Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back Amanda Cabot

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back Amanda Cabot

Linda: Welcome back and thanks for joining me today. It’s always a pleasure to chat with you. I’m a huge fan of your books and can’t wait to hear about your latest, The Spark of Love. What was your inspiration for the plot? 

Amanda: I love exploring family relationships and seeing how our childhood experiences affect us as adults, so each of the Mesquite Springs books has that as a core theme. Readers know that the circumstances of Evelyn’s parents’ deaths (Out of the Embers) haunted her and that the way Dorothy’s mother reacted to her husband’s death (Dreams Rekindled) left Dorothy with scars of her own. In The Spark of Love, readers will meet Alexandra, an heiress who’d gladly give up every penny she’ll soon inherit in exchange for a warm, loving relationship with her father. Though the two weeks they spend together each year are wonderful, they’re only two weeks. Imagine how being left in New York to be raised by her great-aunt during the rest of the year has shaped Alexandra’s personality. 

 

LM: What sort of research did you need to do for the book? 

Amanda: I did the basic historical research when I started the series, but each book required its own specialized research. In the case of The Spark of Love, that was the technique of painting with watercolors. I have zero artistic ability, but I love the effects that artists can create with watercolors, so the research proved to be a lot of fun. 

LM: The time period in the story—the 1850s—could be considered rustic. Many of the modern conveniences we know today were not invented at the time. What is one thing that you couldn’t live without?

Photo: Pixabay/ 

Amanda: Indoor plumbing! 

LM: How far in advance do you plan your stories? Do you already know what you’ll be writing next year? Do you ever rearrange your writing schedule? 

Amanda: My schedule is established by my contracts, so once I start a trilogy, I know what I’ll be working on for the next couple years. The only time I’ve rearranged my schedule was when Revell asked me to write the Texas Crossroads contemporary series instead of the World War One trilogy that had already been contracted. 

LM: What is your process for coming up with your characters and plots? Do you devise your character first or the “what if?” Do you use visual aids such as finding photos on the internet or other places to determine your character’s appearance? 

Amanda: I’m a plotter, so you can guess the answer to this one: I start with a basic premise. In the case of The Spark of Love, it was “what if danger follows an heiress to Texas?” followed by “what if the engaging man she meets on the stagecoach has secrets that threaten everything she holds most dear?” Once I have the premise, I start developing my characters’ backstory and the famous GMC – goal, motivation, and conflict – for each of them. I used to clip pictures from magazines and catalogs so that I could visualize my characters, but recently I haven’t done that. Instead, I rely on a chart that lists hair and eye color, height, weight, and distinguishing characteristics. That way I don’t become too wedded to a specific image, since the cover art will undoubtedly differ from it. 

LM: Does writing energize or exhaust you? 

Photo: Pixabay/
Bartek Zakrzewski

Amanda: Energize. While writing is hard work, I find the simple act of choosing the right word and crafting a sentence to be exhilarating. It’s even more exhilarating when my characters develop minds of their own and start doing things I hadn’t envisioned. 

LM: What is your next project? (Hopefully, the next book in the series!) 

Amanda: The Spark of Love is the final of the Mesquite Springs books, but it’ll be followed by three yet-untitled books in what I’m calling the Sweetwater Crossing series. The first of those, which will be released on March 21, 2023, has been through its first round of editing, and I’m halfway through the first draft of the second book, scheduled for an October 2023 release. 

LM: Where can folks find you on the web? 

Amanda: My website http://www.amandacabot.com is what I call “one stop shopping.” It has information about me and my books as well as links to follow me on social media and to sign up for my monthly newsletter. I encourage readers to spend a few minutes there. 

The Spark of Love: 

She’s determined to start a new life in the West . . . if only the old one will leave her alone When a spurned suitor threatens her, heiress Alexandra Tarkington flees New York for Mesquite Springs in the Texas Hill Country, where her father is building a hotel. But the happy reunion she envisions is not to be as her father insists she return to New York. Instead, Alexandra carves out a niche for herself in town, teaching schoolchildren to paint and enjoying the company of Gabe Seymour, a delightful man she met on the stagecoach. 

But all is not as it seems. Two men, each with his own agenda, have followed her to Mesquite Springs. And Gabe is an investigator, searching for proof that her father is a swindler. 

With so much to lose—and hide from one another—Alexandra and Gabe will have to come together if they are ever to discover whether the sparks they’ve felt from the beginning can kindle the fire of true love.

Purchase Link: 

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back Amanda Cabot!

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back Amanda Cabot!

Linda:  Welcome back and thanks for joining me today. It’s always a pleasure to have you. Congratulations on your latest release Out of the Embers. For those who haven’t visited your website to read the Story Behind the Story, what was your inspiration for the plot?

Amanda: I’ve always been fascinated by the way that events of the past shape us, so I started brainstorming worst-case scenarios. What if a young girl’s parents were murdered and she never knew why? What if she still felt as if someone was watching her and planning to kill her too, even though it’s been ten years? What if she narrowly missed being inside her new home when it was destroyed and everyone died? These were the seeds of Out of the Embers.

