​Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic' Author's Blog
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​1. Who or what inspired you to become an author?
I have loved books, reading, and writing since I was very young. I was the type of child who read in my spare time whenever possible after chores, homework, and other activities were completed. I used to enjoy writing short poems when I was a middle-grade student. I remember in fifth grade I loved to write book reports for extra credit. I've been a letter writer my whole life, too, since my grandmother and favorite aunts lived in Louisiana and I only saw them every other summer or so. I have some of the letters I originally wrote to my grandma as they were passed along to me when she died in 1992. It is so interesting to read my writings from my elementary school and teen years! It's like being introduced to my younger self as a friend.
 
Many friends and relatives have complimented me over the years on the messages I've written in greetings cards for all occasions. I began writing non-fiction articles for sewing and crafting magazines about ten years ago. I enjoyed writing these articles about sewing events I had attended, sewing trends in the United States, charity sewing organizations, etc.
 
In 2011, I took the leap and began writing in my favorite genre—fiction. I feel like my love of written language naturally led me to want to write my own stories and books.
 
2. When you are not writing, what other "hats" do you wear?
I launched my 'Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic' blog in late January, 2018. I enjoy reading and reviewing middle-grade fiction and non-fiction for my weekly 'Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday' blogging group post. I also enjoy posting about Christian and clean fiction for various publicity companies such as your Singing Librarian Books and JustRead Publicity Tours.
 
I enjoy sewing and quilting. I belong to a quilting group which makes scripture comfort quilts for the church members and their friends and family who are in need of comfort due to health concerns, grief, or other tragic life events. I also sew a lot at home making clothes for myself and my family and making charity quilts for the shelter in county which houses women and children who are fleeing domestic violence.

3. What top 5 books do you currently have on your TBR pile?
As of late December when I am writing this, I have these three books checked out of our local library:

•  'Louisiana's Way Home' by Kate DiCamillo, a middle-grade sequel to a book I read in mid-2018, 'Raymie Nightingale';
  
• 'Her Fear' by Shelley Shepard Gray, Amish fiction
  
• 'Ways of the Heart' by Kathleen Fuller, Amish fiction.
  
• I'm looking forward to reading 'A Christmas Prayer : A Cross-Country Journey in 1850 Leads to High Mountain Danger and Romance' by Wanda E. Brunstetter; 'The Tinderbox' by Beverly Lewis; and several new middle-grade historical novels which will be coming out very soon!
  
• In December, I always reread my favorite Christmas stories such as 'The Story of Holly & Ivy', 'A Christmas Carol', 'Twas the Night Before Christmas', and several other Amish stories I enjoy reading over and over again.

4. What inspired the idea for Handmade Hearts?
My love for my uncle inspired this story . . . My uncle was an interesting, humorous, kind man. He lived in Mississippi, and with me in California, we spent hours on the telephone talking about his military career, wife, and hobbies. He openly adored my aunt, and was still 'crazy nuts' about her after 59-plus years of marriage. One day I asked him how they met. 'Handmade Hearts' is a fictionalized version of the sweet story he shared with me.
 
5. What did you as an author take away from writing Handmade Hearts?
I have always believed in and have been fortunate enough to witness the power of love, but putting it down on paper for others to read was a joy and a challenge. I hope readers can sense even a fraction of the love these two people shared during their life together.
 
I also learned how much fun it can be to write historical fiction! I truly enjoyed my research into the customs and moirés of the World War II era in New Orleans. I interviewed one of my friends who was a child during World War II, and I read as much about it as I could find in books and on the internet. I have always been a history buff since I was a kid, but in the past few years I have discovered that I love to write historical fiction.
 
6. What is your current WIP?  What can you share with us about it?
My current work-in-progress is my debut middle-grade novel. It is an historical novel set in Northern California in the summer of 1968. The title is, 'RES-Q Tyler Stop'. The writing is completed and is now in the hands of my talented editor, Author Cindy C. Bennett. I am planning on releasing it in the spring of 2019, probably in early April. I'm so excited about this book because when I was writing it the words just flowed onto the pages {on my computer, of course}.
 
