Welcome back, Erica. God has really been
moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?
I’ve got two releases coming out in back-to-back months, but
beyond that, I’m waiting on God to see what He has in store for my writing.
I’ve got a proposal circulating, and I’m hoping it finds favor with someone.
Tell us a little
about your family.
I have a wonderful husband of almost 23 years (In December.)
Peter is so supportive of my writing and pretty much any other passion I decide
to pursue. He’s gentle and quiet and a perfect balance to my talkative self. I
also have a 20 year old daughter who is currently a senior at Northwestern College
in St. Paul , MN
Has your writing
changed your reading habits? If so, how?
It’s certainly cut down on the time I have to read. I read a
book per week when I used to read two or three. My reading has picked up a
little bit since I got my Kindle, because I can read more easily in bed at
night without waking my husband.
What are you working
on right now?
I’m working on the first of what I hope will become a
three-book series set in 1860’s Kansas at Fort Larned on the Santa Fe Trail.
The first book is called The Major’s
Minors, about the post surgeon who inherits a pair of twins and the
commander’s daughter who arrives at the fort under protest and can’t wait to
return East as soon as possible. It’s the story about how each of the main
players learns the true definitions of home and family. Home isn’t a house, and
family is more than blood ties.
What outside
interests do you have?
How do you choose
your settings for each book?
Many of my settings have been places I’ve visited. When I
can’t visit a place, I read everything I can about the place and try to talk to
someone who has been there. My current release is set in the inhospitable
desert of southeast California ,
a place I’ve never been. Several people questioned the location, saying it was
a horrible, hot, barren place, but it’s what I needed for the story, so the
location actually becomes a character, forcing the character to make decisions
based upon where she lives.
If you could spend an
evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?
I’ve always been intrigued by Winston Churchill. I’d love to
have dinner with him and listen to him tell stories about his amazing life and
all the historical events he not only witnessed but was a part of.
What is the one thing
you wish you had known before you started writing novels?
How all-consuming it can be. It takes time, imagination,
money, patience, support, and so much more. I thought it would be easier, but
it’s hard work.
What new lessons is
the Lord teaching you right now?
Patience and trust. I’ve been under contract non-stop for
the past three+ years, having thirteen books published in that time. But at the
moment, I’m not under contract, so I’m waiting and working and trusting that
God has something in store for me.
What are the three
best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?
Persevere – keep writing, keep learning, keep networking and
finding out how this publishing business works.
Cherish the friendships this journey will bring to you.
Nobody ‘gets’ writers like other writers.
Find ways to give back. Judge contests, mentor writers, be a
critique partner.
Tell us about the
featured book.
About The Book:
(From the back cover)
A Bride Sews With Love in Needles, CA
A Harvey Girl waits on
True Love.
With her brother already on the front lines in France , Meghan Thorson becomes a Harvey Girl in
Needles, California .
Ready and willing to wait on the hundreds of doughboys heading for Europe , Meghan deems this service her way of contributing
to the war effort. When a Red Cross representative breezes through town, Meghan
embraces the challenge to do even more, committing to completing a Red Cross
signature quilt and canvassing the town for donations to the cause.
Horseman Caleb McBride makes his living by training stock
for the US Cavalry and keeps his pride by remaining a loner. When Meghan meets
Caleb, she senses something mysterious and wounded about him, piquing her
curiosity. But after the townsfolk scorn him as a coward and a profiteer, Caleb
feels her pity and becomes even more guarded.
When Needles is hit by an influenza epidemic and the Harvey hotel is made into
a temporary hospital, Meghan discovers Caleb’s shameful secret.
Will both Caleb and Meghan find a way to kill their pride
before their chance of love rips them apart at the seams?
Please give us the
first page of the book.
“There
is nothing so stubborn and exasperating as a headstrong Irish daughter.”
“You
only bring up my Irish half when I’m suggesting something you don’t like. If I
please you, you claim my Norwegian side.” Meghan set her jaw, determined to
stand up to Papa.
