Betty Bolte's Musings

I’ve known my next guest, at least online, for many years now. Please help me welcome Claudia Shelton! First a peek at her bio and then we’ll move to the fun part…

Award winning author Claudia Shelton has already proven herself a contender in romantic suspense books that cross over into the mystery-suspense-thriller genre. Whether sexy protector agents or small-town family settings, her fast-paced stories keep the reader guessing all the way to the end. Now, with the release of the first book in her new Nature’s Crossing series, she’s entering the contemporary mainstream romance genre (a crossover between contemporary romance and women’s fiction). The ongoing small-town saga is nestled in south-central Missouri, somewhere between Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, and Mark Twain National Forest.

On a personal note, Claudia considers herself a music lover and water person, plus she enjoys anything to do with nature. In fact, the Nature’ Crossing series allows her to bring all of those things closer. Her main priority, though, is spending time with family, friends and her two sweet, conniving rescue dogs, Gidget and Daisy.

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Betty: When did you become a writer?

Claudia: I began writing seriously in 2006. Finished my first book in 2008.

Betty: How long did you work on your writing skills before you became published?

Claudia: My debut novel was Risk of A Lifetime – released 2014 with Entangled Publishing. However, I had short stories published prior to that.

Betty: What authors or stories do you feel influenced your writing style?

Claudia: I’ve been a reader all my life, so I feel that there isn’t just one author influence. Writing and styles and stories change with the times, so the combination of all that has come before, mixed with the stories waiting in my mind at the moment, will always influence what I write. In my humble opinion, I feel that five years from now, I could write the same premise of a story…yet the book would be different than what came out last year. Times change and so do books.

Betty: What prompted you to start writing?

Claudia: I just did! And, of course once you start, the characters, settings, and storylines begin to bombard your mind.

Betty: What type of writing did you start with?

Claudia: My first published books were Romantic Suspense. But the first book I ever wrote was A Week at Most which is a mixture of contemporary romance/women’s fiction/and just a tiny touch of suspense. The manuscript sat on my shelf for over ten years before I reworked the story and published the book in November 2020.

Betty: What do you most enjoy writing? Why?

Claudia: That’s an interesting question. One I don’t really have an answer for because there’s so much that feels good in the moment.

Betty: How did you learn to write? A mentor, classes, conferences, craft books, or something else?

Claudia: Craft books. Critique groups. Workshops.

Betty: What do you wish you knew before you started writing/publishing?

Claudia: There is no absolute right or wrong when it comes to storytelling. Just write the book!

Betty: What other authors inspired you (either directly or through their writing) to try your hand at writing?

Claudia: Catherine Mann, BJ Daniels, Robyn Carr, Sherryl Woods, Cherry Adair and many, many more. I thank them all.

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

Claudia: The outdoors and being close to nature have always been special to me. And I love my memories of small-town life and country living, music in the air, and swings on the front porch. The Nature’s Crossing series is a feel-good setting which called to me.

If you like the Virgin River or Sweet Magnolias series, you’ll want to read A Week At Most, first book in the new Nature’s Crossing series.

Big-city newscaster Ashley Lanovan never envisioned herself divorced, unemployed, and house sitting for friends during the holiday season. After adjusting to small-town culture shock, she realizes that her priorities have been misplaced for the past ten years and feels inspired to energize the struggling community. But a holiday getaway to Washington, D.C., gives her even more reason to call Nature’s Crossing her home.

Mark Garmund is ready for a change in careers. He’s seriously considering the National Park Services job offer in the area of Nature’s Crossing. Now, he’s got his eye on ten acres with towering pines, a park-like setting, and one sprawling house he could call home. Meeting Ashley has triggered emotions he’d rather not face, and a few he would sure like to pursue. But first he has to earn her trust.

Excerpt:

Ashley put together a platter of fruit, cheese, and salami, then tossed crackers in a bowl and finished off the tray with two glasses. The klutz in her feared she might trip on the stairs, so she lowered it through the dumb waiter, retrieving the food once she was down the steps.

