Featured Interview With Peggi Davis
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello! I am Peggi Davis, 77 years old, a widow, and living my best life this very minute. I was raised in New York City by an eccentric British father and sometime-model mother, in an untethered, unusual home filled with fashion, formality, and a few friendly ghosts. After graduating from Texas A&M University, I entered the wacky world of retail advertising as a fashion art director and creative director. This painfully shy and quiet young girl was introduced to a world she never knew existed. There, I developed a cadre of creative colleagues with whom I shared decades of outrageous experiences and escapades. I have lived and worked all across the country, from New York to San Francisco for Macy’s and Saks Department Stores, but have retired in Birmingham, Alabama, which I love. There is just something about Southern hospitality that soothes my soul. Cool restaurants, warm biscuits, gentle people. It’s my little piece of paradise.
For years, my colleagues said I should write a book about my childhood and adult experiences. During the pandemic, I began posting stories about my family on Facebook. Before long I began receiving messages from people all over the country asking for more. I later enrolled in a writing class and was encouraged to create a blog. My first book “Funny Face: a Memoir” consists of hilarious and horrifying stories from that blog. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life as those stories flowed from my fingertips and seemed to literally write themselves. I had found my voice. “Funny Face” was recognized as Reader’s Favorite International Bronze Award winner and the Non-Fiction Book Award Silver winner.
The chapter that resonated most with the readers was an essay on aging, something we face with little information and no guidance. No one prepares you for feeling one way on the inside and looking another way on the outside. I began wondering What if we could change that narrative? How would the ability to look and feel young again present itself and how? I challenged myself to write about the possibilities, and “Rewind Ranch” was born.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
After retirement in 2014, I opened The Schoolhouse Art Studio and began teaching collage, jewelry making, and painting. However, the pandemic forced its closing, and I turned my focus from art to writing during my masked hibernation at home.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Growing up I was a voracious reader. I still am. It is impossible to state my favorite authors as I have so very many. I will say I am inspired by Anne Lamott, Augusten Burroughs, Jeanette Walls, and Joan Didion. What they have in common is their transparency, honesty, and courage. I am the most unlikely author. Sometimes I look at my printed books in total disbelief. My writing has given me a sense of accomplishment and pride. I know I won’t be accepting the Pulitzer Prize anytime soon, but to see my books on a shelf next to Joan Didion makes me feel like I have left a mark on our crazy world. It’s like saying, I am here.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
“Rewind Ranch,” emerged as an award-winning thriller about four sassy seniors who miss the allure of their youth and embark on a vacation of a lifetime to the Hana Hawaiian paradise Rewind Ranch. The resort promises unlimited cosmetic enhancements, romantic evenings with available suitors, and luxury they could never imagine. Their journey becomes one of hair-raising secrets and situations as they realize something sinister lurks. On their roller-coaster ride of life-threatening suspense and unwavering camaraderie, they ultimately learn that beauty is more than skin-deep and that friendship is the ultimate savior. A recent review stated “Adventure unfolds in this book and takes you on an amazing ride you won’t forget! Love, love, love the characters, the slow reveal of their island paradise, and a few surprises along the way! As fabulous as the cover design is… it does not come close to what’s in store for you inside! And, oh the ending … you’ll never see it coming!”
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