Spotlight Thursday: Piper Huguley

Published on by Live Vi-Carrie-ous

 

We’re visiting every week with some of my fellow Golden Heart ® finalists.

PperToday I’m pleased to introduce you to Piper Huguley from Georgia.

Welcome, Piper! Tell me about your GH Finalist manuscript. Is this your first time entering/finaling?

A Virtuous Ruby is the first book in my “Migrations of the Heart” series. These books are historical romances about five African American sisters who journey from the south to the north between 1915-1936 during The Great Migration. Each sister leaves home for love or finds love when she arrives at her destination–my hometown of Pittsburgh. Ruby is the oldest sister. A Champion’s Heart, the fourth book in the series, was nominated for the Golden Heart in the Historical Romance category. That book is about the baby sister, Cordelia.

Sounds fascinating! Best of luck to you, although since we’re in the Inspirational category, I should probably wish you God’s blessings!

Now for the really important question: chocolate or peanut butter?

I see where I’m supposed to say both, so I guess I will. Primarily in the form of Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs or whatever holiday shape the candy takes: pumpkins, trees, valentines. Now there won’t be anymore until Sept. 1….*sniff*

I’m so with you on that one! I love all the Reese’s products. Anyway, what’s your day job?

I’m an English professor at Spelman College. And no, there is no summer off this year.

Tell me a bit about yourself. Family, hobbies, etc.

I am married and I am the mother of one child–a man-sized 12-year-old boy child with size 14 feet. Besides reading and writing (my son believes I collect books as a hobby), I love taking my son places and exploring the world through his eyes.

Yes, I tell my husband all the time, “Not needing another book is no reason not to buy one!” Speaking of books, who are your favorite authors?

For what I call my “work people” I read Zora Neale Hurston, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Langston Hughes. I also like Theodore Dreiser and Jhumpa Lahiri. For my “pleasure reading,” I enjoy Siri Mitchell, Serena Miller, LaVryle Spencer, Philippa Gregory and Beverly Jenkins.

Best vacation spot? Wherever I can discover unknown history. That is the most fun for me.

Are you coming to San Antonio this summer and what are you looking forward to most? What are you wearing to the awards banquet?

Yes, I am coming and combining it with our family vacation so we will all be there. I’m looking forward to spending some time with my family and seeing my author friends, old and new. It’s going to be exciting. When I was shopping for conference clothes last year, I found a black and white colorblock dress on the clearance rack and I bought it, thinking that I might need it sometime. It turned out that now was the time!

That’s awesome! I love those little serendipity moments in life. If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

I don’t usually do nature, but… I like those Spanish moss trees in Savannah with all of the moss hanging from them. Those trees have always fascinated me.

What did you do/think when you got “the call” on March 26th?

I was ready to hunker down and see who made it in the Inspirational category. I had put in two entries to help keep the category open. However, I had also personally asked a number of people to enter to help the category stay open since it had been cancelled last year. I wanted to see which one of them would be nominated. I saw a FB friend had been nominated in Romantic Suspense and I was in the middle of sending her congrats, when my phone rang with a strange area code. I thought, “That can’t be for me.” But it was on my phone! I was shocked because my Ruby has been around the block more than a couple of times. I didn’t think that story would be nominated, but it was!

Congratulations! What are you currently working on?

I am preparing my novel The Preacher’s Promise for self-publication at the end of July. The prequel novella, The Lawyer’s Luck will be published on July 1.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond Carrie!

Thanks for stopping by, Piper!

You can find Piper online at:

Twitter: @writerpiper
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/piperghuguley
Blog: http://piperhuguley.com

18 thoughts on “Spotlight Thursday: Piper Huguley”

  1. Piper, I’m so thrilled you entered GH and kept the category open. Looking forward to reading Ruby and meeting you and Carrie in July!~Jillian

    2. Thank you for your kind words Jillian. I hope Ruby will be available for you to read too one day! Thank you for stopping by! RWA will be a lot of fun!

  2. Can’t wait to read your books, Piper! Best of luck with the Golden Heart!

  3. Enjoyed learning more about you, your books, and your influences, Piper. We’re not buying size fourteens at my house yet, but we’re close! So excited for you that your books are about to be out in the world. Congratulations on your nomination and on venturing into publishing!

    1. Thanks Amy. There’s no way to stop feet from growing I suppose! I’m trying to get these books out to pay for shoes, so I appreciate you kind words about them, lol! Thank you for stopping by!

  5. Hello, Piper. Congrats again on all your success. I am crossing my fingers for you in the Golden Heart. Quite an accomplishment to get nods two years in a row. I can’t wait to purchase your book and say I knew you when.

  6. Piper, I’m counting the days to your release of The Preacher’s Promise. The Great Migration isn’t an era I’ve studied, at least beyond the survey glimpse in History class. I tend to savor books that give me a peek into something undiscovered on my end, especially if it’s historical. Plus, I already love your character Amanda. 🙂 You named a couple of my favorite writers above, especially Philippa Gregory. I read The Constant Princess just before my first visit to Hampton Court, and her writing seriously brought the place alive for me!

    Thanks for sharing a bit of yourself with us, and happy Golden Heart! 🙂

    1. Hey Marni! I wrote The Preachers Promise when people told me my 20 thc series about The Great Migration wouldn’t sell. So I was forced to step back in time a bit. I didn’t mind it though. There’s a lot of story to discover in the Reconstruction era, and that will be my self published series. I’m still shopping the other series to agents/editors, hoping someone will bite. We’ll see. Thank you for stopping by!

  7. Piper, I love that we’re concerned with keeping the category alive for you and others AND ended up finalling. Maybe it was a combo of good karma and great writing. 😉 That dress sounds gorgeous, and I can’t wait to meet you in SA. Thanks for letting us get to know you better. 🙂

    1. Shelly,

      I mean it when I say I was very surprised when I finalled. Ruby has been all around for some time, and I just knew that it was too familiar from too many contests, etc to get a nod! I’m glad I was wrong. I appreciate your comments about my dress. It will be fun to show them off to each other! Thank you for stopping by!

  8. Thanks for sharing, and also for letting us know more about the history behind your stories (not just the history) – I actually didn’t know about the five sisters, and the time span, very cool. And hey, I think I may see you tomorrow in NO!

    And Carrie – good interview and fantastic idea! Well done Ladies!

    1. Hey Denny! Send me a DM about tomorrow! I appreciate all of your support and I’m so glad you stopped by to make a comment.

      Carrie–thank you so much for your generosity in hosting me on your blog!

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