This month I'm talking with Amanda Cabot, author of Scattered Pedals. Amanda has given
me a copy of her book and I'll pass it on to the winner of my drawing this
month.
JO:
Welcome, Amanda. Please tell us a little about yourself.
AMANDA:
When people ask me why I write romance, I tell them
it's because I have first-hand experience with happily-ever-after. You see, I married my high school sweetheart,
and many years later (no, I'm not going to admit just how many), we're still
happily married.
JO:
What do you enjoying doing when you're not writing?
AMANDA:
My husband and I are avid travelers, although
I will admit that we've slowed down a bit since we moved to Cheyenne. There was so much landscaping to do for the
first few years that traveling was often confined to the botanic garden (for
inspiration) and then the nurseries. In
addition to traveling, I enjoy cooking and sewing, and when we travel, you'll
find me with a piece of needlepoint or knitting in my hands.
JO: Can
you tell us any fun thing about you that might surprise our readers?
AMANDA:
I answered this in another interview and got so many
responses that I thought I'd share it with your readers, too. When I was a college student spending a
semester in France, I was introduced to a lot of strange foods. One day I was delighted because my French
mother served me what appeared to be hamburgers and fries. At last, American food! Imagine my reaction when I learned that the
burgers were actually ground horsemeat.
JO:
How did you get involved in writing?
AMANDA: I really cannot remember a time when I didn't write - or at least want
to write, and so I wrote sporadically until I was almost 29 (graduating from
short stories and plays to novels).
Since then I have come to believe that authors have at least one thing in
common with oysters, namely that we need irritation to produce our pearls ... er...
our books. For me, that irritation was
moving to a new city and discovering that what had appeared to be an ideal job
was truly awful. Of course, that
happened at a time when jobs were hard to find, so I stuck with the one I had
for over three years. But the irritation
was enough that I decided it was time to become serious about writing. After I sold my first book, I continued
working full time but still managed to write at least one book a year.
JO: Where
do you write? Do you have a dedicated office or a corner or nook in a room?
AMANDA:
Since we moved to Cheyenne, I've
been fortunate to have a dedicated office.
Before that, I wrote in a combination office/guest room and - since I
traveled extensively for my day job - in airports, airplanes and hotels.
JO:
I've read your book and know the significance of the title to the story. When
you wrote Scattered Petals did you know the title before you wrote it or after
you finished it? Do you come up with titles for all your stories this way?
AMANDA:
I'm one of those authors who
needs to have the title resolved before she writes the book, since I try to
work the title into the story itself, so yes, I had chosen the title before I
started the book. Titles, however, are
always subject to change. Revell has a
whole committee that reviews titles and frequently changes them to make them
more marketable. I've been fortunate,
though, that all three of my Texas Dreams titles, Paper Roses, Scattered Petals and next year's Tomorrow's Garden, have been accepted by the committee.
JO:
Please
tell us about Scattered Petals.
AMANDA: Scattered Petals is a historical romance set in the Texas
Hill Country beginning in late 1856.
Although completely accurate, isn't that a boring description? Who would read a book if that was all you
knew about it? Let's try again. Here's the back cover blurb, which I hope
intrigues you more than that plain vanilla first sentence.
Longing for
adventure, Priscilla Morton leaves Boston in 1856 and heads for the Texas Hill
Country, never dreaming that the adventure she seeks could have heartbreaking
consequences. Although attracted to her, ranch foreman Zachary Webster knows
Priscilla deserves a cultured East Coast gentleman, not a cowboy who's haunted
by memories of his mistakes.
When necessity draws
them together, Priscilla and Zach begin to forge a life filled with promise.
But then the past intrudes. Book 2 of the Texas Dreams series, Scattered
Petals weaves a tale of drama, love and second chances as beautiful as
the Hill Country itself. For more information about the book and to read an
excerpt, please visit my web site: www.amandacabot.com.
JO: What
takeaway value do you hope readers receive after reading your novel?
