W5 with Valentine Wheeler

Today I have five questions with Valentine Wheeler about NO PARKING

Who is the star of your book? 

NO PARKING by Valentine Wheeler

NO PARKING’s main character is Marianne, a divorced 60 year old bakery owner in small-town Massachusetts. She’s lived in the same town all her life and knows everyone in it and all their secrets… or so she thinks.


What is your story about? 

It’s about finding your place. And it’s about making space for yourself when you really haven’t in a long time. It’s about taking charge of your life and your happiness, and it’s also about how great baked goods are.

When is it set?

It’s contemporary, but the history of the town is crucial to the story!

Where is it set? 

A fictional town to the southwest of Boston. Massachusetts is a small state with very distinct regions, and the towns on the edge between the Boston suburbs and the rural parts of the state walk a really interesting line.

Why this story?

I wanted to write something about older bi women–so few stories feature older queer characters, and bi women especially. I want to be able to see people like me aging comfortably into themselves and not having to struggle with their identity. This isn’t a coming out story. This is a coming home story.

Buy NO PARKING from Ninestar Press

Author Bio:

Valentine is a latecomer to writing, though she’s always been a passionate reader. Through fanfiction she found her way to an incredible community of writers who’ve taught her to love making stories.

When she isn’t writing, she’s making bad puns, yelling about television, or playing with her small child.

Her life’s ambition is to eat the cuisine of every single country.

___________________

Thanks for stopping by, Valentine!

W5 with Valentine Wheeler

who what when where why banner
Welcome to the first in what I hope is a regular feature in which Ninestar Press authors answer five questions about their work.
We start with VALENTINE WHEELER!

Checked Baggage by Valentine Wheeler

Who is the star of your book?
CHECKED BAGGAGE stars Faris, a guy on his way back from some family stuff who just wants to get home and lock himself in his apartment away from everyone! Luckily for him, his plans are foiled.

What is your story about?
It’s about family, and connection, and what it means to be from somewhere. It’s also about what happens when the hotel room has only one bed!

When is it set?
It’s contemporary, the week before Thanksgiving!

Where is it set?
Most of the story happens in the Beirut airport and a nearby hotel, with a special appearance by Boston.

Why this story?
My family is from the same area that my characters’ are, and it’s a place I’ve always felt a bit of a frayed connection to. Themes of family and what places mean have always been important to me, and I wanted to explore that!

BLURB:

When Faris has to take a trip back to his family’s home in Lebanon to handle his grandmother’s estate, he finds himself caught between the world he left and the world he’s built himself in the United States. After an exhausting stay with his boisterous extended family, all he wants is a quiet trip home and a chance to rest before Thanksgiving with his parents in Massachusetts. But the weather has different plans for him.

Charlie’s father left when he was a toddler, and he’s never gotten a chance to connect with his paternal roots. A trip to the village his grandparents left in the 1930s gave him the facts but left him yearning for a past he still didn’t understand.

When both men are stuck in Beirut for the night unexpectedly, can they make the connection they’re both missing and make it home in time for Thanksgiving?

Buy it on Amazon or buy it on Ninestarpress.com

Thanks for joining in, Valentine!

Pin It on Pinterest