Amy Willoughby-Burle
Ruby Foster loves her job as a Pack Horse librarian, but secretly she dreams of being a nurse. Since there are no schools for nursing in the hills of rural Kentucky in 1937, Ruby contents herself with harvesting medicinal plants, delivering her beloved library books, and dreaming. Dreaming mostly of a life that doesn’t leave her living in the past. Until one day she discovers that “past” camped out by the Hell for Certain creek. Could it really be Cole, the one who left her heartbroken so many years ago? Just when she starts to believe in her dreams and hope for love again, Cole reveals his true colors. Or is the truth she sees only another illusion?
I agree wholeheartedly. Amy's writing is full of hope, promise and love. To read how her characters relate to each other is a balm for the soul. In today's world we need to remember that this is the way we are supposed to be.
Amy, tell me about where you live and why you love it so much.
I live in Candler, NC. I grew up in Kure Beach and have moved a number of places before settling here. I love the mountains. I enjoy being in Candler because it’s just a hop, skip, and jump from Asheville and all the activities and great food you can find there, but it’s also got a very removed and country feel to it (at least at my house) that I enjoy. Amy, tell me about where you live and why you love it so much.
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| The mountains surrounding Candler |
I’m a small town girl at heart and Candler suits me well. I can also have chickens here, which is very important. :-)
Where were you living when you were 7 years old? Are they fond memories?
In Kure Beach, NC. There are so many fond memories I can’t even begin to list them.
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| Kure Beach |
It was a charmed place to grow up. I could hear the ocean out my window! It was a tourist town, but a small cozy one. All the locals knew and looked out for each other.
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| Amy with her twin brother and sister. |
It was a ride your bike all over town without fear or worry kind of town.
Is there a book that changed the way you look at life?
I think I’m prone to find little life changing nuggets in most of the books I read. There’s not one book that stands out to me. I think the books we need are put in our path at the time we need them for the reason we need them. I’m still finding nuggets in books I read today.
Do you have a favorite children’s book and what about it makes it so?
The Velveteen Rabbit, hands down.
I loved my stuffed animals until they were threadbare. I still have my two most beloved ones from childhood in my room today. I believed that my stuffed animals had full lives, that they became real just like in the book. As a child that book validated me in many ways; it told me that it was ok to be your real self. I might not really have “gotten” the message like I would reading now, but I understood that love takes time, that it’s not always easy, but that love is what makes you real. Love is what’s important–not being new or fancy or pretty–just being loved.
What are the funniest or most embarrassing stories your family tells about you?
My aunt and uncle loved to tell the story of me being so surprised when I helped them in their vegetable garden that potatoes grew in the dirt. Such a “city kid” I must have been to not know that.
My aunt and uncle loved to tell the story of me being so surprised when I helped them in their vegetable garden that potatoes grew in the dirt. Such a “city kid” I must have been to not know that.
We met at Wildacres Writers Workshop in our early twenties. We fell in love that week, but didn’t actually see or talk to each other for another whole year until we both went back to the workshop the next year. We fell in love again that week also, but we kept in touch writing actually, through the mail, letters for a year until yet again we met up at the workshop and decided to make things more official and become a couple. So I don’t know that we ever had a “first date” just weeks of falling in love until we decided to stay in each other’s lives forever.
Is there a song, person or group that you listen to when you are feeling a bit down?
When I need to redirect my brain from my own thoughts I generally turn on an audiobook. If I’m turning to an audiobook to cheer me up I make sure it’s a happily ever after sort of thing. Even though the happy comes at the end sometimes, I know it’s coming and that makes the difference.
How are you different now than you were in your 20’s?
I’m far less certain that I know it all! I’ve had more things go wrong, go off my internal script, not end up like I wanted to that I’m more at peace with life taking a path I didn’t see coming. I’m happier. I’m FAR more at ease with my own self than I was in my 20s. Especially as a woman, I see now that my self worth is not wrapped up in my age, my size, my appearance. I see that I’m not in competition with other women. At 52 I know that what I have to offer the world is found in my heart, my creativity, and my intelligence and that as women we’re here to support and validate each other. I wish for all 20 something women that if they don’t already know these things that they will see it sooner rather than later.
Is there a question no one has ever asked you that you wish they would? Something, perhaps, that people would be surprised to know about you?
This is a hard one for an introvert to answer and I actually have saved this one for last because introverts would rather you didn't ask us questions. LOL. Not that we don't actually want to share ourselves with others but to imagine what exactly we'd like people to know is a hard thing. Or perhaps it's that I've been asked so many questions between being a writer and a teacher that I just can't think of one I haven't been asked. I'll answer anything, but I'm stumped on what I'd like people to ask. If pressed... no one asks me about my chickens. And I love my chickens. I've become one of those chicken ladies you see on Instagram. I just finished building two playpens for my chickens to play in so that they can be outside their regular coop, but also safe from hawks. I check on them every night before bed and pray for their safety and comfort. See... crazy chicken lady. (Yes, they all have names.)
Your book takes place in 1937 Appalachia Kentucky. The "Hell for Certain" creek is brought up many times. Tell me about that.
It didn't take long upon researching the Pack Horse Librarians that I noticed there was already a story being told about the ladies along Cut Shin Creek and also Troublesome Creek-great names right? But then I discovered the best creek of all... the Hell for Certain and no one seemed to have chosen that one to write about. Of course, these are all actual creeks in the area of Kentucky where the real Pack Horse librarians served. 
Once I settled on this creek, the story started to fall into place--especially with the character of Daniel Barrett (introduced in Book 1) who thinks of himself as akin to the devil. Of course he's not--he's just not able to forgive himself some past mistakes. And of course, then I discovered that there is a section along the Hell for Certain called Devil's Jump Branch and I was hooked!
