Day 4: Meet Vickie McDonough, author of Buckskin Bride

I don't know about you, but I've had such fun hearing from all of these women about their stories and the memories they have of their own Christmas traditions. We are nearing the end of our countdown to Launch Day! Vickie McDonough is sharing with us today, and I am chatting it up about my own novella tomorrow! Following that I also have a few fun findings to share that I uncovered in my research and, of course, we can't forget the GIVEAWAY! So much fun still to come before the Launch on September 1. So refill your coffee mugs and settle in to enjoy Vickie McDonough as she talked about her novella Buckskin Bride.

1. What made you write about your period in time? 

I love historical novels, and that’s mostly what I write. I chose 1889 because it was the year of the first Oklahoma land run, and I wanted my story to take place during the winter after that. My hero won land in the land run, and that’s the setting for my story, Buckskin Bride.

2. How is Christmas celebrated in your family and what effect did it have on your writing this story? 

Even though our boys are all grown now, we still put up a tree and have lights and decorations all over the living room. I hang stockings on the mantel but we no longer fill them since our sons are grown. We eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning, then open presents, and later, have a big dinner mid-afternoon with the whole family. Christmas has been even more fun the past seven years since my granddaughter was born. I don’t know that my personal Christmas celebrations had any bearing on my story, except that the families in my novella gather together for Christmas dinner.

3. What research did you do to authenticate Christmas celebrations in your story? 

I didn’t do anything research since the Christmas celebration in my story focused mainly around the dinner and it’s set in Oklahoma, a place I’m very familiar with.

4. When you dreamed up your story idea, what came first, the time period, the story, the location? 

I’d have to say the location because I wanted to set my story in the Oklahoma Territory.

5. What was the "germ" of your story idea and how did you flesh it out? 

Actually, it was a tipi (teepee). One of the criteria for this novella collection was that your hero or heroine needed to live in an unusual type of home. I decided on a tipi and made up a story to fit with that.

6. Would you like to have been there? 

I think it would have been exciting to have ridden in one of the land runs, just like Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman did in the movie, Far and Away. There was so much anticipation and expectations for the families hoping to win free land. Many did but thousands of people did not get land. I have friends who have family still living on the land their ancestors won in the land rush.

7. What aspects of your characters are reflected in yours? 

My heroine, Maddie, has dressed in buckskin most of her life. She’s comfortable in them, and it makes riding horses, hunting, and doing chores easier. She has no desire to wear dresses—and neither do I, although I don’t wear buckskins. J I don’t care for dresses, and I only own two. One of them is the one I wore in my son’s wedding, thirteen years ago.

8. Have you been to the locations in which your story is set? 

I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and have traveled to much of the state. I don’t know that I’ve been to the exact spot where my story takes place, though, because I was rather vague about where it is located exactly.

9. What surprised you the most about your story? 

That my heroine finally dons a dress. I had my doubts that she actually would.

10. Would you have made a good pioneer? 

In some ways. I love horses and have always been a tomboy and even dreamed of growing up and marrying a rancher. But, I love my modern conveniences like my laptop, air conditioning, kitchen appliances, and indoor plumbing and would hate to leave them all behind.

11. Were any of your ancestors pioneers? If so, where and when?

My dad’s parents were born in 1874 & 1876. I know that’s hard to believe but it’s true. I’ve never been able to verify it, but my dad told me that my grandma rode in one of the Oklahoma land rushes with her parents. I do know that my grandparents left the Pennsylvania Dutch country and traveled to El Dorado, Kansas, where my dad—the youngest of their ten children—was born. Then my grandpa got a job with an oil company, and they moved the family to Oklahoma. I still have family in Pennsylvania.

12. What spiritual themes did you deliberately incorporate into your story? 

Trusting God when times are hard is a common theme I write about and one I used for Buckskin Bride.  Which ones did you discover later?  I pretty much stuck to that theme and can’t think of anything that popped up later in the book.

