft so editing, for me, is a double edged sword.
Where and when do you
write? Tell us about your favorite work place and time. Any special reason?
Favorite
work time is any chance I get! I travel a lot and have more irons in the fire
now than when I had a full time job and a family at home and to be honest,
since my husband passed away in 2009, I haven’t gotten my groove back into
writing consistently unless you count blog posts, articles, essays,
interviews….
How do you write? Do your
characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story? How do you
go on from there? Maybe you can give us an example with one of your books.
All
of the above (except for the world LOL) have applied to my stories. For
example, my novel The Inheritance began with a thought…. They say life begins at forty but for Rebecca Sinclair that’s far from
the truth. Of course being the nosy writer I am I had to start asking Why?
J
My Tempered series and spin off story, Lori’s Redemption began mostly with
characters showing up and telling me their story. Being 100% SOTP writer, I
normally have no plot ideas first or barely during, LOL! I just write.
What books can you
recommend to aspiring writers to improve on style, character development, plot,
structure, dialogue, etc? What is your must-have book for writing? What is your
advice to aspiring writers?
Although
do not have a “must read” book for writing, I did enjoy On Writing by Stephen
King. I’ve read many others but the best advice I can give new writers is to
read, read, read. Study the books you love most, take note of the style, flow,
pacing, etc. then just write. The more you write and edit, the more you will
grow and improve.
About Your Books
What genre(s) do you write?
Why do you write the stories that you write?
I
write Inspirational “with an edge” romance, women’s fiction and creative non
fiction. I love reading romance books so writing that comes natural however the
main reason I write is to share God’s message of hope and healing to a hurting
world.
Among those that you’ve
written, which is your favorite book and why?
That’s
hard to say as I love each of my books for different reasons. I guess my
favorite would be my devotional, Love is a Rose which parallels the love of God
and Christian life to the words of the song, The Rose. It is amazing how God
can take a simple country song (as I heard it sung by Conway Twitty) and
connect them to Scripture to show His amazing love!
Where do you get your
ideas? Do you jot them down in a notebook, in case you forgot?
Where does anyone get their ideas? LOL! I get
mine from life, conversations, watching people, other books I wrote or read
might spark an idea. I usually jot down ideas on the computer or the note
feature on my phone.
Which book is the closest
to your heart? Why?
Well
that would actually be two books: Tempered Dreams and The Visionary. Both deal
with tough subjects (domestic violence and child abuse respectively) and both
show the awesome power of God to heal the most wounded of souls.
Which of your books feature
your family/friends, etc? What characters are modeled after them? Why?
Alex
Broussard in The Visionary is most special because out of all of my heroes, he
is the one who most reminds me of my deceased husband…. Oodles and oodles of charm and charisma by the case.
Which of your
heroes/heroines is most similar to you? Why?
Although
I have her fire and am prone to temper like Tamera in Tempered Hearts, Katrina
Simmons in Tempered Dreams is most like me. Both of us survived an abusive
relationship and found true love the second go around. Then again, Rebecca
Sinclair in The Inheritance and I have a lot in common too.
Who is your
strongest/sexiest/most lovable/hottest hero/heroine? Why?
Oh
by all means Dr. Scott Hensley in Tempered Dreams! Everything about him is
reflective of the perfect hero….strong yet gentle, tough yet tender and loves
his lady with every fiber of his being. But then again, all of my heroes do.
Have you ever wanted to
write your book in one direction but your characters are moving it in another
direction? What did you do in such a situation?
Since
I am a SOTP writer this happens quite a bit. I’ve learned to just write as the
characters tell or show me their story. Sometimes I can go back and revise to
more fit my idea of how/when/why/where the story should go or be, but usually
letting the characters live their life while I record it works best for me.
Any new projects, work in
progress?
I
currently have 2 fiction and 2 nonfiction books in progress and a whole host of
other ideas. I am also preparing my novel, Circles of Fate for publication and
editing/formatting my Tempered series for print.
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