Interview: Lillian Duncan

I'm delighted to welcome a fellow White Rose Author to My Book Bag today. Here's Lillian Duncan, talking about her new release, Pursued:





Welcome to My Book Bag, Lillian! You're fairly new to White Rose Publishing, and I don't know a lot about you just yet - but I'm looking forward to becoming better acquainted. Let's start with basics: Where are you from?

I'm from a small town in Ohio. We're located about half-way between Columbus and Cleveland. When I say small, I mean small. There's one traffic light. I love living in a town where I know the names of the people I see on a regular basis, like the store owner, the librarians, and the pharmacist. And in fact it's one of the themes in Pursued.

I love small towns too. I grew up in a little place like you're talking about - one traffic light, and everyone pretty much knew everyone else. It's not a bad way to live! :) Tell us when and why you started writing.

I know this is going to sound a bit strange, but I've always "made up" stories in my head when I was bored. Very detailed stories with characters and problems and happy endings. After two very specific events, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. Oh, these are the stories I should be writing down so I started writing that day and I haven't stopped since.

What makes you think that would sound strange? I thought everyone did that! Hmmm...maybe I'm a bit strange too. See, we've already found something in common. :D  So, how long have you been writing, Lillian? Did you ever feel like giving up?

I started writing 16 years ago when I was 40. Yikes, that makes me so...never mind. And absolutely, I wanted to give up many, many times. And in fact, I did give up many times but I always started up again. 

I don't know any writer who hasn't felt that way. The uncertainty of becoming a published writer can be frustrating and overwhelming at times to say the least. But if being a writer is your dream, you have to keep writing and waiting...and waiting...and...

But you persevered, and now you're a published writer. Tell us about your upcoming release.

Pursued is a story near and dear to my heart. I wanted to write a story that showed some of the differences between "big-city" and "small-town" living, but in the end those differences are only superficial.  The important thing is a person's character not where they live or what they do for a job.

Amen! I couldn't agree more. Pursued is quite an interesting title. How did you come up with it?

The original title was Just An Old Country Boy but that didn't sound very suspenseful so I changed it to Pursued. In the story, Reggie is being pursued by an unknown killer, by the hero, and by God, so it made sense to me as a title.

Oh, Pursued is definitely more suspenseful! I take it Reggie is your heroine. Tell us about your hero and heroine.

My hero, Dylan, is a good old boy with a heart of gold who just wants to make life better for everyone around him.

The rest of the story...