A RESPECTABLE ACTRESS - Dorothy Love - One Free Book

BIO: A native of west Tennessee, Dorothy Love makes her home in the Texas hill country with her husband and their golden retriever. An award-winning author of numerous young adult novels, Dorothy made her adult debut with the Hickory Ridge novels. When she isn’t busy writing or researching her next book, Love enjoys hiking, traveling, and hanging out with her husband Ron and their rambunctious golden retriever. The Loves make their home in the Texas hill country.

Welcome back, Dorothy. Tell us about your salvation experience.

I grew up in the Presbyterian Church and from a very early age was taught that as believers we belong to God. I don’t have a specific salvation story to tell. I can’t remember when faith was not a part of my life.

You’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?

Only four? There are so many writers I admire. For this question I’m going to limit my answer to writers I have not yet met and not the ones who encourage and inspire me every day with their talent and friendship.

As a southern author born and bred and as one who writes almost exclusively about the South, I’d have to invite Pat Conroy because he loves the South Carolina lowcountry as much as I do and writes about it with such grace. Lee Smith for her realistic portrayals of Southern families in all their messiness, Kaye Gibbons because her book Ellen Foster is a masterpiece and I’d love to pick the brain of such a genius, and Cassandra King who is a very good writer in her own right and happens to be married to Pat Conroy. I figure Sandra might persuade Pat to accept my invitation.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?

I locked myself out of my house twice in one day. Luckily a sympathetic neighbor came to the rescue the first time. When I did it the second time, it was late in the afternoon and I just waited for my husband to get home and let me in.

People are always telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you, too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?

Go for it. Enjoy the process. But be prepared. It’s harder than it looks.

So … so true. Tell us about the featured book.

A Respectable Actress is inspired by the life of Frances Anne (Fanny) Kenble, a very popular British actress who toured America in the 1800’s when actresses were considered undesirables.  Fanny married Pierce Butler and went with him to his St Simons Island plantation where much of my novel is set.  My fictional lead character, India Hartley, comes to Savannah as a visiting actress on a tour of theaters across the south. On the second night of her Savannah engagement, her leading man, a popular local actor is shot dead onstage in front of a packed house. India is accused of the crime. Celia McKay, a character from my novel The Bracelet hires her friend Philip Sinclair, the best lawyer in town to defend India. To protect her from pre-trial gossip, he takes her to Indigo Point, his rundown plantation on St Simons where they work on her defense, and where India makes startling discoveries about Philip’s past as she looks for clues to the disappearance of a slave girl and seeks to unravel the mysteries of a woman in a portrait.

Romantic Times named the book a Top Pick and commented on its “gothic vibe.” It’s a bit of a departure from my earlier books but I hope readers will enjoy it.

I can hardly wait to read my copy. Please give us the first page of the book.

Savannah, December 20, 1870

Gunfire exploded to the right of the stage, a burst of sound that temporarily deafened her. When the ringing in her ears subsided she was aware of screams, of shouts for a policeman and a doctor, of the ensuing chaos as officers arrived and began ushering patrons out of the packed theater. Two burly officers leapt onto the stage, seized her by both arms, and manhandled her into a police wagon parked in the alley, the officers with their weapons at the ready, the horses stamping impatiently in the cold.

           

Now it was midnight and the city of Savannah slumbered beneath a veil of winter moonlight, the deep silence broken only by a rush of wind that rattled the palmettos and the Pride of India trees lining the deserted streets.

           

Inside the Chatham County Jail the walls rang with the shouts of drunken sailors and their painted escorts, the clang of metal bars and snatches of lewd songs sung off key. Jaded-looking policemen armed with nightsticks moved along the dimly lit corridors checking the locks and admonishing the prisoners to quiet down.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website : www.DorothyLoveBooks.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/dorothylovebooks,

Twitter at WriterDorothy

Thank you, Dorothy, for sharing this new book with us. Your snippet intrigues me. I usually only read Christmas books in November and December, but I probably will slip your book in very soon. I can hardly wait to read it. I'm sure my readers feel the same way.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
A Respectable Actress - Christianbook.com (best price today)
A Respectable Actress - Amazon
A Respectable Actress - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com