Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back, Kathleen Bailey!

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome Back, Kathleen Bailey!

Linda: Welcome back! Congratulations on your upcoming release Redemption’s Hope. I can’t wait to read it. Where did you find your inspiration for this installment in your Western Dreams series?

KATHLEEN: Linda, it is great to be here. Honestly, I didn’t have to be inspired for Jenny’s book. She had a powerful presence in the first two “Western Dreams” books. I couldn’t NOT write about her.

LM: I love hearing that. After years of writing nonfiction as a journalist, why and how did you end up writing historical fiction?

KATHLEEN: I’ve wanted to be a novelist since I was six years old. It just took me longer than most people. Journalism paid the bills – and taught me discipline and deadline-keeping.

LM: Research is an important part of the writing process. What sort of research did you do for Redemption’s Hope? Did you unearth anything that was totally unexpected?

KATHLEEN: “Redemption’s Hope” was tricky logistically, because I had to coordinate the two lovers and two distinct sets of villains, one after her and one after him, and I had to move them around the then-known world. I used a lot of charts and maps to make sure everyone was in the right place. My other two books were pretty static, even the Oregon Trail one – they moved a lot, but they were all going in the same direction. This was more of a saga/epic, and I had a lot of coordinating to do.

LM: Sounds intriguing! As mentioned, you’re also a journalist and have an upcoming nonfiction book

coming out about war monuments in New Hampshire. How do you juggle the two genres.?

KATHLEEN: It’s all writing. It’s all telling stories. I tend to spend more time on whichever project needs me at the moment, but it all balances out.

LM: What do you do to prepare for writing?

KATHLEEN: Earl Grey tea in a china cup, and deal with my social media and correspondence first, so I can concentrate.

LM: How do you come up with your characters (names, jobs, physical attributes, etc.)?

KATHLEEN: It’s almost a mystical process. My characters show up first and I riff on that. Plotting does not come as easy…

LM: What was your favorite childhood book?

KATHLEEN: Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy, Tacy and Tib series. Kind of like “Little House,” only in a small Minnesota town just after the turn of the century and before World War I. But the books have the “Little House” insight into the child’s mind. The “Betsy” character wanted to be a writer, and I related to that. I also loved Edward Eager’s “Magic” series, including “Half Magic” and “Knight’s Castle.” I graduated to “A Wrinkle in Time,” which was the Harry Potter of my generation.

LM: I loved A Wrinkle in Time. What are you currently working on?

Pixabay/John French

KATHLEEN: I’m editing a novel about Lexington and Concord. But the West won’t leave me alone, so I’m researching another Western book.

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

KATHLEEN: Facebook and LinkedIn, Kathleen D. Bailey; Twitter, @piechick1.

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About Redemption's Hope:

Two orphaned children. Two different sets of villains. A man without a country and a woman with too much past. And a rambunctious young country where anything went, especially in the West. Seriously. What could go wrong?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3AEutN4