A warm ‘Welcome’ to Beth White! Find out about this amazing woman and what she does in her spare time. 😉
Please check out the other giveaways going on at my site ———————————->
How was one
of your book heroines “A Lady in Defiance” of the times or circumstances in which she lived?
Fiona Lanier, heroine of The Magnolia Duchess, defies the expectations of her times by becoming a successful horse breeder, trainer, and trader. She lives on a farm near the Gulf of Mexico and raises horses she intends to sell to the U.S. Cavalry, who are on their way to defend New Orleans from British invasion during the War of 1812.
Do any of your husband’s real life romantic gestures inspire the heroes in your stories?
My husband loves to give surprises, which often take the form of computers and gadgets and clothes I’ve had my eye on. On our 10th anniversary he secretly arranged a Hawaiian cruise and even conned me into buying a new swimsuit in February! If that’s not romantic, I don’t know what is! My husband’s sense of humor and practical nature often finds its way into my heroes as well. I couldn’t be married without those two characteristics.
I see you are a music teacher at an inner-city high school. Do you do any musical composing as well as novel writing?
As a matter of fact, during the previous school year, my students and I produced a Broadway-style musical for which I wrote the script and most of the song lyrics. I had some extraordinarily gifted students who set the lyrics to music, and I had an arranger create our accompaniment tracks. Based on Christopher Paul Curtis’s Newberry Award- winning children’s novel, Bud Not Buddy, it was set in Depression Era Michigan. I designed the sets, and my students and my family members helped paint them. It was an enormous undertaking, and I doubt I’ll ever do it again! But the production was successful and rewarding, and we sure had fun!
Do you foresee adding a musical element to any future books or characters?
I generally have at least one musician somewhere in my stories. For example, Rafael of The Creole Princess plays guitar and sings to the heroine, Lyse. The book I’m working on now, which will be the first of a brand-new series set in Reconstruction Era Tupelo, Mississippi, features a hero who is a gifted pianist, and the heroine plays guitar and harp (most young ladies of that period played some sort of musical instrument).
Do you have a favorite quote from The Magnolia Duchess, your latest book, you can leave us with?
There are two or three that make me laugh, but this one gives a flavor of personalities and shouldn’t create any spoilers:
“Now you’re being silly, Charlie. You can’t change your basic nature, and you know you’re a good person.” “Bat guano notwithstanding, I’d like to think so.”
Fiona Lanier is the only woman in the tiny Gulf Coast settlement of Navy Cove. While her shipbuilding family races to fill the demand for American ships brought by the War of 1812, Fiona tries to rescue her brother who was forced into service by the British Navy.
Lieutenant Charlie Kincaid has been undercover for six months, obtaining information vital to the planned British invasion of New Orleans. When a summer storm south of Mobile Bay wrecks his ship and scatters the crew, Charlie suffers a head injury, ultimately collapsing in the arms of a beautiful mermaid who seems eerily familiar. As Charlie’s memory returns in agonizing jags and crashes, he and Fiona discover that falling in love may be as inevitable as the tide. But when political loyalties begin to collide, they’ll each have to decide where their true heart lies.
The Giveaway
Thank you so much Beth, and as a bonus, she has offered to giveaway a copy of The Magnolia Duchess to one lucky winner. Due to shipping costs, the winner must have a US address. Enter through the Rafflecopter below:
The giveaway will run through May 3, 2016 and the winner will be announced on May 4.