Snow Day Review, Interview and Giveaway

There’s one thing that I like about snowstorms … being indoors where it’s warm, with a cup of coffee and a good book. I glance up from my book occasionally to view the changing world outside. There’s something hopeful about seeing the drab brown of winter being covered in white. That’s a good, comfortable, inspiring day for me.

That’s how the book Snow Day makes you feel … it’s a warm, comfortable, easy read, looking into a world of characters, some which are similar to people we’ve all met. As Billy tells their stories, he covers the drab brown of ordinary lives with kindness and purpose filling each person’s story and the reader with hope.

The book centers around Peter, his family and his experiences on a snowy December day in central Virginia. The book opens with Peter being worried about being laid off from his job and feeling somewhat hopeless. The reader goes through Peter’s day with him, going to the store for bread and milk, connecting with old and new friends, playing in the snow with his kids, conversations with his wife and applying for a new job to prepare for the potential layoff. Along the way, Peter realizes that while life can have bumps and bruises, there’s many good things and people all around him, if he takes time to be aware of them and appreciate them.

I like that throughout the book, Peter is simultaneously a teacher and a student … which reflects a healthy life, teaching others through our life and words, while always continuing to grow ourselves.

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Billy graciously answered a few questions for me.

Tell my readers a little about yourself …

Billy: I live in a small town in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley with my wife and my two children, a daughter who’s eight and a son who’s six. They keep me busy. I’m an old man before my time.

There are a number of different characters in Snow Day … are they based on people in your world or on fictional people that live in your head?

Billy: Almost all of them are based at least in a small way on people I either know or have met. I think it’s good to have a lot of imagination in a novel, but not at the sake of truth.

The main character Peter buys his young son a superman costume that has a label on it that says, “Caution, wearing this costume will not enable you to fly.” What would you do if you had a superman costume that would actually enable you to fly?

Billy: I would finally be able to get my son’s kite out of the oak tree in our yard. He got it hung up there two years ago, and it’s still stuck. It taunts me.

One character has a list of Reasonable Directions that they use to navigate life. Whether we actually have a list or just stuff running through our minds, I think we all have some form of this. (and if you don’t, today’s a good day to think about putting one together) What is one thing that should be on everyone’s list of Reasonable Directions?

Billy: Probably that you shouldn’t hang on too tightly to the things in your life, but you should hold onto your faith with an iron grip.

And a few questions about writing.
Was there a particular chapter in Snow Day that was really fun and/or easy to write? Why?

Billy: I really liked the story with Mikey and his sled. The chapters in Show Day are a pretty easy read, but often the subject matter is serious and there’s a lot to think about beneath the surface. Mikey’s chapter is like a breather. It’s just fun. And it points out a fact that’s been proven in my own life—you never know what fun you can find on the other side of your fear.

What about one that was difficult to write? Why?

Billy: The chapter that deals with Bobby Barnes and his falling away from faith. It’s maybe my favorite chapter, but it was hard to write. It brings up the ageless question of why God permits awful things to happen to people. For Bobby, the awful thing he witnessed caused him to let go of God. It’s a hopeful chapter in that there’s room for him to turn around and find his old life, but it’s still a pretty sad story. And an honest one, I think.

You’ve written book 2 and book 3 is now underway … will we see any of the same characters in them? Or is that top secret?

Billy: Both books will take place in the same small town of Mattingly, so you’ll see snapshots of familiar people. But there are a lot of others in the gas stations and shops and neighborhoods of my head, and they’re all clamoring for the chance to tell their own story. And that’s just fine with me.

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Read more about Snow Day here and/or order it to read the book yourself, plus it would make a great Christmas gift.

Billy blogs regularly here … read a few posts and I think you’ll find yourself coming back regularly to be humored, inspired and challenged by Billy’s well-written observations of life. Billy can also be found on Twitter here.

One winner will be selected from the comments before to win a hardcover copy of Snow Day.

Leave a comment before Friday 5th at noon … you can just say Hi  or if you live where it snows … tell me you like or dislike about a snow day.