God has really been
moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?
After I finish Fashioning
the Future (Book 3 of the Aspiring Hearts Series), I begin a contemporary
series set in the Pacific Northwest. I am also converting my first novel, Celebration! into a play and a
screenplay.
Has your writing
changed your reading habits? If so, how?
My reading habits haven’t changed. I still seek out and read
more literary fiction with extensive character development and beautiful
description.
What are you working
on right now?
Fashioning the Future,
Book 3 of the Aspiring Hearts Series
What outside
interests do you have?
I am an active supporter of the classical arts in
Nashville—the symphony, ballet, and our many fine live theaters. I also support
Cheekwood Gardens and Belmont Mansion with my volunteer hours. I lead a study
group for women—once a professor, always a professor!
How do you choose
your settings for each book?
I write about areas I know from personal experience. Thus,
my novels are set in Texas, Colorado, or Washington state. My love of gardens
and grand, old houses also influences my choices.
If you could spend an
evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?
Thomas Jefferson. His extensive education, experiences in
political life, interest in gardening, and inventiveness fascinate me.
What is the one thing
you wish you had known before you started writing novels?
That I would be required to market them extensively. Writing
has become a double job, and one has to be willing to lay aside the joy of
creative writing for some pretty mundane chores in marketing.
What new lessons is
the Lord teaching you right now?
That no matter how deep the valley or how long it lasts,
there really is a mountaintop. He keeps His word!
What are the three
best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?
If you want to be published, write what publishers are
looking for. (Later you can write what you want to write.) Find a good agent
and let your agent find the publisher for you. (Be sure you have a full-time
agent with some experience.) Write every day! Even if it’s only for 30 minutes.
Always keep that book in your head.
Tell us about the
featured book.
Things are looking up in Riverford, Texas, in June 1898.
Czech immigrant, Sarah Novak, is finally graduating from teacher’s college.
Surely she will now put aside all that foolishness about being a professional
woman and marry Lee Logan. After all, what young woman could ask for more? Lee
is a handsome, young banker who will take his new bride off to bustling Fort
Worth, Texas, and give her a life of luxury.
And when Sarah finally marries Lee, Victoria Hodges, that
red-haired, trouble-making, bohemian artist from Europe, will be forced to
admit that Sarah cannot change tradition-bound Riverford.
But moments after Sarah receives her diploma tragedy strikes
Riverford, forcing Sarah and Victoria to work together in order to save the
town. Can love blossom amidst conflicting cultures and backgrounds.
Please give us the first
page of the book.
Sarah Novak struggled to compose herself as she stood,
garbed in a traditional graduate’s cap and gown, in the blinding white light of
the Texas sun. The members of Travis College class of 1898 were ready to
process into Memorial Hall, receive their diplomas, and begin their new lives.
Each student had been on a life journey for the last two years, but none had
come further than Sarah. While the others complained of the heat and shielded
their eyes from the glare, Sarah remembered her grueling years in the cotton
fields. She struggled to accept the new definition of herself, which she had
worked so hard to earn. Soon she would no longer be just a Czech immigrant
girl, the daughter of a sharecropper. She would mount the stage, accept a
diploma, and become Sarah Novak, teacher. The studies of the previous two years
represented a steep, arduously climbed mountain, but thanks to God, she had not
needed to climb it alone.
As the students moved forward, they left the heat and glare
of the outdoors for the shadowy foyer of Memorial Hall. They paused while the
monitor straightened their line. Then the double doors were ceremoniously
thrown open, they entered the auditorium, and Sarah gasped at the beauty of the
amber light pouring through the two-story-high, arched Tiffany windows on both
sides of the hall. The motto of the college, emblazoned in gilded letters on
the dark green background surrounding the stage, glowed in the light and called
her to her destiny. Pro honoris, Pro scientia, Pro texana. A thrill of
eagerness shot through Sarah as she stepped forward to embrace the
challenge—For honor, For knowledge, For Texas—and began her walk toward the
ivory urns filled with yellow roses which lined the front of the stage. The
president of the college and other administrators stood at attention in a
semi-circle surrounding a heavily carved, mahogany table. The scrolled diplomas
of the eighteen graduates waited in a fan shape around four gold medals
prominently displayed on stands in the center of the table. These were the
prizes to be given to the best scholars in science, mathematics, literature,
and the classics.
