Readers, my guest today is
Linda Carroll-Bradd. I’ve only recently met her through our participation in a
joint project. She’s a talented writer and lovely person. She’s agreed to let
me interview her about her latest release, LACED BY LOVE.
Share anything that lets readers get to know the real
you.
I grew up in a northern
California moderate-sized city, the middle of three sisters. Any other middles
out there? I was so introverted that some of my parents’ friends thought they
only had two daughters. I loved to read, to disappear into the world created in
the pages of a book. I can remember making my younger sister get on the wagon
train I created from the picnic table and a couple of saw horses after reading Little House On The Prairie.
After a life-changing event
following eighth grade graduation (doctor said I didn’t have to wear my glasses
fulltime), I decided to be more outgoing and in high school, I burst into the
social scene. Plus I adopted lots of feminist ideals in college. Nobody has
been able to keep me from expressing my opinions since.
Trekking along with my
husband’s job jaunts has given me the chance to live three years in central
Oregon and twelve years in Texas. We’ve now returned to southern California
near 3 of our 4 adult children, and enjoy living in the San Bernardino National
Forest while he works for a camp and conference center. Our 4th
child lives in the northern part of California along with her husband and two
daughters. Our small cabin is shared with two beloved dogs, Keiko and Phoenix.
I imagine you live in a beautiful setting. When you’re
not writing, what’s your favorite way to relax and recharge?
Living in a forest at 6,800
feet gives me a view of all four seasons. (still have a couple of inches of
snow in our back yard from a late January storm) Just going onto the deck or
taking the dogs for a walk can recharge me. I’m still a lover of reading and
can get reenergized by reading a great story.
How long have you been writing?
23 years. On a landmark
birthday, I gifted myself with a one-day class in writing romance. And I was
hooked. Because I was working fulltime, I stole moments here and there to write
and the story developed at a snail’s pace. Twelve years later, I made a sale.
My first published story was in a confession magazine. The best thing that I
learned in that course was about Romance Writers of America, and I hooked up
with a local chapter that introduced me to critique groups.
Why did you choose to participate in Debra Holland’s Montana
Sky Series Kindle World?
Debra’s Montana Sky series
includes the world where many of my other stories are set-western United States
from 1860-1890. I have been involved with Debra’s stories behind the scenes as
an editor since 2012 and have come to really love the setting and the
characters. I wanted to create people to visit that established setting and
interact with the characters she’s created.
Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet, music,
solitude?
Most of my writing is done on
a PC in an upstairs niche in our small cabin that serves as my work space. I
often have music playing in the background and it varies from sing-along music
for narrative to instrumentals for the dialogue scenes. I’ve discovered if I’m
on deadline, I can write almost anywhere on my laptop.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I started out years ago being
such a plotter than I needed to know the color of the heroine’s apartment walls
before I wrote a single word of the manuscript. Over the years I’ve tried
several methods of plotting with varying degrees of success. I gave a
presentation once to an RWA chapter describing my attempts and pointing out
which manuscripts (finished and not) those methods had produced. Now my method
has evolved into a combination of the two. I need to know certain details about
the characters (family members, upbringing, personality type (based on
archetype), biggest fear, best skill), how the setting impacts the story, and
how I envision the ending. What I’ve discovered is I can trust my storytelling
sense to bring the characters together at the end with a heartwarming
conclusion.
What research did this project involve?
Because of the remote location
of Morgan’s Crossing, I figured if people weren’t miners then they must have
stumbled onto this town on their way somewhere else. I like finding different
professions and the idea of a traveling vaudeville troupe was intriguing. My
heroine, Cinnia, performed dramatic interpretations of poems. So I studied what
poetry available to her in 1886 was still recognizable today. Each poetic
rendition required a different costume, so I also gave her dressmaker skills.
(cue research into sewing machines and dress forms)
Originally, I intended the
hero, Nic, to be a miner who’d been injured and now worked at a mostly
sedentary profession like saddlery. When I started researching tanning methods
from that time period, I discovered that Russian leather had been considered
the best quality in the late 1700s. (Who knew that?) So much so that spies were
sent to Russia to discover the secret formula. That changed the hero’s
background, and he became one of three brothers living in hiding spread
throughout the West until their father receives a patent on the tanning method.
Tell us about your writing schedule. Do you set goals?
Do you write daily?
Before I was published, I was
much better about word count goals. Now my deadlines set my work schedule. I do
more research than needed, but I’ve discovered this method often leads to
wonderful little ethnic customs or foods that round out a story well. Although
I may not write actual new pages every day, I’m always researching or plotting
or revising pages.
Do you write full time or do you have a day job. If
you have a day job, what is it?
I call myself a fulltime
writer, but my day job is as a freelance editor. So I juggle writing time with
editing time, depending on which deadline is pressing the hardest.
Tell us something about yourself that might surprise
readers.
When I was starting my
family, I lived in a city that was the west coast center for home births. All
three of my children were born at home and in a bed within an antique bedframe
from the late 1880s.
What is something unusual you learned while
researching and writing this book?
That bundles of tanned
Russian hides from a 1786 shipwreck of the Metta
Catharina were discovered in the English Channel in 1973. They’d been
encrusted with mud so that when the bundles were opened, the hides gave off the
special, unique odor associated with the technique. (The actual formula was
lost when the factories were destroyed in the Russian Revolution of 1917.)
