THE SISTER'S PLIGHT - Patricia Lee - One Free Book

 

Welcome, Patricia. Why do you write the kind of books you do? My author website tagline is “Broken people in search of an unbroken God.” So many people in today’s world are walking around with broken hearts and dreams, desperate to find answers to the challenges they face. In my stories my characters often embody that pain and I try to a write compassionate tale where the characters , with God’s help, work through their problems. At each story’s end, the hurting  character has found solutions that will help them move on with their lives.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life? I came to motherhood late. My husband and I had married, both had jobs, and struggled to establish a foothold with an unstable economy. But one day, after nine years of marriage, we looked at each other and said we needed to add a child to our family. God didn’t waste time. Two weeks later I was expecting our son and the day he was born both my husband and I were in awe of what we had done. In the delivery room, my husband said, “It’s a baby!” As if we had expected something else. We still laugh at that. 

How has being published changed your life? Once a publisher discovers you and offers a contract, your life is suddenly thrown into a tailspin as you meet deadline after deadline. When writing that first book you have a lot of time to write as you are inspired. Then along comes the contract. I found myself editing the first book, writing the second book, and trying to keep track of ideas for the third book. No more leisurely afternoons playing with words and testing sentences. And let’s not even talk about the manuscript edits that fall in there somewhere. But for all its pitfalls I can say being published is a wonderful experience. I’ve discovered my readers are amazing people.

What are you reading right now? I recently completed All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriott. I had never read the book but PBS aired a season of the story earlier this year.  Wonderful—both the book and the series.

What is your current work in progress? This is a first for me. My original publisher asked me to write on speculation a fifth book in my first series. The story will re-introduce Jayden, the foster boy who filled the pages of my third book, Love Calls Her Home, as a grown man returning from Afghanistan. If accepted The Mended Hearts series will have five books. I’ve never been asked by a publisher to write a book. So I’m pretty thrilled. As with any proposed story, there’s always the chance of being turned down.

I’ve only had that happen once, too. What would be your dream vacation? I would like to spend a week in Baja, California. I’ve heard it is beautiful there. The thought of relaxing on a beach sounds like the vacation for me.

I’ve wanted to go there, too. How do you do you choose your settings for each book? The plot of the story usually determines the setting. For instance the characters of my first book were fishermen who worked for the government. The setting had to be a coastal setting. The third book dealt with wild horses. Needed to put them in a high desert where they could roam free. This newest book follows the prairie crossing of a wagon train in the 1850s. Not much chance of doing that without a prairie, dust, wild buffalo, and natives.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why? I have come to admire Melania Trump. In the face of a most brutal press and a damning public she has held her head high and carried out her task with the dignity of a queen. She didn’t ask for the role of first lady when she first emigrated to the United States. That position was thrust upon her by the ambitions of her husband. She assumed the responsibility with grace. We could learn a lot about the power of a dignified woman from her.

It’s a shame that so many in the country didn’t give her the respect a First Lady deserves. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading? I love to grow flowers. For years my husband and I maintained a large dahlia garden at the back of our property. We built a patio entertainment area at the back of our home and filled the nooks and crannies with pots of flowers. My husband likes succulents and I prefer the blooming annuals. So we grow a bit of each.

I like both, too. What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it? The stare of a blank page is one of the most mind numbing obstacles for any writer. When I sit down at the computer, hoping to write delightful prose and make my word count for the day, I often find the wide white screen an immovable obstacle. I’ve been told by others to sit and write whatever comes to mind. Get the creative juices flowing. That is good advice. But my most effective tool is opening the word of God and reading for a few minutes. There’s nothing more powerful to stimulate the mind than an uplifting passage of Scripture.

Yes. That and praying. What advice would you give to a beginning author? Don’t let  rejection stop you. Publishers look for a work that will represent their line of stories. Yours may not fit their line-up. The rejection is not a statement on your ability.

By the same token don’t be so in love with your work that you can’t learn and grow from an editor’s assessment of your story. Writers who succeed learn to stretch and grow from each exercise, and that includes rewrite.

Always keep writing. Never stop.

Tell us about the featured book. The Sister’s Plight is the second and final book in the Call of the Frontier series, a story I’ve always wanted to write. The tale traces the journey of my great-great-great grandfather who crossed the prairies in 1847 seeking free land in the Oregon territory. He homesteaded for four years before returning to Iowa to claim his bride and bring her across the plains. The first time he came by horseback. The second time he led a wagon train which included his new wife, three brothers, and his wife’s family.

