What is the title of your latest release?
THESE BLUE MOUNTAINS
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
North Carolina's mountains hide the secrets of a war long past and a young love cut short in this atmospheric tale of unexpected hope.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
My research often decides where my books take place. I find an intriguing tidbit and follow to see where it takes me!
While researching the flood of 1916 in western North Carolina for another novel—These Tangled Threads—I came across information about a German POW camp in Hot Springs, NC. German sailors who were in US waters when war was declared were sent to North Carolina for the duration of the war. While there, they built an amazing Bavarian village almost entirely from flood debris. While digging into the history of that camp, I discovered a story about a German woman whose brother was taken prisoner and then disappeared and was presumed dead. Fifteen years later she saw his name on a cross in a photograph of a monument to German sailors who died at the camp in Hot Springs. Finally, she learned what happened to her brother. That was too astonishing a story to pass up! So, I made the brother a fiancé and sent my fictional Hedda Schlagel to America in the 1930s to try and recover the body of her long-lost love. The catch is that when they disinter Fritz’s casket . . . he’s not in it. There’s a woman’s remains there instead. Now Hedda has TWO mysteries to solve.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I don’t think I’ve ever written a protagonist I wouldn’t want to hang out with!
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Thoughtful, Dogged, Forgiving
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned all about German enemy-alien internment camps from WWI. I’d been familiar with Japanese camps during WWII but didn’t realize Germans were imprisoned in much the same way during the Great War. Digging into the history of a camp in the NC mountains was fascinating.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I mostly wait until I’m done. I’ll make a few minor edits here and there but I often run across things I wasn’t expecting as I write, so it’s helpful to wait until the end for a thorough edit or three!
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Duck confit. For my 50th birthday my husband asked our favorite French restaurant to make a dish of poutine with duck confit. It was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten!
Describe your writing space/office!
For years I wrote on a desk in a corner of our bedroom. Now I have a proper home office with custom bookshelves and windows that invite me to procrastinate by watching what’s happening in the neighborhood. The most important item in my office is my dog who’s typically sleeping in the floor behind me while I write.
Who is an author you admire?
Wendell Berry—poet, novelist, essayist, advocate for common sense.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Hmmm. Definitely multiple books. If I’m paying attention, most likely any book! I’ll go back to Heidi, though. Mom read it to me over and over and then I read it for myself more times than I can recall. It taught me how books can carry you to a whole other place and let you experience other things. I can still taste the toasted cheese, hear the wind in the pines, and feel the crackle of the hay in my bed in the loft. I can feel the soft white rolls that went stale and smell the glory of a spring morning on the Alps. Heidi taught me that stories are REAL if you want them to be.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was driving somewhere—shopping? —when my agent called. I pulled over in a church parking lot (they had the BEST baked chicken suppers) and got the news. I was ecstatic! Then I spent the next year and a half trying to explain to friends and family how slow the publishing process is. This business teaches patience and persistence. Incredibly valuable tools in all aspects of life!
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Definitely historical fiction although I also make sure I’m reading books from the bestseller lists with a smattering of nonfiction to stay abreast of what’s happening in the publishing world. And because there’s so much good writing out there!
What’s your favorite movie?
To Kill a Mockingbird with Gregory Peck. I once told my husband the only man I’d leave him for is Atticus Finch as played by Gregory Peck. He’s not worried.
What is your favorite season?
It used to be fall but I like spring more and more. I’m a wildflower addict and there are so many blooming in April and May.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Answer: Ideally with a big bowl of duck confit poutine. But a quiet dinner with family and friends will do if that’s not available.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I really enjoy the Talking Appalachian podcast. It focuses on the language, accents, stories, and traditions of Appalachia. Amy Clark does an outstanding job of bringing the mountains home to listeners.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
French country, think Julia Child. It’s often just a fancier version of Appalachian Mountain food. Cassoulet, for example, is dressed up beans and would go great with a cake of cornbread. Pain au chocolat, though, that’s not something you’d find in my grandma’s kitchen!
What do you do when you have free time?
Read! One of the challenges of being a writer is that it seriously cuts into my time to read.
What can readers expect from you next?
In 2026 there will be another book set in western North Carolina in the 1930s. When I was researching the flood of 1916 and its after-effects for THESE TANGLED THREADS, I kept stumbling across tantalizing tidbits of history. That’s where THESE BLUE MOUNTAINS came from and next up, I’ll take readers to Lake Toxaway which, because of the flood, sat empty for around 40 years. The story features a wealthy widow getting a second (third?) chance at love, a young couple who lost everything in the stock market crash, and a mysterious treasure that could change all their lives.
A Southern Fiction Novel with a Pianist Heroine for Book Clubs set between WWI and WWII in 1930s Appalachia and Germany
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapses when her fiancé, Fritz, vanishes after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1933, Hedda is stunned to see Fritz's name in a photograph of an American monument to German POWs in Asheville, North Carolina. Determined to reclaim his body and bring closure to his ailing mother, Hedda embarks on a journey from Germany to the US. However, her quest takes a dark turn when Fritz's casket contains the remains of a woman who died under mysterious circumstances.
Local deputy Garland Jones, who helped bury Fritz Meyer's coffin, thought he'd left that dark chapter behind. The unexpected arrival of Hedda, a long-suffering and captivating woman, forces him to confront how much of the truth he really knows. Hedda and Garland grow closer as they work together to uncover the identity of the woman in the casket and to unravel Fritz's fate. But with Hedda in the US on borrowed time as unrest in Germany looms, she fears she'll be forced to return home without answers or an end to the ghosts of her past.
Sarah Loudin Thomas pens a gripping tale of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
Christian Historical | Women's Fiction Southern [Baker Publishing Group, On Sale: July 15, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9780764242021 / eISBN: 9781493450909]
Sarah Loudin Thomas grew up on a 100-acre farm in French Creek, WV, the seventh generation to live there. Her Christian fiction is set in West Virginia and celebrates the people, the land, and the heritage of Appalachia. Her first novel, Miracle in a Dry Season, released August 2014 through Bethany House. Book #2, Until the Harvest, released May 2015. Sarah is represented by Wendy Lawton of Books & Such Literary Agency. A graduate of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC, Sarah once dreamed of being a marine scientist. But her love for words won out and she has spent much of her career in public relations and marketing. She currently oversees fundraising and communications for a Christian children’s home in Black Mountain, NC. Sarah and her husband Jim live in the mountains of Western North Carolina with Thistle–the canine equivalent to a personal trainer pushing them to hike, run, and throw sticks. Sarah is active in her local church and enjoys cooking and–you guessed it–reading.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2026