Interview with an Author: Hazel Woods and "This Is How I'd Love You"

I'd like to welcome author Hazel Woods to the blog today. Her new novel of the World War I home front in America sounds fascinating.

CW: First off, tell us a bit about yourself. When did you start writing?

HW: Gosh, I was a senior in high-school when I started to take writing seriously.  I’d always been a voracious reader, but I wasn't sure about writers.  Did they really exist?  I sort of suspected that books were created by some kind of magical beasts.  Then, when a teacher told me that she thought my journal entries for her class were special, it planted a very small seed of hope within me that maybe someday I would be able to join those magical beasts who write books.

CW: World War I is all the rage in the historical fiction world, but you take a very unique angle. Did you purposely set out to be different or was it just happenstance?

HW:  I only set out to tell the story that my mind started spinning once my mother told me about her great-grandfather playing correspondence chess via post.  I've come to believe that there are no original stories, just original tellings.  I hope that I've told Hensley and Charles’ story in an original way.

CW: Who is your favorite character in the novel?

HW: That’s like asking a mother to choose her favorite child.  They are all my favorites for different reasons.  But, I do love Hensley and the way she evolves throughout the book .

CW: Do you have any other works in progress?

HW: I try not to jinx myself by talking about new projects—but I’m always working on something.

CW: Who is your favorite author or book?

HW: William Trevor is my favorite author.  I just read Jayne Anne Phillips’ Quiet Dell and loved it.

CW: Random Question: If you could live in any time period, which one would you choose?

HW: I think I’d choose the 1920s.  I love the fashion and the music and the 19^th amendment!

Well there you have it. Thanks again to Hazel Woods for stopping in. You can learn more about This Is How I'd Love You below.

Publication Date: August 26, 2014
Plume Books
Formats: eBook, Paperback, MP3 CD
Pages: 320

Genre: Historical Fiction



As the Great War rages, an independent young woman struggles to sustain love—and life—through the power of words. It’s 1917 and America is on the brink of World War I. After Hensley Dench’s father is forced to resign from the New York Times for his anti-war writings, she finds herself expelled from the life she loves and the future she thought she would have. Instead, Hensley is transplanted to New Mexico, where her father has taken a job overseeing a gold mine. Driven by loneliness, Hensley hijacks her father’s correspondence with Charles Reid, a young American medic with whom her father plays chess via post. Hensley secretly begins her own exchange with Charles, but looming tragedy threatens them both, and—when everything turns against them—will their words be enough to beat the odds?

Praise for This Is How I'd Love You

“In This is How I’d Love You, Hazel Woods explores the enduring nature of an improbable love born of words, washed in tragedy, and sustained despite impossible circumstances. With prose as immediate and evocative as a painting, Woods accomplishes the magic of rendering sorrow into hope and fear into courage. It is as idealistic a tale as it is clear-sighted, a brilliant alchemy few novels achieve. Readers, prepare to melt” — Robin Oliveria, author of My Name is Mary Sutter

Buy the Book

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound
Powell's

About the Author

Hazel Woods lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children. For more information please visit www.hazelwoodsauthor.com. You can also find her on Twitter.

This Is How I'd Love You Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, August 25
Review & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, August 27
Interview at Dab of Darkness

Friday, August 29
Interview at Book Babe

Monday, September 1
Review & Interview at Closed the Cover

Tuesday, September 2
Review & Interview at A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, September 3
Review at The Bookworm

Thursday, September 4
Review at Booktalk & More

Friday, September 5
Spotlight & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Monday, September 8
Spotlight & Giveaway at Historical Tapestry

Tuesday, September 9
Guest Post & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Wednesday, September 10
Interview at Caroline Wilson Writes

Friday, September 12
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
Spotlight at CelticLady's Reviews

Monday, September 15
Review & Guest Post at Bookish

Tuesday, September 16
Review at Book of Secrets

Wednesday, September 17
Review at Book Nerd