Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Picking Daisy by Kimberly Miller

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Daisy Parker isn’t the woman that rock star Robby Grant would have imagined himself falling for. She’s soft-spoken, sweet, and lives by a strange code the struggling musician is recognizing as Biblical. And he’s helpless against it. Even if Daisy is hard-pressed to believe that a man like Robby would see her—a woman long forgotten by the rest of the world—as anything more than a step back to his career. But Robby challenges Daisy in ways she’d long avoided. With their mutual love of music, it seems nothing can separate them—not Daisy’s wheelchair or Robby’s ego. As Robby grows into the man he’s long dreamed of being, Daisy dares to trust again. But will this sweet melody last?

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An Interview with the Author

Kimberly, what do you love about this book?
I love that Daisy and Robby are interesting and (I hope) believable characters. I also love that I’m able to use this medium to stretch people in their perceptions of beauty and the way we often treat each other.

Share two or three things you learned either personally, publishing-wise, or about your topic while writing this book.
Although I already understood that research was so important to the success of a novel, I definitely saw that in practice with this piece. I interviewed a friend numerous times regarding her experience with being in a wheelchair—in terms of relationships and just day to day frustrations. It was beyond helpful. And the greatest compliment I got so far on the novel was when she read it and said ‘that’s what it’s like’ and pointed to a passage from the book.

Introduce us to your sweetest character.
Daisy is by far the sweetest character, but she isn’t a pushover either. While she sees the best in people and wants to help others, she also sees Robby as a human being rather than a celebrity. This is important for his growth as well as hers.

What are you reading now?
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (I am a huge fan of Wonder Woman and this book has been waiting on my stack of to-be-read books for some time.)

What’s next for you?
Right now I’m back to teaching for the year so my writing will likely have to slow down as I focus on that. But I do have a contract on my second novel, Forgiving Tess, and a novella I’ve submitted. I am working on editing another novel and have had several requests already for a sequel to Picking Daisy—so I’m thinking on that too. Even when I can’t write as much, I still find I’m writing anyway.

Short excerpt from Picking Daisy
“You’ve been in love, haven’t you?” Robby accused with a wicked grin.

Daisy willed herself not to blush. “We aren’t talking about me.”

Robby leaned back in his seat and put his feet up. “With me?”

Daisy laughed easily. “No.”

Robby grimaced. “Not even before we met? What about when I was on TV? Did you love me then? I’ll bet you thought I was hot. Probably told Nick you wanted my autograph.”

Daisy ignored him as best she could while she scanned the lyrics in his notebook, finding the word love scattered like bullet holes throughout. There was little worth saving in what he’d written.
She glanced up at him, still frustrated. “I think Nick wanted me to fall in love with you, but I wasn’t interested—your life isn’t…reality. Mine is.” She pointed to the notebook. “Now, for the real problem. You don’t give yourself enough credit. You’re forgetting the man under all those tattoos, the guy with a heart and feelings and…it’s common sense that I can’t possibly fall in love with someone I didn’t know until a few days ago.”

When Robby looked at her blankly, she continued. “Love is more than physical attraction. It’s understanding someone’s heart, it’s…” her voice drifted off and she paused. “I’m willing to help you if you want.” Daisy gestured to the notebook. “These lyrics are crap. Stop worrying whether or not I was in love with you—which I was not—and worry how to fix these.”

 Robby slowly sat up straight, placing his feet on the floor as he did. “Yes, ma’am,” he muttered. “What now?”

 Daisy had broken through. She drew a deep breath. It felt so good to be in control of something again she promised herself to stay focused and not let go. She drew a line over the entire page and smiled.

“Now we start over.”

About the Author
Kimberly M. MillerKimberly Miller is a writer of novels and screenplays. She also teaches college-level writing and film courses.


When she isn't writing, you can find Kimberly reading, making jewelry, watching movies, or spending time with her family camping.

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