You can find Vickie at: vickiemcdonough.com

Have you entered the Pioneer Christmas Giveaway yet?
You can choose any of the options below to enter (tweet, make a comment, "like" my FB page, follow me on Twitter) or you can do them all! The more you do, the more times you're entered into the Giveaway. Just follow the prompts below. 

Plus, each day you have a new opportunity to enter! 
Giveaway Prize: 
Copy of A Pioneer Christmas Collection signed by all 9 authors!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Come back and visit every day during our 12 Days of Christmas and have another chance each day to enter the Giveaway. Last day to enter is September 1--winner will be announced on September 3. See you tomorrow!

Day 5: Meet Margaret Brownley, author of A Pony Express Christmas

Today's best-selling and award-winning author, Margaret Brownley, offers a glimpse into her novella A Pony Express Christmas, a story set in Nebraska Territory in 1862. 

1.  What made you write about your period in time?

I love writing about the 1800s. The westward migration freed women in ways never before imagined.  Women abandoned Victorian traditions, rigid manners and confining clothes and that’s not all they did; they brought churches, schools and newspapers to frontier towns, and helped build communities.  The gun might have won the west, but it was the women who tamed it.

2.  How is Christmas celebrated in your family and what effect did it have on your writing this story?

The hero and heroine in my story celebrate Christmas in an abandoned Pony Express station with a mule. If they saw my family Christmas extravaganzas they would have thought we belonged to the royal family.

3.  What research did you do to authenticate Christmas celebrations in your story?

Absolutely none.  I wanted their Christmas celebration to be simple and rustic given the times and conditions.

4.  When you dreamed up your story idea, what came first, the time period, the story, the location?

I’ve always wanted to write a Pony Express story but couldn’t figure out how to make it work. So the first thing that came to mind was why not have them celebrate Christmas in an abandoned Pony Express station? 

5.  What was the "germ" of your story idea and how did you flesh it out?

My heroine is searching for her brother, a former Pony Express rider. I was surprised to discover how little information is available on the Pony Express. It was only in service for 18 months and some station keepers didn’t bother to keep records. As a result little is known about many of the riders.  We don’t even know where all the stations were located.

6.  Would you like to have been there?

I was there or at least it seemed that way when I was writing the story.

7.  What aspects of your characters are reflected in yours?

Determination and stubbornness.  Also, abiding faith.  

8.  Have you been to the locations in which your story is set?

My story takes place in Nebraska and yes, I’ve been there.  Of course, it looks nothing like it did in the 1800s.

9.  What surprised you the most about your story?

The end surprised me the most because I had no idea what would happen until I got there.  (But then of course I never do.)

10. Would you have made a good pioneer?

I would have made a great pioneer providing I had a modern bathroom and good mattress.

11. Were any of your ancestors pioneers? If so, where and when?

Crossing an ocean to get here makes them pioneers, right?

      12.  What spiritual themes did you deliberately incorporate into your story? Which ones did you discover later?  

       The story involves the Chimney Rock in Nebraska and the spiritual theme is God is my rock. But family love and loyalty is also a strong theme.

You can find Margaret at: margaretbrownley.com as well as a contributor to Petticoats & Pistols.

Have you entered the Pioneer Christmas Giveaway yet?
You can choose any of the options below to enter (tweet, make a comment, "like" my FB page, follow me on Twitter) or you can do them all! The more you do, the more times you're entered into the Giveaway. Just follow the prompts below. 

Plus, each day you have a new opportunity to enter! 
Giveaway Prize: 
Copy of A Pioneer Christmas Collection signed by all 9 authors!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Come back and visit every day during our 12 Days of Christmas and have another chance each day to enter the Giveaway. Last day to enter is September 1--winner will be announced on September 3. See you tomorrow!

Where My Writing Journey Began: an airport

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you are seeing posts about the upcoming release of my novella A Silent Night, which is part of a novella collection entitled A Pioneer Christmas Collection. The collection is composed of 9 novellas with a Christmas theme. Having met the 8 other women who contributed and read each of their stories, I realize that I am so, so privileged to be part of this project.

