Interview with Wanda C. Keesey

Please welcome Wanda C. Keesey to Barb’ed Comments. Wanda has written an insightful novel about two women’s struggles during the Civil War, one of my favorite time periods.

Wanda C. Keesey lives in small town USA with her husband and cats, located near the Pennsylvania capital of Harrisburg . She started writing late in life but is catching up fast. She is a student of the Civil War era and the people who lived it. She has had several short stories published, and her second novel, The Walk Home, will be released in November, 2008 (the first, Lost In The Mist came out in May). More information on her life and publications is listed Wanda's website (http://www.wandakeesey.com), a s well as articles, and reviews. She is a long time member and past officer of Pennwriters, Inc. (www.pennwriters.org) a group dedicated to helping writers hone their skills.

Hopefully, visitors have already read your bio, so I'm not going to ask you to tell us about yourself. Instead, what do you find the most difficult about being a writer?
Before I retired, my biggest problem was finding time to write, market, fulfill the duties of my Pennwriters office, work my seven to four job to pay the bills, take care of the housework, and find time to just relax and read for pleasure. Back then I did most of my writing on weekends. Now my focus has changed and I was able to rearrange my schedule to include writing or writing related work every afternoon. I still don't like or do housework as often as I should, but I do get more time to prepare a good meal now and then for my husband and myself. Because of this change I'm finding that I procrastinate on actual writing more than I did before (I'm a procrastinator supreme) so I have to make myself spend at least two hours a day on writing. My pleasure reading has changed to reading for reviews which I restrict to evenings.

What is your hero's biggest challenge?
My hero, Simon Nettling (aka Leonard Claremont) is an undercover Pinkerton agent working for the Federal Government in Civil War Richmond, VA. He is involved in spying, and working with the Underground Railroad (freeing slaves). AND then he meets a woman who makes him wish he could settle down and raise a family, but she is hiding something too. His biggest challenge is doing his job, and helping Sara without knowing what it is she needs.

What is your heroine's biggest flaw?
Sara Benning was viciously attacked and left for dead by the slave chasers who killed her husband and ten year old son. She want to avenge their loss, but she's afraid that she's not strong enough to complete the task. When she meets the banker in Richmond, Leonard Claremont, she begins to doubt her reasons for being there. She is very unsure of herself and her motives.

Hattie Carter is a secondary heroine in my novel. She and her husband, Charles were slaves. They had different owners who permitted them to marry, and to work off the cost of freedom. After years of slavery, they were freed and moved north where they met the Bennings and lived free, until the day the slave chasers needed another body. Hattie is a strong women, physically and mentally. If she has a flaw, it's that she is so focused on finding her husband that she gets careless.

What prompted you to write this story?
Women who lived through the Civil War era were thrown into a world they'd never dreamed of. Left without men-folk, they had to "do" for themselves. I wanted to write a story about two of these women, each with a unique problem. Sara Benning loses her entire family and reason for living and Hattie Carter's husband is "stolen" back into slavery. Sara and Hattie are friends and their families had been partners in business. When Hattie nurses Sara back from deaths door, they each want to follow the slavers for their own reasons. Hattie to rescue her husband and Sara to get her revenge.

What is your least favorite genre? Would you ever consider writing it?
Literary, or mainstream fiction puts me to sleep. I've reviewed several novels in these genres and I admire the authors who can pull it off. Their skills in their craft are to be envied. I do have a short story that is literary. It's a story based on my own true life experience, but I've had a hard time placing it for publication. I don't think I would venture into a novel length project, but who knows. When the mood hits, I write.

Who has helped you the most?
If my husband hadn't found a piece I was writing when we got our first word processor, and from then encouraged me to do what it took to become an "author", I would never have reached this point. He has been my steadfast backer. He doesn't read fiction, though he will edit my short work, he's never read any of my novels. He does bounce ideas around with me and he is with me as often as he can be at signings and talks, and helps with promotion. He is my biggest fan.

Do you have a favorite theme? Eg: love conquers all; good vs evil; How do you use it?
No, I don't think I do have a favorite theme, though many creep into my novels and stories. They say there are only about fifty different plots in writing, and it's the spin that the author puts on the words that makes each work unique. Having the Civil War era as a background helps to put that touch to my novels, it was a trying time. The romances in my books are based on love, not only of a person, but of life.

What have you learned about yourself from your writing?
I've learned a lot of things. Probably one of the most important is that I can learn and improve at any age. And life doesn't end with retirement, it's just beginning (for me anyway). And I'm impressed with the changes I see in my "voice" over the years of writing. And I'm always surprised that I enjoy reading my own books, over and over (a good thing because of all the editing). But I think mostly I'm more confident. I'm still shaky when I appear before a group, but I know my subject and soon find that my audience is waiting to hear what I know. No one has walked out on me yet.

Why will your reader think your book is different?
The Walk Home is the story of two women, one white and one black who pose as mistress and owner to travel into the teeth of the Confederacy at the beginning of the Civil War. The story isn't about the war, but the war's and society's effect on their lives and their bravery in facing a new and dangerous city.

Excerpt from The Walk Home:
“Sara, don’t you die on me. You hear girl.” Hattie pulled the shawl from her shoulders, draping it over the prone body of her friend.
“Hattie, where. . .” Sara’s whisper was almost lost on the spring breeze. She struggled to sit up, pushing against the ground with her hands. Long auburn hair fell in unruly clumps hiding Sara’s face. “Edward, Teddy, they said. . .” With a sigh she allowed her arms to relax, lowering her body to the ground.
Hattie helped Sara turn onto her back. She gasped as she pushed the screen of hair away.
An open gash disfigured the left side of Sara’s once unmarked face, laying open a ragged line that cut across the corner of her eye and ended at the left side of her chin. Her lips, bruised and split were parted as she struggled to pull air into her lungs. Blood encrusted Sara’s face and neck, her nose was bent at an odd angle, her swollen eyes had started to blacken.
Pale hands reached for Hattie.
“Quiet girl. You be still while I think.” Hattie was frightened. She had to get Sara back to her cabin.
“Lord, help me.” She cried to the smoke filled sky, “I can’t carry her myself.” Her dark eyes scanned the yard.
The Benning cabin was a burning skeleton.
--Wanda C. Keesey Author of Lost in the Mist ISBN: 978 1-59705-327-3 (ebook) ISBN: 978 1-59705-706-6 (paperback) And watch for The Walk Home (release November, 2008) Wings ePress, Inc. www.wings-press.com wckeesey@comcast.net http://www.wandakeesey.com http://wckeesey.wordpress.com (Civil War Writer blog) http://bookbabesandhim.workpress.com(readers blog)