\n\tWelcome Kathleen to the blog.\n<\/p>\n
| \n\t\t\t\tWhat is your writing schedule like?<\/strong> \n\t\t\t\tIn flux\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat would you say is your interesting writing quirk?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tHot Earl Grey tea in a china cup\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tHow did you come up with your title?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tThe first two books had "Hope" in their titles, and Jenny's book is about her final turning over of her past to God.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tTell us about your hero and heroine. What makes them likeable?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tJenny has a dry wit and a boatload of courage, stopping in New Orleans to nurse cholera victims and taking on two orphaned children. \n\t\t\t\tWhite Bear also has a helper's heart and does things like stopping to help a family in distress on the trail. \n\t\t\t\tThey both have the courage to go out and look for each other.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tHow much of the book is based in real life?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tNothing physical, but Jenny's and White Bear's struggles can be applied to contemporary living.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat makes this book special to you?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tI always knew Jenny would have a book and I couldn't wait to put her voice to paper. I also feel that this is the crescendo that the other two books, and the novellas, have built toward. The spiritual theme is total commitment to God — your past, present and future — that's what happens to Jenny on the frozen prairie, and that's what I want my readers to take away.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tAre plots based on someone you know or events in your own life?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tNo, but I dedicated the book to my younger sister, whose capacity to love is equal to Jenny's.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat books have most influenced your life?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tBible. Fiction, Lauraine Snelling and Brock and Bodie Thoene. Snelling made me want to write prairie and the Thoenes showed me what Christian fiction could be.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat makes this a "must read" and why?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tJenny and White Bear are larger than life, but underneath they are so vulnerable. He's been hurt by the white world, and she still can't accept that God loves her or that White Bear wants to. Jenny's "dark night of the soul" on the prairie helps her to see herself With God's eyes. There's also the shenanigans of the two orphaned children, and the very real threat from two different sets of villains. And it's all played out against a rambunctious young country where anything goes, especially in the West.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tDo you have a person you consider a mentor?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\t1. Peggy Rychwa, also a Pelican author, taught me nearly everything I know about structure. \n\t\t\t\t2. I've been hanging out at Seekerville for years, and the Seekers have cheered me on through, well, everything. Personal and professional.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat book are you reading now?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\t"The British Are Coming!" by Rick Atkinson\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat do you do when you're not writing?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tTravel around New England. I'm a "festival junkie" and love festivals of any kind. My hobby is dollhouses and I have six. No room for any more. A little gardening, and in the fall, Christmas craft fairs. I'm also a lifestyle blogger, KB12, whose main thrust is, "Do as I say and not as I do."\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat does your family think of your writing?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tMy husband is my biggest cheerleader and my two daughters are proud.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat is your next project?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tHave a draft of a Revolutionary War story, but wonder if I'm not quite done with the Oregon Trail. \n\t\t\t\tAlso do nonfiction and have a local history book, "New Hampshire War Monuments: The Stories Behind the Stones," coming out in August.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tIs there anything you find particularly challenging when it comes to your writing?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tIt depends on the project. Seriously. For my Oregon Trail books the characters came to me easily and I lived with them, but structure was a challenge. For the Revolution book I plotted it pretty well, but the characters need work.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat is the hardest part about writing?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tDepends on the project.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tDid you learn anything from writing this book? What was it?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tThat I want to go even deeper with God and that if He can do it for Jenny, He can do it for me.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tDo you have advice for other writers?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tLISTEN to constructive criticism and apply it when necessary. Don't think you know it all. At the end of the day, there's a bunch of stuff that you don't.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tDo you have anything specific you want to say to readers?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tI hope you love Jenny and White Bear as much as I do.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tHow can readers connect with you?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tFacebook, LinkedIn, or through Pelican.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tIn no more than | \n\t\t\t\tTen (10) words, what is the spiritual takeaway for your reader?<\/strong> \n\t\t\t\tJenny needs to learn to fully commit herself to Christ and to leave the past behind.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat is your hero's main character flaw?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tHe can't trust the Lord with what's most precious to him — Jenny.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat is your heroine's main character flaw?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tShe doesn't see herself as others see her, or as White Bear does, or as God does.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat can readers learn from your villain?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tDon't burn an Indian village.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhat makes your hero heroic?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tHe thinks of others more than himself, even when it's dangerous. Like when he helps the covered wagon family, even though the father is a bit prejudiced. He rescues and worries about Red Dawn and her son. And he wants to protect Jenny, even though she's taken care of herself for so long.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n\t\t\t\twhat makes your heroine heroic?<\/strong> | \n\t\t\t\tShe thinks of others — the two children she adopts, the cholera victims she nurses in New Orleans. We first meet her when she gets up out of a sick bed to warn Michael that thugs are after him, and she stays consistent throughout the first two books.\n\t\t\t<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n\tThis is the third and final book in the Western Dreams trilogy. Jenny Thatcher first made her appearance in "Westward Hope," and stayed around as a supporting character in "Settler's Hope." Her memories of White Bear are sprinkled through the first two books, so it's logical that she wants to find him again. \n\t \n<\/p>\n \n\t |