Yet this project, for me, almost didn't begin. For the purpose of transparency, I need to let you in on a little secret: I almost didn't write this story. But, as Maria VanTrapp would sing, lets start at the very beginning!

For two years I had been working with my agent trying to get my first novel published. To no avail. Lots of rejection and the feedback I was getting I think was, well, spot-on. My novel needed work. Then last summer (July 2012) I was sitting in the Philadelphia airport waiting to fly to Paris for my MFA residency when I received a phone call from my agent. She had a writing opportunity if I was interested. An editor was looking for submissions for a novella collection that Barbour Publishing was putting together. There were some parameters:

• Christian fiction
• Romance
• Historical--set anywhere between 1700 and late 1800s
• A Christmas theme with the actual Christmas scene in a transient/make-shift setting (emphasis on the idea of "pioneer")
• 20,000 words or less

I took it all on board, thanked my agent for offering this opportunity, hung up the phone. My mind was awhorl. I had 4 weeks to write the first 2 chapters and a book proposal to submit to the editor--2 of those weeks I would be in the throes of my grad school residency, so no writing would be getting done then. That would leave me 2 weeks. Was it possible? Yes, but I wasn't optimistic. I knew there would be a load of people vying for this opportunity and I was, as yet, unpublished. A nobody. It was longer than a long shot. It was a speck on the horizon.

I boarded my plane to Paris and soon the pot that had begun to brew on the novella possibility was put on the back burner.

Throughout my time in Paris the thought of "should I take on this project?" would occasionally surface, and I had almost decided not to bother. I would be writing on speculation, with no guarantee on any payoff. Worse, I could be faced with yet more rejection. Besides, I didn't like the constriction of all the parameters. I tried a couple of different opening chapters--things that I thought might work. But my imagination was not sparking, and I flew home from Paris with my mind made up. This project wasn't for me.

When I got home I spoke with my writer friend, Karen (a wise, wise woman) and my mom (another wise, wise woman) and both of them said, "why not give it a try?" Yes, part of me was afraid of getting yet another rejection. Yet, in a very loving manner, they both pointed to the real reason for my resistance: my own arrogance, my attitude of "I want to write what I want to write." That snobbery was really what held me back from giving this project a chance. I was humbled. There would be time to write what I want to write. But I had been offered a gift--an opportunity to write. Why wouldn't I take it?

I repented of my arrogance, refocused my mind, and sat down at my laptop. I had 10 days till the deadline. And that's when the Spirit started to move. I wrote a 1st chapter. It was okay. I didn't love it, but I found a protagonist that I loved. And that lit the spark I needed. I rewrote those first 2 chapters several times and sent them to my agent. She sent back some suggestions. I made more adjustments. We worked on the book proposal together. It came down to the day before the deadline. I was up until the wee hours of morning making final edits. Then, with a gusty exhale of fear and relief, I hit the "send" button. Now I could only wait.

The school year began and life became chaotic: teaching (at a new school), grad school, children, huswifery. (I always wanted to use that word!) Then one night as Jonathan and I were getting kids ready for bed, my agent called. I went to my bedroom, bracing for news of another rejection. And it never came. 

"She loved the story!" she said. "It's going to be part of the collection!" 

I was silent a moment, mind spinning. She said it again. I stifled my squeals, trying to show a modicum of professionalism. I thanked her. Stifled another squeal. Thanked her several more times. Hung up the phone and screamed. Then laughed and cried at once. Ran downstairs to Jonathan.

"Is this a good cry or bad?" he asked. (A fair question.) My kids ran up to watch the spectacle. 

"I'm getting published!!"

We all cheered and yelled and did happy dances together. It was a bright, shiny moment. Then I called my mom and told her. She cried. I cried some more.