As Mark opened the patio door for her, he took the tray as she stepped out into the back yard that had become a wonderland. Flowers sprouted from a watering can placed on the picnic table, lanterns cast a warm flickering glow, and soft jazz floated in the air. Two chairs bordered the wood-filled fire pit. He’d been busy.

“I don’t think you were planning on going to the dance.” Ashley marveled at the finesse he showed in lighting the wood.

He shrugged and poured them each a glass of wine. “You’ll never know, will you? You said no.”

“By the way, don’t forget to take your clean fishing vest. I can get it from my suitcase.”

“Thanks. But I’ll pick it up the next time I’m through town.”

She wouldn’t break the mood by telling him she’d be gone by this time next week.

His grin told her his question even before he asked. “Why’s it in your suitcase?”

What was she supposed to say? That she’d hoped he’d come for the vest? She wouldn’t dare tell him she tried it on twice. Already his flirty tone played with her. “After I washed it three times and got the stink bait smell out, I needed to keep it someplace.”

The cold night air overtook her. She shivered slightly. A sweater instead of the blouse would have been a smarter choice.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“No.” She shuddered again. “Maybe a little.”

“Won’t take long for the fire to get going. You’ll warm up fast then.” He pitched more wood on the blaze.

Her teeth chattered together lightly.

Mark removed his leather jacket. Facing her, he wrapped it around her shoulders. “There, that should help.”

It had been a long time since she felt lost in a man’s coat. A long, long time. She smiled as the fresh aroma of his ocean breeze cologne, mingled with the scent of leather against her skin.

Buy links: Amazon * Kobo * Apple * B&N * Google

I love being out in nature, too! Thanks so much for sharing your inspiration for this story and your writing, Claudia!

Happy reading!

Betty

P.S. If you haven’t already, please consider signing up for my newsletter, which I send out most every month, including news like new covers, new releases, and upcoming appearances where I love to meet my readers, along with recipes and writing progress. Thanks and happy reading!

Visit www.bettybolte.com for more on my books and upcoming events.

Today’s guest author brings a lifetime love of words to her writing. Please help me welcome Elizabeth Caulfield Felt to the interview seat! Here’s a look at her credentials and then we’ll dive right in.

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt teaches composition classes and children’s literature at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. Her novels include Charlotte, which won an award from the UWSP Graduate Council; Syncopation: a memoir of Adele Hugo, published by Cornerstone Press; and The Stolen Goldin Violin, a children’s mystery that takes place on the campus of UWSP during the American Suzuki Institute. Elizabeth is a book reviewer for the Historical Novel Society and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

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Betty: When did you become a writer?

Elizabeth: As long as I’ve been able to hold a pencil, I’ve written stories.

Betty: How long did you work on your writing skills before you became published?

Elizabeth: Oh, my! Having announced I started writing early, the answer to this is many, many years! I was an English and French major in college, so took many literature and writing classes. I belonged to writing groups, joined writer organization and went to conferences, read books, and wrote, wrote, wrote. I was first published in 2005, decades after writing my first story.

Betty: There are as many approaches to writing as there are writers. What does your writing process look like?

Elizabeth: Writing is a struggle for me. I want to be a writer, but I never want to write. I love having written, but the work of writing is such difficult work, with so little reward. I’ve given up many times. However, even during the times I stop writing, I never stop getting ideas for stories. I spend many of my waking hours playing around with characters and plot lines in my head. After a certain point, I need to get these ideas on paper. I guess that’s my process. I think about a story for a long time before I decide to sit down at the computer, picking word after word after word. When my fingers meet keyboard, I know all the important plot points of the story and my characters are already well developed friends.

Betty: What type of writing did you start with?

