Would you say you are an extrovert or introvert?

An odd combination of both! I love people and crave clattery, chatty coffee bars AS LONG AS I get my three or four hours of solitude to read, write, pray, and think.

Do you like to cook? If so, what are your favorite dishes to cook?

Ooh, do I EVER love to cook. In fact, I wish you were here right now. My mama taught me to rustle up grub without recipes. I’d sauté you some shrimps, throw in diced green and yellow and red peppers and onion and garlic and some of my secret bayou spices, then boil up a pot of pasta and mix it all together. If we need a little creaminess, I’d cut you a chunk of a couple of my favorite cheese (Spain’s Red Dragon, Ireland’s Killian Gold) and let you choose, then grate it and mix that in the dish. We’d toss mixed organic salad greens, slice up some fresh veggies, throw on homemade croutons, pray, and dig in! We Lacys eat like this most nights. Come on over!!

What movie(s) have you watched recently that you would recommend?

Oh, we LOVE to watch films. Besides reading and game playing, that’s our main form of entertainment. This weekend we watched: A Man Named Pearl, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and The Visitor. As you might guess, we choose foreign films, documentaries; those out-of-the-norm gems that make us think new thoughts and travel to new places.

Our favorite recent big-screen hit: Slumdog Millionaire. I loved the story’s frame around a “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” show and thought the cinematography brilliant!

Do you like books being turned into a movie? If so, what is your favorite book-to-movie?

Yes, yes, yes! To Kill a Mockingbird.

If What the Bayou Saw was turned into a movie, who would you cast to play your characters?

Whew! How about Sally Struthers for Sally Stevens. While we’re dreaming, I’ll pick Leslie Uggams for Ella. Ever since I saw Leslie off Broadway in “Old Settlers” and got to meet her after the show, I’ve adored her! Shanica Knowles or Keke Palmer would do great as Shamika. That’s the start of my dream cast!

Which social networks do you enjoy the most?

You’ve ferreted out one of my many weaknesses. I really don’t like social networks, much preferring a tete a tete over lattes at my Coffee Hound. My daughter and my publicist pretty much forced me onto Facebook, and I do my best to keep it running.

What’s next for you?

A trip to China, once I convince my husband that it’s an absolute must to research Reclaiming Lily. Oh, I just LOVE the research part of writing.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Segregation and a chain link fence separated twelve-year-old Sally Flowers from her best friend, Ella Ward. Yet a brutal assault bound them together. Forever. Thirty-eight years later, Sally, a middle-aged Midwestern instructor, dredges up childhood secrets long buried beneath the waters of a Louisiana bayou in order to help her student, who has also been raped. Fragments of spirituals, gospel songs, and images of a Katrina-ravaged New Orleans are woven into the story.

Visit Patti on line at www.pattilacy.com.

View the full blog tour schedule at http://bitly.com/WhatTheBayouSaw