A Most Unsuitable Match, by Stephanie Grace Whitson - Free Book

I am honored to have as my guest today, Stephanie Grace Whitson.

A Most Unsuitable Match, by Stephanie Grace Whitson

An unlikely attraction occurs between two passengers on a steamboat journey up the Missouri River to Montana... [insert book cover]

She is a self-centered young woman from a privileged family who fears the outdoors and avoids anything rustic. He is a preacher living under a sense of duty and obligation to love the unlovable people in the world. She isn't letting anything deter her from solving a family mystery that surfaced after her mother's death. He is on a mission to reach the rejects of society in the remote wilderness regions of Montana. Miss Fannie Rousseau and Reverend Samuel Beck are opposites in every way... except in how they both keep wondering if their paths will ever cross again.

Thank you for coming here to tell us about your newest book. It looks wonderful and I can’t wait to dive in!

I read that you started writing while home schooling your children and doing history research. Was History always a favorite subject of yours?

Yes, it was. I think my mother is to blame :-). Part of my memories of growing up include touring old cemeteries and "wondering why" about the people buried there.

As I look back, I think that connected history to people (as opposed to dates and events).

In other words, history has always been about story for me.

What inspired this novel?

I'm working on my master's degree in history, and one of my classes

visited DeSoto Bend Nature Refuge in Nebraska, where the wreck of the steamboat

Bertrand is memorialized. The "memorial," is the actual contents of the steamboat, which sank in 1869 and was re-discovered buried in the mud in the late twentieth century. The cargo was still intact and is on display--an amazing slice of life, because the cargo includes tons of freight headed for Montana. What did people in Montana need in 1869? It was on that steamboat. [insert photo of china] When I learned that a handful of women were on board when the steamboat sank ... and when I stood looking at their belongings ... a school blackboard, a coat, etc., .... I began to wonder "what if," and I knew I had a story to tell. (As part of my research, I also visited the Steamboat Arabia museum.)

Will there be a sequel?

My next book begins a series of books that answer the question "why" about

unique antique quilts. The first one, The Key on the Quilt, lets the reader know why

the maker affixed a brass key to the center block of a courthouse steps quilt.

What character traits do you enjoy writing the most?

I don't really have a favorite "type."

Where is your favorite place to write? 

In my office, which we fondly refer to as "the catacombs," since it's located in the basement of our Victorian-era home. It's a wonderful space with higher-than-expected

ceilings, and the quiet I need. I'm strange in that when I'm writing I want silence.

I can write in coffee shops and libraries, etc., .... but I prefer the quiet of my office.

What is your favorite time of the year?

The time when one of these "June bugs" comes running for a hug. 

Tell your readers something silly about yourself.

I'll be a complete fool if it means getting a baby to smile at me.

If you could ask your readers anything at all what would it be?

I'd ask them to talk. First, to others about the books they love, because "word of mouth," is the most important part of keeping a writer "in business." Second, to the writer whose

book they loved, because writing is a lonely endeavor and hearing from readers is the

most encouraging  part of our day.