A Visit With our Own Sandra Moore

Today we have a treat: one of our own Borrowed Book bloggers, Sandra (who writes as S. Dionne Moore) comes out from behind the curtain to chat with us.

Come on out, Sandra. Oh, look, there she is! We won't applaud, though, in case we embarrass her and she hides again. Instead, let's talk about her latest release, A Heartbeat Away, part of the Quilts of Love series by Abingdon Press.

How did you get connected with the Quilts of Love series?

A private tour through Antietam Battlefield led me to ponder another setting for a historical romance. My agent suggested that I write a proposal for the relatively new Quilts of Love series. I wasn’t so sure about the quilting part, since I don’t sew that well. But one thing I can do is admire the time and effort put into the beautiful pieces of what really amounts to art. Then it came to me. . .maybe my character can’t sew either! I then had to delve into the characterization of the heroine who became Elizabeth in order to make her frustration with sewing become an intricate part of her personality.

What made you take the direction you did with your book’s setting?

After visiting Antietam Battlefield (and eating local Burkholder Bakery’s delicious donuts!), my  mind began churning with ideas that would highlight not the actual battle but the struggles that the people of the town faced as war was brought to their doorstep.

Do you have a favorite character from your book?

Definitely Gerta. If you’re familiar with my books at all, I almost always have one who adds a spark of humor to the story. I love someone with a sense of humor. Couple that with a heavy does of sassiness and it makes, for me, a prime character.

What lesson do you hope readers walk away with after reading your Quilts of Love book?

You’re tougher than you think. War is more than soldiers aiming their guns and blowing up others. It affect the townspeople, the citizens. Young and old, able-bodied or not. No one is unscathed, and yet it sometimes happens that we are called upon to endure such an atrocity. Let us prepare now for what we might one day be forced to embrace as a new reality.

What was your favorite scene to write?

All the scenes at the cabin in the woods that Jim, Joe, and Elizabeth escape to were especially poignant to write. Elizabeth’s confrontation with Gerta is a primary scene for me and one that I had to consider for a long time before actually doing the writing.

Do you have any writing rituals? What are they?

Other than the routine of waking up, eating, working out, then putting in my daily word count of 2500 words, there isn’t anything out of the ordinary that I do when I write.

What’s your favorite quote from the book?

I have a few! One is: “It shows a greater depth of character when someone can look beyond a body’s weakness and see the beauty within.”

The other favorite is a question: “When did your faith stop and the worry take over?”

I love this question. It stops me in my worry-wart tracks and redirects my thoughts toward Him.

  

Anything else your readers should know about your Quilts of Love book?

I have several Pinterest boards. One in particular is devoted to pictures from Antietam Battlefield: http://www.pinterest.com/sdionnemoore/antietam-battlefield/ These are places I visited during my initial tour, the rest were taken in my research trip when I stayed at the lovely Mary Hill House. This old house stood during the battle and still has a blood stain on the wood floor of the living room!

Thanks for sharing with us, Sandra. You should come out of hiding more often!

Moore enjoys life in the historically rich Cumberland Valley where traffic jams are a thing of the past and there are only two stoplights in the whole town.

She is author of the LaTisha Barnhart Mystery series, complete with a new LaTisha short mystery found in A Cup of Cozy, as well as new historical romance release “A Heartbeat Away” set in Sharpsburg, Maryland–Can a quilt and a hidden message bring enemies together?

For more information, visit her Website at www.sdionnemoore.com.

Follow her on Twitter: @sdionnemoore
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sdionnemoore
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/sdionnemoore