Talkshow Thursday: Welcome back, Amanda Cabot!

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome back, Amanda Cabot!

Linda:  Welcome back! Congratulations on releasing A Tender Hope, third in the Cimarron Creek Trilogy. In talking about the book on your website you comment that “the road to happily-ever-after isn’t an easy one.” How hard do you find it to subject your characters to difficulties and obstacles? Wouldn’t you rather make life easy for them?

Amanda: Oh, Linda, I hate making life difficult for my characters. I literally cry when I put them into tragic situations, but I know that if I didn’t, the books would be boring and would have little relevance to my readers’ lives. After all, much as we wish it were otherwise, no one’s life is perfect. I agree with Tolstoy when he said in Anna Karenina, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” It’s the difficulties characters surmount that make their stories interesting.

LM:  You write historic fiction. Are any of your characters or plots based on real people or events?

Amanda: Short answer: no. Longer and more accurate answer: sometimes things that have happened to real people provide the germ for a story and start me asking “what would I have done differently?” or “what could be worse?” I also use historical facts to add authenticity to my stories, but the basic plots are not based on true events.

LM: What do you do to prepare for writing? (Do you have a set schedule or place, listen to music, etc.?)

Amanda: I’ve been accused of being OCD, and while I deny that vehemently, I do have a fairly rigid schedule for writing. As soon as I’ve finished breakfast (which follows exercise and a shower), I head for my office and write until noon. That’s my primary writing time, although I do sometimes write in the afternoon if I haven’t finished my scheduled chapters for the week.

LM: What is something you wish you knew how to do, and do you plan to try to learn whatever it is?

Amanda: I wish I were more expert in Photoshop, so yes, some Photoshop tutorials are on my “should do” list. When I’ll actually make the time to take them remains to be seen.

LM: You’ve got over thirty books in publication. How has writing and the industry changed for you since you began? What has stayed the same?

Amanda: I can hardly believe that A Tender Hope is my thirty-sixth book and that I’ve been writing for … well, let’s just say “decades.” So much has changed in that time. When I first started writing, I hired a typist for my manuscripts and sent paper copies to my editor. Revisions were literally cut and paste. Now everything is electronic, which I greatly prefer.

Another major change has been in promotion. I used to do many, many booksignings in brick and mortar stores. Remember when every mall had at least one and sometimes two or three bookstores? Now the majority of my promotion is done online. While I miss the personal contact with readers, I’m grateful for the opportunity to reach readers throughout the world via the web.

What hasn’t changed is the desire for each book to be better than the previous one and the need to ensure that the historic details are accurate.

LM: Here are some quickies:

Amanda:

Favorite actor or actress: Meryl Streep

Favorite Bible verse: Joshua 1:9

Favorite place to write: My office

LM: When we spoke last year, you were working on a book headed for publication in 2020. Is that still in process or are you on to something else?

Amanda:  I finished that book in late December and am excited to tell you that I have a final title for it. (For those who aren’t familiar with the process, working titles are often changed to be more marketable.) Anyway, this book, which is the first of the Mesquite Springs trilogy, is going to be called Out of the Embers. I absolutely love the title and can’t wait to see the cover art for it. 

Meanwhile, I’m hard at work on the second story in the trilogy, which will be released in 2021.

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

Amanda:  

Website: www.amandacabot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/
Blog: http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for inviting me to be your guest, Linda. I’ve enjoyed it!

Book Blurb:

As far as Thea Michener is concerned, it’s time for a change. With her husband murdered and her much-anticipated baby stillborn, there is nothing left for her in Ladreville. Having accepted a position as Cimarron Creek’s midwife, she has no intention of remarrying. So when a handsome Texas Ranger appears on her doorstep with an abandoned baby, Thea isn’t sure her heart can take it.

Ranger Jackson Guthrie isn’t concerned only with the baby’s welfare. He’s been looking for Thea, convinced that her late husband was part of the gang that killed his brother. But it soon becomes clear that the situation is far more complicated than he anticipated—and he’ll need Thea’s help if he’s ever to find the justice he seeks.

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F3HWFPK