Spotlight shines on Allison Pitman

Today we have Allison Pittman visiting us and she has offered to send out a book to a lucky reader so be sure to follow the instructions at the bottom of the post to get entered.

Please tell us a little about you.

I left a 17-year teaching career to follow my writing full time—and God has been so faithful in His blessings there! I’m married to the hands-down greatest guy in the world, and we have three great sons—twin teen-agers and a 10-year-old.

Allison, please tell us what your newest novel is about.

Stealing Home is the story of four people, each living in haunted isolation, each harboring a secret passion.
Duke Dennison is a superstar with the 1905 Chicago Cubs. He’s also an alcoholic, and that’s threatening his game. When he’s whisked away to the small town of Picksville to sober up in anonymity, he bides his time flirting with Ellie Jane Voyant, the town’s oddball spinster.
Ned Clovis, the town’s feed store clerk, has loved Ellie Jane since childhood, but he loves baseball and the Duke almost as much. So when Duke rounds up the town to form an impromptu league, featuring a great natural talent in a young African American boy named Morris, both Ned and Ellie Jane find their worlds coming together.


Who is the most important influence in your life besides God?

Definitely my mother. She is the most godly woman I know—so unwavering and strong in her faith. She takes true, absolute, utter joy in her salvation and her relationship with Jesus. She simply loves him. And she’s so saturated in His Word. I love to just get on the phone and talk with her about scripture, our Lord, the Old Covenant, Creation, End Times…anything! She’s a one-stop source for Biblical truth and recipes!

You are blessed to have her in her life. I hope you tell her that often.

Let’s pretend money is not a factor, if you could go anywhere is the world where would you go?

Disneyworld. Two weeks at the Grand Floridian.

What book are you reading now? What books are found lying around your home?

I’m reading Run by Ann Patchett.
I actually started it months ago, but then I had some other “required” reading come along, so I’ve just been able to get back to it. And you’ll find absolutely anything and everything around my home from Wuthering Heights to Harry Potter.

What is your favorite children’s book?

Hands down, it’s the Little House on the Prairie series. The year I got the whole series for Christmas, well, that was my favorite Christmas gift ever. I still read them over the summer. The writing is so simple, but so precise and descriptive. The stories are timeless, and I think they prove the point that rather ordinary lives are the stuff legacies are made of.

What do you find most challenging about writing?

Simply getting it done. Like, pulling up the Word doc and putting words on the screen. I’m too easily distracted by, well, anything.

Oh I can relate to this Allison. I find the blank word doc very intimidating and distractions get me too.

What do you find most rewarding?

Hearing from readers. It never fails when I’m just about to throw my laptop out the window, I’ll get an email from a reader who loved my book. That’s enough to spur you on to another 500 words before calling it a day! I think of my readers’ letters as being the voice of God’s approval for the work I’m doing.

Hopefully you will here from some new readers with this new books.

What would you like your readers to say about your writing?

I’d like them to feel like I’ve taken them to a place and introduced them to people they’ve never even really thought about before. With Stealing Home and even the next two books to come, I’m taking characters from the world of turn-of-the century professional baseball. It just seemed fun to write historical without ranchers and cowboys and the typical stock characters. Not that I don’t love those guys, but there was a whole world functioning in those days, and I think it gets underrepresented in Historical fiction.

Where can readers find you on the Web?
My website is allisonpittiman.com
Blog: apittman-crossroads@blogspot.com
And, of course…Facebook!

Here is what others are saying about Stealing Home.

"There is no doubt about it. Stealing Home has earned a place on my keeper shelf. Allison Pittman's wonderfully drawn characters captured my heart and never let go. I hurt with them, laughed with them, loved with them, and cried with them, and I will surely never forget them. Don't miss this book!"-Robin Lee Hatcher, best-selling author of Wagered Heart and A Vote of Confidence

"The fabulous ensemble cast of Stealing Home broadens the scope of Allison Pittman's well-crafted novel, setting it apart from typical period romances and grounding the story with historical relevance. Yes, readers will want Ellie Jane to find love, but they'll want much more than that, too-justice for Morris; hope for Ned; peace and victory for Duke. And they won't be disappointed. Stealing Home drew me in from the first pitch and held me until the final strikeout."-Christa Parrish, author of Home Another Way

"Allison Pittman hit one out of the park with Stealing Home. The superb cast of characters in this tender story of hope, love, and healing settled in my soul and made me long to stroll down to the town square and linger a while. An unexpected delight in this lovely tale was the narration by Morris, an innocent yet perceptive young man who knows the citizens of Picksville better than they know themselves. More than the story of a few characters, Stealing Home is a study of small town life at its very worst and its shining best."-Megan DiMaria, author of Out of Her Hands and Searching for Spice

"Written with an elegant flair, Stealing Home is a tremendous story of love, patience, and hope against hope."-Alice J. Wisler, author of Rain Song and How Sweet It Is

If you would like to win a copy of Stealing Home leave a comment with a way to contact you. Please put your email in this format: runninmama[at]sbcglobal[dot]net. The contest runs until May 4th. Email subscribers and followers earn an extra entry.

You also must answer the Question of the Day:

Tell me your best memory of a baseball game.

Mine is when my husband and I played on a co-ed softball team. It was so much fun right up until I broke my nose. Then I never played again.