Elizabeth: I don’t remember; I started writing so young. My first published work was a creative thesis, Charlotte, which is historical fiction. Next was a children’s mystery, The Stolen Goldin Violin, then another work of historical fiction, Syncopation. I’ve written a young adult fantasy trilogy that I’m querying, and my work in progress is a contemporary realistic novel about a writer in Scotland. I don’t have a favorite genre; when I have an idea I cannot ignore, I go to work.

Betty: What do you wish you knew before you started writing/publishing?

Elizabeth: Hmm. This is a hard one. My mother wrote seven wonderful novels and wasn’t able to get them published. So, I knew getting published was difficult. What has surprised me is how many people think writing is easy, that getting published is easy, that if you self-publish you can get rich, that they have a book idea I’d want to hear about…. These types of conversations drive me crazy! By nature, I’m a quiet, polite person, so I usually nod and move on, but geesh! Writing is hard! Getting published is like winning the lottery! I have more book ideas than I’ll ever have time to write about!

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

Elizabeth: The idea for this novel came when a lot of pieces of my life all fell together. In high school, I took French and memorized the poem “Demain des l’Aube” by Victor Hugo. I lived and studied in France for a year and at some point watched the Francois Truffaut film Adele H. At university I wrote a research paper about Victor Hugo and decided I didn’t like him anymore. (He didn’t think much of women.)  Many years later, when I was nearly finished with my first novel, a group of friends were reciting poems they knew by heart. “Demain des L’Aube” flowed forth my memory, as if I’d read it the day before. It is a beautiful poem, and I was sad that it had been written by a man I no longer respected. Then I remembered Truffaut’s film about Victor’s daughter Adele. What if she had written that poem? My research about the Hugo family began, I located a copy of Adele’s journal, and three years later, Syncopation: A Memoire of Adele Hugo was completed. 

Adele, the scandalous daughter of Victor Hugo, describes life with the famous French author, playwright, poet and politician, a man who brought liberty and equality to “everyman” but felt no desire to do so for “every woman.” Adele, an accomplished poet, pianist, and composer, craves a freedom that the nineteenth century and her father will not allow. Her memoir blurs the fine line between truth and madness, in a narrative that is off-kilter, skewed, syncopated.

Excerpt:

To life there is a rhythm one knows from the womb. It begins as the beat of a mother’s heart–slow and steady and safe. An infant finds the pulse in its own heart and continues the rhythm in its needy sucking. The toddler pitter-pats to the rhythm, and the sound of the servants starting the day carry it through. The pulse is in the wind and the laps of the waves from the Seine; birds sing it and squirrels chitter it; the very soil under our feet moans and groans to its pounding.

Firecrackers exploded when Adèle was born. July 28, 1830 was the in middle of the three-day revolution protesting the tyrannies of King Charles X. With such a birthday, Adèle was born for glory and fame.

The Hugo house was on the newly constructed rue Jean-Goujon, the wide fields of the Champs-Elysée as their backyard. The family had everything one could desire: parkland to explore, books to read, a small black piano, and each other.

And then one day, as a unit, this perfect family gasped. Those who survived missed a half-beat from the breath of life. If it had been a whole note, they could have perhaps fallen back into the rhythm, but it was a half-beat. They syncopated. They moved out of step, off-kilter. Forever more, they would run and jump and dream and scream, but they would be unable to slip into that easy rhythm, that regular beat that keeps time for the world.

Buy links: Smashwords * B&N * Kobo * amazonUS *amazonUK

It’s always interesting to have a peek at the coming together of moments and experiences to form a new story. Thanks for sharing that with us, Elizabeth!

Happy reading!

Betty

P.S. If you haven’t already, please consider signing up for my newsletter, which I send out most every month, including news like new covers, new releases, and upcoming appearances where I love to meet my readers, along with recipes and writing progress. Thanks and happy reading!

Visit www.bettybolte.com for more on my books and upcoming events.

My guest today is joining us from Canada with a riveting tale to share with you all. Please help me welcome Renny deGroot to the interview hot seat! Here’s a glance at her bio and then we’ll find out more about her story.

