Tena StetlerAuthor of Paranormal Romance/Suspense & Cozy Mysteries With Magic Spark!

Jun 12th Interview Kathy Otten Author of A Place in Your Heart

Give a warm welcome to Kathy Otten, author of A Place in Your Heart.

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Kathy Otten and A Place in Your Heart.

What inspired this particular story? In my research for a previous story I came across mention of a woman named Mary Ann Bickerdyke, who worked as a nurse during the Civil War. She fought hard for the patients, ignoring the dictates of many of the officers and doctors in charge of the hospital where she’d come to help. At the time she arrived many of the food, clothing, and supplies sent by the Sanitary Commission were being, used, sold, or eaten by the officers and orderlies at the hospital. When Mother Bickerdyke (as the patients fondly referred to her) discovered the cook and his friends had been eating food meant for the patients, she put a purgative in some cooked peaches, and threatened the sickening thieves that next time she would use rat poison. When she discovered an orderly wearing a shirt from the Sanitary Commission, she tackled him to the floor in the middle of the ward, sat on him while she pulled it off, then whirled it over her head in triumph. I fell in love with her spirit and Gracie McBride was born. The first chapter includes Gracie doing what Mother Bickerdyke did to the peaches and to the orderly.

Who is your favorite character of all the books you’ve written and why? Johnny Bodine from my book, Lost Hearts. Johnny had a difficult childhood. Raised by outlaws, she learned early to fear men. Dyslexic and used for her skills with herbs, she could never get away. Yet she had an indomitable spirit. She never quit hoping for things to get better, and she’d learned to quietly accept what couldn’t be changed.

What do you want your readers to take away from your books? I hope I’ve made my characters real enough so my readers remember them long after they finish the book. Kind of like the fond memory of old friends. Maybe even miss them enough to reread their story.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a plotter or follow your characters flow (Pantser)? I started out as a true pantser, just put pen to paper and go, but over time that has changed. Now I take some time to figure out where I’m going. I usually have an idea of the story and character goals, and most times know that dark moment at the climax. Maybe I’ve evolved with my own writer’s arc to combine the structure of a plotter and the creativity of a pantser.

Speed Round

Favorite Movie: Newsies Live (Broadway musical cast)

Favorite Book: I Spy Something Bloody by Josh Lanyon

Last Book Read: The Business of Being a Writer by Jane Friedman

Favorite Color: Blue

Stilettos or Flipflops: Flip flops

Coffee or Tea: Coffee

Ebook or Paperback: eBook

Pencil or Pen: Pen

Streak or Not: Not

Favorite Dessert: Chocolate Ice Cream

Favorite Junk Food: Wegman’s Chocolate Covered, Peanut Butter Filled, Pretzel Bites

Favorite Thing To Do To Relax: Read

Champagne or Gin: Neither

Paranormal or Historical: Historical

Wonder Woman or Top Model: Neither

Favorite TV Show: M*A*S*H

Hot or Cold: Hot

POV: 3^rd Person Past

I’d Die If I Don’t Have: Family

Review or Not: Review

Tell us a little about A Place in Your Heart.

Gracie McBride isn’t looking for love; she’s looking for respect. But in this man’s world of Civil War medicine, Gracie is expected to maintain her place changing beds and writing letters. Her biggest nemesis is the ward surgeon, Doctor Charles Ellard, who seems determined to woo her with arrogant kisses and terrible jokes.

Charles is an excellent surgeon. He assumed he would be well received by an army at war. He was not. Friendless and alone, he struggles to hide the panic attacks that plague him, while the only person who understands him is a feisty Irish nurse clearly resolved to keep him at a distance.

But, Charles is sent to the battlefield, and Gracie is left with a wounded soldier, a box of toys, and a mystery which can only be solved by the one man she wishes could love her, both as a woman and a nurse.

A sneak peek between the pages of A Place in Your Heart.

“No. I want you to go home before the death of that ten-year-old boy becomes so ordinary, that one day you wake up and realize you no longer have the ability to feel.”

She squared her shoulders and stepped toward him. “Me own husband was a doctor, sir. I’ve birthed babies and stitched wounds. I stood by William’s side during surgeries and passed him instruments. I helped him clean the intestines of a man gored by a bull, before putting it all back inside that man’s belly. Me delicate sensibilities did not send me into a swoon then nor will they here. I thank ye for yer concern, Doctor Ellard, but ’tis who I am. And by the saints, as long as I have breath in me body, I will feel, and I will care.”

Their gazes locked in that moment and something flickered in his icy depths, overshadowing his usual cynicism with what she suspected might be admiration.

The harsh lines of his face softened. “Saint Jude must indeed be watching over you, Mrs. McBride.”

“That he is, Doctor Ellard, that he is.” He gave her a brisk nod and opened the door.

“You’re not going home then, are you?”

She turned. “Ye know us Irish, Doctor Ellard. We don’t know what we want, but we’ll fight to the death to get it.”

About the Author:

Kathy Otten is the published author of multiple historical romance novels, novellas, and short stories. She is also published in contemporary romance and historical fiction. She is a Northwest Houston RWA Lone Star winner and Utah/Salt Lake RWA Hearts of the West finalist. A Place In Your Heart is her fourth full-length novel . Currently, she is putting the finishing touches on a contemporary young adult novel.

She teaches fiction writing online and at a local adult education center, and is a regular presenter at area events. Kathy also does manuscript assessments and editing. She lives in the rolling farmland of western New York where she can often be found walking her dog through the woods and fields. She has been married for thirty-four years and is the mother of three grown children and one grandson.

Kathy can be contacted at kathy@kathyotten.com

Web site https://www.kathyottenauthor.com

Buy Link Amazon

It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with A Place in Your Heart!

 

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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog by Tena Stetler with 20 comments.