Cozy Library: I see you're from upstate New York ... yet Lumby is set in the Pacific Northwest. Did you have a specific reason for placing Lumby in that locale? Is it based on any towns you are familiar with?

Gail R. Fraser: I would have to say that Lumby took on a Northwest locale more as an end-result than any preconceived planning on my part. For several reasons, I wanted Pam and Mark Walker to be from the East Coast and to face a physical relocation away from their old lives - to venture out into a somewhat unfamiliar environment. In looking at geographic options, I was most comfortable with the Northwest - I had lived in both Montana and Colorado and did extensive fly fishing in the area, so I have some understanding and an attraction for the region.

I'm frequently asked, "So, where exactly is Lumby?" which I can't answer quite yet. I can say that although Lumby represents so many small towns in which I've lived or traveled through, it is rooted in a few specific locations I visited along the way. As the series progresses, the reader will be given more references as to its location.

CL: Animals play a huge part in the community life of Lumby: the goats in the bank vault, the dog running for mayor, the deer and moose constantly in the news, the flatulent cows, and the honeybees - even Hank the stuffed flamingo. The town veterinarian, Dr. Campbell, is only mentioned in passing. Do you have plans for her in future books?

GF: Lumby most definitely has more beloved four-legged residents than it does the other variety, so animals will be the constant background throughout the series. And, yes, Dr. Campbell, along with her potential replacement, are main characters in Candor In Lumby (Book 4) and will carry their own plot line.

CL: One thing that sets The Lumby Lines apart from most other novels is its use of illustration throughout: maps, newspaper clippings, etc. I see your husband, Art Poulin, did the wonderful cover illustration. Was The Lumby Lines your first creative collaboration with him?

GF: It's definitely not a collaboration of equal parts; his cover paintings and illustrations are 98% his vision and talent and less than 2% input or feedback from my corner. He reads the manuscript and then develops one or two broad concepts for the cover, which he discusses with my publisher, Penguin Group USA. My contribution is to confirm small details of Lumby or the novel that he includes in his compositions.

The Lumby Lines cover was a perfect match of what Art initially proposed and what the publisher wanted. For Stealing Lumby, there was more of a discussion because the cover needed to be a broad landscape of the area incorporating specific components of the novel (the barns of Lumby, for example).

In addition to the canvases he has painted for the covers, Art continues to work on his "Lumby Series" - all enchanting scenes of Lumby. Graphique de France recently selected Art's paintings for one of their 2009 calendars, which is quite exciting.

CL: Art's work can be seen at www.artpoulinstudios.com

CL: After I read your bio, I saw some similarity to Pam Walker's history. How much of yourself and your personal story is reflected in Pam's character?

GF: There was never an intentional effort to reflect parts of me in any of my characters, but I think it's far easier to write about what one knows - to begin with what is familiar and then branch out. So to shadow much of my own corporate background into Pam's life before Montis Inn was natural. Having felt her conflicts and trepidations about leaving her "comfort zone" made that subplot one of the more unconstrained to write.

CL: Will Pam and Mark (and Montis Abbey) remain the central focus of future books in the series, or do you plan to have more of an "ensemble" cast, with the focus moving to different characters?

GF: Mark and Pam, Brooke and Joshua and the monks will all have significant weight in future Lumby novels, but other characters, other Lumby residents, will be brought into the forefront to weave the large plot lines as well.

For example, in Stealing Lumby, the main characters (if one could call them that) are Katie Banks, a dynamic but cautious young widow who owns a goat farm as well as the famous barns of Lumby, Dana Porter, a very old and tired artist living in Vermont, and Charlotte Ross, who everyone met in my first novel.

But Mark, Pam and the "ensemble" are very much involved with the turning of events in that story and also have their own subplots. Another example, the monks of St. Cross, who have more of a secondary presence in Stealing Lumby, come front and center and lead one of the major story lines in Lumby's Bounty.

CL: Although I wouldn't categorize The Lumby Lines as "religious fiction," Montis Abbey and some of the brothers who lived there play key roles in The Lumby Lines. How did you come to include those elements in the story?

GL: One of my oldest and dearest friends is a Russian Orthodox monk. In fact, the entire community of New Skete Monastery www.newsketemonks.com has been a large part of my life for almost twenty years, but only recently have I lived close to them. Growing older with the brothers is one of my warmest comforts. My husband and I go to the monastery each Sunday, although I'll be the first to admit that I am more spiritual and theologically curious than I am religious. I adamantly believe that the goodness of man is directly attributable to the values, morals and integrity that each of us carries within us on a daily basis. Our individual and collective behaviors are a reflection of a responsibility we have to ourselves, to each other and to God.

CL: I'm guessing some readers see Lumby as a bit like Jan Karon's Mitford. How do you feel about that comparison? (I actually think your stories and characters are much better!)

GF: I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't read her novels but any comparison is well received, given Jan Karon is a New York Times best selling author. I understand the similarity is that both of our series are gentle reads that use a small town venue; however I think Ms. Karon emphasizes the religion of the town's residents while I lean towards the quirkiness, humorous oddity and innate goodness of it all.

CL: How long do you see yourself continuing to write the Lumby novels? Do you have plans for any other non-series books?

GF: Lumby may be a long series; books one, two and three are complete and the fourth is well under way. I'm writing, on average, a book every ten months, so this will keep me committed (and I use that word cautiously) for another three years. Although I have an idea for another series -- quite different and set in New England, I won't be structuring that until sometime next year. I also have a few ideas for stand-alone novels but none that I have developed enough to discuss with my publisher.