SPY OF RICHMOND - Jocelyn Green - One Free Book

Welcome back, Jocelyn. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

Yes, He has. Spy of Richmond is my tenth book and the end of my Heroines Behind the Lines Civil War series. Right now I’m exploring a few different directions for where I want to invest my writing energies next. I foresee both nonfiction and more historical fiction in my future, Lord willing!

Tell us a little about your family.
My husband Rob is the most supportive husband this homeschooling writer mama could ever ask for. He’s also a graphic designer, and has created the maps in my novels! Rob is the Web developer for the University of Northern Iowa library and is also in grad school for a master’s in Instructional Technology. Our 8-year-old daughter loves to read, ride her bike, write stories, and play violin. Our 6-year-old son loves anything with wheels on it, and is more athletic than my husband and I combined. We have one pet, a cat named Oreo who the children find absolutely irresistible.

Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?
I’m a much more thoughtful reader than I was before I wrote fiction. I keep a notebook and pen with me when I read so when I notice a striking passage, I’ll jot it down in my notebook or just scribble a note to myself about the author’s technique. I have much more appreciation for authors and books now that I know how challenging it is to do it well! I also read a wider variety of genres and authors now as I look for new and different ways to tell stories.

What are you working on right now?
I’m in the final stages of my current interlibrary loan spree for a new series I’m researching. In a few weeks, I’ll be ready to make travel plans to visit the location and really dive into some archives and get a sense of setting. I never feel like I’m ready to write until I’ve spent time “on-site.”

What outside interests do you have?
Between writing, reading, and homeschooling, I don’t have much time leftover. But if I did, I’d spend more time gardening, knitting, baking, and scrapbooking.

How do you choose your settings for each book?
With my Civil War series, I chose the roles women played during the war first, and the settings fell into place. Wedded to War was about the first band of trained professional nurses, which took place in New York City and Washington. I wanted to also show how civilian women were affected by battles close to home, so Gettysburg was a great setting for book 2. Yankee in Atlanta combines two different roles—that of the female soldier, and the secret Unionist in Atlanta. I chose Richmond for the setting of Spy of Richmond because Elizabeth Van Lew, the most famous female spy for the Union, lived there on Church Hill. My heroine, Sophie Kent, works in Van Lew’s spy network.

If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?
Nellie Bly. Born in 1864, she grew up to be a ground-breaking reporter, which was remarkable for a young women in those days. She launched a new kind of investigative journalism and wrote an exposé on the conditions inside an insane asylum, among other stories. She also traveled around the world without a chaperone in a record-breaking 72 days. I was trained as a journalist, so Nellie’s story fascinates me.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?
Honestly, I wish I would have had a little more confidence in myself early on. When I switched from nonfiction to fiction, I had a lot of self-doubt, and it’s really difficult to be creative when you feel lousy about yourself. Ironically, my first novel, Wedded to War, was a Christy Award finalist in two categories. I could have saved myself a lot of hand-wringing if I had just been able to turn off those negative voices in my head.

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?
He’s teaching me to wait upon His timing. It’s so easy to rush around and behave as though my success is defined by my productivity. But that’s not the case. My success is determined by how closely I follow God’s will for my life. That could mean I write ten books and I’m done, or it could mean I have many more to write than that. Trusting God’s timing releases me from comparing myself to others. I need only seek His will, rather than try to match someone else’s success.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?
Read, read, read. Work on your craft even when you’re not in the mood. Find creative ways to market—and one way to do this is by joining associations that foster cooperative efforts.

Tell us about the featured book.
Richmond, Virginia, 1863. Compelled to atone for the sins of her slaveholding father, Union loyalist Sophie Kent risks everything to help end the war from within the Confederate capital and abolish slavery forever. But she can't do it alone.

Former slave Bella Jamison sacrifices her freedom to come to Richmond, where her Union soldier husband is imprisoned, and her twin sister still lives in bondage in Sophie's home. Though it may cost them their lives, they work with Sophie to betray Rebel authorities. Harrison Caldwell, a Northern freelance journalist who escorts Bella to Richmond, infiltrates the War Department as a clerk-but is conscripted to defend the city's fortifications.

As Sophie's spy network grows, she walks a tightrope of deception, using her father's position as newspaper editor and a suitor's position in the ordnance bureau for the advantage of the Union. One misstep could land her in prison, or worse. Suspicion hounds her until she barely even trusts herself. When her espionage endangers the people she loves, she makes a life-and-death gamble. Will she follow her convictions even though it costs her everything-and everyone-she holds dear?

Please give us the first page of the book.
Outside Savannah, Georgia

Thursday, March 3, 1859

It is madness.

Rain hissing to the earth in torrents behind her, Sophie Kent shivered and craned her neck toward the platform, half expecting lightning to strike the Ten Broeck Race Course any moment. It was the second day of the auction selling more than 420 slaves, and the second day of boiling, weeping storms. Gripping her pencil and papers beneath the folds of her wrap, Sophie trained her eyes and ears to the drama around her.

Humiliation tightened her throat as she watched a woman on the stage made to jump, bend, twist, and turn. Her smooth complexion was the color of tea with milk and honey, a bright contrast to the cocoa and coffee bean shades of the others. Her almond-shaped eyes were cast downward as a man tugged off her shawl and head rag before pinching her arm and pulling her lips apart to display her teeth. Modesty told Sophie to avert her gaze from the indignity, but she resisted. For years, she’d been blind to the horrors of slavery. This time, she would not look away. Neither will I stay silent. Not any longer.

The man spun the woman around and made some remark into her ear; she let him expose her back to the audience. “No scars from the disciplining lash—no trace of rebellion in her spirit,” he said. The woman covered herself once more.

As the bidding began from within the two hundred buyers in attendance, Sophie withdrew her auction catalogue from her wrap, her pencil poised to take notes. Humidity curled the pages, and the list of souls for sale drooped in her gloved hand.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.jocelyngreen.com

www.heroinesbehindthelines.com

www.facebook.com/jocelyngreenauthor
www.twitter.com/jocelyngreen77

www.pinterest.com/jocelyngreen77

Thank you, Jocelyn, for sharing this new book with us.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Spy of Richmond - Christianbook.com
Spy of Richmond (Heroines Behind the Lines) - Amazon
Spy of Richmond (Heroines Behind the Lines Book 4) - Kindle

Christian Book Store

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