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1. What top 5 books do you currently have on your TBR pile?
I recently read Making Faces by Amy Harmon, and ALL of her books are now on my TBR pile.

2. If you could travel anywhere in the world for book research (expense covered for you by an anonymous donor), where would you go and why?
I would go to England! I've been dreaming of traveling there ever since I wrote my first book. To see the places I wrote about and to be inspired by new places would be so much fun. Ireland is another place I've always wanted to go to. I think it could definitely spark some book ideas. 

3. If you could go to tea from one of your characters from A Convenient Engagement, who would it be and why?
I would have to choose Aunt Margaret. She is my heroine's aunt that travels to Brighton with her. She was such a fun character to get to know. She's spunky, funny, and really kind-hearted. 

4. What inspired the idea for A Convenient Engagement?
I was researching online and came across a strange practice that took place in Brighton. The waters were believed to hold a cure for certain ailments. The town employed 'dippers,' people that would stand out in the ocean and repeatedly dunk visitors under the water to 'heal' them. I thought it was so interesting! In the book, one of the characters is drawn to Brighton with hopes of being healed by the waters. The rest of the story developed from that initial idea. 

5. What did you as an author take away from writing A Convenient Engagement?
My books always carry a similar theme: Love conquers all. This story taught me a lot about friendship and courage as well. 

6. What is your current WIP?  What can you share with us about it?
I'm working on the second book in my Brides of Brighton series. You will see characters from A Convenient Engagement, but each story in the series will stand alone. Book 2 is titled Marrying Miss Milton and will release at the end of November!

Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes historical and contemporary romance novels with grace, humor, and culture clashes. She’s a Blue Ridge Mountain native and an anglophile who enjoys combining her two loves to create memorable stories of hope. Pepper is also a mom of five, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of Jesus and chocolate. She resides in Asheville, North Carolina with her family.

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1. What top 5 books do you currently have on your TBR pile?
It’s been VERY tough to read since the beginning of the school year starting in August, so I have the SAME books on my TBR pile that I’ve had for a few months. A Name Unknown by Roseanna White, Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood, The Lacemaker by Laura Frantz, The Last Castle by Denise Keirnan, and The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller.
 
2. If you could travel anywhere in the world for book research (expense covered for you by an anonymous donor), where would you go and why?
Always the UK! I have this fascination and heart-love for that part of the world, AND since I love placing my books there, I’d love to stay for a while and really absorb the culture.
 
3. What inspired the idea for When You Look at Me?
I wondered what it would take, what sort of love, to help a broken woman heal. And as I brainstormed the possibilities, the whole idea of including two introverts who connect and communicate through music came to mind. Hopefully that will come across. 😊
 
4. What did you as an author take away from writing When you look at Me?
I love this question! It seems that God always has me writing books at just the time I need to learn something myself. This book is about being brave and stepping out into your dreams. There are some transitions going on in our family right now, and in my writing world, so it’s been a reminder that God dreams bigger for us than we can dream on our own – that His love is MASSIVE and POURED out on us – so we can trust His plan for our lives. His dreams for us.
 
5. What did your writing process for When You Look at Me look like?
Frantic? 😊 I write out of order so my process is kind of wonky. I had a few scenes in the middle written before I even had chapter two – and…it’s really important (as weird as it sounds) for me to write the kissing scene pretty early on in the process to know that ‘connection’ between them.
 
6. What is your current WIP?  What can you tell us about it?
I’m diving into a wonderful novella that takes place in 1913 Asheville, NC, particularly the Biltmore Estate. It’s an upstairs-downstairs romance with a little Cinderella-touch. ​

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​1. Who or what inspired you to become an author?
I’ve always been a writer. It has just always been something I do. From my first short story at the age of 7, I’ve been writing stories. But it was my friend Kelly Blewett who convinced me I could be an author. We were co-workers about ten years ago, and one day I told her about this story idea I had. But then I said, “I’ll never finish it.” She said, “Yes, you will.” And so she proceeded to ask me every day if I’d written the night before. I got tired of telling her that I hadn’t, so I set up a calendar and set about writing my book. I finished that book in three months, and it became my first published novel, The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn, in 2009. I was so gratefully for Kelly’s support and help that I featured her puppy Henry in the book, and I’ll be forever grateful for her encouragement.

