Author Interview: Denise Grover Swank Author of Here

Today I have with me the author of Here. Denise Grover Swank to talk about what she does when she’s not reading.

Here is some information about Denise:

Denise is a single mom who lives in Lee’s Summit, Missouri raising five of her six kids. (The oldest has gone off to live on his own.) She loves to embarrass her children whether it be spontaneous dance parties in the kitchen or making her teens’ friends think she’s funny/cool. *gasp* (Even if its in her own mind.) On rare occasions, she is known to post stories about her crazy life on her family blog There’s Always Room for One More.

She keeps her sanity by creating worlds to escape to and characters to hang out with.

Life in the Swank household is never dull. With five kids ranging from four to twenty-one years old, there’s always some kind of chaos occurring. Throw in musicals, plays and vocal lessons for my fourteen year old daughter; violin and competition dance for my eight year old daughter; and karate for my six year old son and my four year old daughter, and that doesn’t leave a lot of free time for mom. I’m fortunate to be able to work from home, a luxury for a single mom. We have three dogs, Fifi, a Yorkie; Sugar Bella a Maltese (a compromise name between me and my teen daughter who was obsessed with Twilight two years ago); and our newest addition, Tilly, a lab mix puppy, adopted from an animal shelter.

Of course, how can life be dull in a house full of kids and dogs? (That’s eight living and breathing bodies in case anyone is counting and that doesn’t include my oldest son’s turtle.) Yet, for some reason, the strange and odd seem to hunt me down. Anyone who follows me on Twitter or has friended me on Facebook knows this. It’s like I’m a magnet for the unusual. Several years ago, I used to relate these unusual circumstances, also known as my life, in a blog titled There’s Always Room for One More. Hundreds of readers dropped by to find out about my nightmare trip to Costco involving a possessed debit card. Or the time I pulled twenty ticks off my dog while my children watched, eating a snack at the kitchen counter until my two year old knocked over the cup of water containing the parasites, spilling ticks all over my kitchen. Aww... those were fun times. But they still happen. Now I just post about them on Facebook.

The rare times to myself are usually spent writing from 9 pm until 2 am. But there are occasional moments when I have the opportunity to do something for me. More often than not, I’ll read a book on my iPad with my Kindle or Nook app open (I’m weird, I use both.) I also like to plant flowers, although you can’t quite call it gardening. I like the planting part and occasionally the watering. I have yet to figure out the most effective threat to make my children weed. I love to travel. I’ve been to China and Vietnam and have visited over thirty states in the US. My fourteen year old daughter is obsessed with Paris after reading Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, so I’ve told her that I will take her to Paris when she turns sixteen. (I think this means she owes me about two years worth of whine-less chores.)

One thing you’ll rarely find me doing: cleaning. Honestly, it’s nearly impossible to have a designer show case house with this many people living here. Or so I tell myself. And while the show Hoarders is disturbing on so many levels, it makes me feel so much better about the way my house looks. Okay, it’s not dirty, just cluttered. True success for me will be when my children all put their backpacks and shoes where they belong and I don’t stab my feet with Legos strewn across the room.

Everybody needs a dream. Even if they’re impossible.

Thanks for joining me Denise!

Make sure to check out my review of Here