Author Interview with Myra McIlvain
Welcome Readers toanother installment of our author interview series. Today we have the pleasureof chatting with Myra, author of multiple historical fiction books set in Texas.
JMR-Welcome to theBooks Delight, Myra. Tell our readers where you live, what you do for fun andwhat does the perfect day look like?
Thank you, Jeanne. Ilive in Austin, Texas, with my still handsome 98-year-old husband, Stroud. Mybrisk two-mile walk each morning is the beginning of my perfect day when I feelrefreshed, and my pace allows me to forget everything and cast myself into thelives of my characters. The topper comes when my characters surprise me withnew insights.
JMR-What’s yourfavorite historical time period? Why?
My favorite historicaltime period is Texas in the 19th century when Anglo settlers firstbegan arriving. I am drawn to the energy and sheer determination of those pioneerswho scratched from the raw earth entire communities.
JMR-Who is yourfavorite historical figure? Why? If you could ask them one question, what wouldit be?
Sam Houston, you werean amazing leader with a broad understanding of human nature. You served as governorof Tennessee, led Texas in its war for independence from Mexico, served aspresident of the new Republic of Texas, and served in the US Senate. In yourcampaign for governor of Texas before the Civil War, you stood up to politicalpowers and warned against secession. You even stepped down as governor ratherthan swear an oath to the Confederacy. With all those outstanding qualities,what failure caused your first bride to flee from you shortly after thewedding?
JMR- How did you cometo be a writer of historical fiction?
My path to writinghistorical fiction evolved from writing Texas historical markers, articles formagazines such as Texas Highways, and five guidebooks about famous andinfamous people and places all over the state. The stories I discovered stirredmy imagination and made me eager to explore the people behind those events.What drove them? What qualities made them fail or succeed or both? How did differingcommunities look at slavery and the Civil War? Historical fiction became mytrue love because it is the perfect vehicle for exploring and gleaning anunderstanding of different eras in Texas through the lives of my characters.
JMR- We are allaffected by the highs and lows in our lives. How has your lived life informedyour writing?
I have not framed mystories around my experiences, but my very young memories of WWII and thesuffering I heard about prompted me to write Legacy, my first historicalfiction. My concern about my ancestors’ ownership of slaves and all the thingsI learned about the German immigrants in Texas have played a role in mycuriosity and writing about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the aftermath asportrayed in The Doctor’s Wife, Stein House, A German Family Saga, and WatersPlantation.
JMR- Did you visitanyone of the places in your book? Where did you feel closest to yourcharacters?
I love NatchitochesParish, Louisiana, and have explored the area several times and writtenarticles about its history. The architecture rising above the former docks inNatchitoches stirs my imagination of that time when it was the jumping-offplace for settlers coming into Texas. South of town, Yucca Plantation, which wasbuilt by a freed concubine who owned slaves, never fails to challenge my thinking about ourpast.
JMR- Myra, tell usabout your book.
The Knotted Ring isSusannah’s story. Pregnant with her slave lover’s baby, she accepts an arrangedmarriage to Hezekiah, a man headed to Texas for a Spanish land grant. Tangledin a series of lies about the origin of a beautiful ring woven from her redhair and the circumstances of her pregnancy, Susannah embarks on the harsh tripto Texas, grieving for her lost love and determined to control her destiny.
On the wagon train journey, Susannah admires Hezekiah’sstrengths and beliefs as they are tested in his dealings with his slaves, the NativeAmericans, and a strange Mad Stone. He becomes a successful and respectedmember of Stephen F. Austin’s original colony but fails in his determination tomake the best decisions for Susannah. She will have to decide if she can livewith the consequences of her lies and open herself to this man who shows everyform of contrition or if she allows longing for what she cannot have to destroyher life.
JMR-What projects doyou have in the pipeline?
I am working on a sequelto The Knotted Ring. I love the characters and want to see how they survive TheRunaway Scrape, during Texas’ War for Independence from Mexico. I know thatSusannah will have challenges stemming from the lies she created in her youth,and she will have to navigate the family’s and their slaves’ trek across Texasas they fear the Mexican Army is not far behind.
JMR- Tell our readershow to find you on social media and the web.
website: www.myramcilvain.com
Linkedin.com/myra-mcilvain-mm020238
JMR- What question wereyou hoping I’d ask but didn’t?
I hoped you might askwhat led me to write The Knotted Ring.
JMR- Thank you, Myra,for stopping by. Your books look really great! Readers, I’ve included a link toMyra’s book below. Please be sure to check it out.
