Ask the Author: Tess Hilmo
Answered Questions (2)
Tess Hilmo
Karen,
Thank you for this great question! It was a couple of things coming together that inspired Skies Like These. First, my husband and I had a combined birthday party (our birthdays are just a few weeks apart). We invited family and friends to join us for a chuckwagon dinner in the beautiful mountains by our home. It was so much fun! While we were there, one of the cowboys told us some fantastic stories about Butch Cassidy and I sat there, surrounded by friends and family, thinking "Wouldn't it be fun to write an upbeat cowboy novel that included some of these stories?"
Then, just a few months later, we took our family on vacation to Zions National Park. By chance, the house we rented for the week had a flat roof with a ladder on the side and two beach loungers up on top (just like Aunt Elise's roof!). We climbed that ladder every single night and watched the stars for hours. It was breathtaking. Western skies are like no other skies and something in me longed to pay tribute to that fact.
Finally, if you ever go to Zions National Park, you might notice a dog ranch on the main road of the town. When I saw it, I was further inspired and the story came together in my head -- right there on the road.
It's interesting to me how our normal, every day life can inspire us in directions we might never imagine. But, I guess that's the point of the novel ... we are truly guided by the by world around us :)
Thank you for this great question! It was a couple of things coming together that inspired Skies Like These. First, my husband and I had a combined birthday party (our birthdays are just a few weeks apart). We invited family and friends to join us for a chuckwagon dinner in the beautiful mountains by our home. It was so much fun! While we were there, one of the cowboys told us some fantastic stories about Butch Cassidy and I sat there, surrounded by friends and family, thinking "Wouldn't it be fun to write an upbeat cowboy novel that included some of these stories?"
Then, just a few months later, we took our family on vacation to Zions National Park. By chance, the house we rented for the week had a flat roof with a ladder on the side and two beach loungers up on top (just like Aunt Elise's roof!). We climbed that ladder every single night and watched the stars for hours. It was breathtaking. Western skies are like no other skies and something in me longed to pay tribute to that fact.
Finally, if you ever go to Zions National Park, you might notice a dog ranch on the main road of the town. When I saw it, I was further inspired and the story came together in my head -- right there on the road.
It's interesting to me how our normal, every day life can inspire us in directions we might never imagine. But, I guess that's the point of the novel ... we are truly guided by the by world around us :)
Tess Hilmo
Thanks for the question, Lina. A few things came together to give me the idea. I love Southern literature and thought a Southern murder mystery would be fun to write. I set it in Arkansas because that is where my father's side of the family is from and I was able to connect to that part of myself through researching the area. Then, since I was thinking to set the novel in the South, the memory of a great-great Uncle I have came to mind. Uncle Will was on my mother's side and was an itinerant preacher in the South (though he lived in the 30's not the 50's). He was born Quaker but struck out on his own and was a general faith travelling preacher. Like Reverend Love, he also had five children. Anyway, growing up, my mother spoke of him from time to time and I would often think how hard it must have been as a child of a travelling preacher....moving around from town to town. Uncle Will's wife kept a great journal and I was able to read it as part of my research for the novel.
The name "Reverend Love" is actually a nod to my mother. I have many memories of cleaning the house on Saturday mornings. She would put on a record (are you old enough to remember record players??) and we would all clean together. One song I liked was Neil Diamond's "Hot August Nights". In the song, there is a refrain that is something like, "Love, Love, Brother Love's travelling salvation show. Grab the old ladies. Pack up your babies and everyone goes...everyone knows...Brother Love's show." So, I named my character Reverend Love as a fun play on that memory and as a nod to my great mother and our Saturday morning cleanings :)
The name "Reverend Love" is actually a nod to my mother. I have many memories of cleaning the house on Saturday mornings. She would put on a record (are you old enough to remember record players??) and we would all clean together. One song I liked was Neil Diamond's "Hot August Nights". In the song, there is a refrain that is something like, "Love, Love, Brother Love's travelling salvation show. Grab the old ladies. Pack up your babies and everyone goes...everyone knows...Brother Love's show." So, I named my character Reverend Love as a fun play on that memory and as a nod to my great mother and our Saturday morning cleanings :)
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