“I remember the borders of our land, though I
have been gone from them nearly half the moons of my life. But who there will
remember me? What I have seen, what I have done, it has changed me.
I am the place where two rivers meet, silted with upheaval and loss.
Yet memory of our land is a clear stream. I shall know it as a mother knows
the faces of her children. It may be I will find me there.“
Abducted by Mohawk
Indians at fourteen and renamed Burning Sky, Willa Obenchain is driven to
return to her family’s New York frontier homestead after many years building a
life with the People. At the boundary of her father’s property, Willa discovers
a wounded Scotsman lying in her path. Feeling obliged to nurse his injuries,
the two quickly find much has changed during her twelve-year absence—her
childhood home is in disrepair, her missing parents are rumored to be Tories,
and the young Richard Waring she once admired is now grown into a man twisted
by the horrors of war and claiming ownership of the Obenchain land.
When her Mohawk brother arrives and questions her place in the white world, the
cultural divide blurs Willa’s vision. Can she follow Tames-His-Horse back to
the People now that she is no longer Burning Sky? And what about Neil
MacGregor, the kind and loyal botanist who does not fit into in her plan for a
solitary life, yet is now helping her revive her farm? In the aftermath of the
Revolutionary War, strong feelings against “savages” abound in the nearby
village of Shiloh, leaving Willa’s safety unsure.
Willa is a woman caught between two worlds. As tensions rise, challenging her
shielded heart, the woman called Burning Sky must find a new courage--the
courage to again risk embracing the blessings the Almighty wants to bestow. Is
she brave enough to love again?
ZM: Lori, I’ve already ordered my mother a copy of BURNING SKY
and told tons of other people about you wonderful book. Mother’s review was
short and succinct—“WOW!” She’s already put in an order for all your books as
they are published. ; )
The characters are my favorite part. Willa and
Neil are so real and so clear. What is your method for getting your characters
so rich, nuanced, and deep?
Lori: Thank you, Zan Marie,
for your wonderful support of Burning Sky.
As
for those characters, I don’t have a method—or not one I can break down into a
list of steps. But with every novel I write I spend a lot of time thinking
about the characters, their backstory, what their goals are and how they will
be tested, how they will grow and change, before I begin writing. It’s as if
I’m mentally circling them, observing, listening, questioning, and furiously
jotting down what they reveal about themselves. It might come in waves, or
trickles, scattered over weeks or months, but spending as much time at that as
I can before I begin writing makes for less floundering around and trying to
nail that stuff down later, when thousands of words have been expended and need
to be heavily revised.
Still,
no matter how much planning I do there’s nothing better than putting characters
into a scene, letting them confront a challenge or setback, seeing their personalities
emerge. Once I start the first draft it’s still an organic process, part
intentional construction as I apply what I learned during that mental circling,
and maintaining the flexibility to explore surprises when they happen on the
page. It doesn’t all get done in the first draft. I continue refining those
characters through many passes over every scene, right up to the three main
edits that take place once the book passes into my publisher’s hands.
ZM: That’s a lot of work, but your characters show it with their
depth. When did you first encounter Willa and Neil? What drew you to their
story?
Lori: I can’t recall exactly
when I first met Willa Obenchain. I’d say it was sometime around 2008, because
I was definitely writing her story by 2009. Stories rarely start for me in the
same way twice. With Burning Sky, I had
a couple of out-of-the-blue visions of Willa, and after asking the bazillion what if and why questions we writers do (that mental circling mentioned above),
I knew I had a character with a story to tell.
Neil
MacGregor came along years ago, as a hero in a contemporary story with many of
the same challenges as the Neil in Burning
Sky. For various reasons I never finished that story. When I finally knew
it was the historical genre I wanted to pursue, I couldn’t forget the character
of Neil MacGregor. Thankfully he made the time leap into the 18th
century with surprising ease, and I like who he became there.
What
drew me to their story? It’s easier to answer what drew me to them. The story came a bit later. I’m
drawn to characters who are caught in the Middle Ground, whether that’s a place
on the map historically, a frontier between peoples, or an emotional place
between two cultures or races or life ways. I’m not usually drawn to story
first (or plot). Usually it’s character, but they’re so intertwined it’s hard
to separate the two. That first flash of inspiration contains the kernels of
both.
