CRM: Eva Marie, tell us why what led to your writing Southern Fiction? EME: I was writing the Potluck Club and Potluck Catering Club series with Linda Evans Shepherd. In those books, Linda and I have six first person point of view characters. Linda developed and wrote three and I developed and wrote three. One of my characters was Goldie. Although Goldie lived in Summit View, Colorado during the time period of the books, she was born and reared in Georgia. Often while at book clubs or in emails or comments from fans, I would hear something like, "I love it when you write Goldie chapters." I had become restless with my writing. With the direction it was going in. So, I sat back and took a good hard look at what I was doing and what I wanted to do. I loved writing the Potluck books, but I felt like something was missing... like there was something more I needed to connect to. One day the whole thing clicked. People connect when I write Goldie because she is a southerner! CRM. The old "write what you know" thing ... EME: Exactly! British author Margaret Chittendon once penned something along the lines of "People are always saying to write what you know. My problem was that I didn't know anything. So I went out and I learned."
Well, in my situation, I did know something. I grew up in the South. My family has a rich heritage on many different levels. I would feel equally comfortable sitting on a veranda sipping on sweet iced tea as I would lying on a blanket under the warm southern sun listening to a bluegrass band and swatting gnats. (Okay, forget the gnats...) 
CRM. Then what happened? EME: I asked for a meeting with my editor at Baker/Revell. Vicki Crumpton and I got together at an ICRS and I told her what I just told you. "I know the South. I know her people, her idiosyncrasies, her landscapes, her dialects. I know what makes her proud and what she has managed to sweep under the rug. I want to write about her. I want to draw people in and make them feel as if they live in her sweeping landscapes or historic cities. Her grand old Victorians or rambling farmhouses." Okay, I may not have been that eloquent, but you get the picture! CRM: What made you choose the topics of your first two Southern novels with Baker?
EME: A story that had been nagging me for a long time was born out of a "what if" moment with the renovation of my great-grandparent's home in Register, GA. This grand old rambling Victorian (see above!) had been sold to a woman who was going to renovate it to its former glory. Only, she didn't. I don't know what went wrong ... it just didn't get done. A few times I have gone the long way "home" and driven past it. The shrubs are growing nearly over the rooftop now! So, I had this "what if" moment. "What if ... the great-niece of the last owner started a renovation and discovered family secrets?" And "what if" her marriage is on the fritz -- she loves her husband and he loves her, but the marriage is breaking. Can she put it back together while she restores the old house? There's a line in the book that gets to me every time I think of it. There's an old contractor named Valentine -- he's in his late 80s or early 90s. She asks him if he thinks the house can be restored. He replies, "Anything can be restored as long as the foundation's good." Later, of course, she realizes what stands true for the house, stands true for her home. CRM: That was published last year as "Things Left Unspoken"?
EME: Yes. The response -- especially from my Southern sister readers -- was overwhelming! And my Northern sister readers all agreed that they felt they had truly landed in the South! CRM: You have another book coming out in May titled "This Fine Life," which, you say, is more romance than you've ever written. Tell us about it.
EME: Believe it or not, the inspiration came to me many years ago -- about a decade ago. I was listening to Frank Sinatra sing "It Was a Very Good Year." A story formed in my mind ... and kinda nestled there. I decided to set the story in the 1950s/1960s South. My mother was a young bride in the mid-50s. This gave me an opportunity to talk with her and some of her peers about the way life was back then. I was a child so, of course, I have no adult memories of that era. My protagonist meets and marries a young man who is called into ministry. The only problem is, she isn't sure how she feels about God. She believes in Him, yes. But she doesn't know if she wants to compete with Him for her husband's affections. Drop that into a very small town drenched in the Southern way of life and you've got yourself a story! I also spoke to several ministers and asked them about their first year pastoring. I received some hilarious stories (many of them are in the book!) and one in particular that was quite poignant. The bottom line for Mariette -- my protagonist -- is that she is so passionate about her husband Thayne and he, her. The antagonist is, of all things, herself. She fights with her own insecurities and expects Thayne's love to cover them. In the end, only God can do that through ourselves. CRM: Do you feel you have finally come "home" in writing? EME: Oh, my goodness, yes. My editor thinks so, too. And -- better still -- my readers. But, for me, the difference is that when I sit down to write my fiction, I can hear the words easier. I can smell the scents clearly. The sights are a real to me as if I am looking right at them. And the South ... well, she's a character all her own. Writing her is both a challenge and a joy. CRM: Name one thing you can only get in the South (among the many). EME: My 74-year-old mother told me just today that she is riding on a float in the Livestock Parade. This is something she hasn't done since I was five-years-old. A few weeks ago, my four-year-old granddaughter was named Hospitality Princess at the Gnat Days Festival. I mean, seriously. Where else but in the South?
CRM: Eva, I can't tell you how much fun it's been reminiscing with you. EME: My pleasure. CRM: I hope your tea wasn't too sweet.EME: No, and I can tell you added the baking soda to keep away the bitter. Your mama must have raised you right! 
Eva Marie Everson is the award-winning author of both fiction and nonfiction works. She resides with her husband and the youngest of their four children, two dogs and a cat in Central Florida. For more information, go to: www.EvaMarieEverson.com
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