Once I settled on this creek, the story started to fall into place--especially with the character of Daniel Barrett (introduced in Book 1) who thinks of himself as akin to the devil. Of course he's not--he's just not able to forgive himself some past mistakes. And of course, then I discovered that there is a section along the Hell for Certain called Devil's Jump Branch and I was hooked!
You mention in the book that Cole, one of your main characters, feels that 12, 13 and 14 are the best years of his life. Do you also feel that way?
I think all the "times" of our lives are the best time. Even when they're difficult. I loved my high school years, my college years, 20s, 30s, etc., and I loved my childhood years as well. I've never been one to lament any timeframe or wish I was back in a certain time. All the ages are important. I think that statement that my character makes is really about those ages being the ones where you're starting to become YOU. You're learning more about the world and yourself and feeling those first tastes of freedom as you're allowed (or at least in my time) to roam free a bit. You're learning more about life and language and testing out your burgeoning personalities. AND your body is changing, you're starting to see people in different ways, you think about what it might be like to hold someone's hand or oh my goodness, kiss them! Those are ages of big change!
How do you feel about “Independent Bookstores” and their role in your success?
If I’ve had any success at all it’s been because independent bookstores championed my work. They have been of the utmost importance. Most of my books, probably all, were written at least in part sitting in the cafe at Malaprop’s in Asheville.
And in a short essay…………………………
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME
to any period from before recorded history to yesterday,
be safe from harm, be rich, poor or in-between, if appropriate to your choice, actually experience what it was like to live in that time, anywhere at all, meet anyone, if you desire, speak with them, listen to them, be with them.
I think there might be a temptation to say that I’d go back to a time before someone I loved passed away or to a time before I made a mistake that haunts me still. I’ve thought about those moments and what would I do differently, but when it’s all said and done, however painful those things are, I wouldn’t choose to go back in time within my own life to fix something or get one more moment with someone because everything that has happened has happened for the hopeful betterment of myself. I hope the mistake has taught me lessons that I learn from and that the losses have taught me to make the most of everyday. So I’ll answer this question in total fantasy and of course since I’m writing historical fiction I have to say…
When would you go?
1937
Where would you go?
Leslie County Kentucky. Yes, just like in my novel.
Who would you want to meet?
The real Packhorse librarians and the frontier nurses and the everyday people who lived in the area.
And most importantly, why do you think you chose this time?
As much as research can tell you, actually living a thing is so much better. I would want to know what it was really like to live during the depression in a small already depressed area. I would want to know where I got it right and where I got it wrong. I would want to live like the everyday person did at that time and in that place. It was a hard time to be in an already hard place to live. No work, not enough food, houses covered with newspaper on the inside to keep themselves warm(er). In that area they didn’t always have electricity or running water but it’s hope and family and friends that keep a spirit alive and I would want to see how they kept up their spirits and lived and loved no matter their circumstances. And since this is total fantasy of course my characters would actually be there. I would LOVE to meet Daniel and Mattie, Cole and Ruby. All the children! I want to shop at Gibbons Grocery. I want to visit the library and run the old printing press at the Certain Phoenix. I want to run into Claire on the street and see if she’s really as snooty as she pretends to be. I want to hear Liam and Zach play in their band along with Daniel on his fiddle. And I really really want to ride along the Hell for Certain Creek and help deliver some books!
If I’ve had any success at all it’s been because independent bookstores championed my work. They have been of the utmost importance. Most of my books, probably all, were written at least in part sitting in the cafe at Malaprop’s in Asheville.
And in a short essay…………………………
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME
to any period from before recorded history to yesterday,
be safe from harm, be rich, poor or in-between, if appropriate to your choice, actually experience what it was like to live in that time, anywhere at all, meet anyone, if you desire, speak with them, listen to them, be with them.
I think there might be a temptation to say that I’d go back to a time before someone I loved passed away or to a time before I made a mistake that haunts me still. I’ve thought about those moments and what would I do differently, but when it’s all said and done, however painful those things are, I wouldn’t choose to go back in time within my own life to fix something or get one more moment with someone because everything that has happened has happened for the hopeful betterment of myself. I hope the mistake has taught me lessons that I learn from and that the losses have taught me to make the most of everyday. So I’ll answer this question in total fantasy and of course since I’m writing historical fiction I have to say…
When would you go?
1937
Where would you go?
Leslie County Kentucky. Yes, just like in my novel.
Who would you want to meet?
The real Packhorse librarians and the frontier nurses and the everyday people who lived in the area.
And all my characters who would certainly be there, too!
As much as research can tell you, actually living a thing is so much better. I would want to know what it was really like to live during the depression in a small already depressed area. I would want to know where I got it right and where I got it wrong. I would want to live like the everyday person did at that time and in that place. It was a hard time to be in an already hard place to live. No work, not enough food, houses covered with newspaper on the inside to keep themselves warm(er). In that area they didn’t always have electricity or running water but it’s hope and family and friends that keep a spirit alive and I would want to see how they kept up their spirits and lived and loved no matter their circumstances. And since this is total fantasy of course my characters would actually be there. I would LOVE to meet Daniel and Mattie, Cole and Ruby. All the children! I want to shop at Gibbons Grocery. I want to visit the library and run the old printing press at the Certain Phoenix. I want to run into Claire on the street and see if she’s really as snooty as she pretends to be. I want to hear Liam and Zach play in their band along with Daniel on his fiddle. And I really really want to ride along the Hell for Certain Creek and help deliver some books!
Thank you so much, Amy. Other than being a great writer, I love that you kept your maiden name of Willoughby. We must be related! And thank you to the brilliant Man Martin for his illustrations!
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