Renny deGroot is a first generation Canadian of Dutch parents. She was born in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Her debut novel, Family Business, was shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. Her second novel, After Paris, has been well received by fans of Historical Fiction and her latest novel Torn Asunder has garnered several readers’ awards including an IndieB.R.A.G Medallion, a Five Star Award from the Coffee Pot Book Club (U.K.), A Book of the Month Premier Award and joint runner up for Book of the Year 2020 from Chill With A Book (U.K.), a Readers Favorite Honorable Mention (Hist Fic) in the 2020 International Book Contest and a Readers’ Pick badge from the Miramichi Reader (Canada).

In 2019 Renny was commissioned to produce a coffee-table non-fiction book about the military history of her former regiment, called 32 Signal Regiment, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals: A History.

Renny spent ten years in the Canadian Forces, retiring as a Warrant Officer.

Renny has a BA in English Literature from Trent University. She lives in rural Ontario with her Great Pyrenees and Golden Retriever, and vacations at her cottage in Nova Scotia.

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Betty: When did you become a writer?

Renny: I was fortunate enough to get the ‘golden handshake’ from my full-time job in 2010 which gave me the freedom to dedicate myself to my writing. Prior to that I dabbled, but I really view my birth as an author from the moment I began full time.

Betty: What other authors inspired you (either directly or through their writing) to try your hand at writing?

Renny: I am a real fan of the classics and continue to go back to them when I am in need of a ‘comfort read’. I am especially inspired by Charles Dickens with his ability to tell important stories and do it in such a way that engages and entertains. Who doesn’t cry at the end of A Tale of Two Cities? He takes the notion of societal transformation and applies it at a personal level with the idea that people can change, and all people have good in them at some level. I work to apply the same method to my writing. I had a manuscript review done of Torn Asunder by the amazing Barbara Kyle during which she told me I had ‘window pane writing’. This comment delighted me because for me, telling a good story is always the first priority. It’s only by truly engaging the reader, that one can have any success in getting one’s message across.

Betty: What type of writing did you start with?

Renny: I started with angst-filled poetry as a teenager (I had a few poems published in school year books that I now flip past quite quickly when looking at the old photos!). I went on to short stories when I took some creative writing classes at Ryerson, and I still occasionally will work on that format (I came in 1^st in my group in round one of the NYC Short Story Contest 2 years ago), but my real love is now the novel. I love the scope and leeway I have in evolving the characters and story.

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

Renny: I lived in Ireland for a while and fell in love with the history and drama with which the country is steeped. I thought it was a perfect setting to look at the idea of how we influence others.

Thank you so much for having me here today Betty! I’ve enjoyed thinking about these questions and the journey I’ve taken to get where I am today. The support of bloggers is so vital to indie authors, and I appreciate this opportunity.

Opening in Ireland 1916, Emmet Ryan becomes an inspiring journalist during one of the country’s most turbulent times, but he has no idea that his words have the power to destroy those he loves the most. An Irish multi-generational family drama of divided loyalties.

Excerpt:

Emmet joined his father and two brothers cycling home. They burst in on their mother with a clatter of noise.

She wiped her hands on her apron and smiled at Emmet. “You found them all, then?”

Emmet’s father put a hand on her shoulder. “Kathleen, make up some packages of sandwiches for each of us. We’ll be leaving again in a few minutes and I don’t know when we’ll be back.”

She put her hand to her mouth. “It’s not true. You’re not really going to fight?”

“We are. Is there any food ready right now that we could have a quick hot meal?”

She stood with her hand still pressed to her mouth and then glanced over to her youngest son. “Not Emmet as well?”

Emmet felt his chest swell when he heard his father. “Emmet’s old enough to make his own decision.”

She came near him and reached out her hand as though to hold him fast, but Emmet nodded. “Me too, Mam.”