This book required a lot of research because one of the main themes involves a situation where one student is outspoken and unkind about his racial prejudice against a tribal nation in the Sonoma County area of California. I read many non-fiction books about the Pomo people because I wanted my story to be as accurate, authentic, and sensitive to their plight as possible. Early readers have mentioned that I accomplished my goals.
 
As I have time, I'm working on Book Two in my 'Bonita Creek' trilogy. 'Robin's Reward' was released in spring of 2015. Book Two, 'Penny's Promise', is about Robin's best friend and cousin, Penny. I hope to release this book in late 2019 or early 2020.
 
Penny is a gifted seamstress and designer who has to deal with her own share of grief and challenges in life because of how one of her family members has treated her since she was a teen. This book is fun to write because I love the fictional town of Bonita Creek located in the Mendocino County coastal region of Northern California and I have loved to sew since I was eight years old. Penny and I have the passion for sewing in common! It's exciting to see this story come together.
 
Thank you for having me as your guest today on Singing Librarian Books, Sydney. I appreciate your time! Best wishes to you and your readers for a happy, healthy 2019!

1. What is the inspiration behind your orphan train series?
I have long been fascinated by the era of the Orphan Trains and the heart-wrenching stories of the homeless and helpless young orphans that were taken from eastern cities and shipped west by the dozens. I was familiar with stories of those scared orphans who were placed out in what was thought to be a more wholesome, healthy environment of the newly settled Mid-Western states. Some of the orphans found happy endings and were adopted into loving families. Others experienced great abuse and heartache in their new homes.

While stories of the orphans who rode the trains have been told—and rightly so—the stories of the women who were involved in the movement are not as well known. One of the things I particularly like to do when telling my stories, is focus on women who have been overlooked by the pages of history. I consider it a great privilege to be able to bring forgotten women to life for our modern generation. Thus, throughout this series, I’ll be focusing each book on a different aspect of the Orphan Train movement, particularly from the perspective of women who experienced riding the trains in one form or another.

2. How did you come up with the idea for the third book in the series, Searching For You?
With You Always, the first book in the series, centers around adult women who rode the orphan trains in a special limited placement for homeless and jobless women. The second book, Together Forever, depicts the orphan train experience through the eyes of placing agents who worked for the Children’s Aid Society.

Since the first two books view the orphan train movement from the lenses of grown women, in the third book I wanted to find a way to give the perspective directly from an orphan. However, in my initial planning, I wasn’t quite sure how to pull off an orphan’s view since my heroines are always adults.

As I wrestled through how to accomplish this third perspective, I crafted a young woman who was coming of age and could pose as one of the older orphan train children who were in high demand because of their ability to help contribute to the heavy workloads of families struggling to survive in the farming communities of the Mid-West.

3. Is Searching For You a stand-alone or does it tie in with the other books in the series?
Each of the three books involves one of the Neumann sisters introduced in the free ebook novella, An Awakened Heart. While the novella and the full length novels can be read as a stand-alones, I suggest reading them in order, especially to have a greater appreciation for each sister’s journey as well as to make the third book more meaningful.

4. What special research did you do in writing Searching For You?
I gleaned a great deal of valuable information from a well-researched book, Orphan Trains, by Stephen O’Connor. He paints a vivid picture of what life was like for orphans in the nineteenth century in the immigrant slums of New York City. He says that between twenty to thirty percent of children became orphans before the age of fifteen. That’s roughly one in four children.

A large number of children were considered “half-orphans” because they’d lost one parent and the other wasn’t capable of providing for them adequately. If other relatives couldn’t help, the orphans ended up in asylums or living out on the street taking care of themselves. Asylums, like the Infant’s Hospital on Randall’s Island, typically lost around seventy percent of the children who went to live there due to unsanitary and overcrowded conditions.
Overall, O’Connor’s book with its many stories of orphans and their experiences allowed me to ride the orphan trains with them and feel their fear, anxiety, excitement, and even sorrow.