How sad that the formula was lost. What do you hope
your writing brings to readers?
I hope my readers get a sense
that making the intimate connection of a relationship might be a struggle but
the effort is worthwhile. I also want them to end the story satisfied my
“people” have achieved their happy ending.
What advice would you give to unpublished authors?
Since I started writing, I
have always participated in a critique group—either in person or online. Early
on, this is how I learned story structure. Now, my participation is the way I
get feedback on if the characters ring true or the situations are believable.
Tell us about your Kindle World novel with a blurb and
an excerpt.
LACED BY LOVE
Blurb:
Seamstress Cinnia York wants more than performing
with a traveling vaudeville troupe—she wants to put down roots. The day after
the troupe arrives in tiny Morgan’s Crossing, the manager takes all the money
and leaves town. By opening a dressmaker shop, Cinnia hopes to make the home
she’s always wanted, but Nola, the older sister who has made the decisions for
the orphaned sisters, disagrees.
Leather worker Nicolai Andrusha is living in hiding
as Nic Andrews until the patent on his family’s tanning process is approved.
Although he’s under a mandate to keep a low profile, he’s intrigued by the
red-haired performer. Controversy arises when miners claim they paid the
manager for private appointments with the female performers. Will Nicolai defy
his family obligation to help the stranded beauty who has caught his eye?
LACED BY LOVE
Excerpt:
The empty space looked out onto a gentle incline down
to a bend in the river. A variety of trees lined the moving water, and dried
grasses waved along the ground.
“Park facing outward between the saloon here and those
shops down there.” He pointed toward the fork in the road. “Flynn, the
equipment wagon goes closest to the saloon. There’s a slope on the back side so
don’t forget to set the blocks on the wheels.”
“Really?” Nola scoffed. “Doesn’t he
realize we’ve done this enough times and in all types of terrain to know the
routine?” She shook her head as she angled the wagon to the uphill side of the
road.
Dorrie and Cinnia hopped to the
ground to perform their roles as parking guides. They walked near the front
wheel and shouted instructions as Nola cajoled the horses to back the showman’s
wagon into position. Each driver repeated the action, making sure to allow
walking space between the wagon wheels. Soon, the six wagons stood in a
straight line, tongues facing the street. This time, their lavender wagon was
positioned next to Mr. Thomas’s, who had parked close to a building that looked
like a newly constructed shop of some type.
Within minutes, the area was a beehive of activity.
Sturdy rope lines strung between the trees and square wooden posts the men
hammered into the ground created a temporary corral. The horses were
unharnessed and let loose into the grass-covered space.
With a long-legged stride, Nola walked Captain and
Skipper down to the river to let them drink their fill after the day-long
journey. Other drivers followed her path with their horses. Whistled notes of
an unknown tune floated on the late afternoon air.
Arney, the juggler, joined them, rolling a wheelbarrow
for collecting rocks to create the fire pit for cooking. Others opened windows
to air out the wagons or set out folding stools for evening use.
Dorrie and Cinnia unclamped a roll of wire netting and
poles from the underside of the wagon. Working together like they had many
times in the past, they set the poles and then wrapped the netting around the
outside. Simple cord ties secured the netting to the uprights, and when they
finished, a rectangular pen for the dogs stood only a few feet away from the
wagon’s filigreed metal steps.
Gigi and Queenie rolled in the grass and chased each
other, happy for the freedom after being cooped up in the wagon or restrained
by leashes for hours.
Tasks that were everyday and routine to the troupe
seemed to be of interest to the townspeople. As Cinnia set out their three
folding stools, she heard whispers from the front of the wagon. When she leaned
over and looked underneath, she saw five or six sets of small-sized feet. Good. Children were often the best
ambassadors of advertisement for the shows, because they pestered their parents
to attend. Families always had an enjoyable time because of the variety of the
acts—an entertainment for everyone.
What she hadn’t expected was the tall blond-haired man
who leaned against a clapboard building just past Mr. Thomas’ wagon. Dressed in
a buff-colored shirt and denim trousers held up with suspenders, he looked like
a shopkeeper, rather than a miner. But, even from twenty feet away, she could
feel the intensity of his gaze as he watched her movements. Different from the
leers she often had to endure, she sensed this man’s scrutiny was more curious,
like he wasn’t sure what he observed.
The long day of travel undoubtedly had taken a toll on
her appearance. Being in the direct sunlight had probably increased the number
of freckles dotting her cheeks. Encountering a steady breeze while traveling on
the prairie was a given. She slipped a hand up her neck to check for any stray
hairs coming loose from her bun. Maybe not too much fixing would be needed to
make herself more presentable.
“Who are you primping for?” Nola nudged her with an
elbow as she passed.
Cinnia stumbled off-balance then clamped her jaw
tight. Leave it to her older sister to be obvious and obnoxious. She picked up a stool to relocate it, taking a peek
over her shoulder, only to spy the bare plank wall of the building. Her
shoulders slumped.
Her mystery man had disappeared.
How can readers learn more about you and your other
books?
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| Linda Carroll-Bradd, Author |