BookLife Talks with Kathryn Kaufmann
A sponsored Q&A with the author of 'Dating Daisy Fields'

Readers will fall in love with Daisy in this romantic comedy follow-up to Marriages Meant to Be.

What is the story behind Dating Daisy Fields—why and how did you write it?

The stories I shared about my dating experiences during a marathon dating run cracked people up. One day, I grabbed a pen and wrote “Dating Daisy” on a yellow legal-size piece of paper that I still have today. The notes I scribbled that day became my first chapter. Years later, I began blogging short stories about Daisy’s dating experiences. I got such great feedback that I turned these stories into a novel.
 
Dating Daisy Fields and your first book, Marriages Meant to Be, both concern how people meet romantically. What makes courtship such a catalyzing subject for writing for you personally?

I believe in divine timing and that everything happens for a reason in life and in love. I’ve always been fascinated with how the universe works. It doesn’t matter how far apart we are geographically; it seems that, sooner or later, the lines come together and the dots connect.

You’ve written on your website, booksandswag.com, about your experience as a court reporter in divorce court. Did your professional experience shape this or other books of yours?

Not necessarily. I was abducted and attacked while out jogging. While I struggled to escape, my life flashed before me. I thought of how I’d wasted valuable time on trivial things. I promised God that if He would save me, I would pursue my writing talent. A man yelled and scared off my attacker, and I escaped.

I believe in fate and destiny. All my life, without solicitation, people would tell me how they met. And that’s how I was inspired to write Marriages Meant to Be.
 
You have also written about your own struggles with dating. To what extent does this novel draw from your own life?

There are some personal experiences in the book, but I can also take a real-life incident or a story I’ve heard or read about and spark an idea that is totally different from what actually happened. I have the most fun doing that.

If you could pick anyone to give this book to, who would it be and why? Who is your ideal reader?

If I could give this book to anyone, it would be Sandra Bullock because it reminds me of Miss Congeniality. Plus, I think she would laugh all the way through it. But anyone who loves humor and romantic comedy will enjoy Dating Daisy Fields. Daisy has one debacle after another. Not all are related to dating, but the situations Daisy finds herself in are widely relatable.
 
Why or how do you think this book is particularly relevant now, or how do you imagine readers at this moment will connect to it?

With so many online dating sites and people waiting longer to marry, I think Dating Daisy Fields is more relevant today than it would have been a decade or two ago, when most people met in a traditional manner.
 
What is the one thing you most want to tell readers, other writers, booksellers, publishers, or agents about you or your book?

I won’t deliver less than my best. Daisy doesn’t disappoint!