Interview with Martha Conway
What inspired you to become a writer?
I'm honored to be part of Martha Conway's book promotion of the Thieving Forests through WOW!Blog Tours. The book is set in my home state of Ohio in the early 1800's. Head over to The Muffin to learn about Martha's giveaway & contest.
About the Book
Meet Author Martha Conway
Synopsis:
On a
humid day in June 1806, on the edge of Ohio's Great Black Swamp,
seventeen-year-old Susanna Quiner watches from behind a maple tree as a band of
Potawatomi Indians kidnaps her four older sisters from their cabin. With both
her parents dead from Swamp Fever and all the other settlers out in their
fields, Susanna makes the rash decision to pursue them herself. What follows is
a young woman's quest to find her sisters, and the parallel story of her
sisters' new lives.
The
frontier wilderness that Susanna must cross in order to find her sisters is
filled with dangers, but Susanna, armed with superstition and belief in her own
good luck, sets out with a naive optimism. Over the next five months, Susanna
tans hides in a Moravian missionary village; escapes down a river with a young
native girl; discovers an eccentric white woman raising chickens in the middle
of the Great Black Swamp; suffers from snakebite and near starvation; steals
elk meat from wolves; and becomes a servant in a Native American village. The
vast Great Black Swamp near Toledo, Ohio, which was once nearly the size of
Connecticut, proves a formidable enemy. But help comes from unlikely
characters, both Native American and white.
Both a
quest tale and a tale of personal transformations, Thieving Forest follows five
pioneer women and one man as they contend with starvation, slavery, betrayal, and
love. It paints a startling new picture of life in frontier Ohio with its mix
of European and Native American communities, along with compelling descriptions
of their daily lives. Fast-paced, richly detailed, with a panoramic view of
cultures and people, this is a story of a bygone era sure to enthrall and
delight.
Meet Author Martha Conway
Interview by TC Booth
What inspired you to become a writer?
I liked to scribble on the walls when I was a child -- before I could even read, I tried to write. And of course, all the great books I've read have inspired me. When I read something wonderful I think, I want to do that. I always feel the greatest urge to express myself in writing after reading someone else who has done that well.
What book(s) have you written that you would like to tell us about?
My latest book, THIEVING FOREST, has been described as "Little Women meets Last of the Mohicans." I conceived it as a quest novel, but with a twist: the hero is female. It's 1806, and 17-year old Susanna Quiner watches helplessly from behind a tree as her four older sisters are kidnapped by a band of Potawatomi Indians. But all is not what it seems: one of her neighbors is behind the abduction. Left on her own (their parents recently died), Susanna makes the rash decision to follow the Potawatomi herself. What follows is a young woman's journey to save her sisters, and the parallel story of her sisters' new lives.
Do you have any favorite childhood books?
Little Women, of course! I also loved all the Edward Eager books about magic. And some of the classics, like the Laura Ingalls Wilder books (my protagonist's last name is taken from Laura's mother's maiden name). One favorite, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, was the source of my own childhood fantasy: to run away and to live — not at the Met as the children in the book do— but at my own neighborhood library. I often imagined what I would pack, always including a flashlight so I could read books at night.
Do you have advice for aspiring writers?
Find a writing routine and make it a habit. For a long time I only had one morning, Thursday morning, to write. I had negotiated with my job to get that time off. If I diddled around and did other things, that was it, I had lost my writing time. I soon learned to buckle down and write for two hours. Later, when another morning became available, I had an easier time disciplining myself.
Where can we find you and your books?
You can find THIEVING FOREST on Amazon, the Apple Store, Barnes and Noble, and other online venues, and you can order it at your local bookstore. You can find me here:
Blog: www.marthaconway.com
Twitter: @marthamconway
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martha.conway.52
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23092.Martha_Conway
More About the Author:
Martha Conway’s first novel 12 Bliss Street (St. Martin’s Minotaur) was
nominated for an Edgar Award, and her short fiction has appeared in The Iowa
Review, The Mississippi Review, The Quarterly, Folio, Puerto del Sol, Carolina
Quarterly, and other publications. She graduated from Vassar College and
received her master’s degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State
University. She has reviewed fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle, The San
Francisco Review of Books, and The Iowa Review. The recipient of a California
Arts Council fellowship in Creative Writing, she has taught at UC Berkeley
Extension and Stanford University’s Online Writers’ Studio.ethany Masone Harar
graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from James Madison University and
a Masters in Secondary English Education from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Check Out all of the Stops along Martha's Blog Tour
October 13 at The Muffin
interview and giveaway
Oct. 14 at Writer with Dogs
guest post
Oct. 15 at All Things Audry
guest post
Oct. 16 at Book Talk
author showcase
Oct. 17 at Deal Sharing Aunt
guest post and giveaway
Oct. 19 at Writer Unboxed
guest post
Oct. 21 at Katherine Hajer
guest post
Oct. 22 at Caroline Clemmons
guest post
Oct. 23 at Renee’s Pages
guest post
Oct. 24 at A Writer’s Devotion
interview
Oct. 27 at Katherine Hajer
review
Oct. 29 at Words by Webb
interview and review
Nov. 3 at Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
interview
Nov. 6 at Escaping Reality Within Pages
guest post, review and giveaway
Nov. 11 at The Lit Ladies
interview
Nov. 12 at Kathleen Pooler
guest post, review and giveaway
