Ann B. Ross

 

Miss Julia Springer is a genteel southern lady who learns, in Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind that her late husband  Wesley Lloyd Springer had a long affair with Hazel Marie Puckett and fathered a son. She learns this stunning news when Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd (who is the spitting image of Wesley Lloyd) turn up on her doorstep. No proper southern lady is truly prepared for such a revelation, but Miss Julia relies on her upbringing to do the right thing. Never does she suspect that she will grow to love Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd like family -- or that the pair will truly turn her life upside down. A wonderful series ... one of my favorites.

Website: www.missjulia.com 

 

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_B._Ross

Author Interview (2-16-2006)

CL: I loved the premise of Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind – a genteel widow finding her late husband’s mistress and child at the front door. How did you come up with that scenario?

 

Ann B. Ross: I first began to hear a voice in my head, making comments that I realized were things I wished I’d said at one time or another but was too intimidated or too ‘nice’ or perhaps too strictly raised to say out loud. Then I began to ‘see’ a mental image of an older woman in a winter coat with a hat on her head, holding the hand of a little boy, walking down a sidewalk. It took me a while to realize that the comments in my head could be coming from this woman. But I had trouble determining who the little boy was. After mentally trying out grandson, neighbor’s child, distant relative, with nothing working, it suddenly struck me who he was. Where that idea came from, I still don’t know. But with that, everything else fell into place.

 

CL: If you met a person just like Miss Julia, do you think you and she could become friends? Or do you think there really could be a person like Miss Julia?

 

ABR: I would hope that a person like Miss Julia would want to be friends with me! And apparently there are many ‘Miss Julias,’ because so many readers tell me that they know someone just like her.

 

CL: On your website, you mention there is a possible pilot for a television show based on Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind. Whom would you like to see playing Miss Julia? Hazel Marie? Lillian? Sam?

 

ABR: Readers seem to enjoy casting a film or television series, but I’m hesitant to do so since I might be disappointed and also because I don’t have any influence in who is chosen to play the parts. I will say that I can see Dixie Carter as Miss Julia, as well as Sally Field or Shirley MacLaine. Hal Holbrook would make a wonderful Sam. I’m at a loss for the others.

 

CL: Are you concerned the subtle humor in your books would be transformed into something more hard-edged for television?

 

ABR: Oh, yes, but as most writers will tell you that is the chance we take. I am trusting the producers who have assured me that it was the characters that drew them to the book and they have no intention of changing them. Still, film is a different medium, so I’m trying to be prepared for the inevitable adjustments that will have to be made. Of course, there is the very real possibility that Hollywood and New York are not ready for Miss Julia and , in that case, I won’t have to worry about any of it!

 

CL: I think Little Lloyd is a peach of a character. Is he based on any of your children or grandchildren?

 

ABR: Perhaps a little here and a little there has been taken from two of my grandsons, but Little Lloyd is truly a fictional character. I wanted to create a child who is the opposite of the foul-mouthed, disrespectful characters that we see so much of in current movies and on television. And also, just for fun, to create a character who is a minature Miss Julia (which pleases her immensely).

 

CL: It seems that many of the books I truly love are set in the south, with wonderful, strong women populating them. Do you think Southern Women are inherently more interesting as characters than Yankees? (I’ve asked this of other southern writers.)

 

ABR: It has been Southern Women who have influenced me since I grew up and continue to live in the South, so it’s not surprising that I would write what I know. One of the most satisfying things that has come about from the Miss Julia books is the contact I’ve had with women from all parts of the country (and some parts of the world) who like and admire and want to emulate this fictional Southern woman. So perhaps there are no inherent differences between a woman from the South and a woman from the North.

 

CL: When you began writing about Miss Julia, did you see yourself writing seven books? To what do you attribute her longevity?

 

ABR: I absolutely did not dream of writing seven books about this one character. I was so thrilled to have even the first book published that I was floored when my publisher wanted another book, then another and another. It is still amazing to me, especially since there will be at least two more after the seven. As for her longevity, I give the credit to loyal readers who want to see what Miss Julia is up to next and who tell me that they laugh all the way through the books.

 

CL: Who are your favorite writers?

 

ABR: Goodness, that covers a lot of territory, but here goes: The writer I most admire is Geoffrey Chaucer, since he made humorous writing legitimate. Over the past century, I would list Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird) and Fitzgerald, and will also admit to admiring Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind for the psychological study of Scarlett O'Hara. But the writers that I consistently read for pleasure are John Sandford, Robert Crais, T. Jefferson Parker, D.W. Buffa, Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels, and Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder books, since I love cop and detective novels. I steer clear of novels in the same genre as my own books, since I don't want to risk unconsciously imitating something I've read in them.

 

CL: Which writers have most influenced your work?

 

ABR: Oh, my, I’d hate to be pinned down on this, and some writers might not feel complimented if I named them. I have read the works of so many writers that I’m sure I’ve been influenced through osmosis, if nothing else. When I’m reading a book that I admire, I do take time to study the format, how the writer created a certain mood, how a character gets from one place to the other, and so on. So, even if my story lines haven’t been influenced by specific writers, I am certainly learning the craft of writing by reading the works of others.

 

CL: What are you reading now?

 

ABR: Don’t laugh, but I’m re-reading A.H.M. Jones’ The Decline of the Ancient World, just so my education won’t have been a waste. I’m also re-reading some of John Sandford’s Prey books, trying to figure out how he creates such well-rounded characters in so few words.