Welcome, Laurie Alice Eakes! #giveaway

Howdy y'all! Crystal here, and I'm thrilled to say our first Birthday Bash guest this month is none other than inspirational historical romance author Laurie Alice Eakes! For a time, Alice was a member of my local ACFW chapter. She's a great gal, and I really think y'all are gonna enjoy this interview. Oh and stick around, she brought goodies!

Welcome to Stitches Thru Time, Alice. For those of us who don't have the privilege of knowing you, tell us a bit about yourself.

Once upon a time, I was born into a family of over-achievers in the beautiful state of Michigan. Most of my memories are of snow and/or water--swimming, boating, and fishing; sledding, snowmobiling, and fishing--yes, on ice--or through it. Then I discovered that fish were disgusting to clean and sitting on the beach reading was more fun.

Reading was always a part of my life. Most of my earliest childhood memories are of being read to or reading. I also remember making up stories in my head when I wasn't able to read, and that's when I decided to be an author.

Getting there took a while other than school papers and poetry, as I went to college in Kentucky, then a job in New Jersey, moved to Pennsylvania for a ridiculous reason, then Iowa for a job, then Virginia for another job, then Illinois to get married... Back to Virginia for my husband's job and then law school for him, then Texas for his job, and now back to the Midwest. Through it all, I worked on writing in spurts until it became official in 2006 with the publication of my first book, Family Guardian. To date, I have 26 books published in various genres.

Wow. What a tale! I didn't even know all that. 

Alice, since we're celebrating our 4th birthday here on STT, can you tell us a funny birthday memory or a memory from when you were four years old?

I'm not sure if I was three or four, but we'll say I was four. I got a tricycle for my birthday. Problem is, it was December 22 and I couldn't ride it outside. So my dad carried it into the basement and I pedaled around, crashing into support posts and the washer and drier and had a glorious time.

Hahaha. I'm sure you were darlin' doing it. :) Sounds like a great day and a great memory. Thanks so much for sharing.

Speaking of the past, I know you write stories from yesteryear. Where did you get your love of history?

Many factors, I think, contributed to my love of history. I had a teacher who read us every Laura Ingles Wilder book one year, my dad loved history and read stuff to me, and we must not forget reruns of Gunsmoke. You'd think I'd write westerns after all that.

LOL. I know about Gunsmoke. ;) That's great you had a teacher who read the Laura Ingles Wilder books to y'all. Believe it or not, those are in my TBR wishlist. I'm sure we can all add to our TBR pile.

Can you tell us about your newest release? What is your story about?

True as Fate is the second book in The Ashford Chronicles, but readers assure me it works as a stand-alone. This was my thesis novel for when I got my master's degree in writing popular fiction. My hero is an American accused of treason during the War of 1812. Now the war is over and he’s in England to prove his innocence so he can marry the lady he thinks he loves—the heroine’s sister. My heroine knew him from the first book and has been in love with him for years. Now she can prove it, but if she tells him how, she knows he can never love her. So they set out across Cornwall, England, to find the other man who can prove his innocence.

Wow! That sounds like a great read, and I love the cover! Where did you get the inspiration for your story?

I have no idea. I had an outline for the first book in the series, though it was never finished, when I had to write a thesis novel, and I knew it would include the younger sister of the hero from the first book and the friend of the heroine from that story, images/scenes just started coming to me.

LOL! I love that answer. Some stories are definitely surprises. 

What do you hope folks will take away from your story?

This story is about trust and loyalty and the strength of the former and pitfalls of the latter. As always, I want people to end the book entertained and happy, and perhaps have a little better understanding of both issues.

Sounds great. Do you have a favorite scene in the book? If so, can you tell us a bit about it?

I love the scene where the hero figures out he has been in love with the wrong sister all along. That’s a great romantic scene. For pure swashbuckling fun, I love the scene where they are escaping people hunting them and create havoc on the wharf to get away in a ‘borrowed’ boat.

Oooo, that does sound like fun. :) What do you plan to work on next?

I’m working on the third book in the series, the younger sister’s story.

Series are great! Where can readers connect with you? Where can readers buy your book(s)?

All but a couple of my books are available on Kindle. A couple of my early Heartsongs are out of print, and I haven’t reissued them under my own name. One can also get many of my books at CBD.com and Barnes and Noble, or any brick and mortar bookstore still left can order the ones still in print.

I’m easy to find online:

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurieAliceEakes where I have some contests and lots of useful information and reader discussions.
• Twitter: @LaurieAEakes
• Website: http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com where you can read excerpts of all my books, as well as find a contact form I respond to all reader letters.

Last but not least, what is the quirkiest thing you've ever done?

That depends on your definition of quirky. That also depends on what I’m willing to share. I’ve lived a pretty staid life. But perhaps packing up all my worldly possessions and moving from the Shenandoah Valley, to Aurora, Illinois just to be near a man I met and see what happened between us would qualify as quirky. I truly believed God told me I was supposed to marry him. I did—two years later. That was fifteen years ago.

Because this is a birthday party and birthdays are all about gifts, I am going to give away a copy of Better than Gold and a copy of The Glassblower, my first two Heartsongs, only on Kindle now. All I ask you to do to qualify is go to my page on Amazon under Laurie Alice Eakes, and tell me which book cover you like best.

