Bless their hearts! Sisters Jeffery McClanahan and Pamela Cumbie give Michelle the vapors while teaching her about the Southern novel, what makes Texas Texas, and the genteel art of the non-put-down put-down. Read on ...

MB: What or who inspired “I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold It Online?”

Pamela Cumbie: The current situation with identity theft and my own experiences with Internet dating.

Jeffery McClanahan: I worked for a while in a department store as a cashier and I was astonished at how many people I encountered every day who had had a variety of grim experiences with abuse of their credit cards by strangers. I also know a few people besides my sister who have fooled around with the online dating sites.

MB: What do you like most about your novel?

PC: That it will make people laugh.

JM: It presents a humorous look at something serious.

MB: What do you like best about writing books set in Texas?

PC: That's my world, the only world I've ever known. I've never lived anywhere but Texas and I'm so proud of that fact. I'm a fifth-generation Texan. That represents a huge part of my humor, just being a Texan.

JM: Texas has a lot of unique personality and so do Texans. Many ordinary Texans are larger-than-life characters. Because of the size of Texas, the climate, the landscape and the lifestyles are extremely varied. It’s fertile ground for rich characters and dramatic situations.

MB: What is that certain something that gives books set in the South their unique flavor?

PC: The people. The true southern people. The ones that still say "yes ma'am," or "yes sir." The men that still stand when a lady comes into the room, those that say, "I'm fixin' to go grab something to eat, ya'll want me to bring you something back?" Though Texas isn't as much of a southern culture as say Atlanta, it still has some southern ways.

JM: Most southern people are open and accepting of strangers. That much openness among people is an invitation to drama or comedy either. Besides that, I suppose people are entertained by the southern drawl, the relaxed way of doing things, the genteel manners of a southern gentleman.

Before the Civil War, a totally agrarian economy and a lifestyle distinctly different from that of the northern states existed and some of that still exists today.

In many locations in the South, people still live much like they did many years ago and have the same value system in place. That includes living by the Golden Rule, being polite to women and old folks, taking care of the helpless.

I suppose readers might be entertained by that, too.

I repeat what Pam said, though. Texas really isn’t the South. Texas is Texas. In most of the state, there is more a western culture or even a Latino culture than a southern one. The only part of the state that might be construed as “southern” is East Texas.

MB: Why are southern novels becoming so popular now?

PC: I think people miss the times when their fellow humans were polite and helpful. It conjures up thoughts of better, slower, easier times.

JM: I’m not sure books set in the South are any more popular now than they have ever been. Think Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner and Margaret Mitchell. Someone has been writing books about the South forever.

Perhaps it seems that more novels with a southern setting are being written now because there seems to be more authors from the South.

MB: Who’d Mom like the best?

PC: Mom loved us all equally, like any good parent. We lost Mom just this past June and looking back I'd say I made Mom laugh, and I'm happy for that. Laughter is so important and she didn't have a lot of things to laugh about her difficult life.

JM: Why, Pam, of course. She’s the baby.

MB: Tell us the best, funniest southern woman non-put-down put-downs. You know, the ones that end with “bless your heart.”

PC: "Why, don't you look pretty! I used to have a dress like that years ago. You're so fortunate, you're one of those people that can wear just any old thing and look good in it, bless your heart."

JM: “Why, you’re not too heavy, hon. You look better with a little meat on your bones, bless your heart.”

MB: Who is the most heroic person you know?

PC: Anyone that drives the 610 Loop around Houston on a Friday at 3p.m. We did this trying to get to a book store for a signing for “I Gave You My Heart, But You Sold It Online.” For me, this experience has redefined the word “hero.”

JM: I would have to agree. Just being a passenger in that circumstance is pretty heroic. That’s the closest I’ve ever come to an 18-wheeler tire moving 70 mph.

MB: Who’s your romance hero: dark, brooding bad boy or white knight in shining armor?

PC: Quint is charming, rich, good looking, an alpha male, sweet, funny and a scoundrel. The downfall of many good women. Totally irresistible and as addictive as any drug on the market. Settle down material? Not on your life.

JM: My heroes tend to be white knights. Dark, brooding bad boys are too full of themselves and require too much time and energy just dealing with them. They’re kind of a pain unless they go through a drastic reformation.

Of course, a strong heroine can remedy that defect in a bad boy type. The hero in my current WIP (Work in Progress) is exactly that, a dark, brooding bad boy and I’m finding him almost too much trouble to write about. I just want to slap him.

MB: Answer the question you wish an interviewer would ask.

PC: At what point in your career will you feel like you've "made it"? And my answer is: When I see “Dixie Cash” on the New York Times bestseller list!

JM: The question would be: Exactly how hard is it to write a novel? And the answer would go on for about 600,000 words.