Building Character with Myra Gibson from Life on Hold

 

Welcome to my new blog feature, Building Character in which you get to meet a character from a book. I’m really excited about this feature, because it is so much fun talking to a character outside of their book! Huge. Amounts. Of fun. 

This week Strands of Thought is host to Myra Gibson from Life on Hold. Welcome, Myra. Tell us readers a little about yourself and what your life is like.

 

Myra: Hi, I’m Myra Gibson, sixteen, and even though my family’s not perfect ¾ my younger sister can be a brat; my mom and dad won’t let me see the boy I’m crazy about ¾ we get along pretty well. I’ve always trusted them and tried to do what they wanted, even to staying away from Jeremy. This summer I discovered I was wrong about my parents, way wrong. For sixteen years, they’ve lied to me, and now I want the truth. 

Oh Myra! That’s a tough one. What on earth did they lie about? 

Myra: My parents think they’re protecting me by keeping the fact that the man I’ve always called my father is really my stepfather. They think I’m too young to             understand. If I can’t trust my own parents, who can I trust? 

You have friends, or maybe a special friend you can trust, right? I hope! 

Myra: Jeremy is the boy I like. He’s cute. He’s fun. He’s kind. I think I even love       him. He made one mistake that put him on my mother’s “bad” list, so now I’m not       allowed to see him. He’s really sweet and trying very hard to prove to my parents       that he’s one of the “good” guys. Like they’ve never done anything wrong. Hello,       they kept a secret from me all of my life.    

Your parents sound strict. That’s probably hard, huh? What would you say is your strongest personality trait? Something your parents are proud of? 

Myra: I like to please people. Don’t cause trouble. Yeah, look where being nice got me. Nowhere. 

So, Myra, what do you do to relax? You must need to do a lot of it lately!

Myra: Reading, walking dogs for extra money, and hanging with my friends: Cass       and Taffy. 

If you could change one thing in this world, what would you change?

Myra: I’d make men understand the responsibility of having a child. A father should take care of his children, love them, be there for them. If a man can’t do that, he should not have children.

That is an important lesson, Myra! What words of wisdom would you like to share with our readers?

Myra: Don’t take life for granted. When you least expect it, your world may turn      upside down and never be the same. Like when you meet your “real” father.

Thanks for joining us, Myra. It was very good to talk with you and we wish you a lot of luck on your new journey in life.

Share Myra’s journey in Life on Hold:

 

 A paper found. A secret revealed. A girl’s life changed forever. Myra Gibson’s life is a lie. For sixteen years her parents have kept their secret, but the adoption paper she discovers while cleaning the guest house tells the truth. As the past and present collide, Myra finally stands up for herself and begins a journey she may regret.

 

Publisher:  http://www.4rvpublishingcatalog.com/mcclure.php

Amazon:   http://amzn.to/zb81Cd

Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/8xp9xp7

 

About Beverly Stowe McClure: 

When Beverly was in eighth grade her teacher sent her poem “Stars” to the National High School Poetry Association, and she was soon a published writer in Young America Sings, an anthology of Texas high school poetry. At this point she had no desire to be an author. In fact, she hated to write. She hated to read. She squeaked through high school doing her favorite things: playing clarinet in the band, twirling her baton as a majorette, and she actually graduated. Then she got married had three sons (one an angel in heaven), and attended Midwestern State University, which meant reading more books than she could count and writing, writing, writing. What was she thinking? Anyway, she managed to graduate cum laude with a teaching certificate and had a fourth son. She taught children in elementary school for twenty-two years.

 

Somewhere along the way she discovered reading was fun. She even started writing, mostly articles for children’s magazines about things they did in the classroom. To her delight many of her articles were published. After that, there was no stopping her.

She lives in the country with her husband, Jack, two cats that adopted her, and a variety of wild critters that stop by for a handout. And she writes most every day.

Beverly can be found in these virtual places:

Website:  http://beverlystowemcclure.wordpress.com

Blog: http://beverlystowemcclure.blogspot.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/beverlysmcclure

Good Reads: http://www.goodreads.com/beverlysmcclure

Twitter: http://twitter.com/beverlymcclure

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If you have a character from a children’s, tween or young adult book that you’d like to see interviewed on Building Character, please contact kaistrand at yahoo dot com.