Sarah scanned the audience and spotted her beloved
supporters sitting together on the front row. Victoria Hodges’ red hair made
her instantly recognizable. Her tall, broad-shouldered husband, Hayden, and the
equally impressive figure of General Gibbes, flanked her. Sarah’s mind flashed
back three years to the sunny morning when she had stood at the front gate of
the Hodges garden while Victoria eagerly invited her in. That was the moment
that changed my life, the moment when my dreams began to become my reality. How
can I ever thank her?
To the left of General Gibbes, Sarah found the petite figure
of his daughter, Christine Boyd, the elegant lady from Charleston, who had
engineered the rescue of the Novak family from abject poverty when Sarah was
only a child. Sarah’s throat tightened as she suppressed her tears. She was the
human hand of God, the hand that followed His bidding and used her influence to
lift my family to security. Next to Christine sat her husband, Richard Boyd,
the town’s banker who frequently turned into the Good Samaritan.
“Kindly step aside!” Sarah felt a sharp rap on her shoulder
and turned to find Mrs. Edith Bellows, Victoria’s next-door neighbor, glaring
at her. “I wish to congratulate my nephew before taking my seat.”
As Sarah moved out of the line, she noticed that there was
plenty of room for the woman to pass and that the graduates in front of her
were not asked to step aside. Sarah wearily shook her head. She will never
forgive me for daring to rise above what she deems my station. Sarah glanced
around the auditorium. No doubt there are others here who agree with her. She
watched as Mrs. Bellows kissed her nephew, Horace, on the cheek before making
what she obviously considered a queenly progression down the main aisle. A
group of her friends greeted her as she took the place they were saving for
her.
The Travis College string quintet struck up a march, and the
audience rose from their seats and turned to the back of the hall. This is it!
As a thrill of nerves shot through Sarah, she snapped to attention. Her moment
had come; the victory she had slaved for was at hand, but when she tried to
lift her feet and move forward, she felt frozen in place.
Then Sarah saw her. A small, nondescript woman took one step
out into the main aisle and peered back at the line of graduates. Sarah’s
mother. My daughter is gonna have more! Jana Novak’s defiant declaration, which
had enabled Sarah to follow her dreams, rocketed through Sarah’s mind and fired
her courage. She lifted her chin, boldly stepped forward, and marched toward
her destiny, the prize for which she and her mother had sacrificed so much.
When she came alongside Jana, Sarah paused, and her mother pressed two fingers
to her lips in a salute of love. Sarah’s eyes filled as she returned the
gesture.
Standing tall next to her mother, Lee Logan beamed down at
Sarah, his love shining from his eyes. A thrill ran through Sarah, but she
hastened on. Physically, she must not hold up the processional line, and
emotionally, she could not risk focusing on Lee’s courtship. Her mind was made
up! Yes, it was definitely made up. She planned to be a teacher, not a wife.
Was this not the role she had dreamed of all her life? Was this not the
self-definition she had chosen when she began her arduous studies in Victoria’s
library? Was this not the reason she had defied her father and allowed her
mother to sacrifice so much? I have chosen. My fate is sealed. With that
thought Sarah hardened her heart as she mounted the steps to the stage and took
her place in the line of chairs set out for the graduates.
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
Join me on my FB personal Timeline and enjoy the photos I
post daily of my garden, teatime, and all things beautiful. My website is www.kaymoser.com. I also post on Instagram
and Goodreads. My Twitter handle is @KayMoserBooks
Thank you, Kay, for
sharing this book with us. I know my readers and I will love reading it.
Readers, leave a comment for a chance to win a free
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9 comments:
I am certainly intrigued by this book and would love to read it. Thank you for the opportunity. Melanie Backus, TX
What a cute cover!
Dianna (TN)
This sounds like a good story about one woman stirring up trouble. Vivian Furbay of CO
Great except. I like the storyline. Paula from Missouri. Thanks!
Ruffling Society sounds like a book I'll enjoy!
Caryl K in TEXAS
I love to read about late 1800s. Thank you for the interview!!!
Natalya Lakhno from CA
Our church library readers enjoy reading historical fiction.
Thank you for the opportunity to win this book.
Janet E.
von1janet(at)gmail(dot)com
Florida
Hello from Austin, TX, where it’s HOT! We ‘re getting triple digits too early in the season. The book does sound intriguing. I wonder what Fort Worth was like back in the day?
perrianne(DOT)askew(AT)me(DOT)com
Perrianne
Enter me in your awesome giveaway!!
Conway SC.
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