Title: The Legend of Tommy Jo Sanchez
Author: Billie Bierer
Publisher: Telemachus Press
ASIN: 978-0974303932
Pages: 363
Genre: Fiction, Western

Read Interview with Billie Bierer

www.billiebierer.com

Interviewed  by: Kimberlee Hicks, Pacific Book Review

About the Author

I love horses. I spent many years in Arizona and continue to love the history of the old West. After much research I came upon the real-life character, Cathy Williams, an African Amercian woman who was a buffalo soldier in the 1800′s Thus the base for my novel The Audacity of Patience Levi. I’ve received many great reviews for this book. Thank you! I hope my readers love Patience as much as I do. Strong women characters live in my novels. I am currently working on a Western/mystery. I would love to hear from readers and fellow authors. Check out my website at www.billiebierer.com for free downloads and current events.

Today we are talking to  Billie Bierer, author of “The Legend of Tommy Jo Sanchez.”

1) PBR:  Why a Western? 

I was motivated by an article I read years ago in USA Today that stated how few heroes, heroines were Hispanic. I lived in Arizona almost thirty years and have always had horses. I know Arizona well, thus my two basic reasons for choosing who, when and where.

 

2) PBR:  The characters in ‘The Legend of Tommy Jo Sanchez’ are all very distinct and feel like very familiar representations of genre specific archetypes while still offering something new. What were your influences in their creation?

Because there is so much that we don’t know, and never will know about historical characters and their experiences.

 

3) PBR:  Were your “hero” and “villain” both females on purpose?

Yes. Many times a protagonist’s worst enemy is one of the same gender.

 

4) PBR: What inspired you to include Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and Clara Barton, and to set the story in Tombstone, AZ? 

Please see the last line of number (2) I firmly believe that characters that have become so familiar had many encounters with those that are unfamiliar to us. Why not the young girl, Tommy Jo Sanchez?

 

5) PBR:  If you could live in any era, when would it be?

Now.

 

6) PBR:  What else have you written? 

‘The Audacity of Patience Levi’ – a stand- alone sequel to ‘The Legend of Tommy Jo Sanchez’. ‘Dance With Me’, a Romantic/comedy set in the modern West. ‘Thou Shall Fly Without Wings’, YA story about a family that raises purebred Arabian horses with the goal of one day racing in the Tevis Cup one-hundred mile endurance horse race held annually in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. ‘The Magic Man’ A collection of magical, award winning short stories

 

7) PBR:  What are you going to do now? Writing a mystery/western novel.

I am working on a mystery/western.

 

To learn more about “The Legend of Tommy Jo Sanchez”  please read the review at:  Pacific Book Review