New Historical Romance Author to Watch: Piper Huguley

If you love historical romance then this is one new author you want to put on your list to watch.

 

One chance meeting can change your life from what you thought you wanted….to what you really need.  Start your collection here. 

Hello SASSE Readers, let’s welcome Piper Huguley to our SASSE World. Pull up a chair and tell me if you prefer a milk shake or fruit smoothie for our little chat.

Piper:  Fruit smoothie, please!

SASSE: I have a heart for fruit smoothies too. I enjoy one every morning. Tell the readers a little about yourself. How did you get into writing? Have you always thought you would be a romance writer?

Piper: I’ve been writing ever since I was 12.  Life kept getting in the way, of course.  For a long time, I’ve thought that my voice was more genre based and that genre was romance. This didn’t serve me well when I was in graduate school and I was supposed to write in a more literary vein (boring!).  I managed to graduate with a women’s fiction book, but I’ve always had a pull toward romance.

SASSE: What was the first romance book you read that you just couldn’t get out of your mind; that book that started your “keeper shelf”?

Piper: The Endearment. Then anything by LaVyrle Spencer.  She’s just an awesome writer. I’m sorry she’s not doing it anymore, but then, I guess she doesn’t have to….

SASSE:  Can you explain to the readers about the A Home to Milford College series? How did you come up with this series, what it is about?

Piper: Milford College is a fictitious HBCU (Historically Black College and University).  On my recent path back to writing, when my son reached a certain age of independence, I tried to write a contemporary series based on a college campus.  As I developed the map of the campus and named the buildings, I discovered they each had a name and I wanted to know who those people were.  So that started my quest to uncover the history of the school.

SASSE: Bring us into the world of your latest release The Preacher’s Promise. Introduce the readers to Virgil and Amanda.

Piper:  Amanda is a young woman who just graduated from college and is pursuing her first job of starting a school that will teach the recently enslaved how to read and write.  Virgil is the mayor of the town where the school will be located.  He wanted a male schoolmaster, but Amanda shows up instead.  He wants her to go back to where she came from, but she has no home. She’s stuck in Milford and he’s just going to have to deal with it. 

SASSE:  When you wrote the first book, did you know The Lawyer’s Luck, Lawrence and Aurelia story, would come out of it?

Piper:  I had some idea of who would be Amanda’s father, who had to be highly educated for her to be highly educated as a college graduate in 1866. I didn’t know who her mother was, and that’s why I wrote The Lawyer’s Luck—to find out about her mother.

SASSE: What is the most challenging thing when it comes to writing for you?

Piper: The whole aspect of “show don’t tell and deep point of view”.  Not easy.  

SASSE: What can readers expect next from you? Are you planning to continue this series?

Piper:  I am continuing this series now that I am writing The Mayor’s Mission.  I am also shopping my other historical series around to publishers. 

SASSE: Thank you, Piper, this has been just delightful to sit back with you and learn a little more about you and your story.

Piper: Thank you for having me! It’s been a pleasure!

Learn more about Piper G. Huguley!

Piper G Huguley is the author of the “Home to Milford College” series which follows the building of a college from its founding in 1866. The Preacher’s Promise is book one in the series. On release, the prequel novella to the “Home to Milford College” series, The Lawyer’s Luck reached #1 Amazon Bestseller status on the African American Christian Fiction charts

Huguley is also the author of “Migrations of the Heart,” a five-book series of inspirational historical romances set in the early 20^th century featuring African American characters.  Book one in the series, A Virtuous Ruby won the Golden Rose contest in Historical Romance in 2013 and was a Golden Heart finalist in 2014.  Book four in the series, A Champion’s Heart, was a Golden Heart finalist in 2013. 

Website: http://piperhuguley.com

Twitter: @writerpiper
Facebook: Piper Huguley
Home to Milford College

Amanda and Virgil must put aside their enmity, unite for the sake of a newly-created community in a troubling age, and do things they never imagined. Don't forget to pick up the next one!