Do you believe in love at first sight, like the love that struck Avel and Harriet?
I don’t know about love at first sight, but I definitely believe in extreme attraction at first sight, having experienced that with my husband back when he crashed my high school dance. Q: Patty Jane and Harriet are estranged when they both find new love. Is this a coincidence? A: Maybe it was because they were apart and didn’t have the tremendous support of each other’s love that they became more open to love from other sources . . . or maybe it was just coincidence. Q: Do you find it more difficult to write certain characters– for example, Ione, who is rather stoic and a woman of few words? A: Having grown up around Norwegian Americans, I found Ione a very easy character to write about. The emotional center of a character, the way they are, is the easiest thing for me to capture. Q: Why does Patty Jane name her daughter Nora, after the heroine in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House? A: Because Patty Jane was a feminist long before she knew what the word meant! Q: Patty Jane worries about the imp
