DOROTHY CLARK, a critically acclaimed, award-winning author, lives in rural New York, in a home she designed and helped her husband build (she swings a mean hammer!) with the able assistance of their three children. When she is not writing, she and her husband enjoy traveling throughout the United States doing research and gaining inspiration for future books. Dorothy believes in God, love, family and happy endings, which explains why she feels so at home writing stories for Steeple Hill.
FAMILY OF THE HEARTby Dorothy Clark
Published by Steeple Hill / Love Inspired Historical
ABOUT THE BOOK
In her silk finery, Sarah Randolph knew she was no more a nanny than the haughty widower before her. She'd made a profound error in judgment. How long would it be before Clayton Bainbridge cast her out? She vowed to pack up her trunks and return to Philadelphia at once. But that city held memories of her lost fiancé, and sweet little Nora Bainbridge desperately needed some mothering. Sarah might not be an expert in child rearing, but she knew a few things about grief. The pain in Clayton's stormy blue eyes told her that her journey here must be part of God's larger plan for them all...
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AUTHOR INTERVIEW
1. What gave you the inspiration for this story?
In my first Steeple Hill historical titled Beauty for Ashes there are two daughters, a toddler named Sarah and her baby sister Mary. Family of the Heart is, the now adult, Sarah's story.
2. How much of your own experiences influenced your characters? What aspects became traits that are theirs and theirs alone?
This is difficult to answer. I try not to let "me" get in my stories, but a bit of me sneaks in there in spite of my best effort. And, as there is a toddler in this one, I'm sure the mother in me reared her head. What aspects became traits that were theirs and theirs alone? Oh, that is easy. Sarah's courage. She is much braver than I.
3. If one of your characters were an ice cream flavor, what he/she be and why?
Hmm, perhaps Mocha, that wonderful blend of coffee and chocolate, as she is both an "eye-opener" and a comfort to the hero, Clayton Bainbridge.
4. What themes exist in Family of the Heart that you hope the reader sees? Are there any themes that weren't overt but developed as the story progressed?Overcoming disappointments and tragedies of the past to find love and renewed faith in God.
Yes. God's faithfulness to us even when we turn our backs on Him.
5. What were your most difficult parts to write? Your favorite?
Truthfully...there were none. I love the 1838 Cincinnati setting and, of course, the characters. It was a pleasure to write their story. Your favorite? The scenes with the toddler. And there's that mother in me rearing up again.
6. When is your next book coming out and what is the story?
My next book is about Sarah's sister, Mary Randolph, a bold and forthright young woman who goes toe-to-toe with Samuel Benton, Captain of the St. Louis police, over the needs of the orphaned children of emigrants headed west in 1842. The book will be published by Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical, August 2009.
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Thank you, Dorothy, for being in the spotlight with us.
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