A Character Interview With Fan Favorite, Mony
I love talking with people who have read my books. Especially when they tell me about their love/hate relationship with my characters.
Out of all my characters, Mony seems to be the most intriguing. People want to know more about her like where she comes from as well as her likes and dislikes.
So, I decided to interview Mony and share her answers with you in this blog post.
A Chat With Mony
Thanks for taking the time to sit for an interview with us Mony. Let’s start with some easy questions…
Q: What is your full name?
A: I have lots of name, but legally, my name is a long one. Ramona Louise Brady-Altman Strong. Brady is my mother’s maiden name, Altman, my dad’s last name. Close family and friends from my childhood call me Mony, so named after a popular song of the time. I met my deceased husband, Bob Strong when I was in college. He didn’t care for the name Mony and nicknamed me Romy. My veterinary office staff put their own spin on my name and call me Dr. Mona.
Q: How old are you?
A: As the oil boom officially had gone bust in 2014, I am 53.
Q: Where were you born?
A: My mother’s foster parents took her to Immanuel Hospital Mankato, Minnesota where she was supposed to have given me up to Lutheran services for adoption after I was born.
Q: What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened in your life?
A: That’s an awfully personal question. I had kept silent for decades a bad choice I’d made accepting a ride from an acquaintance I thought I could trust. He and two other male passengers in the car sexually assaulted me. I am now first coming to terms with this event and opening up to those closest to me about this with the help of a supportive counselor.
Q: Did you have a happy childhood?
A: If I think about my life early life with my Mom and Sir, my mother’s husband, it was far from a happy childhood. Sir was very abusive toward me and my mother did little to intervene. But, when I consider my childhood beginning the day I met my Dad, this was very happy time for me.
Q: What are your hobbies?
I don’t consider what I do in my spare time a hobby because it is all very practical to me. I go to the shooting range 1-2 times a week to stay in practice. I go horseback riding because caring for horses is part of my work. I do a lot of gardening so I can preserve and freeze fresh produce for my family for the winter. Some would say flying is a hobby, but I’ve had my pilot license since I was 16 and it is as natural to me as driving a car.
Hiking would be considered more a leisurely activity that I use to stay fit. I learned to play the piano when I’d come to live with my dad and I stay practiced in this art. Because I had a couple of salt and pepper shakers as a kid, everyone seemed to think I needed to expand on this collection so I’ve accumulated quite a few over the years.
Q: What is your favorite color?
I’m always torn between purple and green but I tend to lean toward purple.
Q: When is your birthday?
A: August 16, 1961
Q: What early event changed your life?
A: Easily the day my Dad when he came for me the summer I turned 8 years old and flew me back to his home in North Dakota to live with him. Second, would be meeting my dearest pseudo brother’s Nate and Massey Ferguson
Q: What are you most afraid of?
A: Suffocating.
Q: What do you like most about yourself?
A: Always a difficult question, but today I will go with being a chameleon. I change myself to match the situation.
Least- I tend to keep my issues to myself which then tend to eat at me over time. I’m slowly learning to let go of the poisons that corrode like acid at my self-worth and confidence.
Q: What impression do you make on people when the first meet you?
A: I use to be very trusting before I went off to college. Now, I am very reserve, skeptical of people and their motives. So, I tend to be a bit authoritative and direct. Some people like this straight-forward, honest approach and view me as confident. Others may see this as being aloof and unapproachable.
Q: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to someone?
A: I’d like to say, setting up some unsuspecting putz for a trick we use to do on the ice rink called dip and trip, but that would be an untruth which brings me to the worst thing I’ve ever done. I can’t say that I’ve never told a little white lie, but worse than that is withholding a truth from someone I love.
Q: What is the one word you would use that defines you?
A: Complicated. Not in a high maintenance women sort of way, more the opposite, autonomous or overly independent. It’s difficult for me to let outsiders, even ask those closest to me for help. Those who love me find this very frustrating, which they let me know on no uncertain terms.
Q: And my last question to wrap up this interview…Have you ever been in love?
A: Most definitely yes.
Wrapping It Mony’s Interview
I hope you enjoyed this interview and learned more about Mony. If you have any questions for her, leave them in the comments below and she’ll answer them for you!
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