~By Winnie Griggs
Hi. Winnie Griggs here, back with more on what’s new and intriguing on the
Inspirational Romance front.
Today I’m doing something a little different. Authors Erica Vetsch, Camille
Elliott and I are celebrating the release of our novella collection, JOURNEYS OF THE HEART. This
is a fun collection of historical stories with a unifying theme of travel to a new
destination. But this time, rather than interviewing the authors involved, I
thought it might be fun to hear from the characters in each of the stories. I
asked each set of characters to tell us why they set out on their journey – I hope
you’ll enjoy reading their responses as much as I did.
But before we get to that, I asked Redbud editor and publisher Lacy Williams to
tell us a little about how this collection came about:
"The Redbud Press editors knew we wanted to publish a historical anthology
during 2015. During an early editorial meeting, we brainstormed ideas for what
could tie the anthology together and the one that stuck was that each love story
would take place on a journey. Every single time I'm in an airport, I start
thinking about stories involving people stuck together while they travel. Isn't
there just something to love about a mail-order bride story or one set along the
Oregon Trail? Once we had the theme in place, we started brainstorming authors to
invite. And the collection was born! Redbud Press is really excited to bring these
three stories to our readers."
Now, on to our character interviews!
First up we’ll talk to Christopher Creager and Honoria Dunbar from Camille
Elliot’s THE GENTLEMAN'S QUEST
Mr. Christopher Creager, heir to the Viscount Heathcliffe
There is not much more disagreeable ways to begin my day than finding a dead man
in my father’s stables—unless it is discovering that the unfortunate soul was
killed with my own hunting knife. What is even more curious is that he had a
puzzle box belonging to the sister of a childhood friend, which held a secret
treasure map. Now I must find her and unravel the mystery of the dead man and the
map.
Miss Honoria Dunbar
Imagine my surprise to enter the drawing room and find Christopher, whom I hadn’t
seen since my impoverished family moved away. If the map in the puzzle box leads
to a treasure, it could save my mother and myself from an intolerable existence
under my abusive uncle’s roof. But I must guard my heart, for Christopher has
always been the one man I could not fall in love with.
Next up are Wyatt Murdoch and Anisha Hayes from my own THE ROAD HOME
Dr. Wyatt Murdoch
The purpose of my trip is to deliver two children who were recently orphaned to
their only living relative, a great uncle they’ve never met. But to be honest,
the real reason I agreed to make this trip was to get away from home, away from
all the pitying looks, away from all the reminders of how terribly my life has
changed. But I certainly should have given this a little more thought—I’m just
not cut out to take care of two kids, especially two determined mischief-makers.
But they latched onto a fellow traveler at one of our stops and she somehow got
them to not only stop misbehaving but to actually be polite. Although the woman
is a bit unconventional for my taste, I wasn’t in a position to be picky and hired
her on the spot to be their nanny for the rest of the trip.
Anisha Hayes
With my mother deceased these past twelve years and my father off
sailing the seven seas for most of that time, I feel like my life has been on hold
ever since I moved to America and was placed in my aunt’s keeping at age ten. Now
that I’m twenty-two years old, I’ve decided it’s high time I stop waiting and
start living, so I’ve set out, with only my parrot Sundar for company, to explore
something of this country. But before I’d gotten very far along in this quest I
happened upon a trio who needed help, even if they didn’t realize it. So now I’m
taking a short detour to accompany them on the last leg of their journey before I
continue on with mine.
Next up are Steve Ketchum and Kitty Fareholm from Erica Vetsch’s THE TRAIL
BOSS'S BRIDE
Steve Ketchum
Howdy, my name is Steve Ketchum. I'm headed to Dodge City with twenty-five hundred
longhorns, a rowdy crew, and my cranky younger brother who seems mad at the world.
Oh, and did I mention we have a female cook...who also happens to have a brand-new
baby girl along for the ride? I'm on a deadline, and I sure don't have time for
nurse-maiding a woman and her baby on the cattle trail, but I also can't just dump
them in the dust and ride away. And I have a serious suspicion that both those
little gals are working their way right onto my heart.
Kitty Fareholm
Hello, I'm Kitty Fareholm. There I was, stranded on the open prairie, a mean-
tempered husband fresh in his grave, and my birthing time upon me. I prayed and
prayed for someone to help me, but I sure didn't expect a rough-and-tumble trail
boss to come to my aid. I'm the new camp cook, even though most of the men don't
want me along. Steve has promised to help me return home to my people in
Tennessee, but the longer I'm on this trail, the more I'd like him to ask me to
stay.
There you have it, straight from our hero and heroine’s mouths. I hope you
enjoyed these interviews and now here is a little about the authors
Camy writes Regency romance as USA Today bestselling author Camille Elliot and
Christian romantic suspense as Camy Tang. She grew up in Hawaii, where she started
reading Regency romances when she was thirteen years old. Now she lives in
northern California with her engineer husband and rambunctious dog.
She graduated from Stanford University in psychology with a focus on biology, and
for nine years she worked as a biologist researcher. Then God guided her path in a
completely different direction and now she’s writing full time, using her original
psychology degree as she creates the characters in her novels.
In her free time, she’s a staff worker for her church youth group and leads one of
her church’s Sunday worship teams. She also loves to knit Victorian and vintage
patterns, spin wool into yarn, and is training to (very slowly) run a marathon.
Website | Twitter | Facebook |
Blog
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.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog
Winnie Griggs grew up in south Louisiana in an undeveloped area her friends
thought of as the back of beyond. She and her two younger siblings spent many an
hour exploring the overgrown land around her home, cutting jungle trails, building
forts and frontier camps, and looking for pirate ships on the nearby bayou. Once
she ‘grew up' she found other outlets for dealing with all those wonderful,
adventurous imaginary friends by filling notebooks with their stories.
Eventually she found her own Prince Charming, a rancher whose white steed takes
the form of a tractor and whose kingdom is situated in a small rural community
that she loves to call home, and together they've built their own storybook
happily–ever–after that includes four now grown children, two of whom are twins.
Now a multi–published, award winning author, Winnie feels blessed to be able to
share her stories with readers through her writings for Love Inspired Historical
books.
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From merry old England to the wilds of Texas, take a
delightful journey into adventure and romance alongside a
feisty
spinster, an English lord, a trail boss, a determined
widow, and an unusual train companion—a parrot.
THE GENTLEMAN'S QUEST by USA Today
bestselling author Camille Elliot
When a man's body is found in the stables of Heathcliffe
Manor, all evidence points to Christopher Creager as the
culprit.
The only one who can help him is the woman he hasn’t let
himself go near: Honoria Dunbar. But when he enlists her
help he
discovers Honoria is facing a life-sentence of her own…
THE ROAD HOME by Winnie Griggs
Anisha's life is just beginning, and Wyatt feels like his
is over. How can a displaced, exotic beauty and former
surgeon
help two grieving orphans find a forever home?
THE TRAIL BOSS'S BRIDE by New York Times
bestselling author Erica Vetsch
Trail boss Steve Ketchum hates river crossings, but
before he can get his cattle started across he's got to
move an
abandoned wagon out of the ford. He goes to haul it away-
-and discovers the last thing he ever expected. The wagon
contains a newly-minted widow—and she’s expecting, too.
2 comments posted.
After reading the synopsis of this book, I was hooked!! The stories in this book grabbed my heart, and I can't wait to read it!! Even though each of you ladies have a different story to tell, you each have an interesting story to say, and I'm looking forward to reading each one. Thank you for coming here and letting us know about the book!!
(Peggy Roberson 3:01pm August 14, 2015)