Karen Hawkins is the author of the new novel The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams. It's part of her Dove Pond series. She lives in New England.
Q: What inspired you to write The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams, and how did you create your character Tay?
A: I've always wanted to do a modern mystery with clues set from another time. And the Dove Pond series, because of its historical grounding, is uniquely situated to make that happen.
When I first began this series, I wrote character descriptions of all the sisters and so I've known for a while now that Tay is the shy academic. I love that personality because, as a lifelong learner and a huge reader, I identify with her quite a bit.
Q: Do you recommend reading the series in order?
A: I purposefully wrote them so you could read them in any order. I don't believe it matters and many readers have mentioned that, too.
Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?
A: I always, always know how my novels will end before I start writing them. What I don't know is exactly how the story is going to get there. I give myself permission to re-evaluate the trajectory/plot at every chapter so that I don't miss an opportunity to grow the story in an organic way.
As the author, I naturally have some control over the characters, but as I put those characters into certain situations, I sometimes learn things about them that could change how they react or behave in future chapters, so I feel being flexible as an author is important.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?
A: That being a part of a community, a family, a friendship, or a relationship can be an amazingly wonderful thing if you surround yourself with healthy and positive people.
Q: What are you working on now? Will there be more novels in the series?
A: There are two more books to the Dove Pond series, one about Cara, and the final one about the broken relationship between the two oldest sisters, Madison and Alex. In the next books, we see Cara return to Dove Pond when her high-end matchmaking business is compromised by a hacker with a very unusual agenda.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: There's more to come! I also plan on writing some Dove Pond novellas featuring Doyle Cloyd, an aged but romantic ghost with a rather ironic sense of humor.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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