5. What was the goal of the orphan train movement?
The Children’s Aid Society hoped to make a difference in the lives of children through what was called its “Emigration Plan” which is now known as the orphan train movement. Similar to the indenture system that had been used since the founding of the nation, the Emigration Plan sought to reform poor children by placing them in respectable homes where they would be influenced by godly Christian parents.

In exchange for a home and basic necessities, the children were expected to contribute to the family. Charles Loring Brace, the founder of the Children’s Aid Society, idealized country families, believing that the best homes were found in rural areas. He said, “The cultivators of the soil are in America our most solid and intelligent class.” Thus, the Emigration Plan worked relentlessly to take children away from the “evil” vices of the city and place them in the more wholesome influences of the country.

6. What challenges did you face in writing this particular story?
The placements weren’t always as ideal as the Children’s Aid Society hoped. I attempted to portray a variety of types of placement, giving light to both the positive and negative situations the children faced. During my research, I found numerous stories of real children who rode the trains, were adopted into loving families, and grew up to appreciate their new homes and lives. I also read just as many tragic stories of children who didn’t fare well, were placed in multiple homes, were abused, and struggled to find fulfillment for the rest of their lives.
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7. What do you hope readers take away from Searching For You?
I hope that readers gain a greater awareness of just how difficult a time the nineteenth century was for so many of our nation’s children. I also hope readers gain an appreciation for the many families who opened their homes and hearts to homeless children. May their example inspire us to do likewise.

1. What essential ingredients do you strive for in your novels to ensure an authentic love story emerges?
I always try to incorporate the elements that I like to see in the romances I read. That includes deep emotions that are birthed out of a character's past. I also like to have a relationship that evolves organically throughout the book. I try not to have my characters being antagonistic to one another the whole book and then finally falling in love in the last chapter at the last minute. I want the couple to move from friendship to falling in love gradually and to have a growing attraction (with the sparks flying!) throughout the book.

At the same time, however, I don't like to have the love relationship resolve too early in the book. Readers don't want the "happily-ever-after" moment to come until the end. So while the relationship is developing, it's important to find ways to keep the couple from being fully together until the end.

2. What advice would you give to writing moms who are have their hearts set on publication?
It is possible to juggle being a mom and writing. It’s NOT easy, but it is possible! If we set aside a little bit of time to write every day and make ourselves just sit down and do it, then before we know it we’ll have completed the first chapter, then the first half of the book, and finally we’ll have a finished book in front of us.

My encouragement is to keep writing (and learning about writing!). Don’t stop with the first book. Move on to the next one. And the next one after that. It takes time to not only develop our writing skill but to also find our break-in book.

3. What do you think is the most important quality it takes to be a successful author?
One of the key qualities in becoming a successful author is learning to be an enthralling and captivating storyteller. Writers can (and should!) work on improving their techniques—how to write good dialog, how to write tightly, how to develop their characters, etc.
 
But first and foremost, I think readers are looking for stories that blow them away. At least as a reader, that’s what I long for!

4. Is there something you tell yourself before writing?
Usually I tell myself to sit down, put my hands to the keyboard, and get to work. I don't wait for inspiration or magical fairy dust to hit me before writing. I just do it. Every day.

But I also always ask myself, what could make this story better? How can I increase the tension? How can add more excitement? What can I do to make my characters more likeable? I'm constantly challenging myself to make my story more vibrant and alive.

5.  Searching For You is the fourth book you’ve released in 2018. How do you find time to write so many books?
Yes this year I’ve released FOUR books: two medieval young adult novels, A Loyal Heart and A Worthy Rebel, AND two orphan train novels, Together Forever and Searching For You.

In order to write four books a year, I plot out my writing schedule at the beginning of the year so that I know how much time I need to budget in for each book (including the first draft as well as editing). Once I have the overall schedule, then I figure out how many words to write every week in order to stay on track.

6. If you had a whole day to relax (and anything is possible!) what would you do?
READ!! I absolutely love reading! When I find a really good book, I have a hard time tearing myself away from it to get to sleep.

