Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have one awesome friend joining us! Please welcome Lane Hayes!
This week’s question is: “What kind of shoe are you? Why?”
***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!
Now let’s hear from Lane Hayes!
Wow. Great question. The answer for me is a fairly simple one. Flip-flops. It may not sound particularly exciting, but I live in Southern California in a coastal town where I can literally wear my favorite Havianas year round. And I do. Even in winter, I can wear jeans, a sweater and yeah… flip flops. Sounds weird, eh? Depending on where you’re from, I totally get it. I’m from Michigan originally and although I haven’t lived there in decades, I know there is no way in hell you’d be wearing anything but boots in the winter.
Lifestyle factors into your shoe choice as much, if not more than weather and where you reside. I live near the beach in the kind of town where stereotypical surfers reign. They say words like “dude” and “bro” a lot. And when they claim something is “sick”, they don’t mean a trip to the hospital could be in your cards. They means it’s awesome, cool and totally rad! Get the picture? Dressing up for them means wearing a shirt with a collar. I have two teenage boys, one of whom I know for a fact only wears collared shirts when he’s forced. As a result, he owns two. Seriously. In other words, things our very casual in our neck of the woods. There are plenty of snooty folks who live here too, of course. You know the type who love to drop designer name brands and would miss a dental appointment before a Botox injection appointment. Think Real Housewives of Orange County. We see all kinds here.
I’d be less than honest if I didn’t admit to insisting on a teensy bit of fashion where my Havianas are concerned. I own a rainbow of colored flip flops to go with practically any clothing color combination I dream up. And my toes are always done. That’s a must. But at the end of the day, I’m a huge fan of simplicity. Anything I wear must be 100% comfortable. I’ve suffered through the days of slipping into a pair of heels or ill-fitting shoes for work or a special occasion and yes, I’m still forced to do so every once in a while. I don’t enjoy it. Most days, I get to wear whatever I choose. It’s a perk of being an author. My dog doesn’t care if I’m in pjs till noon or that I hate wearing makeup. And he certainly doesn’t care what about my footwear! It’s why we’re friends, I suppose.
Personality-wise, I wonder what a $25 pair of flip flops says about me. Then again, I don’t. I’m comfortable… in my choice of footwear and in my own skin. I think that’s all that really counts J.
Thank you very much for having me here today, ZAM! I’ve gone from chatting about Madonna on my first visit to beachwear… an interesting array of topics for sure!
Best wishes,
Lane Hayes xo
Author of the best-selling Better Than Stories series
Better Than Good, Better Than Chance, Better Than Friends
Buy Links for Better Than Friends
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Thank you to Lane for joining us this week!
This was a fun post! And thanks for the giveaway. 🙂
Thanks Michelle!
I loved Better Than Friends, and ZA is one of my favorite authors too!
Hi there! I know you 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Lane, hello! Glad you could stop by, and YES! to beach footwear. I have earned the right to wear whatever shoes I like too. My choice is usually Birkenstocks which is the less beach-driven, more aging-hippy focused footwear of choice for Southern California authors, (and is also a legacy from my spiritually-questing mother’s Transcendentalist phase.) She moved to Oregon, and spent half her life there, so in her honor, in the winter I wear them with socks.
I saw a man in New Mexico wearing a “Namaste, Bitches” T-shirt the other day. He’s lucky I didn’t steal it right off his back.
Thanks for a great answer to one of my silly questions! (BTW, I very much enjoyed the audio of Better Than Good. I listened to it just the other day. Great book. Great narrator Loved it.)
Thank you for having me ZAM! I love your questions. They’re like ice breakers at a cocktail party. Everyone has an answer & everyone can play :-). Thanks for listening to Better Than Good. Tyler Stevens is a fantastic narrator…kudos to him! Btw, you probably already know this, but I’m a huge fan of yours! xo
Thanks for the fun post! I’m in Arizona and would have said flip-flops, but since Lane picked that already, I will choose my new Keen sandals. They look pretty nice, but are super comfortable and have a rugged sole, so can take me anywhere. I spent 10 days in Key West last month and walked the heck out of those sandals. 🙂
Hi Jen! Those sandals sound comfy! My Havianas are my staple for sure, but they’re impractical when I go to big cities. The muck on the ground makes the clean freak in me go a little crazy. I forgot to pack sandal in NYC once & wore regular flip-flops instead of sneakers. My feet were black at the end of the day. Not a good look! xo
I totally agree about footwear being location dependent. I live somewhere with snow seven months minimum out of the year, so I don’t even own any flip-flops.
True, right? I own boots but I rarely get to wear them. A drop of rain hits and I can’t wait to put my cute rain boots on. Except… it never rains here! ;-(
Great interview Lane! I love the Better Than series. It was fantastic!
Thank you Jen! I can’t wait for you to read my next series too ;-). Look for book #1 in Nov/Dec! And yes, there will be more Better Than books too. I like the boys too much to say goodbye. xo
Thanks for the fun post! I’m a high heel girl all the way.
I wish I was. Alas, I cannot walk in them for long. I’m good for 20 minutes max before I’m longing for flat ground! xo
Hi, what a fun post and gosh I could never wear flip flops as I always get blisters and even when I break a pair of shoes in I still run the risk of blisters. A few years ago I fell in love with a pair of Roman style sandals, which had straps that wrapped around my ankles, great I thought they won’t move around, but all was okay until I decided to walk in them and yes I ended up with blisters and had to wear normal shoes and socks for days! Now when I find a pair of shoes or sandals that do not hurt my feet I try and buy them in different colours and then wear them to death. I have a favourite smart pair of shoes for interviews, which cost me a lot of money, but my ultimate favourite foot apparel, apart from bare feet and a few bells LOL, is boots preferable flat and black, maybe even kinky above the knee ones 😉 .
If I am lucky enough to be selected to win your $5 gift card, would I be able to request you gift me a book from Amazon or maybe another e’tailer, as I cannot use US Amazon vouchers to buy Kindle books 🙁 as my account is UK based?
Hi Lane, I loved your Better than series. Flip flops = beach vacations to me, while on vacation I live in my flip flops. In my worklife I cant wear flip flops :(.
Hope this is not a dup comment.
Fun interview. It would have to be comfortable slip on shoes, that can go anywhere and still be comfortable.