Talkshow Thursday:
Welcome Back Denise Farnsworth!
Oh, yes! This one doesn’t have to do with the books I’m featuring this summer, but it does have to do with a great summer beach read, The Curator’s Secret. My mom and I went to Jekyll Island, Georgia, to research this story, which was originally dual time period. (To preserve the faster pace of the modern romantic suspense main story, I ended up taking out the historical scenes and offering them as bonus material.) The Curator’s Secret is about a young woman starting a job as a curator opening a historic cottage to the public on an island that was a retreat for Gilded Age billionaires. But her grad school stalker has somehow followed her there. She also must work with her high school sweetheart, now the island’s director of landscaping. While Mom and I were on Jekyll researching, a huge hurricane approached the coast. We had to cut our trip short. When we were leaving, they were boarding up the historic cottages. I thought about what a neat climax that would make to the story…the heroine stranded on the island as a hurricane bears down and the stalker has trapped her in the cottage. Read it to find out what happens.
What was your inspiration for the story?
The Schoolmarm and the Miner is the book I’m highlighting today—the third novel of my Twenty-Niners of the Georgia Gold Rush, set in Dahlonega, Georgia, in 1839. The unique backdrop of the Georgia Gold Rush, which most people aren’t even aware happened, prompted my research for the tales of three resilient women—a singer, a miller, and a teacher—who brave the wild boomtowns and goldfields in search of identity, freedom, and love.
Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym? Why or why not?
Not a pseudonym, exactly, but I did have a name change when I got married last year. Since my readers
If your book is part of a series: Did you set out to write a series? Why did you decide to write a series?
Wild Heart Books, my publisher, and my employer as an editor, only publishes books in series. It’s a great concept because of the momentum it builds for advertising and satisfied readership. My Scouts of the Georgia Frontier novels are also with Wild Heart Books, including A Contrary Betrothal, releasing in August (previously published as Bent Tree Bride). I also wrote two books for WHB’s Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts multi-author series. And I’m super excited to be part of a WHB collection called Freed by the Frontier, with authors Sherry Shindelar and Susan Craft. Our novellas involve romances in American wilderness settings. Mine, Ofuskee Trail Surrender, features a character from book one of my Scouts series who was abducted from a frontier town during A Counterfeit Betrothal. Readers get to find out what happened to Keturah Caldwell, the fiancée from “back East” who ends up in Creek Territory during the War of 1812, protected by a mysterious brave.
If you were to write a spin-off book about one of your secondary characters, which one would you choose and why?
Interesting question since the books I’m talking about today kind of are spin-offs. The hero of The Schoolmarm and the Miner was the sheriff and best friend of the hero in book one, The Songbird and the Surveyor, who hangs up his guns when he lets the bad guy escape. He gets a second chance to bring the culprit to justice in The Schoolmarm and the Miner. Characters from book two, The Maiden and the Mountie, also show up.
And as mentioned above, Keturah in Ofuskee Trail Surrender/Freed by the Frontier is a character from A Counterfeit Betrothal. Susanna Moore, the heroine of A Contrary Betrothal, also crosses paths with Keturah in Ofuskee Trail Surrender. The locations and time periods of all three stories overlap. Before you get too confused, just know you can read all the books independently without any mix-ups. But I hope the hints of each character’s story will keep you reading.
What draws you to the time period about which you write?
How does/did your job prepare you for being a novelist?
I stayed home with my daughters except for occasional part-time jobs and slowly developed my writing career, then my editing career. But God used the odd jobs and volunteering I did as a historical interpreter and a leader of a vintage dance and living history group to educate and prepare me…even down to speaking in public, which we authors must do on occasion. Being an editor has sharpened my technical writing skills and taught me disciple and efficiency.
What is your next project?
I’ve just finished researching and started writing a series about Western North Carolina’s earliest forest service rangers and their brides. These rangers worked in Biltmore, Pisgah, and Nantahala forests, with the stories set in 1908, 1916, and 1919. They faced dangers from forest fires, floods, wild animals, moonshiners, and greedy timber barons. The heroes don’t expect women equal to the hardships of their lifestyles, but enter a naturalist, a botanist, and an archeologist with lots of heart and grit. More coming soon!
BOOK BLURBS:
The Schoolmarm and the Miner:
Adelaide Duncan's dream of teaching is within reach until her father's drinking and gambling force her to start over. Taking a position in the rough-and-tumble gold rush town of Dahlonega, she’s determined to prove herself. But unruly students, strict rules against teachers courting, and her growing feelings for a certain widowed father threaten the independence she’s fought so hard to claim.
Wade Coulter walked away from the law after he lost his wife and unborn son. Raising his daughter alone is safer than letting anyone else in. But Lotty’s beautiful new teacher makes him question everything. Just as he begins to trust again, a dangerous man from Wade’s past threatens both the women he loves.
A gold strike on Wade’s property promises security…but also revives old dangers. Scarred by her father’s choices, Addie fears any man who might put selfish desires before love. As deadly threats close in and the past refuses to stay buried, Wade must prove he's changed or risk losing his chance at happiness forever.
https://www.amazon.com/Schoolmarm-Miner-Twenty-Niners-Georgia-Gold-ebook/dp/B0GMRS3Q88/
Freed by the Frontier:
Three remarkable women find themselves caught between two worlds on the American frontier. A
From quaint civilized towns to treacherous mountain passes and wilderness villages, three couples navigate cultural divisions, overcome past wounds, and face deadly dangers to discover that love knows no boundaries. But as war clouds gather and ancient tribal alliances shift, will their newfound relationships survive the coming storm? Or will the clash of worlds tear them apart?
Three unforgettable romances prove that God's greatest blessings often come disguised as our greatest challenges, and that true love can bridge any divide.
Pre-order: https://www.amazon.com/Freed-Frontier-Denise-Farnsworth-ebook/dp/B0G71K2R8B/
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