ZM: I love your Pinterest Board for BURNING SKY! How did you get interested in using
Pinterest in this way?
Lori: Among writers in the
Inspirational genre (which I write) creating Pinterest boards for novels is a
popular thing for an author to do. Once I discovered this, I realized there was
a place for Pinterest in my life. Until then I didn’t get the appeal. Now I
create boards for clothing of the time periods I write about too, which have
come in handy when the cover designer needs a visual of an outfit I’ve
described in the story. Pinterest novel boards are a fun way to engage readers
in our story worlds.
ZM: Lori, your personal story is wonderful. Please share a bit
about your journey to publication.
Lori: It was long. It was winding.
It taught me patience. I began writing with the notion of being published in
1991. By 1999 I’d written several novels in different genres, all of which were
ultimate rejected for publication. Then I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s
Lymphoma. Months later, in remission, I tried to pick up the writing again and
found I was suffering what’s known as chemo fog. Long story short, I wasn’t
mentally up to snuff for about five years. I stopped trying to write altogether
several times. I managed to write a children’s chapter book in that time (yet
another genre!) but it too was rejected across the board.
In
2004 I began researching 18th century American history. I began another
novel, thinking I’d give it one more try. I finished that book, but it took years,
and a very long time to edit into shape.
I
attended a writers conference at Mount Hermon, in California (not my first
conference by far), and met my agent there for the first time. But my
manuscript was too long for her to consider at that time. I went home and back
to trimming. A few months later a group of this agents authors who blog
together held a contest. From submitted first chapters they would choose six
finalists who they would then pass along to their agent. She would pick the
winner. I figure I had nothing to lose, and this way might finally get my
writing in front of this agent. I was chosen as one of the six, and out of
those the agent picked mine as the winner, which meant I was able to submit the
whole (drastically tightened) novel to her. She offered to represent me.
We’ve
yet to find a home for that first novel, but about a year and a half later
later she sold the next two I wrote, Burning
Sky being the first.
ZM: Many craft books stress
that writers must read and read a lot. Who is your favorite author, or what is
your favorite genre? What draws you to a book you read for enjoyment?
Lori:
I wish I had more time for reading for
enjoyment. These days it’s usually the ten to fifteen minutes before I fall
asleep each night, except for audio books, and I’m far less picky about genre
with those. I’ll take what’s available from my library, just so I’m reading
something.
James
Alexander Thom is one of my favorite historical authors. His books are long,
and mostly set in the 18th century (The Red Heart, Panther in the
Sky, Warrior Woman, Long Knife). I’ve loved Ellis Peters/Edith Pargeter,
who wrote the Brother Cadfael mysteries and many more. Susanna Kearsley
is another favorite (The Winter Sea, The Shadowy Horses, The Firebird).
I
prefer to read historicals, though now and then I’ll read a contemporary novel
if I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. This past year I’ve been zipping
through YA Distopian series on audio (and liking most of them). Like I said,
I’ll take what’s available in audio, or I might never have ventured into that
genre.
ZM:
What
is your next book about and when can we expect to get to read it?
Lori:
My next book, The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn, is set in western North
Carolina (present day Tennessee), 1787-1788, during a time of upheaval in that
region following the Revolutionary War. It’s available for pre-order at some
online booksellers, but releases April 15, 2014.
Lori Benton was born and
raised east of the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by early American and
family history going back to the 1600s. Her novels transport readers to the
18th century, where she brings to life the Colonial and early Federal periods
of American history, creating a melting pot of characters drawn from both sides
of a turbulent and shifting frontier, brought together in the bonds of God's
transforming grace.
When she isn’t writing,
reading, or researching 18th century history, Lori enjoys exploring the
mountains with her husband – often scouring the brush for huckleberries, which overflow
the freezer and find their way into her signature huckleberry lemon pound cake.
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Remember, if you comment and leave your email address during the next week, you’ll
be in the drawing for a copy of Lori’s wonderful BURNING SKY! (Sorry, U.S.
residents only.)