7.  What are you working on next?
I’m in the editing phase of the first book of a brand new series, A Reluctant Bride, which releases in June of 2019 (next summer). The series is inspired by several bride-ships that left England in the early 1860s and sailed to British Columbia in Canada where there was a shortage of women. When the first bride-ship arrived in Vancouver, hundreds of men lined the shores to greet them and be the first to find a bride.

As I was researching this fascinating era, questions kept surfacing. What kind of woman would join a bride-ship? Why would these women leave everything they knew to sail halfway around the world for the purpose of becoming brides to men they didn’t know? I hope you’ll join me in exploring the answers to these question as I delve into my new series.

 8. Do you have any parting words?
I love hearing from readers! Make sure you stop by one of these places and say hello!
I hang out on Facebook here: Author Jody Hedlund
I also love to chat on Twitter: @JodyHedlund
My home base is at my website: jodyhedlund.com
Find me on Instagram: instagram.com/jodyhedlund/
Come pin with me on Pinterest: pinterest.com/jodyhedlund/pins/

1. What is your favorite dessert?
Uh, can I just say dessert? Because I could live off them, I think. No? Okay, probably ice cream—really good ice cream. I’m pretty obsessed right now with making homemade ice cream in really great flavors—circus animal, mint cookie…mmmm. I also love pie. And cheesecake. Okay, this could go on forever.

2. What is your beverage of choice?
Dr. Pepper with a splash of cream and cherry. I’m a mixed (non-alcoholic) drink kinda girl! Love.

3. What is your favorite movie and/or TV show?
The first few seasons of Castle were AMAZING. Love Bones too. Right now, This Is Us. Movie: I could watch Leap Year over and over and over.

4. Where is your favorite place to go on holiday?
Anywhere with a beach and warm weather.

1. Who or what inspired you to become an author?
I don’t know that I could say. I’ve been writing since I was little. In high school, I used to keep these long files of ridiculous serial stories. I had always dreamed of being published. When my second child was a baby, I decided if I wanted to get published, I’d better get serious about it. He was six when “Playing For Keeps” was published.

2. What did you want to be when you grew up? Did becoming an author ever cross your mind?
See above. ;)

3. Who are some of your favorite authors?  Do these authors inspire your own writing?
I loved Nancy Drew and Mary Higgins Clark growing up and thought I was a mystery writer. But I’m not. I love Melanie Jacobson, Jenny Proctor, and Sarah M. Eden, and am lucky enough to know them in real life too, so they definitely inspire my writing and have gotten fantastic advice from them. I also love Kasie West, and—oh my goodness—so many. 

4. When you are not writing, what other "hats" do you wear?
I do the mom and wife thing. I also own a small, online boutique that sells women’s clothing (which is because I have an addiction to buying clothes). I’m also the 2019 Co-Chair for the Storymakers Conference.

1. What inspired the idea for Meant for You?
I was listening to a Brad Paisley song, and I’m not even sure of the title now, but the gist of it was that the most important thing the man had done in his life was to love his wife. It made sense to spin that into DJ’s story. He had these friends who did amazing things—pro football and baseball—and it would make sense for him to feel a bit lost as to what he should do. That led to figuring out who Chelsea was and what she needed and why she’d need DJ.

2. What did you as an author take away from writing Meant for You?
When DJ and Chelsea are struggling the most, they find out that helping each other is what lifts them both up. I love that thought and that motivation of together we both rise.

3. What is your current WIP?  What can you tell us about this project?
I just submitted a historical romance, working title “An Independent Heiress,” so I’ll be waiting to hear about that. I just finished two short drafts (I always write super short and fast, but then spend months editing and adding words. Not sure it’s efficient but…that’s how my brain works.)—one about a country singer determined to win back the girl he left behind to follow his dreams; the other is about a girl who’s cancer relapses and she struggles to accept the budding relationship she has when an old friend comes back into her life. That one is super close to my heart—my brother had cancer, and I wanted to explore the family emotions behind that. BUT I also wanted to keep the humor in it so it’s not too heavy because that’s not really what I do. It was a challenge, and I have some scenes that definitely need help, lol. Those among a bunch of other projects. I like to collect them.​