Today I have the privilege to welcome fellow author Noelle Marchand as my guest. Noelle is a native Houstonian and Houston Baptist University Husky (just like me!), and her debut novel, Love Inspired Historical's UNLAWFULLY WEDDED BRIDE released this month. I've already read this novel, and its everything you'd ever want in an inspirational historical romance. And Noelle is donating an autographed copy to one commenter this week, so be sure to leave a comment and welcome Noelle to the blog, or ask her anything I didn't think to in the interview. =)
Here's a brief excerpt from UNLAWFULLY WEDDED BRIDE:
She lifted her chin. “Who are you and why are you here?”
He frowned and released her hand. “What do you mean, who am
I?”
“While we’re at it, how do you know my name?”
“Why shouldn't I know your name? I am Nathan Rutledge and
you are Kate-”
“O’Brien,” she finished. “Yes, I know that-”
“Rutledge,” he reminded.
“What?”
“Rutledge.”
“Why
do you keep saying that?”
“Because
your name used to be-” He paused and looked at her for a second. “You mean to
tell me that you, Kathleen 'O'Brien', have never even heard my name before
today?”
“That
is exactly what I mean.”
He
began to speak then shook his head and strode over to where his saddlebag
rested near Delilah’s stall. “I suppose you’d better have a look at this.”
She
walked toward him to take the piece of paper he extended to her. She glanced up
as she unfolded it. “What is this?”
“It’s
our marriage certificate,” he replied quietly.
"What?"
Her gaze held his before she stared down at the certificate. “You don’t mean-”
“I
mean,” he interrupted with quiet authority, “That you, Kate O’Brien Rutledge,
are my wife.”
Congratulations on your debut novel Noelle, Love Inspired
Historical's UNLAWFULLY WEDDED BRIDE. The idea for this story came to you at
the age of sixteen. Can you share with our readers how that came about?
Thank you, Nancy! It’s sort of hard to pinpoint where the
idea came from. I just remember that this scene popped into my head (the one
near the beginning where Nathan tells Kate that she is his wife). From there
the story just seemed to take off on its own and all I could do was write it
down.
I completely relate to that. The best stories are the ones we have to write. So how did you react when you got "THE CALL" that
your book had sold?
I actually missed the call so my editor, Elizabeth Mazer,
left a message on my answering machine. I knew there was only one reason she’d
ask me to call her back. My emotions progressed from dazed to disbelief to
cautious excitement. My talk to with Elizabeth confirmed that they wanted the
story. Then there was dancing and quite a few excited calls and text to friends
and family.
Nathan Rutledge is a hero in every sense of the word. I was amazed as I read
how he embodied all the elements typical of a hero and yet seemed such a fresh
character. My absolute favorite line of his came in their scene when heroine
Katie O'Brien tells him in response to their marriage by proxy she had no idea
has taken place, "We all make mistakes. I've certainly made my share.
Thankfully, this shouldn't be too hard to fix."
Nathan's answer: "I never said I was mistaken."
Nancy's reader response: Pause, and "Um... can you say wow?"
Sorry Noelle, back to the interview now. =)
I'm curious if Nathan ever challenged you in places and seemed to do or say
something you didn't expect or see coming while writing the book? Did any of
your characters take over at points and surprise you?
Haha!
I’m so glad you liked that line. It emerged in the revision process so I hadn’t
originally planned on him saying that at all. I worked with these characters
from the time I was sixteen so they definitely developed their own
personalities. Toward the end of the revision process, my characters really began to take over. The entire
ending including the scene in the field was a culmination of all the main
characters creating a moment that could only happen because I let them take
over. It’s one of my favorite parts of the book.
I'm so grateful for all the readers out there, but I don't think someone can ever understand what writers mean when we say characters come to life, or take over, without ever experiencing it. It does sound kind of funny, hehe. Speaking of characters, I found Kate O'Brien to be such a relate-able character for ladies today. She's self-reliant, determined to support her family on her own, sometimes
to her detriment. Do you think that for Kate and many people today that's driven
by pride?
I generally don’t use many of my own personality traits in
my character but that overly self-reliant trait is definitely something that
I’ve had to work on in myself. I think it can definitely come from pride in
some but I think for Kate it really stemmed from fear. She was afraid of not
measuring up to the standard she’d set for herself, afraid that others were
right about her being unsuitable for taking care of her siblings, and afraid
that if she leaned on others she’d be hurt or mistreated. It was definitely a
protective veneer.
You know, I can see that completely with Kate. Fear can be a powerful motivator for sure, even when we know God tells us throughout His Word not to fear. I have to say, since I know some of my friends are really afraid of horses, that one of my favorite characters turned out to be Nathan's horse Delilah. Can you share with the readers how you chose her name and a
little about how she fits into the story?
I needed a name for a half-wild, intensely loyal black mare
and “Delilah” came to mind. Perhaps Nathan named her that because she’s
beautiful and reliable but just dangerous enough to make things interesting. Delilah
was Nathan’s best girl before he met Kate (at least that’s how she sees it).
When Nathan starts working on the farm Delilah realizes she’s lost his
attention and doesn’t like it one bit. That jealousy plays out in Kate and
Delilah’s relationship in some amusing ways but in the end Delilah is able to
put that aside to help Kate when it matters the most.
What is it you hope readers take away from UNLAWFULLY WEDDED BRIDE?
On a spiritual level its
that everyone contends with something in the faith but we cannot let our fears,
failures, or foibles blind us to God’s plan for our lives. Instead, we must
hope persistently, love courageously, and live joyously.
Amen to that! Can we have a sneak peak into the next book, Sean's story, as the O'Brien
marriage mayhem continues?
I’m working on revisions for that one now so I don’t want to
give much away because I’m not sure what might change. I will say this, remember Lorelei Wilkins the
little girl who said she was going to marry Sean? Well, she’s the heroine in
The Runaway Bride. His reaction to her in Unlawfully Wedded Bride is a good
foreshadowing of the sparks that will fly almost ten years later.
Oh I love it when sparks fly! Of course in my stories, its usually from clashing swords, LOL. Is there anything you'd like to share with us, besides the
autographed copy of your debut novel?
I hope that everyone will read Unlawfully Wedded Bride and
let me know what they think about it. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter,
Goodreads and my website.
Thank you, Noelle. Write on!
She's wonderful in person too, just FYI, and Noelle has gifted us an autographed copy of UNLAWFULLY WEDDED BRIDE. So if like me, you're already saving for ACFW Conference in Dallas next year and need to win more books than you buy, here's your chance. But if also, like me, LOL, you keep buying books anyway, here's a link to Noelle's book on Amazon, or you can pick it up at your local bookstore where they probably know you by name too.
http://www.amazon.com/Unlawfully-Wedded-Bride-Inspired-Historical/dp/037382890X
You can also peruse Noelle's website and see more of her fantastic photos and keep up with her author news, find her links to facebook, twitter, and goodreads. So say hi to Noelle and welcome her the blog, and if you're not a regular here, please be sure you leave me an e-mail addy or a way to contact you if you win the drawing. That way if your name is drawn, you can be surprised just like Kate, hehe ;-)