The story is told in dual time and follows not only the historical thread, but features a contemporary young woman who follows the path of the wagon train seeking answers to the long lost love of her great uncle. What she finds is her own love story.

From the back cover:

Will a pair of long lost treasures recovered a continent apart pave the way for two eager hearts to find each other?

 Realtor Blake Bergstrom stumbles upon an ancient barn while checking fences along a deserted property. A cursory inspection reveals a prairie schooner stored at the building’s back. He climbs into the wagon and discovers a rusted lockbox. Secreted within is a water color portrait of a young man. Whose picture could this be and why is it here?

When her mother needs her to check an abandoned cabin before the plantation where it sits is sold, Emberly Chastain uncovers her great-great-great Uncle Fred’s Bible and takes it with her. Tucked inside is a watercolor portrait of a young woman Emberly can’t place. Her uncle never married. Who can she be?

Curiosity sets Emberly on a quest to solve the mystery, a journey that will take her across the continent following a long ago wagon train. Will what she finds help her own heart mend and open the door to a new love?

First page of the book:

Intrigued by what appeared to be the outer shell of a ramshackle barn, Blake Bergstrom squeezed through a hole left vacant by a sagging door. The remnants of its hinge had pulled loose from the casing, exposing the narrow gap. The droop of the fascia board along the roofline and the list of the corners at strange angles darkened the interior, hindering visibility. Wary of the building’s safety, he stumbled forward. A shaft of light penetrated the roof, providing an eerie glow in the center of the space—enough intensity to cast unidentifiable shadows around the perimeter.  He blinked, trying to force his eyes to adjust to the dim core. Odors of mold and decaying matter offended his nose. He held his breath. One good sneeze might send the old barn crashing to the ground.

He hadn’t expected to find a building on this isolated acreage his realtor father asked him to explore. But here on the outside corner, buried in a stand of firs, he’d come upon the concealed walls of a long forgotten dwelling. Moss disguised the roof in copious shades of green. Overgrown saplings surrounded the crumbling walls. The front and sides were iffy at best. Only the back wall stood upright on its foundation.

Wonder what this once was.

He crept further into the dusky interior, noting what must have been a row of stalls on one side. Three ten-foot uprights, probably the straightest supports in the place, held the main beam running across the ceiling. At the end, a spacious area filled with a mountain of hay stood open to a loft above. The wind sailed through, delivering more hay on its journey from the upper floor. On the opposite wall ancient hand tools hung in rusted silence. An assortment of leather harnesses and headstalls, their bits intact, covered the remaining corner. Cobwebs filled the spaces where an animal’s head or shoulder might once have been.

Was this a livery?

He picked up a pitchfork stuck in the mound and rustled through the hay. Dust as thick as a cloud of locusts kicked up, making him cough. He thrust the handle of the tool back into the silage so it would stand, startled when the tines connected with something solid behind the mound. Careful not to disturb the hay to avoid another invasion of dust, he pulled the debris aside and squinted to see beyond. Wood mixed with metal emerged with each sweep of his hand. As he worked, a door became visible. A separate room, perhaps? To the door’s left a set of rungs led skyward up the wall. 

He reached for the leather handle and pulled. The opening widened a few inches, but the hay blocked movement further. As he continued removing the hay, the door swung toward him and he peered into the dim interior. A covered wagon stood inside. Why was this here?

The canvas top still stretched over the wooden bows that arched across the wagon. Blake noticed a few holes in the fabric, but if he considered how old the transport must be the condition of the covering amazed him. Missing a spoke here and there, the wheels showed signs of rot and rust. The frame, though, appeared rock solid.

Blake pulled his cell phone from his pocket to see if he had service out here. Only one band of wifi popped up. Not much, but enough for his needs. He ran an internet search for a more elaborate description of the conveyance. Images rolled up and as he scrolled through them, he found one that duplicated the wagon in front of him.  A prairie schooner—used by the wealthier settlers crossing the plains in the 1800s. Who had left it here?

A note from the author:

My publisher will make The Descendant's Daughter free for download July 1-5 as a complementary kickoff to the release of The Sister's Plight. https://amzn.to/3hbWVL5

Ways to connect with me:

Facebook  @patricialeebooks

Twitter @lee_patricia__

Website:  www.authorpatricialee.net

email: patricialeewrites@earthlink.net

Come Chat with Pat (newsletter): http://authorpatricialee.net/mailing-list/

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/corneliushills

Thank you, Patricia, for sharing this book with my blog readers and me. I’m eager to read it.

Readers, here is a link to the book.

https://amzn.to/2SZMMZz - Kindle Preorder

A print copy will be available later.

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