The Sun in my Shadows

Signed copies of The Shadow Catcher's Daughter available here.

A Visit with the Huz: the inside scoop on the inside scoop on Carla Olson Gade

I'm starting a new blog series with interviews from some of my author friend's husbands. Here you'll get the inside scoop on her life as an author and their life together as a couple.

In fairness, I'm starting off by interviewing my own husband, Brad.

Brad, thank you for joining us at Writing to Distraction!

Where did you meet Carla and how long have you been married?

We were introduced at Friendly's Ice Cream. We've been married now for 6 years, this time.

(Note from Carla: This is our second marriage to one another. Praise God for second chances. )


Any children, grandchildren, or pets in the family? Who lives at home?

We have 2 boys, 25 & 24 (Justin & Brandon).  2 cats, 10 & 2.  Our cats Rosie and Dasha live with us.

Did you know your wife was a writer before you were married?

She did write poetry, but she was interested in making silk flower arrangements and working with children then. After we had our own children she began writing children's stories.

What is your occupation and how long have you been working at that vocation?

Carpentry, for 20 years.




 




What are a few of your favorite books and authors? (Not including your wife's.)

Confessions of Augustine, The Left Behind Series (LaHaye/Jenkins), Max Lucado, Frank Perretti, C. S. Lewis, and many more.

Have you ever read any of your wife's books?  If so, do you have a favorite?

I'm reading The Shadow Catcher's Daughter.

Where does Carla write?

Everywhere.

What does she wear when writing?

P.J.'s

Does she ever brainstorm with you about her plots and characters?

Occasionally.

Is there anything unusual that she ever asks you to do relating to her writing?

Not really, it seems usual to me. Sometimes I help her walk through a scene or give her advice about technical things.

What activities do the two of you enjoy doing together as a couple?

Picnics, sightseeing, poking around antique stores.









Now, from Carla:

Does your husband write? If so, please tells us about it. 

Before we were married he wrote me poetry, which I still have and cherish. 

As an author, what is something exceptional that you appreciate about your husband relating to his support of your career.

In addition to being enthusiastic about my writing career, Brad is extremely supportive and helps in many practical ways. He works hard at his job so that I can stay home and write full time. He shops and cooks special meals for me. He puts my office furniture together for me, handles my computer needs and electronic things, and more. He graciously doesn't mind when I need to work long hours and travel. I'm truly blessed.




Carla Olson Gade is the author of The Shadow Catcher's Daughter and Carving a Future/Colonial Courtships.  You may visit her website at carlagade.com.

Two interviews with Carla Olson Gade

Today you'll find me visiting with two exceptional young mom authors. I began writing when I was a young mother and it is so much fun to see all that they are accomplishing. I hope you'll stop by and enjoy listening in on our conversations and take the time to get to know Sarah Forgrave and Naomi Rawlings.

Plotting with Pictures

Meet me at Petticoats and Pistols, talking about photography in Plotting with Pictures. Giveaway of 2 copies of The Shadow Catcher's Daughter.  http://petticoatsandpistols.com/

Blog Tour & Giveaways for Colonial Courtships

This is a big week for me on my blog tour for promoting Colonial Courtships.

What's a blog tour? It is an online tour of interviews, reviews, and conversations around the web to raise interest in a newly released book. It is lots of fun with fun insights and behind the scenes info from the author and there are usually book giveaways...and in my case you may even win a book gift basket! 

Sunday, the 14th, you'll find another interview with the authors at Lena Nelson Dooley's A Christian Writers World.

Monday, the 15th, the Colonial Courtships authors begin there long visit with Valerie Comer, the hostess of Barbour's Romancing America blog. I'll be featured  for several days this week to talk about my novella Carving a Future, the first book included in the Colonial Courtships anthology.

I'm visiting at From the Heart with Cheryl St. John on Tues., the 16th, to talk about Colonial Detours.

Wed., the 17th read a review at A Pew Perspective and author interview with another chance to win a copy of Colonial Courtships.

Meet with me  at Overcoming Through Time - With God's Help on on Thursday, the 18th.

And you'll even find me on Petticoats and Pistols on Saturday where I talk about Plotting with Pictures.

Tomorrow, the 15th, I celebrate my Colonial American fiction debut with a tea party at Colonial Quills, the Colonial American Christian Writer's blog that I contribute to each month. There is another gift basket giveaway there as well!