Here are three of my covers to get you started.

Aww, you're so generous, Alice. Thanks so much for sharing TWO books with us and for being our guest today. 

Folks, you're in for a tough decision. Those are some great covers! Don't wait. Head over to Laurie Alice's Amazon Author page, then come back here and let us know which one is your favorite in the comments.

(Check back in a week to see if your name is listed in the comments as the winner!) 

The Human Toll of War by Guest Laurie Alice Eakes

“You will report yourself to Capt. D. Brown who will aid you in procuring quarters. You will then have liberty to walk in the roads in the said town to the extremity of its limits which will be designated to you by said Capt. D. Brown and you will report yourself personally to him at his house the Saturday of each week…And I do require, that all letters wrote or received by you , be sent for inspection to this office, and also notify you that conversations on the subject of a public nature, with citizens are expressly forbidden."

These were instructions to an officer from upper Canada, who was captured by Americans during the battle of Lundy's Lane during the War of 1812. As an officer, he received a sort of parole, though, as you can see, this parole was highly limited. Not to be able to talk to those he might pass on his limited strolls through the town is sad and unnatural. He had a family. At least one letter to his father was preserved. Other prisoners had wives, parents, and sweethearts.

“This is the first and only opportunity that may occur of my writing during the War.” This is from a letter by William Merritt, another officer fighting for the British during the War of 1812, to his fiancée, Catherine Prendergast, who was an American from New York State. “I embrace it most cordially although I do not conceive it to be very safe. The unhappy situation which our Countries are placed in will deprive me [from] time of the greatest pleasure I have ever enjoyed viz. seeing you, as we were actuated by no juvenile affection the world cannot convince me you will ever forfeit that confidence I have ever placed in you, and which my life consists.”

When I read things like this during research, my heart aches for the pain of separation and uncertainty that a happy future will ever be possible for the couple. My heart also warms to see that distance, war, division between their two nations does not dim their affection for one another.

Love can transcend the division of nations.

Why we went to war with Great Britain in 1812 and kept going even after they burned our capital city in 1814, will forever be debated. We fought over trade rights. We fought over impressment of our sailors into British ships. We fought over a determination to prove that we were a sovereign nation that could not be pushed around. Half the country was against the war. Much of the reasoning behind the declaration was perhaps exaggerated.

We were certainly unprepared. Our Army was ill-trained and small. Our Navy was miniscule, but our men could sail and were willing to fight. Privateers took to the sea to make their fortunes and helped us gain an advantageous treaty despite us losing most of our land battles and going up against the greatest Navy ever known.

We got our trade rights clarified. We stopped losing our sailors to British ships. We gained the Northwest Territory, which includes what are now Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, a bit of Minnesota, and my native Michigan.

Perhaps because I grew up in Michigan, this little taught, often confusing war has always fascinated me. My newest release, My Enemy, My Heart, flips William and Catherine’s story, with my heroine being a noncombatant prisoner of war in Great Britain, who marries an Englishman for protection, while planning to free the crew from her father’s merchantman from a British prison. Because she is married to an Englishman, the act is treason, and Deirdre is torn between loyalty to the only family she has ever known, and the man with whom she is falling in love.

The human toll of war—divided lives, divided loyalties; broken hearts, and broken promises. Because this is a romance, I get to create a happy ending. I hope William and Catherine had one as well.

My Enemy, My Heart

The sea has always been Deirdre MacKenzie’s home, and the crew of her father’s Baltimore clipper is the only family she loves. She’s happier wearing breeches and climbing the rigging of the Maid of Alexandria than donning a dress and learning to curtsey. But, when the War of 1812 erupts, the ship is captured by a British privateer . With her father, the captain, dead, Deirdre sees her crew herded into the hold as prisoners-of-war. Their fate is the notorious Dartmoor prison in England. Her fate as a noncombatant prisoner is uncertain, but the one thing she knows—she must find a way to free her crew.

Kieran Ashford has caused his family one too many scandals. On his way to exile in America, he is waylaid by the declaration of war and a chance to turn privateer and make his own fortune. But he regrets his actions as soon as the rich prize is secured. Kieran figures his best chance at redeeming himself in the eyes of his family is to offer Deidre the protection of his name in marriage. He has no idea that secrets from his parents’ past and Deirdre’s determination to free her crew are on a disastrous collision course.

Love and loyalty clash, as Kieran begins to win Deirdre’s heart despite her plot to betray him and his family. While Kieran works to mend the relationship with his family, he begins to love his bride in spite of what lies between them.

About Laurie Alice Eakes

“Eakes has a charming way of making her novels come to life without being over the top,” writes Romantic times of bestselling, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes. Since she lay in bed as a child telling herself stories, she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a published author, with more than two dozen books in print and several award wins and nominations to her credit, including winning the National Readers Choice Award for Best Regency and being chosen as a 2016 RITA®

She has recently relocated to a cold climate because she is weird enough to like snow and icy lake water. When she isn’t basking in the glory of being cold, she likes to read, visit museums, and take long walks, preferably with her husband, though the cats make her feel guilty every time she leaves the house.

You can read more about Eakes and her books, as well as contact her, through her Web Site: http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com
You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter
http:///www.facebook.com/authorLaurieAliceEakes/
@LaurieAEakes