While still in the euphoric glow of my writing finally getting accepted, I began on the rest of the novella. The parameters I had initially resisted became a challenge--a challenge I found fun and intriguing. I sent my manuscript to my MFA prof, John Pipkin, who is a fabulous historical fiction writer. He offered loads of brilliant insight. With his help I rewrote and revised and stumbled along, long after the euphoria wore off, until I finally had the novella that is coming out in September. Did I learn alot about the craft of writing? Yes. About the process of publishing? Yes. (I'll be posting more about that soon.) 

But above all I learned to get out of my own way and embrace opportunity in whatever form it comes. Even from a phone call in an airport about a long shot.

 

Breaking the Silence

(The Old Library at Trinity College--one of my favorite experiences so far!)

Greetings from the Emerald Isle! I am alive and well and rambling about over here across the pond. Just wanted to stick my head in at the isle so you all don't think I've been stolen by a leprechaun. It's been a whirlwind week and a half, first a week in Dublin at Trinity College, now several days in Galway. Days have been chock full of classes, lectures, workshops, readings, sightseeing. I think I may have forgotten how to sleep in the process. But it's been such a delightful time (apart from the heatwave Ireland's experiencing--ugh) and I wanted to post just a few pictures.

I also just received today the cover art for the novella collection that my novella is apart of. I was so excited when I received it that I actually did a happy dance in a coffee shop this afternoon. So I'm posting a photo of that as well for you to see. (Though I do apologize for the pictures being uncentered and somewhat unformatted--technology while traveling can get a bit squirrelly.)

Hope you enjoy the view! Monday it's off to Scotland!

Countryside heading West from Dublin to Galway

The Old Library at Trinity College

The harbor at Howth, just outside Dublin.

A view of the Island's Eye at sunset (in Howth)

My friend Joe introduced me to oysters--maiden oyster voyage at the Temple Bar wasn't bad.

Oranmore Castle

My dear friend Karen and I on our way to Galway.

We saw a play in Dublin called "Shush"--very funny!

Crazy excited about the novella collection cover art!!

So What if I'm Not Award-Winning, I'm an Author

Title page of my novella--Yes sir, that's my name in print.

I just received from my editor a galley copy (PDF version) of my novella, which is part of a 9-novella collection put out by Barbour Publishing. My final task was to read through my story and make any last edits I wanted to make before it goes to press. So, with twitchy, excited fingers, I made my edits.

They additionally asked that I read through my author's bio at the end and change whatever I wanted to change. So I scrolled to the end and found my name and the other 8 authors involved. Since I only had 1 piddly sentence for my bio, I thought I should beef it up, yet wanted to stay in keeping with what the others had written, so I read through the other bios. And it turns out that most of them have dozens of books published and many were recipients of various literary awards.

And then there's me. No awards. No big literary achievements. Just a burgeoning writer with very few--okay, zero--credits to her name. So I sat and stared at my now-blank author's bio and wondered what in the world I could write so that I didn't look like a ridiculous interloper amidst this company.

I could lie and say that awards don't matter. But #1) I'm a highly competitive person and #2) I live my life with as firm as grasp on reality as I can. So, yes, awards matter. And I'm not sure I have any business throwing my name in the ring of this literary circus.

My excitement waned. My flag of victory dropped to half-mast. Then my eyes fell on the title page of my novella and a new realization came: My name is in this book.

Out of scores of story submissions, the publisher choose me, my story, to be among this group of writers. My job is not to bulk up my bio, my job is--or, at this point, was--to write the best story I can. And that's what I've done. It's a story of which I'm proud, and nothing--especially not an author's bio--is going to steal the excitement of this first publishing moment.

So, for the moment, the cloying voice of "You're Not Good Enough" is silenced--though I know from experience it's never silent for long. But now I am armed with a galley copy of my novella (with a cool-fonted title page) that I can at least look at and remind myself: I am an Author.


PS: I'll be sending out more updates on the release of the novella collection as the time gets closer. Barbour Publishing is putting the collection together and the release date is September 1, 2013. The collection is entitled A Pioneer Christmas Collection; my novella is entitled A Silent Night. I may even do a Giveaway once I get my hands on my copies--who knows?!