BRINGING MAGGIE HOME - Kim Vogel Sawyer - One Free Book

Bio: Kim Vogel Sawyer is a highly acclaimed, best-selling author with more than one million books in print, in several different languages. Her titles have earned numerous accolades including the ACFW Carol Award, the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Kim lives in central Kansas with her retired military husband Don, where she continues to write gentle stories of hope and redemption. She enjoys spending time with her three daughters and grandchildren.

Find out more about Kim at http://www.kimvogelsawyer.com/.

Welcome back, Kim. How did this book come about?

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon an obscure online article about the mysterious disappearance of several children from one Arkansas county during the 1930s. This sent my writer brain down several pathways of possibility, and the story emerged from there.

Tell us about the book’s cover and what makes it unique.

This cover is very different from any of my others, which mostly largely feature the heroine. The soft image of a carefree child running through the grass invites the reader to turn the flap and see where she’s off to.

Please explain and differentiate between what’s fact and fiction in the book.

Although the story was based on a true event, all of the details surrounding it are straight from my imagination. There are some real-life cities used for locations (such as Las Vegas, Nevada), but the town of Cumpton, Arkansas, which plays heavily in story world, is completely fictitious. I am sure there are a few snippets of conversation between characters that happened at some point in time in my life since I have three daughters, but the story is predominantly made up.

How much research did you have to do for this book?

Quite a lot! I researched forensic science, vegan lifestyles, health issues commonly suffered by the elderly, and several cities so I could get the details right. I enjoy research, though, so it was kind of fun … especially how cold case detectives solve mysteries.

What inspired and surprised you while you were writing the book?

Since I am a seat-of-the-pants writer and don’t follow an outline or plot, I am often surprised by where the characters take me. I love this kind of writing because every day is an adventure.

I told the writing workshop students on Monday night that as a seat-of-the-pants writer if I plotted out each scene, I’d be bored when tried to write the story. I had already completed it in the plotting. What do you hope the reader takes away from the story?

First of all, I hope the reader will see that it’s never too late to restore broken relationships—both with people and with God. I also hope it will help them take a look at their life and, if they are allowing a past event to negatively impact their present, will forgive themselves and let the regret go.

What is the next project you’re working on?

I’m in the research stage of a story set at the Atlanta Exposition in 1881.

Please give us the first page of the book.

July 1943

Cumpton, Arkansas

Hazel Mae Blackwell

Hazel set a porcelain cup and saucer on the overturned apple crate in front of her little sister. “Madam, would you like cream and sugar in your tea?”

Maggie nodded, making her Shirley Temple curls bounce. Her hair—what Daddy called flaxen—shimmered under the noonday sun, almost as yellow as the roses painted on the cup.

Jealousy sparked in Hazel’s heart. Why couldn’t she have inherited Mama’s sunshiny-yellow hair and sky-blue eyes the way Maggie had instead of Daddy’s dirt-brown hair and eyes?

“What do you say?” Hazel asked the question as tartly as Mama.

“Yes, pwease.”

“Pluh-ease,” Hazel said.

“Pwuh-ease.”

Hazel sighed. Maggie was just-turned-three, as Daddy often reminded her when she got impatient with her sister. Sometimes she wished Mama hadn’t waited so long after Hazel to have another baby. Wouldn’t it be fine if almost seven years didn’t stretch between them? Mama and Daddy were always telling her she was lucky to have a sister, and Hazel loved Maggie. Of course she did. But sometimes…

“Pwease, Hayzoo Mae?”

She lifted the lid on the doll-sized sugar bowl and spooned out pretend sugar. Then she pretended to pour cream. No matter how much Hazel begged, Mama never let her waste real sugar and cream for her tea parties. She used the spoon to stir the air in Maggie’s cup. “There you are.”

Maggie’s apple cheeks dimpled with her smile. “Fank you.” She picked up the cup between her fingers and carried it to her rosy lips.

“I hope it isn’t too hot.”

Maggie made noisy drinking sounds. Her blue eyes rounded and she pursed her lips. “Ooooh, it is hot! I bu’n my tongue!”

Hazel stifled a chuckle. Playing make-believe with her doll had never been this fun. Maybe she should have let Maggie use her special tea set before. But she’d waited until her sister passed her third birthday, the same age Hazel had been when she received the set for Christmas from Memaw and Pappaw Blackwell. She hadn’t trusted Maggie’s baby fingers not to break one of the fragile cups or plates.

She picked up her own cup and held it close to her mouth. “Blow on it.” She puffed breaths into her cup, smiling when Maggie imitated her.

With the sun warming their heads, they sipped and smiled at each other and helped their dollies eat pretend cookies from the serving plate centered on the crate. Hazel’s imagination painted their surroundings from a dusty yard to the fancy city restaurant she’d seen in a magazine. With linen-draped tables instead of a handkerchief-covered crate. With ladies wearing silk instead of homespun. So easy to see in her imagination. She even pretended her hair was shiny yellow curls trailing down her back instead of wind-tossed, dirt-brown, pin-straight locks lopped at shoulder level.

She picked up the plate and offered it to Maggie. “Would you like the last cookie?”

Maggie reached out her pudgy hand.

I’m eager to read this story. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Please visit my website (KimVogelSawyer.com)—you’ll find Facebook and Twitter links there.

Thank you, Kim, for sharing this new book with us. My blog readers will be eager to read it, too.

Readers, here are links to the book.

Bringing Maggie Home - Christianbook.com
Bringing Maggie Home: A Novel - Amazon paperback
Bringing Maggie Home: A Novel - Kindle
Bringing Maggie Home - Audio book

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