2. What top 5 books do you currently have on your TBR pile?
I want to read all the books! It’s so hard to narrow it down to only five, but the ones I’m most excited to pick up are:
The Story of With by Allen Arnold – A book about learning to create with the Creator
Sons of Blackbird Mountain by Joanne Bischoff – Because Joanne.
More Than Meets the Eye by Karen Witemeyer – Because I love her books. They’re so fun yet filled with deep truths.
Once Upon a Laugh – This might be cheating because there are 8 novellas in this contemporary rom com collection, but with so many great authors like Pepper Basham, Jessica Patch, and Betsy St. Amant, how could I not love it?
Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson – I’ve heard wonderful things about this general market contemporary romance novel, so I’m so excited to get to dive into it.
 
3. What inspired the idea for A Sparkle of Silver?
A trip to Hearst Castle with my dad in 2010. It was his idea to tour the grand estate, but when we got there, my writer brain ate it up. It was such a fascinating place, and I immediately dreamed up an idea about a woman who played one of the period actors at a similar house.

4. What did you as an author take away from writing A Sparkle of Silver?
Every book I write is a reminder to myself that God is with me. I’d never get through a whole book without Him lifting me up and carrying me through, and He is so faithful. If I ever doubt, I need only look back at my writing seasons and to see that He is with me.

5. What is your current WIP?  What can you tell us about it?
I just finished writing A Glitter of Gold, book two in the Georgia Coast Romance series. It’ll release sometime next summer—probably August—and involves a shipwreck, a two hundred and fifty year old journal, and a woman who gives pirate tours in Savannah for a living. I adored writing it, especially the journal sections set in 1759, and soon I’ll get to work on the editing phases.

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1. What do you like to snack on when you write?
You mean what do I really want to snack on or what do I grab instead that I know is healthier? *grin* What I really like is caramel M&Ms. What I usually eat is nuts or string cheese.

2. What book have you read recently?  Would you recommend it?
I’m currently in the middle of the newest book in Tamara Leigh’s Age of Faith series. I would recommend all of her books. She has an expressive way with words and plots that keep you flipping pages. And who doesn’t love knights, ladies, and castles?

3. What did the writing process for Eternity Between Us look like?
This book ended up taking much longer than my books usually do, and I found myself not really knowing what the core of my heroine’s issues were until *gasp* I was doing final edits. That was pretty stressful. I’ve never done that much of a rewrite (deleting scenes and reworking others) so close to publication, but I think the story is stronger for it.

I started playing with the idea of this book back in April of 2017. I finished writing it that November. Then it got put aside as I finished up the two novellas I was trying to get out, and after a string of other little difficulties, was finally ready to turn in at the end of September. I’m thankful I had what I thought was a lot of extra time built into this schedule, because I ended up needing every day of it.

4. What inspired the idea for Eternity Between Us?
This story is heavily inspired by the first-hand Civil War accounts of Belle Boyd, Rose O’Neal Greenhow, and Louisa May Alcott. I took their tales and personal opinions and weaved them into my plot, drawing inspiration from the lives of women who lived in that era.

5. What did you as an author take away from writing Eternity Between Us?
Every book I feel like I learn something, and somehow, end up working through some of my own hang-ups in the process. In this book Evelyn really struggles with feeling like she doesn’t belong and goes lengths for people to like her. As I’ve often struggled with feeling out of place myself, I had to take the journey right along with her. But isn’t God great in that he uses the circumstances of our lives, or even made up characters, to teach us to continually rely on him more?

6. What is your current WIP?  What can you tell us about it?
I currently have two projects underway. The first is the third book in my Ironwood series, featuring the daughters of the two main characters in The Whistle Walk. The second is a turn of the century story set at a horse farm in Mississippi.