Leslie Lynch writes “novels of suspense and healing.” She is the author of The Appalachian Foothills Series (Hijacked, Unholy Bonds, Opal’s Jubilee, and Christmas Hope.) Not only is she a writer, but she is a pilot and a nurse, possessing enough technical knowledge to make this writer jealous.

I’m fascinated by Appalachia. Maybe it’s my hometown’s proximity to West Virginia. Maybe it’s my affection for the people of the Virginia mountains who were ejected to establish Shenandoah National Park. In any case, I was intrigued by Opal’s visit to her Appalachian home in Opal’s Jubilee. Can you tell me a little about the Foothills region and why you chose it as a setting for the series? What is Appalachia like today?

Hi, Carolyn! First, I’d like to thank you for inviting me to your blog today. It’s an honor to visit with you and your readers!

My books (so far!) are set in Louisville, Kentucky, which is about a hundred miles from the foothills of the Appalachian range. A remote valley in that wilderness plays a large part in Hijacked, book 1 in the series; Opal McBride of Opal’s Jubilee (book 3), burst into my consciousness fully formed and from a small fictional town in western Kentucky on the edge of Appalachia. Mountain mists and hidden hollows spark my curiosity, and there’s a mystique about the folk art and culture that beguiles. Continue reading →

Ellen Gable is a busy lady. I was flummoxed by how to encapsulate all her roles, so I’m going to steal her description right from her blog: “I am a freelance writer and author of five books, President of the Catholic Writers Guild, self-publishing book coach, speaker, Natural Family Planning (NFP) teacher, book reviewer, Marriage Preparation Instructor. However, the roles I love the most are being wife to my husband, James, and mother to our five sons, ages 15-27.”

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Ellen first through her novels, then the Catholic Writers Guild, and, now, as my editor and publisher.

Your most recent novel, A Subtle Grace, is a historical romance and the second book in the O’Donovan Family Series. You can read it as a standalone novel, but I think the story is enriched by knowing the family’s history, particularly the patriarch, David. How are the themes from the first novel, In Name Only, essentially David and Caroline’s story, interwoven with the challenges their children face?

Author Ellen Gable

One of the themes I wanted to focus on, in particular, is the theme of marital love and that one’s future spouse might not be in the person they expect it to be. In Caroline’s case, she found love with the man she initially despised. Kathleen, her daughter, found love in a simple, kind man rather than a charismatic, charming, deceitful man. Like In Name Only, the other themes are unconditional love and trust in God. All of these themes will also be included in the third O’Donovan novel, which I’ve already outlined, but haven’t yet written. (That one will take place roughly starting in 1913, just before the beginning of WWI).

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I interviewed the lovely and talented Katharine Grubb, foundress of 10 Minute Novelists. She’s what’s known as a hybrid author (both self- and traditionally-published) and a busy homeschooling mother of five. Katharine’s garnered the respect and affection of more than a thousand diverse, fellow time-crunched writers.

Katharine Grubb

Tell me about the early days when the kids were little and you began writing a novel. Was it as haphazard and chaotic as I imagine? (Because it’s a zoo here, and I have one less child, the older ones are spaced farther apart, and I don’t homeschool.)

It was chaotic. I knew going in none of it would be neat and tidy. I’ll be honest, some days all my expectations did was expose my delusion. Some days I handled interruptions well. Some days I didn’t. But motherhood is a game of inches. You don’t teach order once, you teach it daily. You don’t teach hygiene once, you teach it daily. You don’t teach manners once, you teach it daily. It’s the same with my personal goals. What mattered to my writing is that I did something daily. Once I organized my time and household, made a plan and stuck to it, I got those ten minutes in. I also learned to be content with low expectations. If you can get through the day and say, everyone ate something, the house didn’t burn down and we didn’t go to the ER, so it was a good day. But now my kids are older and the lessons I taught them about order and hygiene and manners are paying off because they can basically run the house without me. My increments for writing are much, much longer.
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This week I interview Jessica White, fellow member of 10 Minute Novelists. Although I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Jessica in person, I know that she is a diligent, generous, and devout woman with a passion for historical fiction. She published her debut novel, Surviving the Stillness, late last year. You can read my review here.

Surviving the Stillness is Book 1 in The Seasons of Healing Series. It takes place in rural 1920’s Montana. How did you pick the time period and the setting for this series, and what kind of research has it required?

My methodology of coming up with a time and place was at best happenstance. This story actually originated from a manuscript I wrote in the seventh grade about the renovation of an old house with an attached school. The Queen Anne Victorian style was specific to the late 1880’s-1890’s (although it was replicated among the middle class as late as the 1910’s). I spent so much time creating the story of the house and its previous owners, that I kept coming back to it over the years. Originally, I needed the house to be abandoned in the 1930’s during the Great Depression, so I came up with what became the deaths of Abigail and Samuel Morgan’s parents. When I picked up the manuscript again about ten years ago, it was Abigail’s story that I focused in on. Her mother’s death in the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 was the catalyst for her coming of age, so the 1920’s became the setting when I picked up the manuscript again in 2013. Continue reading →