Today, we welcome Kim Pierce, author of "My Dead True Love".
Hello, Kim and welcome to It's Reading Books. What would we find under your bed?
Cats! Seriously. They’d either be hiding or, under the bed in the guest room, snuggled up in a little rolling drawer that we found on the curb while walking through our neighborhood. It’s a wooden box on wheels, like for a child’s toys. We store blankets there. Not to go off on a tangent, but since the pandemic began, it is among the many amazing discards we have rescued on our twice-a-day walks: Others include a new soaker hose, a fireplace grill, a bicycle, a lovely hand-stitched quilt and a midcentury modern chair my partner restored.
What was the scariest moment of your life?
It happened while I was jogging, when I turned to see the front end of an SUV bearing down on me and realized it wasn’t going to stop. I was completely at the mercy of the moment. After impact, I struggled to get out of the SUV’s way as a crowd gathered. Luckily, the driver stopped and the EMTs were on the scene in minutes. I sustained no permanent injuries (thank you, yoga). But I do have some scars, which I wear with pride.
Do you listen to music while writing? If so what?
When I first started writing about my fiancé’s death—my grief journal, really—I played CD after CD of Celtic music. Otherwise, I prefer to write in silence.
How long did it take you to write this book?
If you count the whole process, from grief journal to finished manuscript, twenty-four years. Much of that was part-time, in the background of my journalism career. I renewed my commitment to the novel when I signed up for the Writer’s Path program at Southern Methodist University. The courses were a game-changer that put me in the flow of the art and skill of fiction-writing.
Read an Excerpt
“Hello, and welcome to our lab,” Dr. Koslow said, radiating confidence and pride.
“Let me walk you through what will happen. You and I will go into the chamber and get comfortably seated in the two chairs. Adrian will hook us up to the monitors and, as we go through the synchronized-sound sequence, he’ll use the monitors to track everything that’s happening to our physical bodies. Physiologically, it will resemble sleep. But it’s not. Also, I can assure you that you will be in good hands. He and I have both done this many times.”
I wanted to believe him, and again I had the impression of a calm, steady pilot. But no matter what he said I still had that chattering sensation in my teeth and felt as if tremors were going off in my body.
I worried: Could I overcome my fears and do this? Or would I completely wash out? Would I get “out,” only to be unable to get back in? Connie had spent hours preparing me for this, showing me how to focus on my breathing and quiet my monkey mind, but… I still felt so utterly unprepared. And my questions persisted: How would I know Gregory? What would he look like? Would he see me? Could we touch? What if I didn’t want to leave?
Connie moved close to me and slid her arm through mine.
“I know you’re still scared,” she said. “Just trust the process and do the best you can.”
About the Author Kim Pierce is a former Dallas Morning News writer and editor who completed the Writer’s Path fiction program at Southern Methodist University. My Dead True Love is her first novel, inspired by events surrounding the death of her fiancé in 1998. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with her partner and three cats.
https://mydeadtruelove.com/
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hello, Kim and welcome to It's Reading Books. What would we find under your bed?
Cats! Seriously. They’d either be hiding or, under the bed in the guest room, snuggled up in a little rolling drawer that we found on the curb while walking through our neighborhood. It’s a wooden box on wheels, like for a child’s toys. We store blankets there. Not to go off on a tangent, but since the pandemic began, it is among the many amazing discards we have rescued on our twice-a-day walks: Others include a new soaker hose, a fireplace grill, a bicycle, a lovely hand-stitched quilt and a midcentury modern chair my partner restored.
What was the scariest moment of your life?
It happened while I was jogging, when I turned to see the front end of an SUV bearing down on me and realized it wasn’t going to stop. I was completely at the mercy of the moment. After impact, I struggled to get out of the SUV’s way as a crowd gathered. Luckily, the driver stopped and the EMTs were on the scene in minutes. I sustained no permanent injuries (thank you, yoga). But I do have some scars, which I wear with pride.
Do you listen to music while writing? If so what?
When I first started writing about my fiancé’s death—my grief journal, really—I played CD after CD of Celtic music. Otherwise, I prefer to write in silence.
How long did it take you to write this book?
If you count the whole process, from grief journal to finished manuscript, twenty-four years. Much of that was part-time, in the background of my journalism career. I renewed my commitment to the novel when I signed up for the Writer’s Path program at Southern Methodist University. The courses were a game-changer that put me in the flow of the art and skill of fiction-writing.
When a newspaper reporter’s fiancé dies abruptly, she questions how he could just cease to be.
Dogged by unbidden thoughts, odd coincidences and unexplained phenomena, Ann Stewart becomes obsessed with finding out what really happens after we die and whether her beloved Gregory is still out there. She finds her answer, which takes her and a close-knit coterie of women to the edge of the cosmos—and the core of their own hearts.
Based on a true story.
Read an Excerpt
“Hello, and welcome to our lab,” Dr. Koslow said, radiating confidence and pride.
“Let me walk you through what will happen. You and I will go into the chamber and get comfortably seated in the two chairs. Adrian will hook us up to the monitors and, as we go through the synchronized-sound sequence, he’ll use the monitors to track everything that’s happening to our physical bodies. Physiologically, it will resemble sleep. But it’s not. Also, I can assure you that you will be in good hands. He and I have both done this many times.”
I wanted to believe him, and again I had the impression of a calm, steady pilot. But no matter what he said I still had that chattering sensation in my teeth and felt as if tremors were going off in my body.
I worried: Could I overcome my fears and do this? Or would I completely wash out? Would I get “out,” only to be unable to get back in? Connie had spent hours preparing me for this, showing me how to focus on my breathing and quiet my monkey mind, but… I still felt so utterly unprepared. And my questions persisted: How would I know Gregory? What would he look like? Would he see me? Could we touch? What if I didn’t want to leave?
Connie moved close to me and slid her arm through mine.
“I know you’re still scared,” she said. “Just trust the process and do the best you can.”
About the Author Kim Pierce is a former Dallas Morning News writer and editor who completed the Writer’s Path fiction program at Southern Methodist University. My Dead True Love is her first novel, inspired by events surrounding the death of her fiancé in 1998. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with her partner and three cats.
https://mydeadtruelove.com/
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting me!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteI hope you decide to read it - and that it exceeds your expectations.
DeleteVery interesting interview, I enjoyed reading it and getting to know a bit about you, Kim, My Dead True Love sounds like an intriguing book for me!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it and have a terrific day!
Good to hear from you and hope you emjoy the book.
DeleteThanks for the great interview! The book sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll take a look and write a review.
DeleteThe blurb sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the interview!
ReplyDelete