LM: Sounds fascinating! Many of your books are set during the 1800s. What about that time period draws you?

Amanda: I’m drawn to what many think of as the simpler lifestyle of that time. Reality, of course, is that life wasn’t simple, but being able to portray close-knit communities with deep family values against the background of some intriguing historical events appeals to me. And, judging from readers’ reactions, stories with those elements appeal to them too.

LM: In addition to your historical novels, you’ve written a contemporary trilogy. How was the writing process different for those books? Did you need to do the same amount of research as for your historicals?

Amanda: The writing process was the same: synopsis, chapter-by-chapter outline, two drafts, and a final polishing stage. Those steps seem to be hardwired into me. As for research, it was probably the same amount, but what I researched was quite different. Instead of looking for historical events at the time of my books and obsessing over whether a word would have been in common usage then, I checked trademark databases to be certain that product and company names I was using weren’t protected. I also called various sites that I mentioned in the books to ensure that I had all the details as accurate as possible.

LM: What is the quirkiest thing you’ve ever done?

Amanda: That would be participating in the annual Treasure Hunt at a friend’s summer home. What’s a Treasure Hunt?  Picture twenty-five to thirty cars, each filled with six people, spending an evening driving down country roads at speeds we won’t mention, occasionally skidding to a stop. As soon as that happens, the passengers hop out, flashlights in hand, to run through fields, farms, ditches – you name it, we’ve been there – trying to find clues in coffee cans that have been buried in the ground. Whoever finds the clue runs away from the site (because no one wants to help a different team find the clue) and yells the team’s code word. That’s the signal for everyone on the team to race back to the car and start deciphering the new clue while the driver heads in what everyone hopes is the correct direction. Each clue leads to the next, with the car that reaches the final destination with all clues and the shortest elapsed time winning. What do they win?  Money?  Fame?  No. They have the privilege of running the Treasure Hunt the next year. Yep, the winner has to draw maps, decide where to hide the clues, write the clues (Did I mention that they’re supposed to rhyme?), obtain permission to use private property, notify the state and local police. You get the idea. It’s a ton of work. So, why would anyone do that?  Are we crazy?  That’s exactly what we say each time we win. But it’s fun, in a crazy kind of way.

LM: Here are some quickies:

Amanda:

Mountains or Ocean for a vacation: Ocean

Sweet or Salty for a snack: Sweet

Coffee or tea as your “go-to” drink: Tea

LM: You’ve got over thirty-five books published. What is one piece of advice you can offer to fledgling writers?

Amanda: Never give up. If you choose the traditional publishing route, rejection is a fact of life. I won’t sugarcoat it: rejection hurts. But if you let it defeat you, if you stop sending out your manuscript because it was rejected, you’re only hurting yourself. Believe in your book and in yourself.

LM: What is your next project?

Amanda: I’m currently in the first phase of edits for the second book in the Mesquite Springs trilogy, which will be released next March. In it, Dorothy, whom readers meet in Out of the Embers, gets her chance at a happy ending. It’s not easy, though, because the town is disrupted by the arrival of a man determined to establish Mesquite Springs’s first newspaper and an itinerant artist with an agenda of his own.

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

Amanda: The easiest way is to go to my website: www.amandacabot.com I call it the “one stop shopping” site, because in addition to information about my books, it has links to my blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

About Out of the Embers:

A young woman with a tragic past has arrived in town . . . and trouble is following close behind

Ten years after her parents were killed, Evelyn Radcliffe is once more homeless. The orphanage that was her refuge and later her workplace has burned to the ground, and only she and a young orphan girl have escaped. Convinced this must be related to her parents’ murders, Evelyn flees with the girl to Mesquite Springs in the Texas Hill Country and finds shelter in the home of Wyatt Clark, a talented horse rancher whose plans don’t include a family of his own.

At first, Evelyn is a distraction. But when it becomes clear that trouble has followed her to Mesquite Springs, she becomes a full-blown disruption. Can Wyatt keep her safe from the man who wants her dead? And will his own plans become collateral damage?

Suspenseful and sweetly romantic, Out of the Embers is the first in a new series that invites you to the Texas Hill Country in the 1850s, when the West was wild, the men were noble, and the women were strong.

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VNHD638

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

Talkshow Thursday: Meet award winning author Amanda Cabot

Talkshow Thursday: Meet award winning author Amanda Cabot

Linda:  Thanks for stopping by my blog, and congratulations on your latest release A Borrowed Dream. I appreciate that your books can be read in any order, even those part of a set. What was your inspiration for this particular story?

Amanda: I’m delighted to be here, Linda, and thank you for the opportunity to be part of your blog.  As for the inspiration for this book, if you’ve read the last of my Westward Winds trilogy, With Autumn’s Return, you know that I’m interested in nineteenth century medicine, especially the advances that occurred when the horrors of what was called Heroic Medicine (techniques like bleeding and purging) were replaced by more modern theories such as cleanliness. I still shudder when I think about those leeches, not to mention the bleeding cups!

