Cate: Please welcome Liz Arnold. Liz, will you please share a short bio with us?Liz: I am a wife, mom, editor, writer, and teacher. I live in the mid-east with my husband and the assorted cats and dogs my daughters have left behind while they are in college ordering pizza at 11:00 at night. I love books, journaling, and yoga. I started writing in grade school, wrote for the school newspaper, and got a degree in journalism which I use to write freelance and edit.
Cate: Tell us about Message To Love and where it's available.
Liz: Message is my first historical romance novel. I dream a lot and Message grew from a dream I had one night about a man on horseback racing through the darkness to deliver a message he had in a leather pouch tied around his chest. A woman had helped him be “free” to deliver his message but I didn’t know much more than that. The dream would not go away even during my waking hours and I told someone about it. She said it reminded her of “The Message To Garcia,” a story she had read about in history. I knew the story and did some research and ended up writing my novel around the events leading up to the Spanish American War in 1898. Then President William McKinley send a secret message via Lt. Andrew Rowan of the U.S. Army to General Calixto Garcia of the Cuban army pledging U.S. support to the Cuban insurgency fighting for freedom from Spain.
Cate: How cool! Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.Liz: Audra Wakely’s father has been seized by Spanish authorities and imprisoned for sympathizing with Cuban rebels. Raising the money to bribe officials if necessary, she sets off for Cuba to rescue her father. She doesn’t bargain on the interference of any U.S. officials—that is until she meets Rollins McBride.
Lt. Rollins McBride of the newly designated U.S. Naval Intelligence service is assigned to track Audra on her journey. He’s to arrest Greg Wakely, a U.S. citizen, for treason and gun smuggling. His mission and his heart are taken by surprise by the feisty beauty who sets a stubborn path toward finding her father and proving he isn’t a traitor—no matter what or who gets in her way.
Cate: Can you tell us why we're going to love your hero?
Liz: Lt. Rollins McBride is career Navy. He is motivated by the untimely deaths of his father and brother who served in the merchant marines and the U.S. Navy. Rollins joins the Navy with the hopes of avenging the deaths of his loved ones by killing two Spaniards on the island of Cuba. He is competent, sexy, and loyal to the Navy, but when he is thrust into situations with young Audra Wakely he has trouble separating his dedication to revenge and the feelings in his heart. He falls head over heels for her and wants to protect her but she wants nothing to do with him. She’s afraid of marriage and child birth because her mother died giving birth to her. She is an only child and feels obligated to save her father and the family tobacco business no matter what. Also, they are on opposite sides of the political question of whether Cuba should govern itself or become a colony of the United States. Sparks fly continually as they banter back and forth over just about everything.
Cate: Sounds wonderful. What's next for you?
Liz: I’m working on another historical romance set in pioneer Ohio after the Revolutionary war. A female doctor arrives in Marietta, Ohio in the spring of 1790 to a smallpox epidemic and Indian raids. The bravery and fortitude of the people who settled our country fascinates me. Falling in love amidst the challenges of pioneer American is amazing in my opinion.
Cate: What inspired you to draft your first story?
Liz: The dream I talked about earlier compelled me to write Message To Love.
Cate: Do you have a writing routine?
Liz: I’m an editor and a freelance writer and a passionate journal keeper. I write something seven days a week. I treat my writing like any other muscle in my body. I write regularly to keep in shape. I work on the current novel, blog, edit, and journal almost daily on no particular time schedule except to get it all done every day.
Cate: Where can readers find you on the web?
Liz: My blog is the best place to connect with me online. Please stop by and leave comments! www.lizarnoldbooks.wordpress.com
Cate: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Liz: I would love to send everyone a free bookmark! Send a SASE to P.O. Box 1322, Parkersburg, WV 26102
I’m giving away a free digital copy of MESSAGE TO LOVE to a random commenter from this blog. I will pick a winner Dec. 11. Good luck!
Thanks so much, Cate, for having me over to visit.
Cate: Thanks so much for being my guest Liz! Best of luck to you.
