Talkshow Thursday: Welcome back Judy DuCharme

 Talkshow Thursday: Welcome back Judy DuCharme

Linda: Welcome back! Thanks for joining me today. Congratulations on your latest release Lainey of the Door Islands. What was your inspiration for the plot of this book? 

 

JUDY: Thank you for having me. I live in Door County, a peninsula that extends into Lake Michigan in NE Wisconsin. It’s a huge tourist area and people love all things Door County. I’d wanted to write a book set here for a long time. I thought of several scenarios and genre, and I prayed about it. Then one day, it just dropped in and I sat down and wrote the first 5000 words in one setting. I said to my husband, “I’m writing, and I can’t stop.” The story unfolded from there. 

LM: Are any of your characters based on you or people you know? How do you come up with ideas for your characters? 

JUDY: I think I combine qualities of people I know, including myself, stories I’ve read, movies I’ve seen, but I love to see how a personality unfolds. I love to have characters with a great sense of humor. Plot is usually what comes to me first and then the characters. I often have to go back and fill in their personality a bit. 

 

LM: Research is an important part of writing any book. What did you do to research your story, and did you find any especially intriguing tidbits you knew you had to include? 

JUDY: Yes, I took the boat tour out to Pilot Island where the story begins. You can’t go on the island

now as the buildings are in disrepair. But the tour guides provided a lot of history of life in the lighthouse and the shipwrecks that occurred. I certainly took notes. One great tidbit was that when the foghorn sounded the chickens wouldn’t lay eggs, the dishes broke, and the milk curdled – it was the loudest foghorn on the Great Lakes. I also visited the lighthouse on Rock Island and walked the five-mile perimeter. My friend’s mother was the archivist on Washington Island and she provided some of the history. I went through books about that time in history, the shipwrecks, and lighthouses. Internet searches provided material and added background. I also visited all the lighthouses in the area and listened to the stories and incorporated as much as I could into the book. 

LM: What is one thing you wish you knew how to do? 

JUDY: Write a good mystery. Or transport myself to see my 2-year-old grandson who lives 1000 miles away rather than having to fly or drive. 

LM: Who was your favorite author as a young adult? 

JUDY: As a kid, I really enjoyed biographies, and as a teen, I enjoyed time travel and science fiction. I don’t recall a particular author. In recent years I’ve loved Bodie Thoene and Joel Rosenburg. I also enjoy Lynn Austin and Colleen Coble. 

 

LM: Here are some quickies: 

JUDY: 

Coffee or tea? Coffee 

Walking, biking, or driving? Walking

Ocean or mountains? Ocean 

LM: What’s your next project? 

 

JUDY: I recently signed a contract with Ambassador International (they published Lainey and my novel Blood Moon Redemption) for my children’s book, I Want a Water Buffalo for Christmas (ages 7-11). It will release next year. I’ve also started a sequel to Lainey of the Door Islands. Similarly, it dropped into me and I wrote a lot of the beginning in one sitting. I’m also working on a timeslip novel that I started years ago. 

LM: Where can folks find you on the web? 

JUDY: 

Website: https://judithducharme.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judy.ducharme.18

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/Judy-DuCharme-Author-1360359084069983

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PackerJudy

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leejudyducharme/

And, all my books are on Amazon. 

About Lainey of the Door Islands: 

Walk with Lainey into the world of Door County and its islands in the late 1800s, a time of shipwrecks, lighthouses, and strong individuals who never gave up. Lainey becomes one of those rugged individuals as she faces tragedy and hardship. Her aunt and uncle, the lighthouse keepers on tiny Pilot Island, demonstrate the toughness needed to survive, but Lainey takes it a step further with her spunk and grace and becomes a shining light to all those around her. With humor, faith, close friendships and the young man who interferes with her ability to function, Lainey of the Door Islands will capture your heart, and she’ll inspire you to know that no matter what happens, God has a plan to prosper and not to harm. Lainey of the Door Islands is a bit of an Anne of Green Gables set in the islands of NE Wisconsin.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/33n4R5S