“How
do I know this isn’t just another one of your wild schemes? Like the mail order
candy or the door-to-door sewing notions? Remember how those ended? Flying high
only to fall to earth with a thud after only a few weeks.” His huge boots
clomped as he passed the sitting room floor, drowning out the sound of rain
pattering against the windowpane as a late spring storm blew through. “You
always start out with the best of intentions, child, but you don’t think things
through. Always you think you can whip the world, but you take on too much and
come crashing down.”
“It
won’t be like that. I was a child then. I didn’t know what I was doing.” Meghan
Thorson poked the logs in the fireplace, sending up a shower of sparks that
raced up the flue. “I won’t be trying to start my own business. I’ll be working
for one of the most reputable companies in the country. And it’s only for six
months, not forever. If I don’t like it, I can come home then. But I will like
it. You’ll see. You’re the one who has been saying I need to find something to
occupy my time, something that would help the war effort and keep me out of
your hair. This job will definitely keep me out of your way. Needles is more
than fifteen hundred miles from here.”
Papa
stopped pacing, stroked his reddish-blond beard, and studied her with somber
blue eyes. “And how long will it be before I get a letter saying you hate it
out there and you’re coming home?”
“You
won’t get such a letter from me.”
“Couldn’t
you find something closer to home? I thought you would get a job here in
Mantorville, or even over in Rochester .
California is
too far away.”
Mama’s
knitting needles clicked, a sound as familiar to Meghan as her own breathing.
“You hoped it would be in Rochester
so you could have an excuse to drive your new motorcar over there.” She barely
looked up from the sock she knitted. Socks, socks, and more socks. American
soldiers in the trenches in France
needed socks, and Mama’s knitting needles never stopped.
I pray over every pair as if they were going
to Lars himself. They are all my sons in that way, all those soldiers. And I
know their mamas are praying for them as well. Mamas of soldiers knit and pray.
“I
don’t want a job close to home. I want to stand on my own two feet, do
something bigger, travel, and—” she spread her hands “I don’t know how to
explain it. I just know I need to do this. I knew it as soon as I saw the
advertisement in the Tribune.”
Mama
sighed. “She needs to go. She’s gone in her heart already.” Click, click, click. “I’m surprised we
were able to keep our little sparrow in the nest this long. She’s always
desired to fly. This is her chance.” A faraway look invaded Mama’s expression,
softening her face in the firelight.
But
Papa was not softened. “Mary Kate, I thought you would have agreed with me that
Meghan should stay here. With us. She’s too young to leave home.” He thrust his
hands into his pockets and stood square before Mama’s chair. “She is barely
more than a child. Not old enough to go so far away from home.”
Mama’s
red lashes flicked upward from her yarn, showing eyes so green they seemed to
glitter—the same eyes she’d passed onto Meghan, along with her red hair and
freckles—and according to Papa her Irish stubbornness.
“Look
at her. She’s twenty years old. When I was eighteen, I set out on a wonderful
adventure. I sailed away from Ireland
to America .
And I met a handsome Norseman on the boat who swept me off my feet and carried
me away to his new home in Minnesota .”
She grinned. “By the time I was twenty, I was already a mama to Lars.”
Papa’s
brow scrunched. “That’s different.”
“Is
it? I think it is very much the same. Let her have her adventure, Per. She’s
young, and there is so much strife in the world right now, so little for a
young woman to be excited about. Who knows, perhaps she’ll find a strapping,
brave young man to call her own like I did.”
I love the sound of
this book. How can readers find you
on the Internet?
Author Bio: Erica
Vetsch is a transplanted Kansan now residing in Minnesota . She loves history and reading,
and is blessed to be able to combine the two by writing historical fiction set
in the American West. Whenever she’s not following flights of fancy
in her fictional world, she’s the company bookkeeper for the
family lumber business, mother of two terrific teens, wife to a man who
is her total opposite and soul-mate, and avid museum patron.
Find
My BlogThank you, Erica, for sharing this story with us.
Readers, here is a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
A Bride Sews with Love in Needles, California
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