I invite you to join me as I celebrate Colonial Courtships around the web. Please spread the word!
And be sure to sign up for "Adventures of the Heart", my Once-in-a-White author newsletter.

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Meet the Authors of Colonial Courtships

 
Today I have the privilege of welcoming the three talented authors who participated with me in the writing of the Colonial Courtships novella collection. The setting is mid-18th century Glassenbury, Connecticut.

I asked them to come by so we tell you more about Colonial Courtships and you can get to know each of them better. Since my novella is first in the anthology, I'll start first and then Amber, Laurie Alice, and Lisa will join in to share about their stories.

Please tell us a little bit about your novella in the Colonial Courtships collection.

Carving a Future by
Carla Olson Gade
Nathaniel Ingersoll and
Constance Starling

Carla –  Carving a Future features ship's  figurehead carver Nathaniel Ingersoll who has apprenticed for many years under his Uncle Phineas and hopes to become a master ship carver in his own right. Constance Starling was spirited away from England to the Connecticut coast as an indentured servant, arriving too ill for anyone to accept her. When Nathaniel takes pity on her, he purchases her contract and may jeopardized the future he has worked so hard to achieve for the welfare of a weakly servant. 

Trading Hearts by
Amber Stockton
Jonathon Ingersoll and
Clara Marie Preston

Amber – In Trading Hearts, Jonathan Ingersoll is a successful merchant trader along the Great (Connecticut) River. When flooding forces him to take sanctuary in an unfamiliar inn along his route, he meets the innkeeper’s daughter, Clara Marie Preston. Immediately attracted to her shy, yet caring spirit and quiet faith, Jonathan makes a point to return. But animosity from her brother gives him pause. Learning the source of the resentment only spurs Jonathan to try that much harder to prove his worth. Doubts are cast upon his character, and his trade sales begin to decrease. When he tracks down the pirates who attacked Clara’s brother and sees justice served, things take a turn for the better. Finally, he can accept the full blessing for a union of marriage and make plans once more for the future.

 

Over a Barrel by
Laurie Alice Eakes
Micah Ingersoll and
Sarah Carter

Laurie Alice – Over a Barrel – After being wounded, while fighting alongside the British on the frontier, Micah Ingersoll figures his future lies in making the town bakehouse a success. He doesn’t expect to find a woman willing to marry a partially lame man. He especially doesn’t expect to meet her in his storeroom covered in flour after hiding her daughter in an emptied barrel. Sarah Carter can’t be up to any good. At best she’s a run-away servant. At worst? She is running from a man who wants to force her, a widow heiress, into marriage, but if Micah won’t help her, Sarah must take her daughter and keep running from danger. Micah finds her shelter and work with the intent to keep an eye on her until he discovers the truth of her story. But lovely and lively Sarah at close hand means losing his heart to her regardless of her past.

Impressed by Love by
Lisa Karon Richardson
Dr. Alden Ingersoll and
Phoebe Carlisle

Lisa  – Impressed by Love – Following her parents’ deaths, Phoebe Carlisle is traveling with her uncle, captain of the H.M.S. Aries, to live with cousins. An attack by a French ship-of-the-line forces them to seek refuge along the Connecticut River. Doctor Alden Ingersoll prefers to be in control of any situation, but his fate is ripped from his grasp when he’s pressed into the Royal Navy to tend an injured captain. In Phoebe’s company, Alden finds his desire to escape the ship fading. But pursuing her means abandoning hope of returning to his medical practice and his family.

How did you choose the occupations for your hero and heroines?

Carla – Long interested in Colonial New England history, I know that there were many shipbuilding communities in the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the trades involved was figurehead ship carving. There was something romantic about the beautiful figures that were created. And when I discovered this picture, I knew there was a story there and felt it would be a good trade for a strong hero.  

Amber – In our pre-sale discussions, we hashed out what each of the four brothers would be. I’d been in the middle of writing about a shipping industry mogul in the 1800’s, so ships were on my brain. Making Jonathan a merchant trader seemed only natural. Of course, considering his older brother is a master figurehead carver, it worked great.

Laurie Alice  – I needed something a man with a severe limp could do in a colonial town, and figured the son of an innkeeper would know the need for baked goods. And the barrel idea just came to me from somewhere, which led to research on barrels, which led to flour, which led to baking also. . .

