THE ABOLITIONIST'S DAUGHTER - Kathleen L Maher - One Free Book

Welcome, Kathleen.

Hi, Lena.  I am awestruck to be here on your blog. Thank you for the opportunity to share about my writing!

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

Only certain characters earn my heart, and I do share secret thoughts and ideas though them. They can be male or female characters, too, which is interesting to me. Most of my characters are based on people I’ve known with speculations of what they must have been thinking to do X, Y, or Z. My faith, and love of animals, gardening, nature, and family pours through my story world inhabitants.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

I once agreed to a blind date. My friend told me about a young man recently back from Bible college. His mutual friend told him about two sisters, one a “pilgrim beauty and the other a China doll.”  I guess I was his choice, because he said he’d like to meet me. I married him a little less than a year later. We just celebrated 20 years together.

My husband and I married three months and three days after meeting on a blind date. That was 54 years ago, and we still love each other completely. When did you first discover that you were a writer?
I always knew I wanted to draw horses and other animals. From the time I could hold a pencil or crayon I was doodling. But the writing came later. I loved books from my preschool years—Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit gave me courage as a child whose father was absent. I admired Peter’s bravery to explore a big, scary world without a daddy. I decided like Potter, I wanted to write creative adventures and maybe draw the scenes that popped up in my imagination. I still contemplate writing children’s books, but the stories that have spoken to me so far are historical romances.

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
I love nonfiction on a wide variety of subjects, some of them already mentioned. Animals, gardening, landscaping, history, art, crafting, writing, marketing…. I also love to read spiritual, inspirational, and Biblical testimony/memoir/autobiography. Corrie ten Boom’s books, for example. In fiction, I love historical fiction and historical romance. I have been known to read outside my genre, but only if the writing is exceptional and the story compelling.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?
I am an intercessor. Everything that keeps me awake at night goes before the throne of grace. I try to please my Heavenly Father, my husband, my family, and then my other demands in that order. I give myself a lot of grace, and others as well. Though currently I have a puppy that is trying my last nerve with her Houdini-esque escapades, slipping from our fenced yard. Prayers always appreciated…. LOL

How do you choose your characters’ names?
This is often a struggle for me, and some characters’ names have been changed three or four times before I settle on one that suits him or her. I often use surnames that emphasize a character trait. For example, the twins in The Abolitionist’s Daughter have the last name Sharpe. They are quick-witted, good with a gun, and all of the connotations a name like that suggests.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Raising three children who love God, are good to one another and their families, and do their best in life. But I take no credit—all glory is God’s.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?
Animals that are well cared for have great lives, but so many of them go without proper care, or have their habitats encroached upon. I guess if I could be a well-loved cat, that would be a good life. Naps in the sunshine, a pretty, maintenance-free garden to roam, and food at my beckon call…. Yeah, that would be a nice way to live. Plus, they are such amazing athletes! Who wouldn’t want to climb a tree or leap six times their body height?

What is your favorite food?
I’ve always loved Italian. And lo and behold, I married a half-Irish, half-Italian man who makes the best meatballs and red sauce I’ve ever tasted. Even better than my mom’s and that’s saying something! I also love seafood and Chinese. And CHOCOLATE. (Sorry for shouting. I get a little excited)

What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
I lacked confidence in my voice. I spent many years seeking what others were doing, and though learning and perfecting is always good and necessary, I believe I suppressed the gifts the Lord had given me for a while until I received affirmation through contest wins and finals, and my first traditional publishing contract. Had I believed in myself, I might have capitalized on opportunities far earlier. But the friends I made along the way kept me moving forward. I’m so grateful for them!

The writing friends we make along the journey are so important to me, too.Tell us about the featured book.
The Abolitionist’s Daughter was three decades in the making. I started in middle school, imagining a story set on a southern thoroughbred horse farm, and handsome twin brothers who have a real connection with one another—best friends. The Civil War is often called the war between brothers, and I imagined a scenario where their relationship is severed, and they choose opposite sides of the war. Romance and the power of a young lady’s influence takes center stage, the power to both rend and help mend again by faith.

What makes this book so special to me is the local history laced through it. I live in a town with fascinating history in many arenas—the Underground Railroad, a notorious Civil War prison camp and military rendezvous, and a pioneering female college, and this story weaves it all together in what I hope is a compelling and redemptive read.

The Abolitionist’s Daughter by Kathleen L. Maher
1860-1864 Shenandoah Valley, and Elmira, NY
The crusading daughter of a Washington politician comes between twin brothers as the country plunges toward Civil War. Horsemen from Virginia, the twins would defend their livelihood from her meddling kind. When love ignites, friends become enemies. Can the very girl who divided bosom brothers unite them again?

Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Abolitionists-Daughter-Kathleen-L-Maher/dp/1718026242

The Abolitionist’s Daughter book trailer link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brp28ZTOWHo

Please give us the first page of the book.

Charles Town, Virginia
December 2, 1859

The wrong ideas could get a head—and a body—into a heap of trouble.

Ethan Sharpe craned his neck, staring up thirteen plank steps at the gallows. His breath stopped as John Brown’s body plunged, thrashed for a few seconds, and then went limp. A creak of rope marked the radical’s only requiem among the silent attendants from Virginia Military Institute.

Ethan exhaled a dizzying breath and curled his toes in his boots to test the ground’s firmness beneath him. Counting slow and even draws of air, he stole a glance at the cadet next to him—his identical twin. Devon’s stance was straight as an Enfield ramrod.

“Reckon that snapped his neck?”

Devon tucked his chin to his chest. “Shh! Colonel Jackson’ll hear you.”

Ethan swallowed against his constricting collar, wishing he could tug at it without breaking rank. Brown’s noose bore in on him with more than contemplation.

Devon’s cheek muscle twitched. “An eye for an eye.”

Ethan weighed those words. The abolitionist had waged a holy war through Kansas the previous year, murdering slave owners in their beds. Attempts to dole out the federal arsenal to contraband had secured John Brown’s hempen necktie. A chill snaked down Ethan’s spine. If successful, no telling how quickly they’d have stormed the Shenandoah Valley, or overrun the Sharpe family farm.

Gripping. How can readers find you on the Internet?

I have an author page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KLMaherAuthor/

and on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/kathleenlmaher

I can also be found on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mahereenie

Thanks so much once again for having me today, Lena.  I look forward to interacting with your readers.

I am hosting a rafflecopter to be drawn at the conclusion of my blog tour just before Thanksgiving, with several prizes, including a $50 Amazon gift card, a print copy of each of my books, and a Christmas goodie basket. (US residents only.) and I would love to welcome your readers to enter.

Rafflecopter link: http://gvwy.io/48sxkxc

Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this book and your other giveaway with my blog readers and me. I’m eager to read your book.

Readers, I hope many of you will participate on her rafflecopter giveaway in addition to entering for the book we’re giving away on the blog.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

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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.

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