People of Distinction with Benjie Cole features Lynda Hamblen, author of the book “William and Tibby Forever”.
In this interview, Benjie Coleinterviews author Lynda Hamblen as she discusses her journey into the world of writing, her strong faith in God, and the story of her beloved cats William, Tibby, and Elvira.
A little about Lynda
I’m a former English and French teacher, I’ve written and published short stories, essays, and poems, but this is my first novel. In a little grey house on a hill – that’s the setting of my novel with my husband, we’ve been married for 53 years, that’ll give you a hint of how old I am. I live in a rural area outside of Union City Tennessee, and that rural area that I like to call ‘God’s green acres’ is included in my novel, and the life that you were describing is a life I’ve been living for a long time. I no longer have to rush around anymore, I’m no longer working outside of the house – I’m just writing.
William and Tibby Forever
Basically, it’s a book told from the cat’s point of view. It’s about the adventures and exploits of my cats, mainly: William, Tibby, and Elvira, on the little grey house on the hill with their second mom (who is myself) and my husband who they call ‘Hun’ because that’s what they hear me call him. It’s also about their adventures in heaven as they strapped on their halos there and await our arrival. I’ve been asked if I really believe that animals go to heaven, and I always tell them that there is a phrase in the Bible by Jesus where he says “the lion shall lie down with the lamb.” I don’t know if Jesus was talking about in heaven or on earth, but I think that it refers to animals in heaven. I know that my heaven won’t be heaven unless I have my cats with me.
The inspiration behind her book
My cat William was killed by a car when he was five months old. When I was walking back home from the cat cemetery I had down by the creek bank, I was suddenly struck by the thought that, as hard as his death was for me to deal with – and I know I’ve had 70 years of spirituality and knowledge about God, heaven, eternity, and all of that – it was still hard for me to deal with it, and even more so for a young child to deal with perhaps. So I was going to write a children’s book showing William, Tibby, and I together, and showing William dying and going to heaven while we continue our lives on earth – and eventually, Tibby goes to heaven to be reunited with William, then I reunite with them too. I sat down to write the children’s book. I had written ten pages, and I hadn’t even gotten to William yet, so I knew I had more than a children’s book on my hands – it turned out to be a novel.
How she became a writer
I didn’t think about being a writer as a child, but later on, in my teaching career, I had this feeling that there was something else that I wanted to do. I loved teaching and I wanted to teach, but there was something else I wanted to do but I just couldn’t figure out what it was. Out of the clear blue one day, when I was working on a master’s in English, I realized that I wanted to write, and that cured the nagging sense of not doing what I wanted to be doing. So I just sat down and started writing things in addition to teaching and working on my masters – and it turned out to be a novel.
For more information about Lynda Hamblen’s “William and Tibby Forever”, visit her book’s Amazon page here at https://www.amazon.com/William-Tibby-Forever-Lynda-Hamblen/dp/1641405260.
This radio interview was made possible by ReadersMagnet’s book marketing services. Visit our official website: https://www.readersmagnet.com