Lisa  – Being a doctor was the second thing I wanted to do when I grew up. (Right after being an astronaut.) So the medical field has always had a tremendous amount of appeal. Combine that with the idea of doing something daring and experimental that flew in the face of the thinking of the day, and I couldn’t resist the allure.

Was there some historical research that you came across while working on your novella that you found interesting and would like to share with us?

Carla – There is some interesting lore surrounding the ship's figurehead, the sentinel proudly displayed upon the bow. To sail a ship without a figurehead was dangerous as it was thought that the figurehead embodied the ship's soul and would keep evil spirits at bay. If the ship sunk without a figurehead it was said that the sailor's ghosts would haunt the sea for eternity. If a ship's figurehead was painted black it was considered bad luck.

Amber – The most fascinating fact I discovered was where the ship owners docked their ships for the cold winter in New England. They didn’t have dry dock options in the Colonial era, so they merely sought out warmer waters that didn’t freeze during the winter and anchored their ships in the middle of a bay or even the ocean, hoping they weren’t looted or stolen when not in use.

Laurie Alice – While researching barrels,I found an article about an apple rebellion amongst farmers in the 19^th century. I’m afraid the details have eluded me after nearly two years and a lot of research.

Lisa  – Some of the most fascinating research I stumbled upon had to do with early blood transfusion experiments. Sheep were used as donors based on the logic was that they were docile and easily led, therefore their blood would cause the person to whom it was transfused to be docile and easily led. There was also some vague notion that had its basis in the Bible’s metaphor of Christians as sheep.

Amber, I really enjoyed your colonial novels in Liberty’s Promise. You wrote so well about the era and had such fascinating plots. I knew you’d be a perfect fit for the Colonial Courtships novella collection. What other periods in history do you enjoy writing about? 

Thank you, Carla! There is a special place in my heart for my debut series, and it seems as if I’ll be returning to that era and locale for some upcoming novels. Didn’t set out with a plan to write Colonial, but you write what sells. I especially love the era between the Civil War and World War I. It was full of such change and vibrancy. A blend of the societal norms you might find in Regency England with the factory workers of the Industrial Revolution and all the change in America that came with it. They call it the Gilded Age, and it’s an exciting time in our nation’s history.

Laurie Alice, The Glassblower was also set in 18^th century America, the first in the New Jersey Series, which also includes later settings of history. What other series have you written and what era are they?

I have a novella in Highland Crossings. “Printed on My Heart” is set in colonial North Carolina. Besides that, I have The Midwives series, which is set between 1809 and 1842 mostly in Virginia and a few other countries briefly. Then there is The Daughters of Bainbridge House, which are Regencies set in London and the English countryside. Better than Gold is the third book in a series with other authors, and I’ve just sold another Regency  series to Zondervan, not yet named.

Lisa, Congratulations! Colonial Courtships is your debut book and I’m thrilled for you! We are working on another novella collection together, Mistletoe Memories, that will release next year. Please tell us what other projects you have been contracted for.

Thanks, Carla! It is definitely an exciting time. I’m looking forward to diving into Mistletoe Memories. That due date’s coming up soon! I have another colonial called The Magistrate’s Folly coming from Heartsong Presents in January 2013. And a three book series co-authored with Jennifer AlLee through Whitaker House. The Amazing Love series is set during the 1860’s and features plenty of intrigue, adventure and romance. Eureka!, the first story will be out in the Fall of 2013.

Thank you all for visiting. It was a true please to work with you all on Colonial Courtships!

To learn more about Amber, Laurie Alice, and Lisa, visit them online by clicking the links to their websites located underneath their photos above. Also, please join us at the Romancing America blog over the next few weeks for more chances to win Colonial Courtships and to get to know our authors.

HUZZAH! Celebrating the release of Colonial Courtships!

I'm thrilled to see that my first colonial era novella, COLONIAL COURTSHIPS, is available now in print and e-book formats!

CBD
Amazon
Walmart

Join me at Colonial Quills on Monday, October 8th, to read Carrie Fancet Pagels review of Carving a Future, my novella in the Colonial Courtships anthology.

Today, October 5th, I'm posting at Colonial Quills about Muster Day, an event that takes place in my novella.

I also have a Colonial Courtships Pinterest board set up with some images relating to the story.

Stay tuned for next week when  I interview my co-authors Laurie Alice Eakes, Lisa Karon Richardson, and Amber Stockton.