NEXT BIG THING POST

Posted Sep 12 2012, 4:05 pm

Last week Suzie Grant tagged me (biggest hugs to her for thinking of me ♥) to participate in THE NEXT BIG THING interview. SQUEEEE. Without any further ado, here’s my answers to some excellent questions. ENJOY…☺

THE NEXT BIG THING  

1.What is the title of your book?  NO GREATER GLORY  

2.What inspired this book? My love of all things Victorian 

3.What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Amid the carnage of war he commandeers more than just her home.  

4.What makes your hero a real hero? Heroism starts with attitude. And Reece has a duty to perform.  He expands upon that duty as he leads his men. Duty to serve others, to do good, to lead by example, whether or not it costs him in the end. Heroes aren’t planned, they’re created from an engrained drive deep inside them that must take charge, that forces them to  respond, to become a ‘John Wayne’ when the next crisis is laid at their feet.  The act of being a hero is simply the  manifestation of an already underlying strength inside Reece. The heroic efforts he now exudes had its foundation laid years before, when tragedy he couldn’t prevent changed his life forever.  When the time comes, heroes act upon ‘duty’ and once again Reece will slide into the role that defines him, unable to do anything less.

5.How long did it take you to write the first draft? 30+ years  

6.Tell us a little about your characters. Who is your favorite and why? EMALINE MCDANIELS displays a defiance born of desperation. The death of her husband years earlier has forced Shapensay Plantation’s responsibilities onto her shoulders. And its management now anchors her life.  Daily routines have become the ‘child’ she never had…and no mother gives up her child without a fight. COLONEL REECE CUTTERIDGE is a Federal cavalry officer with orders to commandeer Emaline’s home for his regiment’s winter bivouac.  Years after the horrific death of his family, he still hides his anguish and loss beneath an icy mantle of command.  He’s unprepared for the widowed plantation owner to upend his heart, his career and possibly even his life — yet that’s exactly what this strong wisp of a woman does.   

7.What is the overall theme of your story? The journey of two shattered souls on the opposite sides of a war who are destined to fall in love. 

8.What is your favorite setting in this particular story? And why? Reece & Emaline’s love story in NO GREATER GLORY is carved across the volatile tapestry of the American Civil War…and while the war outside suspends under the wickedness of winter, inside the Virginia mansion, battle lines are drawn.  

9.How did you come up with your character’s names?   I found the Cutteridge surname from an 1865 plot map discovered at the old Newburgh Public Library.  And I ultimately settled on the first name, Reece, after the hero from The Terminator ‘who came across time’ for his love.  Yep, Colonel Reece Cutteridge: Enigmatic…Masterful…Self-controlled.  And Emaline…sweetly spirited Emaline, is the name of the daughter I never had. 

10.What about your book would pique a reader’s interest?  The year is 1862 and the Army of the Potomac is pushing southward.  Her home just happens to lie in their path.

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