Nancy provides Linny a tennis update. Nancy’s team went undefeated and got to go to districts where she was able to play and have fun, even though she lost her game. Linny just came back from Chincoteague Island with some pickleball girlfriends. For the first time ever, she was stung by a jellyfish. After Googling the remedy, she found that warm water helped the sting lessen its impact to a mild headache. The timing of Linny’s trip is perfect since this month’s book, CATCHING STARS, takes place partially on Chincoteague! In this episode we welcome Laura Rudacille, author of CATCHING STARS. She is an author and event speaker, specializing in women’s enrichment. Laura has written five novels and contributed inspirational articles to four publications. She’s a licensed cosmetologist and salon owner in York, Pennsylvania. Yes, that’s where Linny lives! For ten years, Laura served as choreographer for a local high school theater program. Laura tells us she was never too much of a reader because she hated being told in school what she had to read. As a hair salon owner, she observed her clients’ reading books while their hair was drying or processing. Nora Roberts was a favorite. Then Laura found out that Nora lives nearby in Maryland. She went to some events Nora hosted and she found out Nora is just a regular person who took up writing when her kids were driving her crazy during a snowstorm. Later after Laura began trying to write, Laura’s mom brought her a box full of writing she had done that she had forgotten about. So, she was a writer as a youngster. Laura handwrote her first book, but a friend transcribed the book into digital form and urged Laura to get it published. Laura realizes now that she has always been an observer of people. She is a conversationalist, of course, behind her salon chair so she tends to be conversationally-driven. HERE’S THE THING was her first book. Her 9th grade English teacher gave her an exhaustive review that helped her improve it. One year, Laura’s family was vacationing in Chincoteague Island where she was inspired to envision a four-book series. She published SALTWATER COWBOY, the first book of the series. Then LATE TO BREAKFAST, and CATCHING STARS. She wrote INVISIBLE WOMAN, a woman’s fictional celebration about coming into her 40s. She thought another book of the series would be WAITING FOR SOMEDAY, but she skipped it and it is forthcoming, set in Philadelphia but with a visit to Chincoteague Island. Linny and Nancy agree that this is a great beach read, but it isn’t a completely fluffy book. There’s a strong theme of intergenerational domestic violence. Lindy, our main character, observes her father’s abuse of her mom, Susie. As a young woman, Lindy finds herself also a victim of domestic violence. Laura tells us she wanted to tell the story of two strong women who were experiencing this sort of intimate violence based on her own observations of friends and clients who have gone through issues of domestic violence. Laura says she is amazed at how often domestic violence isn’t talked about. Linda mentions that she has a professional background in working in the field of domestic violence at Access York. Linda liked how Laura represents that Lindy had some blind spots, maybe, but she did not choose to enter into a relationship with domestic violence. Nancy liked how Lindy didn’t even believe her own experience because she didn’t want to recognize it. When the book starts, Lindy is a young woman who immerses herself into her pottery career. She allows herself to lose touch with her old friends. I thought she was pretty self-centered, in a lot of ways. By the end of the book, she seems to have started recognizing the value of friendship and that to be a friend, you not only get support, but also give it. Linda asks Laura whether she thought of these aspects of Lindy, or whether these aspects of her personality and growth just naturally emerged. Laura says she writes as she goes along and allows the characters to develop as they emerge on the page. Laura says she has had many gifted friendships and she likes how Lindy had these friendships. She says friendship is a star that we should all reach for. We hear some barking in the background and Laura introduces us to Wilson and Vinny, her sweet dogs. Nancy took a pottery throwing class a couple years ago. She really enjoyed reading about Lindy’s career as a clay artist. Nancy thought Laura’s passages describing the art of making ceramics were spot on, so asked whether she has thrown pottery. Laura tells us that a number of years ago she did take a pottery making class. Laura was impressed at the mental and physical intensity the craft requires. More recently, as Laura was writing this book, she reached out to a dear friend, Jamie Greenwood, who is a talented pottery artist, whom she observed and asked questions of. Laura also tells us that she had another talented friend, Georgene Novak, create star necklaces that Laura gave out to friends along with copies of CATCHING STARS. Linda notes that Hayward starts out as a character that sort of got her hackles up but she didn’t expect him to become so controlling and abusive. Tucker, on the other hand, is so gentle and nice. Linda asks Laura which character she preferred writing. Laura says we’ve all experienced arrogant people like Hayward, but he was so different from Lindy’s father that she didn’t recognize that he would become an abuser. Tucker is strong and has his own goals, but he understands her from the beginning and is steadfast in caring for her. Laura enjoys how readers bring their own perspective to her stories which enrich their experience of reading the book. Nancy notes that Hayward kept sending Lindy to Madame T’s salon with strict instructions for how she was to be styled. So, Nancy has two questions for Laura: As a salon owner, is it fun to show this sort of glamour? But second, salons are places where women really let their guard down. Nancy wants to know whether Laura ever considered having the staff whisper something in Lindy’s ear about how Haywood seemed a bit over-the-top in controlling how she looked. Laura says if the person who needs that whisper isn’t ready, it can be frustrating. Laura says it’s a blessing to know her clients for so long and be a part of their lives through illness and children and marriage challenges and joys. Laura is awed by the resiliency of womanhood. Laura says writing the glitz and glamor is fun, but not what she has personally experienced! Linda asks why Celeste didn’t say something to Lindy sooner. Laura says Celeste was good at helping equip Lindy, but didn’t say anything until she understands Lindy is ready to hear her. It’s complicated. Laura says Lindy’s early experience with domestic violence colors her view. She wants to leave the island because she thinks everything on the island is bad and everything over the bridge is good. She’s young and doesn’t understand what good things she is leaving behind when she moves away. Linda observes that Lindy is surrounded by a wonderful, loyal community of people. Some she grew up with and others she met as she developed her professional career. Linda asks Laura to tell us about how she created this supporting cast around her story. Laura tells us Rudy and Kate are in SALTWATER COWBOY. We were supposed to meet Tucker in WAITING FOR SOMEDAY, until that book was temporarily shelved. Laura thinks it would be fun to write more about Zach. Linny and Nancy agree. Nancy likes how Celeste blossoms in her relationship with Zach because sometimes you do see different aspects of your friends when they are in a different situation with different people. Nancy asks Laura what she’s working on next. Laura says WAITING FOR SOMEDAY is the book that is supposed to be slotted between LATE TO BREAKFAST and CATCHING STARS. It’s about three-quarters written. Laura recently broke her foot and is using some of her downtime on that. She is also working on a new novel, CHASING TRUTH, that is told from multiple points of view and overlapping scenes. Laura says it takes a long time for her to write a book and get it published but it only takes several hours for readers to consume it! But she loves writing and wonders why she resists doing the very thing she loves. Nancy recalls that Laura said she loves dialogue and asks Laura whether her experience in theatre formed her love of dialogue. Laura says she was an untrained choreographer, but both with choreography and with dialogue, she loves the things within the things. She is fascinated by what we absorb through our eyes and our ears. Laura tells us listeners can stay in touch with what she is up to at laurarudicille.com, and Facebook and Instagram sites. Her books are available on Amazon. Listeners can contact her to request a signed book. After the interview, Linny reminds Nancy that she has once considered cosmetology as a career!