Hallee Bridgeman’s Interview

All right, here it is! My interview with Ms. Bridgeman.

1)      Where did the ideas for the Anthology come from?

I only had an idea of a book about a young woman who had to work two jobs to help support her younger sisters.  It wasn’t until I actually started writing that the stories themselves emerged.

2)      Why did you choose stones like a sapphire, emerald, or even a ruby as titles for your novels?

I intentionally sought out the stones that matched the lead character’s eyes.  For instance, Robin, in Sapphire Ice, has bright blue eyes; Maxine, in Emerald Fire, has vivid green eyes; and Sarah, in Topaz Heat, has light-brown eyes. The men in their lives each gave them some form of jewelry that “matched their eyes”.

When I wrote Greater Than Rubies, it was about Robin’s marriage to Tony.  Because I’d already titled a book from her eye color, I went ahead and titled it after the Bible verse, Proverbs 31:10: Who can find a virtuous woman? For her worth is far greater than rubies.  I worked a ruby necklace into the storyline so that I would have a reason to title it that way.

3)      After reading your jewel anthology, I’m guessing you like your leading men to be tall and have Italian accents or be former football players? Have you ever had a leading man that was under six feet tall? Didn’t play football? Or didn’t have a European accent?

Actually, Tony is the only character I’ve ever written who has an Italian accent.  Barry is an ex-football player who is huge by anyone’s standards, but Derrick is short, under 6 feet (or right at it) and has what used to be a South Boston accent that was perfected over the course of hours with a personal trainer to remove the accent.

In A Melody for James, James is a southern boy from Atlanta, Georgia.  In An Aria for Nick, Nick is a Special Forces soldier turned secret agent from southern Georgia.  In A Carol for Kent, Bobby Kent is a Virginia horse farm boy turned country music sensation. None of those men are football players or Italian.

From my perspective of being a woman who is 5’11”, with the shortest man in my family being 6’4”, any man who is under 6 feet tall is short to me.  It’s likely that if all of my leading men aren’t over 6 feet, they’re going to be right at it.

4)      All three of your leading ladies have different personalities. Robin’s independent and, Maxine’s feisty, and Sarah’s stubborn How did you manage to not get their personalities mixed up?  

My characters are real in my head.  I can hear them, see them, know them.  They’re completely different.  I don’t just plug a new name into “female lead” and have everything else be the same.

In a series of books I wrote about triplet brothers, I worried that their characters wouldn’t be distinguishable from one another because they had kind of similar personalities and were raised in the same environment.  However, the end results were three completely different men.  I was pleased.

5)       You write romance novels with realistic situations. The characters go through situations and experience emotions that a real person would go through in a lifetime. Why’d you choose that particular genre of romance?

I have always written “real” characters.  I believe that is a hole in the Christian fiction market.  It is certainly something that fans of my writing say – that it’s hard to find real characters in real situations. I didn’t “set out” to write that way – it’s just the way I write.  I do believe that the Holy Spirit is leading my writing, and that I write what He wants how He wants it.  If a conversation is likely not to happen in real life, I probably won’t write it.  I like my characters to react the way a real person would – good or bad.  And, my characters are far from perfect – they react badly often.  It’s how they’re redeemed in the end that makes it realistic and inspirational.

6)      Who was your favorite/least favorite character to write about and why?

I did not like Sarah in Topaz Heat so much that I stopped writing the book, wiped everything clean, and started again.  The end result was the exact same character.  I apparently had no control over her. Nick Williams in An Aria for Nick is, by far, my absolute favorite character I’ve ever written. I have always loved the “tortured hero” character anyway.  Added to that, my father and husband are both Special Forces soldiers, and I pulled from their personalities to weave together the traits of Nick Williams.  He was a joy to get to know.

7)      Anything new to look forward to from you in the near future?

I will be releasing A Carol for Kent, book 3 in the Song of Suspense Series, in April.  Right after that release, I will start releasing a 7-part serial novella series about female spies in World War II called the Virtues and Valor series.

 Thank you for taking the time to let me interview you, Ms. Hallee. By the way, want to know something else about Ms. Bridgeman? She doesn't just write fiction. No, she writes cookbooks as well. By the way, don't the titles look familiar? 

      

Here's a link to Ms. Bridgeman's website. Be sure to check it out and check out a couple of the other books she's written. http://www.bridgemanfamily.com/hallee/love-is/