She wiped her eyes with a corner of her apron and then went to the cooker. Her voice was thick with tears and defeat. “The spuds aren’t ready, but you’ll each have a cut of ham on bread with onions and gravy before you go anywhere.”

For a mixed media reading by one of Canada’s leading Irish tenors, click here: https://youtu.be/QHiA7Jtc-GA

Purchase link: http://mybook.to/TornAsunder

My all-time favorite Dickens novel is Our Mutual Friend, which was his last completed novel. It’s dark and ironic and clever all wrapped into a fascinating tale. I just received a new copy of A Tale of Two Cities to read for Christmas. It’s been a long time since I read it and I want to see if I like it and understand it better as an adult. Thanks for stopping in, Remmy!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! And as always, thanks for reading!

Betty

P.S. If you haven’t already, please consider signing up for my newsletter, which I send out most every month, including news like new covers, new releases, and upcoming appearances where I love to meet my readers, along with recipes and writing progress. Thanks and happy reading!

Visit www.bettybolte.com for more on my books and upcoming events.

My guest today is an award-winning novelist. Please help me welcome Ana Brazil! Let’s peek at her bio and then we’ll find out more about her.

Ana Brazil is the author of the historical mystery Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper, winner of the 2018 Independent Book Publishers Association Gold Medal for Historical Fiction. Ana’s current work-in-progress features a bodacious vaudeville singer beset with murder, mistaken identity, and multiple romances in 1919 San Francisco.

Ana is a long-time student of history and earned her master’s degree in American history from Florida State University. She also worked as an architectural historian in Mississippi. After many years in software development, Ana is ecstatic to write historical fiction full time. Ana is an active member of the Historical Novel Society and Sisters in Crime, is the Events Chair for Sisters in Crime Northern California, and is a founding member of the Paper Lantern Writers historical fiction collective.

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Betty: When did you become a writer?

Ana: Probably when I was twelve. That’s when my mother died and I found great solace in writing poetry. Very bad poetry, of course, but it was verse that helped me express my sorrow and loss. Getting my feelings down on the page led me to read “real” poetry, and to appreciate the rhythm and power of the written word. I also started reading a lot of historical fiction in my teen years—like Dickens, Austen, and Alcott—and I found great stories to be a great refuge.

Betty: How long did you work on your writing skills before you became published?

Ana: My novel Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper was published in November 2017, although much of it was finished about ten years earlier. Every job I’ve ever had had a “writing component.” Sometimes I wrote promotional brochures; sometimes I wrote instructions on how to turn off a database. But I always worked to improve my writing and storytelling. So in actual years, I’d probably written 40 years before my first novel was published.

Betty: What authors or stories do you feel influenced your writing style?

Ana: Great influences: One of my early influences was Anne Rice, especially The Mummy. Her characters, sense of drama, and pacing are really stunning. Plus, she wrote a lot about New Orleans, a city that I love.

Not-so-great-influence: I read a lot of Charles Dickens during my teens and picked up his “cataloging” technique. You know, the “glorious pile—frowning walls—tottering arches—dark nooks—crumbling staircases” type of writing. Good for Dickens; not so good for me. I continually have to remind myself that “cataloging isn’t writing.”

Betty: What prompted you to start writing?

Ana: A love of reading, of course! I enjoyed reading historical fiction so much that I kept thinking, “What would happen if this character and this character intersected with each other? What kind of conflict would they create? What kind of resolution would they get to?”

Betty: What type of writing did you start with?

Ana: I went from poetry (again, bad poetry!) to attempts to write short stories to writing a novel and—just a few years ago–to writing real short stories.

Betty: What do you most enjoy writing? Why?

Ana: I love writing short stories because they are short and contained. But I love writing novels the best because I get to take a heroine through a life-changing journey.

Betty: How did you learn to write? A mentor, classes, conferences, craft books, or something else?

Ana: My love of reading also helped me learn how to write. From reading fiction and non-fiction, historical and contemporary, literature and genre, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. I also really benefit from being in critique groups, especially since I ask my fellow critique group members to be really, really honest.   

