Welcome to
Stitches Thru Time, Denise.
Thank you
for the invitation to join you today, Pegg!
We’re excited about your new release, The Witness Tree. It’s set in the early
1800s in the southeastern states. What intrigues you about that time and place?
Well, my
past published novels have all been set in Georgia. I love to use my stories to
highlight little-known lore about my home state. While I was poking about the
Internet for inspiration for a new historical, I came across mention of the
Moravian mission at Springplace, the school for children of Cherokee chiefs on
the property of Chief James Vann. I had visited the Vann plantation as a child
and even blogged about Moravian Christmas traditions, but I’d never realized
the connection between the Moravians from Salem, North Carolina—a favorite
weekend vacay spot of my parents, like a mini-Williamsburg—and the Vann house
in Northwest Georgia.
Writing
something set in the Federalist period was also new to me. My previous historicals
have focused on either the Revolutionary War or Civil War/Reconstruction
periods. Yet the fact that Northwest Georgia was Cherokee Territory in 1805
gives The Witness Tree more of an
earlier frontier feel.
Not
surprisingly for that setting, you have many Native American characters. That
must have taken a lot of research to be both historically and culturally
accurate. What resources did you use?
I used
journal articles online and a stack of books, including some I picked up on my
research trips to Olde Salem, the Vann House, and the Cherokee capital of New
Echota. One was even a reprint of a late-1700s moral instruction manual for
leaders in the Moravian church. But my main sources were History of the Moravian Missions Among Southern Indian Tribes of the
United States (Rev. Edmund Schwarze, Ph.D., UNC) and the actual diaries
written by the missionaries at Springplace, The
Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees: Volume 1, 1805-1813.
Many of
the things that happen in The WitnessTree, such as the unusual earthquakes and the miraculous recovery of one of
the Cherokee girls, were actual historical events. But it’s important to note
that I consolidated these from about a ten-year timeframe into a single year. I
did have to keep it under 90,000 words, after all. :)
What was
the most surprising historical tidbit you found and incorporated into your
book?
The
progressive Cherokee chiefs sought education and advancement, but others feared
that the ways of the white settlers would bring destruction. I think the thing
that might surprise most people was how violently many Cherokees opposed the
work of Sequoyah (or George Guess/Gist) on the first Cherokee alphabet. A troop of Georgia Cherokee Lighthorse had to
rush to North Carolina to rescue him from a slow death by torture for
witchcraft … for writing down the language. An 1811 Cherokee law mandated a
civil trial before execution, allowing Sequoyah to prove the legitimacy of the
syllabary.
The
Moravians struggled to master the Cherokee language and expressed the desire to
see it written down. This gave me the story idea: “What if one of the Moravians
tried to do that? What would the backlash have been?”
Your hero
and heroine are both Moravian. In a nutshell, tell our readers who the
Moravians were.
I will try, although they were a
complex group! We might burst out of the nutshell. :)
The Moravians were a lesser-known sect
of “plain people.” Originally known as Unity of the Brethren, the church had
been in existence since a Bohemian priest, John Huss, was burned at stake in
1415 for challenging the authority and ethics of the Catholic Church. The
Hussite churches were scattered, persecuted, and influenced by Pietism.
Eventually, these people found refuge on the Saxon estate of Count Nicholas
Ludwig von Zinzendorf, where they practiced communal living. In 1727, revival
broke out and led to the biggest thrust to date in Protestant missions.
The Moravians established trade and
farming settlements in America intended to support mission work around the
world and to the American Indians. At first, the men and women lived separately
in “choirs,” but by the late 1700s, married people raised their families in
individual households. However, they still brought major church and life decisions
before the elders and “the lot.” After prayer, they would draw a slip of paper
out a bowl or tube that read yes, no, or wait. They based this practice on biblical references in Numbers
33:54 and Acts 1:26. The outcome indicated the will of the God and was not to
be challenged.
Rumor has
it that you’ve also released a contemporary book recently. Tell us a little bit
about that one.
Yes, Fall Flip released with Candlelight
Romance earlier this month. It’s a great contemporary read with historical undertones
for anyone who is a fan of Hallmark, HGTV, and second chance romances.
How on
earth are you juggling TWO releases this close together? Are you Superwoman? Do
you have a matching cape and tights?
LOL. I
agree, it’s kinda crazy! But when we found out both books would be releasing
within a few months of each other, anyway, we (my managing editors at LPC and
I) decided to tag team the releases. This way, readers have a choice—historical
or contemporary. Or both!
Thank you
for stopping by Stitches Thru Time, is there anything else you’d like to share
with our readers?
Only that
I’m doing the crazy again in March. I have a heart-warming athletic romance, Spring Splash, and a nail-nibbling romantic
suspense novel, Traces, releasing together.
Check out my web site for more info.
Thank you, readers, for stopping by
today. I’d love to answer your questions below and connect with you on social
media. There’s also one more day to hop over to Singing Librarian Books for a
chance to win a massive Fall Flip or Witness Tree gift basket! (link)
Connect with Denise here:
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