INDIEpendence Day - A Celebration of Indie Authors

This INDIEpendence Day is a celebration of indie authors (self-published and small-press). Through this celebration, we hope to bring awareness to indie books and support indie authors. Check out the list below and stop by and visit the authors participating in this blog fest.

Today, Diane Strong a fellow Kentucky Indie Author is visiting Tabor Lane to talk about her book OUT AND BACK.

BLURB: An out and back is a run that starts and ends at the same point.  Along the way we are changed.  In the end we are back where we started.

Amber runs every morning, bakes home cooked meals, and keeps a spotless house.  She homeschools her children, grows an organic garden and milks her own goats.  But Amber Stonewall is not perfect.  She is a mother who fails, a wife who is unable to show affection, a daughter who is absent and a sister who knows it all.  When her mom dies, it all slaps her in the face.

A diary-like glimpse into the thoughts of an obsessive running/fitness junky as she tries to deal with the death of her mother and other stressors life throws her way. Amber's daily jogs are the vehicle as she speaks to the reader much like writing a journal, with multiple flashbacks to her childhood in an attempt to grapple a family crisis back at her childhood home in Minnesota while her own personal dramas are unfolding at her small ranch in Kentucky.    

Diane, tell us what triggered this book.  

I have started other books but never finished them.  It wasn't until my mother died that it happened for me.  I felt like I had so many things to say and it just spilled out of me.  There was nothing that was difficult about writing that book.  Putting out for the world to see is another story.  Now writing is easy.  I am almost done with my second book and just finished a short story that will be published in the next couple of weeks.  I used to write in high school and college, was even published.  But that has been 20 years ago.  It is funny how life circles around and you end up doing what you were always meant to do.

Like your character, I know that you are a runner. How does running fit into my life? 

Well, let me start by saying I run, bike or swim every day.  I usually run about four times a week.  It fuels me.  At first it kept me from smoking, but now that I haven't smoked for nearly nine years I run for different reasons.  I used to suffer from seasonal depression.   I used to feel like I needed a therapist, not anymore.  It is my life force.  I go out and my mind hacks out my problems, I work out plot details for my book. Ideas come, sometimes quicker than I can handle.  I am very competitive. That is why I race and do triathlons.  But I also don't want to lose the joy of running and biking and that is why I do adventure races and bike tours.  This summer I am just trying to have fun.  The Tuff Mudder was a blast and I plan to do the one in Maysville with my husband in October.

I know that you homeschool your children and that health and nutrition are very important to you. 

If you get me started on homeschooling or food you may have to take out extra space on your blog.  I am extremely passionate when it comes to health, alternative medicine, the environment and empowering children.  I feel like we make decisions every day that affect everything.  My decisions are this: I homeschool my kids, I eat organic food, I recycle and reuse and protect this beautiful planet and I avoid mainstream medicine whenever possible.  I teach my children how to think, not what to think.  I teach them to respect adults, but question authority if they disagree.  Oh, no.  I better quit now.  

BIO: Diane Strong lives in Kentucky with her husband and their two children.  She received a liberal arts degree at Itasca Community College, a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and Equine Studies from Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana and a Master’s degree in Veterinary Science from the University of Kentucky. 

She writes a small column for the Georgetown News Graphic and homeschools her children.  In her spare time she competes in road races, triathlons and adventure races.  She is the founder of the Georgetown Run Club and Intellectual Society.  She loves what she does. 

Diane has also self-published a series of columns written for the Georgetown News Graphic in 2011-2012.  She writes about her experiences while running and biking in the remote area of Scott County in Kentucky.  The situations are always comical and often unbelievable.

Diane can be found on the web:

Blog

Link to OUT AND BACK on Amazon

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