I
believe I was destined to be interested in history. One of my distant
ancestors, Thomas Aubert, reportedly sailed up the St. Lawrence River to
discover Canada some 26 years before Jacques Cartier’s 1534 voyage. Another
relative was a 17thCentury “King’s Girl,” one of a group of young unmarried
girls sent to New France (now the province of Quebec) as brides for the
habitants (settlers) there.
My
passion for reading made me long to write books like the ones I enjoyed, and I
tried penning sequels to my favorite Nancy Drew mysteries. Later, fancying
myself a female version of Andrew Lloyd Weber, I drafted a musical set in Paris
during WWII.
A
former journalist and lifelong Celtophile, I enjoyed a previous career as a
reporter/editor for a small chain of community newspapers before returning to
my first love, romantic fiction. My stories usually include an Irish setting,
hero or heroine, and sometimes all three. My novels, In Sunshine or in Shadow
and Coming Home, set in post-Famine Ireland, are available from Highland Press.
Playing For Keeps, the third book in the Claddagh series, is now available from
Highland Press.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
I love all things Irish and would
love to know why you chose to write about Irish immigrants?
I love all
things Irish too, and have since I was a young girl, so it just felt right
that, when I decided to write my first novel, it should be about Irish characters.
My first series of books, The Claddagh Series, has been set
mostly in post-Famine Ireland, a period that has always fascinated me.
But after I’d
written the first three books in that series, I began to wonder what might have
happened to those Irish men, women and children who had been forced to leave
Ireland during that terrible time. Where did they go? How did they survive? Did
they prosper in the New World, or were they beaten down by the hardships they
experienced there?
I hope my Wild
Geese Series answers some of those questions.
How did you choose the time/era? What
was it about that era that attracted you?
I chose to set Deceptive Hearts just after the
American Civil War because it was the time when my heroes would have grown to
manhood. It was also a fascinating time, because so much in their world was
changing. But mainly, it was to accommodate my heroes.
When I was writing Coming Home, Book II of The
Claddagh Series, my hero, Cavan Callaghan, was a veteran of Thomas
Francis Meagher’s Irish Brigade. I found the stories of the Irish Brigade,
particularly their exploits in the American Civil War, fascinating. The Irish
who fought in the war were not only fighting for the new country that had taken
them in, but also to prove that, as a people, they could fight for something
(America), and not just against something (the British). It was an interesting
dichotomy, and I enjoyed exploring it in the Wild Geese stories. I’m very proud
of all of my veterans.
Why did you select New York as the
backdrop for the Irish boys who grew to manhood there?
New York was the gateway to America for most of the
Irish famine refugees. They stepped off the filthy, overcrowded coffin ships
onto American soil, and they believed they’d been handed the key to a new and
better life.
Of course, that wasn’t necessarily the case, and
that’s what made it so fascinating. Take my Wild Geese. Shane MacDermott, hero
of Deceptive
Hearts, was a boxing champion who became a police officer with the
Metropolitan Police Department. His closest friend, Kieran Donnelly, is an
artist (though right at the moment he has … well, let’s call them “creativity
issues”). Declan Morrissey became a doctor, and Dary Greely has helped to make
his family’s construction company a success. Then there’s Cathal Donnelly, who
drifted from one job to another and never settled on any one thing.
New York was an exciting city then, as it is today,
and I wanted my Wild Geese to experience everything it had to offer.
Was there a specific one of the five
who spoke more to you than others?
Definitely! Although I’m a little bit in love
with all five of the Wild Geese, I think my rebel hero, Cathal Donnelly,
captured my heart. Like me, he’s a romantic, a story teller, a dreamer of
dreams. He’s passionate about the things he believes in – and in his case,
that’s the cause of Irish freedom – and he’s totally committed to them, even to
the point of recklessness.
There’s also a melancholy streak in Cathal that
speaks to me. He’s gentle and kind, sweet, but moody and distant, with a quick
temper that can ignite at a moment’s notice. And he’s got a silver tongue that
can seduce a woman without her even realizing it.
Will there be more about these five
young men? What are you working on next?
You’ll definitely be seeing more of the
Wild Geese. In fact, I’m thrilled to announce that Keeper of the Light,
Cathal Donnelly’s story, will be published by Highland Press. I don’t have a
release date yet, but let me tell you a little bit about Cathal’s adventures.
Cathal is a handsome, mercurial
storyteller with Fenian leanings. There’s something big coming up in the Fenian
community, and you can bet he’s eager to be a part of it.
But…something goes wrong, and he finds
himself on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with no memory of who
he is, where he came from, or why he was in a boat that capsized in a wild
Atlantic sea storm. The only thing he knows is that he’s desperately attracted
to his beautiful rescuer…even though she’s as English as the British soldiers
who drove Cathal and his family from Ireland’s green shores during the famine.
I’m really excited about Keeper of the Light because
it allowed me to combine some of my favorite things: Irish history, Irish
mythology, and a very important, but little-known piece of Canadian history.
You might say I’m showing my Canadian pride with this book, and I can’t wait to
see Cathal’s story in print!
…Like the Wild Geese of Old Ireland, five boys grew to manhood
despite hunger, war, and the mean streets of New York…
He survived war, and returned to devastation.
A hero of the Irish Brigade, Shane MacDermott returned home to New
York to find his family decimated and his world shattered.
She risks her life to save the people she loves.
Lydia Daniels will risk anything to protect the women she shelters
beneath the roof of her elegant Gramercy Park mansion—even if she has to trust
the one man who can destroy her.
Shane and Lydia both hide secrets that could destroy them – and
put their lives in jeopardy. Can their love overcome their carefully guarded
deceptive hearts?
AN EXCERPT
Something
wasn’t right.
Shane
strode through the dark, damp autumn night, memories of the woman he’d seen
near Nan Daly’s room still niggling at him. Her story about bringing food to
one of the neighbors didn’t ring true.
Hugh
had once told him, “If something feels wrong, lad, sure there must be a reason for it. Listen to your
instincts.”
Shane’s
instincts screamed out that something wasn’t right.
A
picture of the woman floated before him. She was the loveliest thing he’d ever
seen, with her honey-blonde hair piled carefully atop her head, her mysterious
gray eyes shrouded by that little wisp of a veil on the pretty hat she wore.
Had he caught a whiff of roses emanating from her delicate peaches-and-cream
skin? Her hands, long-fingered, elegant hands, a lady’s hands, had been encased
in white lace gloves that would feed a family hereabouts for a month. And her
gown… Shane knew nothing about fashion, but that silk and lace confection must
have cost someone a pretty penny.
And
the figure that gown concealed was enough to send a man’s wits astray.
But
an angel of mercy? Shane doubted it. She’d seemed too jumpy, too eager to get
away from him. Why? True, he’d been wearing his uniform, but a woman like that
had to be wealthy and well-connected. Sure, she’d have nothing to fear from the
law.
LEAVE A COMMENT - AND WIN A GIFT!
Cynthia will be
awarding a Grand Prize of a wooden trinket box with the Trinity Knot applique on
the lid - US/Canada only, and a handmade ribbon bookmark to a randomly drawn
commenter during the tour. A second prize of a Reader's Choice of The Claddagh
Series books (In Sunshine or In Shadow, Coming Home, or Playing For Keeps), and
a handmade ribbon bookmark will be awarded to another randomly drawn
commenter.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better
your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
Website:
http://authorcynthiaowens.com/
Twitter:
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The
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