Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Diana Lesire Brandmeyer: From "Kid" Sitter to Romance Author




Diana Lesire Brandmeyer is an author who at the end of this interview is giving away her Hearts on the Road (to U.S.A. addresses only) in a drawing. To enter, just leave a comment with your email address, so I can contact the winner.I haven't done a Kid Interview in a while and this one delighted me, as my dad was a truck driver and Diana's romance book is about a truck driver (though, of a different sort!)

When Diana was just a kid, her first job involved kids and KIDS. (See her first jobs.) Read about Diana's childhood and be sure to leave a comment.She shared some great photos.




Childhood Ambition:
I wanted to be a roller derby girl. My father was strongly against that idea. Still I skated as much as I could just in case there was a chance.


Fondest Memory (back then):

Every summer my mom would bribe me to play games with her. She set all kinds of stuff on our kitchen counter from Avon and tell me if I won the game I could pick something. It was so much fun. We played Aggravation, Booby Trap, Canasta and Double Solitaire while eating popcorn and drinking sweet tea for hours every night until it cooled off enough to go to bed. No air-conditioning! We still play games when I see her, now it’s Scrabble.Mom and Diana Fishing

Proudest Moment (back then):

Having my Thanksgiving prayer picked as the best one in my fourth grade class.

Biggest Challenge as a Child or Teen:

Eating fruit and vegetables. I know that sounds crazy but I really hated those things! In school it was MATH! Did not like that subject, still don’t. I think it feels the same about me.

My First Job:

Babysitting before I was old enough to work for a paycheck, then I worked as a waitress for a very short time. After that I worked at Six Flags. Now that was FUN! My favorite part was working with the goats in the petting zoo.


Diana and a Goat

Childhood Indulgence:

Making fudge! It never seemed to turn out right but my brother and I didn’t care, we just ate it with a spoon.

Favorite Outfit as a Child:

My mom made me a dress with ladybugs on it. I loved it!

Saved from Diana's Ladybug Dress!



Diana & Brothers, David and Karl, at Easter

Favorite Childhood Movie and/or TV Show:

Gilligan’s Island and The Monkees, which I only got to watch if I could get my spelling words written three times before it came on.
(CLM: Diana, who was your favorite Monkee? Could you tell us in the comments?)


Favorite Childhood Book: Harriet the Spy tied with Little Women tied with Gone with the Wind. My husband found an old library copy of Harriet the Spy on eBay and bought it for me. It feels so right in my hands!








Favorite Childhood Activity/Pastime:

Reading! And roller skating.


Diana's first doll, Susie, whom she still has.

"The poor thing has a crooked eye and some of her fingers are chewed because I forgot and left her outside one night." (Diana did this page above for her with her scrapbooking.)


Diana and Susie



Did you pass notes or have a pen pal as a child?

Yes, I did (*passed notes!) and I got caught a few times. The teacher made sure everyone knew I misspelled a word in that note. Text messaging would have been great to have back in the day—you don’t even have to spell the words!

Childhood Hero:

My dad. I thought he could do anything—something I’m sure he encouraged me to believe. Oh, and Popeye! I even tried eating spinach because of him. After that experience, though, it seems I didn’t think him quite so exciting.

Diana and Her Dad

Anything else you would like to share with readers about your childhood which affected the writer you have become?

Kisses: Diana with Danny, Her First Brother


"I had two younger brothers who were very sick and eventually died. They took a lot of attention from my parents and I learned to be quiet, read and make-up stories in my head during that time. I would clean out my closet and have my very own reading nook."

Diana and Danny, Diana's First Brother

"I wanted my dad to let me go up in our attic, he wisely said no, I’d fall through since there wasn’t a floor. My mom made all of my clothes and I watched her, she is creative and would do things that didn’t follow the pattern and that interested me."


Dianaland:



"Now I find myself stepping past rules and seeing them only as suggestions when I sew, quilt and write."



Diana in Her Bedroom:Diana in her bedroom at age 6. "I was very proud of that room, my mom made the bedspread."





Diana Lesire Brandmeyer has a background in education and psychology. Her credits include My Devotions, The Metro East Family Gazette, Little Visits Family Devotions and The Lutheran Witness. She received her degree from Webster University. She is the author of Hearts on the Road, A Time to Dance, Mystery of the Smithton Necklace and The Trouble with Ralph. She lives in Southern Illinois where the corn grows at a rapid rate behind her home.

She’s married and has 3 grown sons all on their own now, each of them bringing someone special to join the family. Yay! Daughters-in-law!


Diana loves having pets, right now there is only one in the house, a cat named Wendell and an occasional granddog named Rusty.



Diana's web site : http://www.dianabrandmeyer.com/
Diana's Blog

Hearts on the Road
By Diana Lesire Brandmeyer
Heartsong Presents Book Club

Abandoned, betrayed, and feeling forsaken by God, truck driver Randi Davis crisscrosses Wyoming with a broken heart, vowing never to love another man. Suddenly Matthew Carter, a pastor in search of a mobile ministry is thrust into her life and into her cab. And there’s nothing she can do about it.

Matthew sees the seedier side of trucking every day, and he feels a pull toward the the people—a definite call to minister to them. But getting this ministry established is proving more difficult than he imagined.

Soon Matthew and Randi find themselves at cross-purposes. His life on the road has just begun. Her eight-year-old niece needs a parent to come home to every day. Will this be the end of the road for Randi and Matthew’s romance?


Want an autographed copy? Go to Diana' web site.



Available NOW at Heartsong Presents.

In January it will be available at on-line bookstores. Or you can order it from your local bookstore.


(Winner of the drawing for Hearts on the Road was Janalyn! 7/19/09)