I'm very excited to have my friend and fellow American historical author here today, Susan Macatee. I've been a fan of Susan's work for many years, now it's your turn to get to know this super talented and lovely lady.
Hi Susan! Welcome! Tell us a bit about yourself and why you write the genre you do.
I've always
loved books and dreamed of being an author someday. But I came to my chosen
genre in a roundabout way. As a teen and young adult, I devoured science
fiction. So, that's what I first tried writing. It wasn't until years later, as
a young mother, that I discovered romance. Times travels, followed by
historicals, were my favorite escapes. Then my husband pulled me into Civil War
reenacting. I love the romance of the period, as well as the grit, and just had
to place my romances in this time period. As a result, my first romance novel
was a Civil War time travel.
How long have you been writing?
I could
honestly say since childhood. I remember writing picture books to distribute to
friends. I had kind of a start in my early college years, when I tried
submitting short stories to magazines and wrote for a 'Star Trek' fanzine. But
it was after my youngest son started school that I joined Romance Writers of
America and began to write both short stories and book length romance and submit
my work to publishers. So, we're talking about 23 years.
Describe your
typical writing day
My writing day doesn't start until afternoon, although I
do a couple of email checks, plus a little book promo in the mornings. Once I
settle down to write, I either have a word quota, if I'm writing a first draft,
or a page or hourly quota, in the case of revisions, edits or plotting. I start
with whatever project I'm currently working on, but if I have extra time before
I have to start dinner, I might make notes on my next project before I stop for
the day.
What was your “Aha!” moment—when you knew you had to
write?
I took a creative writing class my junior year in high school. For my
fiction assignment, I wrote a 12 page horror story and got an A++. My teacher
would have read it to the class, if not for the length. From that point on, I
knew writing in some form was something I was meant to do.
If you weren’t
a writer, what would you be?
In college, I took a few elective psychology
courses and did really well in them. I think I would've majored in psych if I
wasn't fixated on writing.
What is your best cure for writer’s
block?
The absolute best cure is to read a good book by another writer.
Always gets me in the mood to get back to work on my own project.
Tell
us a little bit about your new release, Thoroughly Modern Amanda
Thoroughly Modern Amanda is a sequel to my 2009 Civil War
time travel romance, Erin's Rebel. This new story is set in 1880 and the
heroine, Amanda Montgomery, was a child in Erin's Rebel, the daughter of the
widowed hero. The hero, Jack Lawton, is a modern day construction worker who
wants to refurbish an old Victorian home, but the owner dies and her heir wants
to sell the land and have the house demolished.
Believing anything is possible, magazine reporter Amanda Montgomery
dreams about being a modern woman in a nineteenth century world, much like her
exceptional step-mother. But society expects well-off young ladies to focus on
finding a suitable husband and raising a family. And then Jack appears—with no
past and unconventional ideas. Does he hold the key to another century as well
as her heart, or is she destined to stay in her own time?
Construction
worker Jack Lawton wants to preserve an old home that's scheduled for
demolition. But when he sneaks inside for a final look, a loose beam falls on
his head, and upon waking, he finds himself in the arms of a beautiful woman.
His only problem—he's no longer in the twenty-first century. Can he find his
way back home? Does he really want to?
Jack blinked, focusing
his gaze. Blinding pain in the back of his head nearly caused him to pass out
again. The last thing he recalled was a beam blindsiding him.
“Sir?” a
female voice cooed. “What’s happened? Did the beam hit you?”
He tried to
focus on a face hovering above him. “Yeah, the beam hit me. It must have knocked
me out.” He lifted his arm, intending to probe his aching head.
“Don’t
move,” the woman said. “I have a rag covering the gash. You need a doctor, I
think.”
He gazed at the woman. With her red-gold hair piled on her head
and her old-fashioned looking gown, she didn’t seem real. Like something out of
a crazy dream. If her face wasn’t so smooth and youthful, he’d believe he was
back at Mrs. Grayson’s house, but the old woman was dead and she’d never dressed
like this.
“Where am I?” he groaned. A flash of pain shot through his
skull.
The woman’s blue eyes widened. “You don’t know where you are? The beam
must have taken your memory.” She glanced around. “This house is under
construction. You’re obviously one of the workmen hired to build
it.”
“Under construction?” A new wave of pain pierced his skull. “No.
This house is going to be torn down.”
“Shh.” She placed a finger over his
lips. “You must have had a memory lapse.”
Her soft touch and scent
enveloped him. Something seemed familiar about her, but he wasn’t sure what. He
tried to rise, but she pushed him back.
“Don’t try to get up. I’ll go
for help.”
“No.” He rubbed his head. “I think I can sit up with your
assistance. Pushing onto his elbows, he gazed around the room. His heart dropped
as he realized this wasn’t the dilapidated house he’d been exploring. The scent
of fresh cut wood and unfinished walls chilled him.
“You say this house
is under construction?” He made an effort to sit up straight.
She moved
to brace his back. “You mustn’t move so quickly. You could aggravate your
injury.”
“This doesn’t make any sense.” He reached for the towel she’d
placed against the back of his head. The rag slid down his back.
She
retrieved it, then gently probed his head.
He winced at the
pain.
Her gaze met his. “It doesn’t look so bad now. The bleeding’s
stopped, but you will need someone to look after you. I’ll contact your
family.”
“There’s no need. I can drive. Just help me to my car. It’s
parked outside.”
“Car?” She bit her lip, drawing his attention to her
full, ripe mouth. “You mean carriage? I saw no carriage outside.”
“No, I
mean a car. It’s a dark green four door.”
“I saw no carriage as you
describe.” She wrung her hands glancing toward the open doorway. “I’ll go find
help.”
His hand shot out to stop her. He didn’t want her to go, even to
get help. If he was able to stand…
“Help me up,” he said.
She
frowned, but grasped his hand. Pushing up on his legs with her assistance at his
side, he stood. But his equilibrium seemed off. She braced her weight against
his.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here? I’ll find a neighbor to
help you to go…” She hesitated. “Where do you want to go?”
“Home, but I
need my car to get there.” His hand dropped to his pocket to search for his
wallet, but a strap and two buttons on his waistband diverted his attention. He
wore a pair of suspenders, a loose fitting shirt with four buttons reaching from
his mid-chest area to his collar, and baggy wool pants. These weren’t the
clothes he’d been wearing when he’d explored the house.
What the
hell?
His alarmed gaze drifted down to the woman who still supported his
weight. The clothes he wore matched the period of her gown. And the condition of
the house, compared to the dilapidated building he'd been in, set his brain
awhirl.
“Where in hell am I?” he gasped.
The woman’s eyes widened
as she gazed open mouthed at him.
Anything else in the works you can
share with us?
Yes, I’m currently working on a novella based on a minor
character from my 2009 Civil War romance, Confederate Rose. In ‘The Physician’s
Irish Lady’ the hero is a small town doctor, who served as a Union army surgeon
during the Civil War. The heroine is an Irish immigrant on the run from a man
she met in New York City, who tried to sell her to a brothel.
Leave a
comment on this post for the chance to win a PDF copy of Thoroughly Modern
Amanda and a $10.00 gift card for The Wild Rose Press.
Buy link:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=5074
Susan, thanks so much for visiting with us today!
