Author Interview-Kellie Coates Gilbert
Kellie Coates Gilbert is one of the amazing
writers that I met at the 20 Books to 50K conference in Las Vegas last year. She is as
warm and engaging in person as she is online. I’m thrilled to have her as a
guest today.
Tender, funny, bittersweet, and wonderfully moving, Sisters celebrates the joys and
heartaches that can only be shared by three sisters living in the mountain resort
known as Sun Valley, the mistakes made in the name of love and the healing
power of new beginnings.
Kellie Coates Gilbert has won readers’ hearts with her compelling
and highly emotional stories about women and the relationships that define
their lives. A former legal investigator, she is especially known for keeping
readers turning pages and creating nuanced characters who seem real.
In addition to garnering hundreds of five-star reader reviews on
Amazon and other retail sites, Kellie has been described by RT Book Reviews as
a “deft, crisp storyteller.” Her books were featured as Barnes & Noble Top
Shelf Picks and were included on Library Journal’s Best Book List of 2014.
Born and raised near Sun Valley, Idaho, Kellie now lives with her
husband of over thirty-five years in Dallas, where she spends most days by her
pool drinking sweet tea and writing the stories of her heart.
What inspired you to
become a writer?
I barely remember a time when I didn’t have a book in my hand. My
tiny hometown of Carey, Idaho had no library, no bookstore. The bi-weekly
bookmobile provided the only avenue to books . . . that, and my Gram, who spent
a lot of her Social Security checks on books for her granddaughter with an
insatiable appetite for stories.
Tell me what inspired this story.
I grew up on a sheep ranch in southern Idaho, a business my family
had been in for generations, never dreaming I’d ever see my own name on a novel. I left home to attend Boise State University and
spent most of my adult years pursuing a sensible legal career, raising two
boys, and learning to be happily married.
But God heard the quiet prayers of a woman who dared to dream big.
Today, I am living my fantasy. I live in Dallas with my husband. I work from
home, writing novels. Often by the pool.
Can life get any better?
Who are your favorite
romance characters (besides your own?)
I adored Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton in The Notebook by
Nicholas Sparks. Allie was feisty and a risk-taker, Noah had incredible heart
and was willing to go after the woman he loved.
I grew up on a sheep ranch near Sun Valley, Idaho and had always
wanted to set a series in that beautiful area where celebrities and snow-lovers
go to play. Sun Valley was the first ski resort in America and was the
playground for many early celebrities, including Lucille Ball, Gary Cooper, the
Kennedys, Clint Eastwood. Ernest
Hemingway wrote most of FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS from Room 26 in the Sun Valley
Lodge. I am also a lover of any stories
that features sisters and their relationships.
Readers are sending me a lot of emails telling me they are feeling the
same about the characters in these books. Sisters is the first in the series
with two more releasing in spring, 2018.
What is one of your
favorite romantic locales?
Ha…..see above! I adore Sun
Valley!
Is there anything
else you’d like to share with our readers?
Please consider hanging out with me and my readers on Facebook in
the GILBERT GIRLS. Link on my website:
You can also find all my social media links and newsletter signup
there! Hope to see you all soon! ~Kellie
