Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?
To Want the School Teacher has been out for almost four
months. The book is
available on Amazon, Smashwords, and it's on retailers like B&N, iTunes, etc.
Is there anything that
prompted your latest book? Something that inspired you?
I enjoy reading Historical fiction -
romance and have been reading a lot of stories with school teachers in them.
So, when did you know you wanted to write? Or has it always been a pastime of yours?
I wish I knew I'd enjoy creating
stories to share when still in school. I was retired when this brain storm hit
me.
Well, I don't think there's a timeline on writing. It's never too late to start following your dream.
Do you have any favorite authors?
Yes, but the list is too long. Anyone
who writes American Historical Romances are first. Then any writer who writes
tales with a setting before 1900.
I understand. I tend to prefer historical romances set before 1900 as well. I'm finishing up a Victorian series right now, and the final book in the Heiresses in Love Series will be set in 1894.
So, do you write in a specific place? Time of day?
I write blog entries and respond to
other requests when the mood hits. Unless there's a deadline, then I hope the
mood hits before I'm forced to sit down and do it. I sit in front of my computer
alone (except for the dog. He has his own chair right next to me. He'll jump up
and curl up to nap.) in a back bedroom converted to office and hobby room. No
music and I even have the window blind closed.
When a story hits, you'll find me there
at all hours of the day. When my health allows, I'll be there twelve to fifteen
hours a day until first draft is done.
I can relate to that kind of focus.
So, are there any words you'd like to impart to fellow writers? Any advice?
If you have a story to tell, "git
her' done." There are so many places to learn, how to do with today's
Internet, there is no reason your own story can't be there. One hint though:
Nothing is as easy as it looks. You can expect to be spend many hours of your
life doing this, and then a few more to boot. The writing is the easy, fun part.
The rest is work.
I agree. Thank you for stopping by, Lisa! :)
Readers, here is the blurb for To Want the School Teacher.
In the year 1869 the town of Edenville needed a new
school teacher...
His name with four other men went into the hat.
Thomas's knew the winner was actually the loser. Life as he knew it would be
over. Finding a school teacher would be the easy part. Fulfilling the town's
charter the hard part, but for the good of the town he'd do his civil
duty and marry the woman. He unfolded the slip of paper...Dang.
His search was fruitless, and he returned empty-handed.
Time was running out. The town needed a school teacher. He couldn't believe his
eyes. There a candidate sat just a few feet from him. Now all he had to do was
convince her to stay to teach and, according to the town's charter, his wife.
Thomas told himself a hundred times it was for the
good of the town he couldn't let her get back on that stagecoach.
He looked
at the woman he just abducted, wondering if he had any brains left.
Here is an excerpt.
The eatery was another one of those buildings from the
beginning of time. It felt more like home than a business. Everyone knew
everyone else except when the stage line stopped allowing its passengers a
reprieve from the jostling ride and offered them a chance for a hot meal.
Justice Foster sat across from Thomas. He didn't even
try to hide the happy fact that he wasn't the one to be sacrificed on the altar
of matrimony for the good of the town.
“I wonder where the forefather's brains were when they
wrote the town charter,” Thomas said.
“Times were different back then. When the town had men
four to one ratio over the women. Just how much teaching do you think got done
with a single woman being courted night and day?” Justice smiled, showing the
empty space where his two front teeth used to be. “And when the woman a looker
or homely as a cow picked one. They'd pack up and move out of town.”
“Guess they got tired of finding new teachers time and
again, but...” Thomas' words were left hanging in the air. Justice turned to
see what caught his friend’s undivided attention.
Thomas stood, “Excuse me.”
Whatever Justice said after that wasn't heard by the
man who now moved toward the back of the room.
Thomas cleared his throat. The woman sitting at the
rear table didn't respond.
“Excuse me.”
Slowly, as if the interruption was definitely an
interruption, the woman raised her head and stared.
“Excuse me. But, are you reading a book actually
written in French?” Smooth, Thomas, smooth. He berated himself. He was
about to forgive himself for sounding like an idiot when he now was stunned
speechless by her eyes. He closed his dangling open mouth so fast his teeth
snapped shut with a clack.
He tried to recoup. “Thomas Kincaid, I er, forgive me,
I never knew anyone who could read anything but English. "Comment
allez-vous profiter de la livre jusqu'à présent?" (How are you enjoying the book so far?)
She relaxed. "Pardonnez mon impolitesse. Une femme voyageant
seule ne peut pas être trop prudent." (Forgive my rudeness. A woman
traveling alone cannot be too careful.)
“May I.” Thomas's hand reached for the book before she
could answer. Her response was automatic as his fingers tightened around the
spine of the book. He chuckled. She blushed.
“The
Country Waif by
Madame George Sand.” An eyebrow raised before he asked, “I hear she has, let's
say, a rather unconventional view about passion and the innocent.”
She
blushed again. This time Thomas thought ‘beautiful’.
“Thomas
Kincaid,” he repeated. “May I join you for a last cup of coffee before you go?”
She
nodded and motioned with an open hand. “Please. Victoria Trent. I'm pleased to
make your acquaintance.”
He
pulled out the chair opposite from her. Placed the closed book next to her
empty plate and signaled the waiter all at the same time.
“So,
tell me, Victoria Trent, how does someone know French so well that you can read
it? Forgive my forwardness, but in a little bit you'll be on that stage, and
sadly we'll never speak again.”
A tingle of pink remained on Victoria's cheeks and she
answered. “You’re looking at a graduate of the Bradford Academy
of Bradford, Massachusetts.” Her chin rose a tad higher.
He smiled and the expression in her eyes gave away she
liked what she saw. Thomas liked what he saw and heard.
“A grand accomplishment, for sure. I rarely get to
enjoy meeting an educated woman.”
Victoria was about to bristle when she realized he wore
no smirk on his face.
“I don't usually get that type of response. Usually, I
am told I inspire to be above my station. What a waste of money and time to
educate a woman who will aspire to be a wife and mother.”
“Nonsense and for shame. Apparently, you haven't met
the right kind of people or man. Whether male or female, how would you carry on
a conversation beyond hello if at least one of them wasn't learned. And with
both what simulating words must they share in public and most intimately in
private.” He pushed the envelope to see how she'd respond.
She blushed deeper this time. However, she refused to
acknowledge being offended.
“Other than French, what other things have you
mastered while at your academy in Massachusetts?”
“I'm qualified to be an accountant. I'm able to assist
a solicitor of the law and have a head for commerce. But, of course, no one
will consider hiring me. A mere female.” She grinned as if it didn't bother
her, but it was very obvious it did.
Thomas made his decision. He wasn't proud of it.
Perhaps had there been more time he might have found another option....
Author Bio
Lisa began putting the stories that formed in her head on paper
after she retired from managing an Insurance office. She lives to read the
Historical fiction and romance tales, especially the American ones. There are
times when she has tackled three books a day until she couldn't hold them any
longer. So it was only natural that when she wrote, she'd be writing Historical
Romances.
Along with her husband of over twenty years and their dog, all now
reside in the southern USA.
Website: http://lisadayandbooks.blogspot.com/
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/LisaDayAuthor
Facebook Personal Page: http://www.facebook.com/lisa.day.718
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LisaDay12
Thank you for doing such a lovely job. You were so easy to work with, thanks again.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure!
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