#MMBBR #Review #Interview #FirstLine #TheWelcomeHomeDiner by @dinnerfeed

Betting on the city of Detroit’s eventual comeback, cousins Addie and Samantha decide to risk it all on an affordable new house and a culinary career that starts with renovating a vintage diner in a depressed area of town. There’s just one little snag in their vision.

Angus, a weary, beloved local, is strongly opposed to his neighborhood’s gentrification—and his concerns reflect the suspicion of the community. Shocked by their reception, Addie and Samantha begin to have second thoughts.

As the long hours, problematic love interests, and underhanded pressures mount, the two women find themselves increasingly at odds, and soon their problems threaten everything they’ve worked for. If they are going to realize their dreams, Addie and Samantha must focus on rebuilding their relationship. But will the neighborhood open their hearts to welcome them home?

#FirstLine ~ If you're the last oerson to leave Detroit, don't forget to turn off the light.

Food, love and pride in the city The Welcome Home Diner will leave the reader feeling hungry for more...literally. I adored this book and all the ways it was unfolded for the reader. It was one of those reads that both inspires and delights. It will be a great read to snuggle up with this fall or winter.

Peggy Lampman is the award-winning, best-selling author of THE PROMISE KITCHEN and THE WELCOME HOME DINER, both published by Lake Union Publishing. She was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, summa cum laude, from the University of Michigan. After graduating, she moved to New York City, where she worked as a copywriter and photographer for Hill and Knowlton, a public relations firm. She moved back to Ann Arbor, her college town, and opened up a specialty foods store, The Back Alley Gourmet. After selling the store, she wrote under a weekly food byline in The Ann Arbor News and MLive. 

Her free time is spent herding kids and indulging in her barbecue addiction with Big Green Egg cult cookery.

Q.  What inspires your writing?

A. THE WELCOME HOME DINER was inspired by an intimacy shared with my former daughter-in-law who opened a diner in a rough section of Detroit. As well, my experience having owned a specialty food store for twenty years lent much passion to this tale.

THE PROMISE KITCHEN reflects my interest in the American South (where I was raised) in all of her beauties and incongruities. As well, my husband and I have relatives that live in colorful communities. In THE PROMISE KITCHEN, I drew tremendous inspiration from folks that I’ve come to love, and appreciate their giving me license to become intimate with their landscape.

Q.  What is your favorite thing about being a writer?

A. It saves money on therapy (-: Seriously, I love the sanctity of drilling deep into my characters and uncovering their truths. It’s a way of digging at the roots of pain, and pulling them out.

Q.  What is the toughest part of being a writer?

A. That’s easy. Promoting my books. My publisher, Lake Union, is a wonderful help but these days authors must get out there and hustle. It’s a place well out of my comfort zone, but I’m getting more accustomed to the waters.

Q.  If you could not be writer, what would you do/be?

A. I would be a photojournalist––Annie Leibovitz is my idol. For this book, as well as my debut novel, THE PROMISE KITCHEN, my methodology began with my camera. A visual person, I take dozens of photographs that capture an emotion that I later channel into words.

Q.  What would the story of your life be entitled?

A. Chaos.

Q.  What is your favorite book of all time?

A. It always seems to be the last book I cried over. The last time I shed alligator tears was when reading Sue Monk Kidd’s THE INVENTION OF WINGS.

Q.  Which character from ANY book are you most like?

A. No doubt Skeeter, in Kathryn Stockett’s THE HELP. I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama in the sixties and my past was extraordinarily similar to hers. Also, we both take pleasure in getting even with “mean girls”. (-:

Q.  What character from all of your book are you most like?

A. Sadly, Mallory. We share similar pasts and stories. A character in THE PROMISE KITCHEN, she’s quite flawed, but working on her “stuff”.

Q.  Which book would you love to take a weekend vacation inside of?

A. Patricia Sands has a series of books set in Provence. I’d love to go there this Saturday. On Sunday, I’ll pop over to Edinburgh. I recently read a book, Alison Ragsdale’s THE FATHER-DAUGHTER CLUB, which is set there.

Q.  What is your favorite season?

A. Right now. Autumn. The colors on the trees, knowing that my favorite holiday—Thanksgiving—is just around the corner. What’s not to love about a holiday focusing on gratitude, family and food?

Q.  What inspired your book cover(s)?  Or what is your favorite book cover and why?

A. My publishing company decides my covers. I love the cover for THE WELCOME HOME DINER but worry that the cover for THE PROMISE KITCHEN may be misleading. It’s not a “cozy cupcake” sort of a read that the cover might suggest.

Q.  Tell me something funny that happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book.

A. A blogger requested professional photographs and I sent them (by mistake) a file of goofy pics of me and my kids. She was like—are you serious, Ms. Lampman?

Q.  Are you working on something new?

A. Yes. A new piece of women’s fiction titled, THE MAIDEN TOWER. In a nutshell, Linnea Chandler keeps the genesis of a life-altering phobia to herself—not such a good idea, as it turns out. Set in the quirky, colorful landscape of Key West, Florida, this is the story of a family held hostage by long-kept secrets and fears. At times humorous, at other times heart-breaking, you tell me of a family without a certain amount of dysfunction, and I’ll tell you of a family that is lying (-:

Q.  Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?

A.  Thank you so much, dear readers, for taking an interest in my stories! That’s all the sugar this author needs to keep her engines fueled. I’ve a food and story blog, www.dinnerfeed.com where I’d love having you pay me a visit.