Betty: What do you wish you knew before you started writing/publishing?

Ana: I have a small independent publisher (Sand Hill Press Review), so there was a lot of time between signing the contract and publication date. I wish that I’d had a second Gilded Age New Orleans mystery to quickly follow the first publication. Lesson Learned: keep writing, writing, writing even when you’re submitting for publication.

Betty: What other authors inspired you (either directly or through their writing) to try your hand at writing?

Ana: I’ve been inspired by Julia Spencer-Fleming, who writes characters who have good hearts and try to do the right thing.

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

Ana: I was in the Tulane University archives in New Orleans going through boxes of clippings and photographs from the 1880s and 90s, all research for my master’s thesis. Inside those boxes I found information about the most interesting women…all of them trying to make the city of New Orleans a better place by doing good works like starting social settlements, teaching in kindergartens, and protecting animals. I was also a big fan of detective fiction and eventually I had the revelation “if these brilliant New Orleans women could solve social problems, I bet they could probably solve a murder as well.” And so Fanny Newcomb was born. And yes, her last name is a tribute to Newcomb College in New Orleans.

A Jack the Ripper copycat is terrorizing the women of Gilded Age New Orleans.

Desperate to know if her favorite student was a Ripper copycat victim, tenacious and quick-witted Fanny Newcomb turns detective.

Fanny’s hunt launches her into New Orleans’ darkest enclaves, saloons, and houses of prostitution. She questions authority, seeks out clues, and digs into long-protected secrets. Fanny’s search alienates her friends, alarms the police, and antagonizes her would-be fiancé. Her efforts infuriate the Ripper copycat, who vows to murder another of Fanny’s students by the end of the week.

Fanny persists, and even appears to succeed in her investigation, until the night her curiosity plunges her into a desperate confrontation with the Ripper copycat.

Can amateur detective Fanny Newcomb stop the Irish Channel Ripper before he murders again?

Excerpt:

Fanny Newcomb sucked the blood from the knuckle of her right thumb. Her fingers were stiff and reddened; her nails were torn. Her cuffs were rolled up to her elbows and she’d undone the top three buttons of her bodice. She dabbed the glow from her forehead with her crumpled handkerchief and surveyed her opponent. The battle had just begun.

     The Hammond typewriting machine was not entirely uninjured. The A, P, and W keys were snarled tightly and buried deep in the carriage well. The typewriter was immobilized.

     Fanny’s pride was bruised but her spirit was unbowed. “You’re just a machine,” she sneered. “Wires and plates and copper and keys. I’m smarter than you are. It might take me a while to figure you out but I’ll do it.”

Buy links: Kindle * Amazon Paperback * Barnes and Noble

Sounds like a terrific story and I love the inspiration for it, too. Thanks so much, Ana, for sharing it with us!

Happy reading!

Betty

P.S. If you haven’t already, please consider signing up for my newsletter, which I send out most every month, including news like new covers, new releases, and upcoming appearances where I love to meet my readers, along with recipes and writing progress. Thanks and happy reading!

Visit www.bettybolte.com for more on my books and upcoming events.

Every writer has a unique path to publication, if they choose to publish what they write. My guest today has a moving tale to share about how became published. Please welcome Trisha Faye! Let’s look at her background and then move on to find out more about her and her stories.

Trisha Faye writes about people, places, and items from the past – when she can tear herself away from researching, which is her favorite activity. But, in true Gemini fashion, she also enjoys writing magazine articles, children’s stories, and inspirational pieces. When not settled in front of a computer screen, she plays with a house full of rescue cats (far too many!) or digs in the garden.

Trisha is a past-Secretary and past-President of Keller Writers’ Association. She gives presentations and holds writing workshops at local libraries and for local writing groups and conferences. She is published in Quilter’s World, Country Magazine, Good Old Days, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Women’s World and in other national and regional publications.

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Betty: When did you become a writer?

