Author Interview: Hope Toler Dougherty

Today, I'm interviewing my fellow author Hope Toler Dougherty. Her fourth book is about to release, and I know the one story of hers I've read was excellent so I'm looking forward to reading more. Read on to learn more about this author and check out how you could possibly win a free copy of her book.

​Hope, this is your fourth book, right? Does this book have connections to any of your other stories, or are they all stand-alone?

Forever Music is a stand-alone; however, I hope it becomes the first in a series. (I’m trying!) I like to revisit characters; for example, Jack Windham is a friend of Mary Wade’s in Rescued Hearts. He didn’t get a lot of page time in that novel, but he’s back in Forever Music as Ches’s uncle. He and his wife are an important part of Ches’s story. He’s really a cool character, and I enjoyed getting to know him better. I hope readers will, too. I know you play several instruments. Did that have anything to do with the title of your new book? Can you let us know about the instrument in the story? I'm curious!

Yes, I do play a few instruments: the piano, clarinet, and sixth-string dulcimer. I also played the saxophone for one marching band season because the two or three sax players in our small high school were also football players. I got called up from the clarinet section to help out. I have a banjo that I’d love to learn to play.
The instrument in the story is a piano. Josie and Ches both play, but their experience with the instrument is very different. There’s a music thread running from the beginning of the story—references to James Taylor, Johnnie Cash, Earl Klugh—but no one is a professional musician.
Music is an important part to a happy existence, and I think we’re seeing, especially now with the stay-at-home orders, how important the arts are to a full life. Even with this world-wide quarantine, people, celebrities as well as friends and family, are sharing their talent on-line to comfort and encourage others.
The music part of Forever Music happened as one of those wonderful seat-of-the-pants experiences. I didn’t set out to write a story with music in it. I wanted to explore the idea of two people who fall into an emotional affair/relationship. The music idea came to me the first time Ches visited Josie, and I loved seeing it grow to an important plot point.

In your book trailer, you talk about your characters participating in a charity run. Have you ever done something like that?

I loathe running, but, yes, I’ve run for charities before. The first time was for one of my son’s Eagle Scout project to build up the holdings of our public library’s  children’s department.
One fun fact that will seem like it’s drawn from real life is that I won the same medal (in my age group) in a 2019 run as Josie wins, but the writing came before the reality. When I finished the race and found out about my medal, I thought, “Everybody will think the scene is about this run!” 

That's a super fun story. I don't like to run, either, so I'm always in awe of people who do it for fun.
Anything else in the story pulled from your real life? I'm always curious about how many aspects of a story are drawn from real life (something people ask me about my books all the time).

Yes, a few ideas or instances in the book are pulled from real life. My husband and I met in Charlotte way back in the day. Some of the places I mention like The Pewter Rose were real places then but, sadly, don’t exist anymore.
A guy I dated waited outside my classroom door one day and asked me for lunch, but had forgotten his wallet. I’ve always wondered if he forgot it on purpose!
The bowling scene and aspects of the holiday scenes are based on our life, but the Josie and Ches romance is pure fiction.

Nice! Well, not the part about forgetting his wallet. Yikes! After this book, what's in the works for you? Got any new ideas percolating?

I have some new ideas percolating. Josie has three brothers who might want their own stories. I have about four or five chapters on one of them, Sam, but the words kind of dried up. He’s on the back burner now as I’m focused on promoting Forever Music.

Okay, my last question is always the same when I do interviews: can you tell us some fact about yourself that very few people know?

One fact about me that few people know is I think Napoleon Dynamite is a fantastically hilarious movie.

Well, we'll agree to disagree on that one! Ha! Thanks for letting us get a sneak into your new story as well as your own life today, Hope.
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Okay, if you want a chance to win a copy of Hope's book, leave a comment below with an instrument you play or one you'd love to learn to play. And keep reading to find out how to keep up with Hope on social media as well as where to snag her books.
Forever Music

College history instructor, Josie Daniels is good at mothering her three brothers, volunteering in her community, and getting over broken hearts, but meeting aloof, hot-shot attorney Ches Windham challenges her nurturing, positive-thinking spirit.
Josie longs to help Ches find his true purpose, but, as his hidden talents and true personality emerge, will she be able to withstand his potent charms or will she lose her heart in the process?
Rising star in his law firm, Ches Windham is good at keeping secrets. He’s always been the good son, following his father’s will to become an attorney and playing the game for a fast track to partnering with a law firm. Lately, though, his life’s path has lost what luster it ever had—all because of his unlikely, and unacceptable, friendship with Josie. He struggles between the life he’s prepared for and the one calling to him now. Opposing his father has never been an option, and spending time with Josie can’t be an option. The more he’s with her, however, the more he wants to be.
When a crisis tarnishes his golden future and secrets are revealed, Ches is forced to reexamine
the trajectory of his life. Will he choose the path his father hammered out for him or the path that
speaks to his heart?

Pre-order a copy here. Hope holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University and York Technical College. Forever Music is her fourth novel. Residing in North Carolina, she and her husband enjoy visits with their two daughters and twin sons.