Author Interview – Kachina Riley

If you could do any job in the world, what would you do? I would be an astronaut and explore the universe.

What is your most embarrassing moment in your life? On my first date at age 15 I wore a skirt and shoes that I had just made to match, but I did not have the button and button hole on the waist yet.  So I pinned it with a safety pin.  My date and I went to a church camp meeting.  When we returned to my house, I slid across the bench seat to get out of the door that he opened for me, and when I stood up my skirt fell to the ground.  My date turned his head and said:  “Oh, Oh, Oh.”  I pulled the skirt up, lost the safety pin, and ran into the house holding my skirt up.

What does love mean to you?Broadly viewed, love takes many forms; love of humanity is certainly primary if we are ever to have world peace.  Love of family and friends builds heart-felt sense of security and well -being.  The most intimate love is between lovers which brings contentment and excitement to our lives.

What is your favorite quote? “Everything works out in the end, if it doesn’t – it’s not the end.”  Unknown author.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? Yes, many friends knowing something of my childhood continually insisted that I should write a book.  Finally, after I started my teaching abroad, I began my book in 2007 and finished it in 2012.

Who or what influenced your writing? Family and friends, most importantly my mother who struggled with severe mental illness most of my lifetime.

Tattered Phoenix is a heroic, real-life American memoir of one woman’s brave fight for success in the last half of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1940s, author Kachina Riley details her family’s brave struggles against mental illness, illiteracy, and other health issues. In the end she achieves upward mobility beyond anyone’s expectations, earning two master’s degrees and breaking free from the limitations of her Appalachian roots to become a highly respected professional social worker and a world traveler. She is forced to fight her way through many challenges along the way as she rises from the ashes, torn but never beaten. In many ways, Ms. Riley’s story is the story of our nation evolving into what it is today. Tattered Phoenix will rekindle memories for anyone who grew up in America during the post-war era.

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Genre – Memoir

Rating – PG13

Connect with Kachina Riley on her website

http://chbmediaonline.com/tatteredphoenix.html