Trisha: Writing entered my life slowly. I’m not one that can share that ‘I’ve been writing stories ever since I was a young child’. In the late 1990s, I started a monthly herbal newsletter. But I didn’t feel I was writing. I mostly shared recipes and reported on how to use herbs in crafting and gardening. Looking back, I think I felt that was a ‘safer’ route.

After my Grandma Jones died, I wanted to document some of the family stories and write a book about them. I did dabble with the start of a few stories that featured Grandma and my mom as a young child. But I doubt I ever wrote more than one or two chapters, and that project died a slow death.

The year I turned 50, I moved to Texas and that’s really when my writing began. I started with some articles for our small local paper. From there I started branching and getting magazine articles accepted. Gradually, with each acceptance I felt more confident in myself and started expanding the type of writing I did.

I soon became brave enough to start working on fictional short stories, most of a historical nature, along with some books – both non-fictional and historical fiction, and some children’s stories.

Betty: How long did you work on your writing skills before you became published?

Trisha: Counting the years when I didn’t consider myself a real writer, to publication of my first newspaper article, was probably about ten years – off and on.

Betty: What do you most enjoy writing? Why?

Trisha: I think what I most enjoy about writing is the creative process. Many of my stories begin from an item from the past – a postcard, a vintage cookbook, a photograph, an embroidered dish towel, or a tattered quilt.

Or, am I simply justifying one of my greatest pleasures – drifting about in a myriad of antique stores on the hunt for ‘treasure’? If that prized bit I discover becomes a story or a book, then it’s all good, right?

I pick up a worn dish towel with its hand embroidered design and think of the woman who stitched this piece so many years before. From the patterned pieces that came from its initial life as a feed sack, I feel that the dishcloth was crafted in the ’30s or ’40s. My mind begins creating the tale of the woman that stitched this lovely towel, thinking of what her life must have been like. What difficulties did she face? What challenges did she overcome? What delights did she find in her life?

And from there, a woman from long ago starts rising from the fragments collected in my brain and I end up creating a lady, her family, a story that surrounds her.

New projects, new characters, new tales – I feel like I’m molding these snippets of the past into new people, creating lives and memories, and honoring past lives when I’m able to.

Betty: How did you learn to write? A mentor, classes, conferences, craft books, or something else?

Trisha: Oh dear, I remember the first writing class I took. Or should I say, the first class that I attempted? I was about twenty years old, just starting some classes at the junior college in Azusa. I was not one of the bold, young, confident ones. I was one more afraid of my own shadow. One of my classes was a creative writing class. I couldn’t tell you what my story was about. But I can report that when I read my first story aloud to the class – it was ripped to shreds! Along with my fragile ego. I never returned.

About fifteen years later, as I navigated the murky days of divorce, I began going to a counselor who helped me through the process. She is the first one that told me these words – “You are a writer.”

Of course, it still took about another fifteen years before I believed her and began crafting with words instead of fibers and glass and clay.

Alas, by this time I also saw that those cruel, scathing words from my first critique were not all that wrong. Even though the local newspaper accepted several articles for publication, encouraging me in the notion that I could be a writer, I saw that I still needed to learn a lot.

I began devouring books on writing. Fortunately, the internet had exploded by then, and a wealth of writing blogs, newsletters, podcasts, and such awaited me on these virtual airwaves coming straight to my desk.

I felt like a sponge soaking up knowledge. And I’m still learning.

I also joined two local writing groups, where their insightful critiques keep helping me polish my prose as I grow and learn more each week, each month, each year.

Betty: What do you wish you knew before you started writing/publishing?

Trisha: I wish I knew then that we are never, never, never going to get it perfectly right the first time out. Our first draft, no matter how good we think we’ve done, is always going to go through several mutations before it ends up as a final product – sometimes with massive transformations.

But every word cut, every word changed, every modification only creates a better product. And the words of critique that help us along – sometimes kind and considerate, sometimes not so much – only help us strengthen our craft.