Since I’d already created a heroine who was a doctor (Elizabeth in With Autumn’s Return), I didn’t want to repeat that. That would be boring for you and for me. Instead, I decided to pair a woman who’s seen just how barbaric Heroic Medicine can be and who has a justifiable mistrust of all physicians with a highly skilled surgeon. You can imagine the conflict that caused.

LM:  Wow! You're right - I can only imagine the conflict! How do you decide where to set a story?

Amanda: The short answer is: carefully.  The full answer is a bit longer.  First of all, the setting needs to be someplace I’ve actually visited.  While I know some authors are comfortable doing their research about places online, I believe it’s important to know what the air smells like, to see and touch the plants that are growing there, to listen to residents’ accents, to taste the local cuisine.  In other words, I need all my senses engaged before I can begin to write a book.  It also has to be a place that ignites my imagination, and it’s an easier sell to a publisher if it’s a reader favorite.  The Texas Hill Country meets all those criteria, which is the reason the majority of my books are set there.

LM: Lots of research goes into each story to ensure historical accuracy. On your website you indicate that a great place to start researching is the children’s section of the library. What is an “aha” or “wow” moment you had while conducting research for one of your books?

Amanda: When I started thinking about what became my Texas Dreams trilogy, I knew I wanted to set it in the Hill Country and expected my fictional town to have been settled by Germans like so many of the Hill Country communities.  But as I was reading T.R. Fehrenbach’s Lone Star (not something I found in the children’s section!), I found a reference to a town whose settlers came from Alsace and were both French and German.  That was a definite aha! moment, because it gave me a readymade conflict based on the centuries-old enmity between those two countries.

LM: I love that! Have you ever experienced writer’s block, and if so, what did you do to push through it?

Amanda: I’ve never had a full-fledged attack of writer’s block, but there are times when I’d rather be doing anything – even cleaning house, which is my least favorite thing in the world – than writing.  When that happens, I take a walk.  I’m a firm believer in the therapeutic effects of exercise, not only for burning calories but also for releasing endorphins and breaking through mental barriers.

LM: Great advice! What is your least favorite part of the writing process?

Amanda: Without a doubt, it’s the first draft.  I refer to them as the skeletons.  Like real skeletons, first drafts are essential, because they’re the framework on which everything else rests, but they’re ugly.  I’m always thrilled when I finish that first draft and can start adding the flesh and blood, which is my term for the second draft.

LM: Here are some quickies:

Amanda:

Favorite childhood book: Little Women

Favorite season: Spring

Favorite place to vacation: Yellowstone

LM: What is your next project?

Amanda:  The publishing cycle is so long that you may not be surprised to know that I’m currently working on the first book in a new series.  This one, which has only a working title at this point, will be released in 2020.  Like the Cimarron Creek books, it’s set in a fictional town in the Texas Hill Country, but unlike them, it takes place in an earlier time, specifically 1856.  Meanwhile, A Tender Hope, which is the last of the Cimarron Creek trilogy, has been through its first round of edits, and the cover is being designed as we speak.  That book will be released in March 2019. 

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

Amanda:

The first place to start is my web site, www.amandacabot.com.  That’s the go-to spot for information about each of my books, including excerpts, discussion group questions, and – new for A Borrowed Dream – bonus features.

You can also find me on Facebook at either my author page https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAmandaCabot/ or my personal one  https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot

If you prefer Twitter, I’m there too.  https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/

And, if you’d like to learn a bit more about my adopted home, be sure to look for my Wednesday in Wyoming posts on my blog http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com/.

Book Blurb: 

There is no such thing as an impossible dream . . .

Catherine Whitfield is sure that she will never again be able to trust anyone in the medical profession after the local doctor’s treatments killed her mother. Despite her loneliness and her broken heart, she carries bravely on as Cimarron Creek’s dutiful schoolteacher, resigned to a life where dreams rarely come true.

Austin Goddard is a newcomer to Cimarron Creek. Posing as a rancher, he fled to Texas to protect his daughter from a dangerous criminal. He’s managed to keep his past as a surgeon a secret. But when Catherine Whitfield captures his heart, he wonders how long he will be able to keep up the charade.

With a deft hand, Amanda Cabot teases out the strands of love, deception, and redemption in this charming tale of dreams deferred and hopes becoming reality.

Purchase Links: 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800727576

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-borrowed-dream-amanda-cabot/1126332861?ean=9780800727574

https://www.christianbook.com/a-borrowed-dream-2/amanda-cabot/9780800727574/pd/727570?product_redirect=1&Ntt=727570&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

Amanda's Bio: Amanda Cabot is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels including the Texas Dreams trilogy, the Westward Winds series, the Texas Crossroads trilogy, A Stolen Heart, and Christmas Roses. A former director of Information Technology, she has written everything from technical books and articles for IT professionals to mysteries for teenagers and romances for all ages.  Amanda is delighted to now be a fulltime writer of Christian romances, living happily ever after with her husband in Wyoming.