Sarah Loudin Thomas
Sarah, tell us about your newest book, These Blue Mountains.
While researching the flood of 1916 in western North Carolina for another novel—These Tangled Threads—I came across information about a German POW camp in Hot Springs, NC. German sailors who were in US waters when war was declared were sent to North Carolina for the duration of the war. While there, they built an amazing Bavarian village almost entirely from flood debris. While digging into the history of that camp, I discovered a story about a German woman whose brother was taken prisoner and then disappeared and was presumed dead. Fifteen years later she saw his name on a cross in a photograph of a monument to German sailors who died at the camp in Hot Springs. Finally, she learned what happened to her brother. That was too astonishing a story to pass up! So, I made the brother a fiancé and sent my fictional Hedda Schlagel to America in the 1930s to try and recover the body of her long-lost love. The catch is that when they disinter her fiancé Fritz’s casket . . . he’s not in it. There’s a woman’s remains there instead. Now Hedda has TWO mysteries to solve.
Now, tell us about where you live and why you love it so much.
Hmmm, I spend a lot of time living in my imagination! In reality, though, I live in Appalachia. Currently in western North Carolina but HOME is and always will be a farm in north central West Virginia that's been in my family since before the Civil War. Which, I think, has a lot to do with why I love it so much. My roots run DEEP in these gorgeous mountains.
Where were you living when you were 7 years old? Are they fond memories?
This, of course, takes me to that family farm--100 acres of room to roam surrounded by family that loved me. Yeah. Very fond memories! Plus, I was reading by the time I was seven so if I wanted to go somewhere else, all I had to do was open a book.
Is there a book that changed the way you look at life?
Farming: A Handbook by Wendell Berry.
I discovered this book on my Dad's shelf (along with Louis L'Amour and Alfred Hitchcock's short story collections). I nearly passed it by since we lived on a farm and I assumed it was some sort of manual. But no, it's poetry! I love every poem in that book but the one that captured my teenage mind was "The Contrariness of the Mad Farmer." I fell in love with the way words can capture a feeling that's bigger than the letters on the page. Look that poem up and read it. If your heart doesn't swell in your chest and your mind doesn't expand then I don't know what to tell you . . .
Do you have a favorite children’s book and what about it makes it so?
Only one? I'll go with Heidi.
That's the one Mom read to me again and again. I was a voracious reader but Heidi was the book I wanted to have read aloud to me while I curled into Mom's side with her arm warm around me. I begged to sleep in the barn on a bed of sweet hay and eat toasted cheese. Still sounds pretty good to me.
Is there a song, person, or group that you listen to when you are feeling a bit down?
Glenn Yarborough. "The Honey Wind Blows" is a wonderfully bittersweet song that's the perfect soundtrack for hope and longing. It also carries me back to that happy childhood I was blessed to have. Dad once said I was probably conceived to Glenn Yarborough. TMI but hey, it could explain why I like his music so much.
https://youtu.be/ZR3N1AndwUk
How are you different now than you were in your 20’s?
I'm less of a self-absorbed idiot. I hope.
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?
I can parallel park like nobody's business! It's my secret skill. I once read the instructions for parallel parking, followed them, and found that I was a natural. The only stressful bit is when I'm on a busy street and worry that the car behind me won't stop and leave me room to scoot into the parking spot.
We all have or can point to a certain experience that shifted our lives in a way that led to where we are today. It could be a person you encountered or you were in a certain place or you had a certain experience or all three, but it was so pivotal that you can say that because of this experience, I am where I am today as a writer or in a greater sense as the person I am now.
My turning point was when I went into anaphylactic shock from a yellowjacket sting when I was 30. I'd always considered myself a person of faith, but I hadn't really considered what would happen when I died. That experience pushed me to think about what I really believed and while I would have claimed to be a Christian before then, those dark days were when I truly came to faith. And now my stories carry that thread of belief. I hope no one ever reads one of my books and feels preached at, but I also hope there's a sense of something greater that shines through.
How did you and your husband Jim first meet?
It was a Friday night in Conway, SC, in 1996. I was writing poetry at the bar at a local restaurant when Jim and his buddy Hamp came in after a football game was rained out. His friend made conversation with me and Jim joined in. Eventually, Hamp left while Jim and I talked and talked. He offered to drive me the four blocks home. I abandoned my bicycle behind the restaurant so he could. As we parted, he said, "It was nice talking to you, I hope I see you again."That was it. He didn't ask for my number or suggest a future meeting. So, not wanting to appear TOO eager, I waited until the restaurant had been open a full five minutes before I turned back up there the next afternoon. Jim was waiting.
Six months to the day later, the chef/owner, who was a notary, married us in front of the jukebox. Then we had a church wedding the following weekend with our families. And here we are, nearly thirty years later!
Every time someone buys one of my books it feels like a random act of kindness! I still can't get over the wonder of having readers and yes, even fans. Every time someone leaves a review or asks me to sign a book it's an incredible gift of encouragement for me to keep writing.
What would you say is the biggest joy and hardest challenge in your life?
My biggest joy is smiling. I joke that it's my spiritual gift. I've always had a big smile and I love to deploy it at the grocery store, while waiting at a stoplight, when walking down the street. It's marvelous the way people smile back. And I think most of us can use an extra smile at any given moment.
My hardest challenge is being a people-pleaser. All too often I fret over what people think, if I've met their expectations, etc. I'm an enneagram 3 which is the achiever. But I also score pretty high as a 2 which is the people-pleasing helper. So, basically, I want to be the most successful person in the room without upsetting anyone. You can likely see why this is problematic.
How do you feel about “Independent Bookstores” and their role in your success?
I adore independent bookstores! There are several that have been wonderful friends to me here in NC--Sassafras on Sutton, Thornwell Books, and Page 158 Books to name a few. Oh, and Litchfield Books in South Carolina! Indie stores have been key to increasing awareness, connecting me with readers, and just generally being caring, supportive book cheerleaders. Thank you each and every one!
AND FINALLY, 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.
When would you go?
Where would you go?
Who would you want to meet? And most importantly, why do you think you chose this time?
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| Sarah and her dad. |
I have a photograph of my dad's dog Tip that was one of his prized possessions. Tip only had three legs because one was cut off in a farm accident. That dog was Dad's best friend and greatest confidant. He told a story about how he once sat with Tip and cried and Tip cried, too. Actual tears running down a dog's snout. It was obvious that Dad felt as though a dog understood and sympathized with him more than any person did.
I want to go back in time to find that boy and his dog. I want to sit with them and learn what it was that made my dad cry. I wish I'd asked him while he was still living but it's one of those questions I didn't think of until too late. I want to pet Tip and comfort Dad.
I want to know him better and to understand what shaped him into the man I loved so much. My stories are grounded in the stories I heard Dad tell over and over again throughout my life. Knowing what his stories are grounded in would be such a gift.
And then . . . since the time period is likely right, I'd hop over to Paris to stroll through the open-air food markets with Julia Child before heading back to her apartment to help her make supper for Paul. I don't really have anything specific I'd like to talk to her about, I just think it would be the most delicious fun (literally and figuratively!).
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