I wish that I could have had a thicker skin in those days. Because I didn’t, and I didn’t keep going, I wasted thirty years. I think that’s why I like to share my story of that time so long ago when some harsh words halted me on my path and diverted me for far too many years. I want to encourage others who may be feeling discouraged to keep going. Keep muddling through and keep putting the words on the paper.

No, we may not be Stephen King or JK Rowling. We may never even make it close to their level of expertise. But we do get better. Every day we write. Every thousand words we add to a manuscript. Every time we make another editing pass through a story. Keep on writing and we will keep getting better.

Betty: What other authors inspired you (either directly or through their writing) to try your hand at writing?

Trisha: Dr. Barbara Sinor, who is no longer the counselor who aided me as I traversed some dark, difficult days, is now my friend and mentor. She has been a huge inspiration to me, both with her encouragement, and the inspiration of her beautiful, lyrical writing.

Betty: What inspired you to write the book you’re sharing with us today?

Trisha: I know it seems strange to be sharing a book of Christmas stories with you the last week in January. But this is my latest book released last November, 100 Years of Christmas, and it’s perhaps one I’m most proud of. Most of the stories in this book had their beginnings from an object found at an antique store, or in the case of the 1934 quilt squares (Stitching Christmas Memories), a set of 30 quilt squares purchased at a yard sale in California.

Since most of the quilt squares had names on them, I eventually was able to track them to a small, now-non-existent town of Athelstan, Iowa. The squares were stitched by women and young girls in 1934. In 2014, I traveled to southern Iowa and donated the quilt squares to The Taylor County Historical Museum, where I met many descendants of these women and created friendships that continue to this day.

The stories in the book are themed around Christmas. Some of them I started two to three years ago. But they’re not really Christmas stories. They’re stories of seven different women through the years 1849-1948, who struggled to remain strong, to protect their families, to thrive and grow despite the circumstances surrounding them.

A few true facts, along with a few pieces from the past, are woven together with a large dollop of fiction, creating women and honoring those from the past. It’s one of the things I most like to do.

Thank you, Betty, for giving me this chance to come aboard and share some of my thoughts with your readers. I genuinely appreciate it and wish you all a day filled with blessings – and good stories.

Come join us as we travel through the years, peeking in on seven different women as they navigate the Christmas holiday and come to terms with their own inner life struggles. Hannah Tate’s story starts off in the Texas frontier in 1849. We travel through the years and end with Flora Luper in northwest Arkansas in 1948.

Excerpt:

Hannah threw another log in the fireplace, plopped down in a chair, and drew her knitting basket onto her lap. Picking up her needles, she continued with her current project, one she only worked on when her husband, Benjamin, was away from the house. Her shoulders sagged with fatigue. How she longed to join the younger girls on the bed. But as every other pioneer woman, she plodded along from sunup to sundown. She was pleased to be able to rest, while plying her needles, and still be productive.

She didn’t like the frosty bite of winter, especially when the howling wind and frigid cold found its way through tiny, unchinked spots. She was delighted the fall harvest was over. That season, with its harvesting and preserving, kept her busy.

Thinking of all the goods put up to last the family through this coldest of the seasons, she sent a silent prayer of thanks up toward the heavens. The tornado that ripped through north Texas earlier in the spring destroyed much of their earthly possessions. She was thankful it came in April, before the crops were sown and the vines and stalks were heavy with bounty.

Knit, purl, knit, purl—the stitches went on, one after the other, the repetitive motion lulling Hannah to a drowsy mood. Shaking her head, she fidgeted in the chair and tugged at the apron stretched taunt across her bulging belly. I’d better finish these up. There’s more I’ll need to be knitting.

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What a fascinating idea for seeking inspiration for a story, Trisha. I’ll never be able to walk through an antique store again without thinking of you.

Happy reading, folks!

Betty

Best-selling Author of Historical Fiction with Heart, and Haunting, Bewitching Love Stories

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