#Ipic houston how to

We can really feel the motion of a life moving toward a resolution. Maybe it’s because I’m older than I used to be and I’ve seen more of life now.ĬM: Maybe it's all that bouncing back that lends such a sense of energy in your writing. All my books are bittersweet in their ways, but I agree this book has some bigger issues. As terrible as the human race can be, that’s one of our best qualities-and I adore seeing people at their best. I talk about this with my kids a lot-that life is going to knock you down over and over, and the trick is not to cower, but to get good at getting back up. I am really interested in the ways that people bounce back. What drew you to dealing with bigger issues for this novel? Libby has more on her plate, though, than any of the others. Complex, quirky, funny, slightly flawed women rule your novels. It’s rich territory, for sure-and my books are richer for it.ĬM: I love your Lone Star heroines too. There’s something so comforting and heartbreaking about holding onto those connections. It’s been up there since the 1950s, and she didn’t even know. My mom lives in the house her dad built in 1939, for example, and she just found a trunk up in the attic filled with every letter she’d ever written to her mother. I love driving past my grandfather’s old building materials company-which sits on the site of the old family grocery store… We are a big, close, loving family, and I love the way those roots connect us.

KC: My family’s been in Houston since the 1860s, and I love that. As a writer, what are the joys and challenges about writing about your home turf? There’s a scene in the book where a character squirts milk straight from the goat and tries to get it in a kid’s mouth across the barn -and he really did that with my daughter! He had great aim, too.ĬM: Texas features heavily in you work, and for good reason, there's such a sense of place here.

#Ipic houston how to

We did! Christian showed us how to milk a goat-and it’s not as easy as you’d think! Did you milk a goat in the research process? I felt as if I was breathing in country air while reading. CM: That's so interesting that you mention the wind.