LOVE'S HARVEST - Linda Shenton Matchett - One Free Ebook

Welcome, Linda, Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Probably more than I’d like to admit. I have a lot of curiosity—I want to know how or why something happened. This is typically a trait I include in my protagonists.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?  

My husband and I left our Washington, DC, careers behind and moved to central New Hampshire to run a bed and breakfast for twelve years.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

I have been writing since I was in elementary school. I filled lots of notebooks with stories. I also published a weekly “newspaper” for my family in which I made up all the news. It even included an editorial column!

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I read a lot of books about WWII—fiction, memoir, biography—for research. For pleasure, I read historical novels, mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense. I like any book from which I learn something.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

I try to take at least 15 minutes a day just for me—having a cup of tea, reading a few pages in a book, or sitting on the sun porch. It doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but it makes a difference.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

I write historical novels, so the names need to be tied to that particular era. There are several websites that list popular names by era or decade. I picked up a 1946 high school yearbook at a book sale, and I use that. Recently I needed a snooty sounding name for my antagonist, so I asked my FaceBook followers. They came up with Thurgood Wellington Mayfield, III.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

I was a Human Resources professional, and early in my career I took a job with a small manufacturing company. Six weeks after I joined the company, the CEO announced the company had been acquired by another and the plant was closing. I worked with the 68 people who were not going to the new company to create their resumés, teach the employees interviewing skills, and find them jobs. I was able to place all but five of the employees at the end of the six weeks. Then I set about trying to find a job for me.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

A dog—I like the comforts of home way too much to be a wild animal.

What is your favorite food?

Dessert!

Me, too, but I don’t eat many these days and then only a tiny portion. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

I am a research-aholic. I love to dig, and dig, and dig. In my early writings I included way too much of the research material. With the help of my critique group and an excellent freelance editor, I learned how to sprinkle the information throughout the story rather than pour it on.

Me, too. And my books have become much stronger after I learned that lesson. Tell us about the featured book.

Love’s Harvest is a fictionalization of the biblical book of Ruth set from 1923 through 1946. It tells the story of Noreen Hirsch, an English woman who meets and marries a young German man who suffers ill health because of a mustard gas attack during WWI. Rosa Hirsch is Noreen’s daughter-in-law who accompanies her back to England after the women are widowed. Basil Quincey is the Boaz character who runs a large farm where Rosa becomes employed as part of Britain’s Land Army.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Volga Region, Russia, 1923

“We’ll die if we don’t leave this place. Pack only what you can carry.” Edmund Hirsch poked his bony arms into the sleeves of his wool coat that sported more holes than Swiss cheese. A paroxysm of coughing gripped his body, the result of a mustard gas attack on his German platoon nine years ago during The Great War.

After several minutes the coughing ceased, and he mopped the sweat from his forehead with a dingy, gray handkerchief. “Be ready. We set out tomorrow at first light.”

“Where will we go, Vati?” Five-year-old Conrad’s voice trembled.

“Don’t be a baby, Conrad.” Older by two minutes, Conrad’s twin brother, Manfred, finished tying his boot laces and jumped off the chair, his shoes clomping against the bare wood floor. His bright blue eyes blazed above his hollow cheeks.

“Hush, children.” Noreen stroked Conrad’s white-blond hair and met her husband’s terse look with one of her own. “You heard your father. There’s no time to waste.”

***

Noreen yanked the zipper closed on her over-stuffed canvas satchel. Always resourceful, Edmund had attached straps to the moss-green bag so she could wear it on her back. She would also carry a suitcase in each hand. The journey promised to be arduous.

Interesting. How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.lindashentonmatchett.com

http://www.facebook.com/authorlindamatchett

https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorlindamatchett

http://www.pinterest.com/lindasmatchett

Thank you, Linda, for sharing this novella with us.

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Love's Harvest

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