Gail Sattler Interview

I'm happy to have Gail Sattler as the guest author on The Borrowed Book today. Gail is a wife, mother, writer, and musician, and the order of those things will depend on what day it is. Friends tell her that she leads a busy life, but she can’t stop any of it. She’s quick to say that of all the things she’s involved with, writing is her passion.

Welcome, Gail. Your book Seattle Cinderella has just released in Barbour’s Romancing America line. Since it contains four different stories, please tell us a little about each one.

The first story is the obvious retelling of Cinderella in a modern setting. The second and third are stories the continue on with her two reformed step-sisters. Since this is a Christian book, I couldn’t have a “fairy” godmother, so the fourth story is about Farrah the godmother.

These stories must have been so much fun to write. Where did you get the inspiration for the series?

They were very fun to write. I’ve been thinking about the first story for years off and on, and this was great to finally get it down. For the series, it was more a matter of curiosity. I’ve read many retellings of the classic Cinderella tale, but I’ve never read a story that dealt with the rest of the characters in the tale. Does anyone ever wonder what became of them? Well, now we know. J

Cindy who runs her father’s muffler shop seems to be the modern-day Cinderella. What has happened in her life to bring her to a life of drudgery?

Like the classic tale, Cindy was close to her father after her mother’s death, as her father raised her. Likewise, the mother was jealous of the closeness, and turned her two daughters against poor Cindy. Then when her father died, she took on his brake and muffler business, but added to that, the way her father divided his assets, which where his business and his house, complicated an already bad relationship.

Annie’s character is like one of the stepsisters in the fairy tale. How did you change her to make her a lovable heroine?

Of course in the first story the reader is meant to dislike her. But near the end of the story, Annie and Zella start to see the things their mother told them in a different perspective and make their own judgment calls on that. To make her lovable, just like would happen in real life, she became sorry for what she’d done, and tried to make it up to Cindy.

Then there’s the other stepsister Zella. What’s going on in her life?

Zella wasn’t as involved with Cindy’s business, and had kept her distance in the first story, so likewise, in her story, she doesn’t have much to do with Cindy. Besides that, more time has passed. Instead, Zella tries to put more distance between herself and her mother, whom she’s rather disappointed with for treating Cindy so unfairly. So for Zella, she is moving forward, away from her mother, refusing to fall into her mother’s plans and schemes.

The story of Cinderella wouldn’t be complete without a fairy godmother, and Farrah seems to fit the bill. Is it difficult for her to find happiness after helping everyone else achieve theirs?

Actually, Farrah wasn’t looking for happiness, she was content with her life the way it was, in fact, helping Cindy find happiness has made Farrah happy, too. Instead, she feels she will find contentment in now helping Kat, Cindy’s niece-in-law. But of course, the best laid plans of mice and men… and godmothers….

What are you working on now?

With a group of other authors, we’re working on a new series called Bloomfield that centers around the members of a garden club in the small town of Bloomfield, USA. But this series doesn’t center around gardens, it centers around the club’s quirky members. It’s been really fun, although a lot of work at the same time, because we all have to agree on all the setting and character details because we’re all writing about the same place and cast of characters. This is with B&H, and they are working on a website for the series, and that will be a lot of fun. So far I’ve written two books for the series, check them out on my website at http://www.gailsattler.com/

As well as a multi-published author, you’re also a very talented musician. Tell us a little about that part of your life.

I’ve played piano since I was a little girl, then I took up playing bass guitar for the worship band at my church. One of the members at church invited me to play bass for a community jazz band, which I love. Check that out at www.goldenearsjazzband.com. A number of years later, I took up the acoustic double bass and joined a small orchestra in Vancouver, www.alnm.ca and even though I only play it at home, I’m now learning the viola, which is like a larger sized violin. Unfortunately, I don’t have as much time as I’d like to do these things, but I enjoy it.

You are a busy lady. Thank you so much for taking time out from your busy day to stop by and tell us about your new book Seattle Cinderella. I know our readers are going to enjoy it. We hope to see you here again soon.