AMANDA: All of my books seem to have an underlying theme of the healing power
of love. I don't always have that in
mind when I begin the book, but since I believe in love (and justice, but
that's another story), there's usually at least a hint of healing. Scattered Petals, however, was
designed as a healing story. Priscilla,
who's been attacked by a bandit, needs to heal both physically and emotionally,
while Zach's healing is internal.
JO: Where did you get
the idea for Scattered Petals?
AMANDA: I knew I wanted
Zach, who was introduced in Paper Roses, to have his own story,
so I asked myself who would be the perfect woman for him. The answer came as a bit of a surprise. Who would have thought that a quintessential
Texas cowboy like Zach would need a sophisticated East Coast lady? And who would have thought that Priscilla's
craving for adventure would bring her first tragedy, then healing and
happiness?
JO: Did you need to
do any research for this book?
AMANDA: Oh, yes. I spend a lot of time at libraries. I suspect that I'm the queen of ILL
(inter-library loan) in Cheyenne. One
piece of advice I was given and which I give to other writers of historicals is
to start in the children's section. The
books there provide enough detail to provide the framework for a story but
don't bog you down with thousands of pages.
You can fill in details once you've outlined the story or - in my case,
written the first draft. By then you'll
know exactly what information you need.
That advice has saved me countless months of research.
I
also travel to each of the locations I'm writing about. (It's a good thing my husband shares my love
for travel, because some of those locations have been distant.) As wonderful as the Internet is for research,
it can't tell you what the air feels like or what colloquialisms people
have. Even though most of the towns in
my books are fictional, the details come from first-hand visits.
JO:
How long have you been writing? When did you sell your first book?
AMANDA:
I started writing when I was seven, but that
doesn't count. Or does it? Although I had dabbled with a number of
books, it wasn't until a month before my 29th birthday that I started writing
seriously. You see, I had a goal of
selling a book before I turned 30, and I figured I'd better get working if I
was going to accomplish that. One week
before my 30th birthday, an editor told me she loved the book and wanted to buy
it. So, you could say it was either a
little over a year or 23 years, depending on when you want to start counting.
JO: How do you find
time to write?
AMANDA: I am extremely disciplined.
Some would say excessively so, but it works for me. I have "office hours" in the morning, and
that's when I write. Other things,
including shopping, cooking, you name it, happen in the afternoon or
evening. I set myself a goal of two
chapters a week, and if they don't get finished during the mornings, you'll
also find me writing during the afternoons or on Saturday.
JO: What
are you working on now?
AMANDA:
I'm currently working on the first draft
(sigh!) of Book One in the Wyoming Winds series. The reason for the sigh is that first drafts
are my least favorite part of a book. I
refer to them as the skeleton, and like the skeletons you see at Halloween,
they're ugly, but they form the foundation for the book. It's not all drudgery, though. Since I live in Wyoming, I'm having a lot of
fun, introducing readers to my new home state.
Wyoming Winds is the trilogy that will be
published after the third of the Texas Dreams books.
What advice would
you give to writers just starting out?
AMANDA: Never give
up. No matter how difficult the writing
process seems, no matter how discouraged you may be by criticisms and
rejection, keep writing.
JO:
Please tell our readers where they can get Scattered Petals.
AMANDA: It's available on
line (Christian Book Distributors, Amazon, BN, etc.) and at all
brick-and-mortar stores. If it's not in
stock, any bookstore can order it.
JO: Where can our
readers find you?
AMANDA: I invite them to
visit my web site, www.amandacabot.com. I also welcome email from readers and try to
respond within a couple days.
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This month ...
Author:
Christa Allan
Author:
Amber Stockton
gauge their progress. Whether they do it every day by balancing down the cash
drawer or they do it quarterly with their taxes, there is a period of accounting.
Brother John entered the "Monastery of Silence" and the Abbott
said, "Brother, this is a silent monastery; you are welcome here as long
as you like, but you may not speak until I direct you to do so."
