A visit with Lori Benton, a sneak peek at The Wood's Edge, and an EPIC give-away!

Hello Redheads! 

Without further ado, 

I present, my dear friend and Christy Award winner,

LORI BENTON!!!!

Lori's new book, The Wood's Edge comes out next week, and peeps, this one will make you fake sick, injured or just refuse to move until you finish it.

I know this, because I basically shut down my entire house to finish this.

Here's a sneak peek...

I asked Lori a few questions, and her answers will show you just how much research she does.

1) Why the Oneida? What set them apart in your mind?

Their own choices and history set them apart. Out of the Six Nations of the Iroquois, the Oneidas (along with some of the Tuscaroras), gave their support—at the cost of their homes, possessions, and many lives—to the Americans during the Revolutionary War. The rest of the Six Nations, those members who didn’t manage to remain neutral, actively supported the British Crown. When I first stumbled upon this split in the Iroquois Confederacy during the Revolutionary War, I was intrigued to learn why it had happened. What factors led to it? How far back did this fracture go? Thus began my research into this fascinating and in so many ways tragic time in history.

2) How many research books do you have?

Too many to count! From my desk I can see three full sized book shelves crammed full, plus some hidden away in my desk cabinets, and a few more stacks and rows bookended on various tables. Pretty soon every available surface of my tiny house is going to be filled with books.

3) If you could pick anywhere to live for a year, where would it be? 

Somewhere on the east coast central to all the locations I want to travel to for research—by car, I’m not a fan of the rigmarole that is flying these days—but it would have to be in the mountains. I doubt I could bear being away from them that long. West Virginia would suit. So would a year. It would take that long to visit all the places I want to see.

4) Which book that you didn't write is one that you wish you had?

Not sure I’ve ever considered that before. After much deliberation I’m torn between two. Either The Summer of the Danes, by Ellis Peters, or To Say Nothing of the Dog, or How We Found The Bishop’s Bird Stump at Last, by Connie Willis—and I would like to have the narrating skill of Steven Crossley, who reads the latter for Recorded Books and does a smashing job of it.

5) Which woman in American history would you like to be for a month, and why?

Another tough one, but I’d choose an Oneida woman, someone like Two Kettles Together, the wife of Honyery Doxtader (also Oneida), who went into battle with her husband and did many other daring feats. But not for that reason. I’d like to better understand the world view of an 18^th century Oneida woman facing all the changes that Two Kettles Together faced, and the convictions she held, and the choices she made. She is, by the way, a minor character readers will meet next spring (2016) in A Flight of Arrows, the sequel to The Wood’s Edge.

And if that isn't enough to woo your reader hearts, 

check out this give-away!!!

Everything you see here, other than the basket, will be awarded to one commenter. 

(Sadly, due to shipping costs, this give-away is for US residents only. I mean, come on, there are bags of flour!!)

  Is that cool, or what??

Thank you, Lori, for the visit!

And peeps, you really MUST read The Wood's Edge!!

Book Review of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn

I read Lori Benton's Burning Sky last summer. I LOVED LOVED LOVED it!!!




And a few weeks ago, I read ....

I knew she was working on TPOTL (I am not typing that title over and over) and was squirming and wriggling to get my sweaty little palms on it. And then one day, there she was, in my mailbox. Ahhhhh!!

I shut down my work for the day and read the entire book in 7 hours. I did stop for tea and chocolate, I'm not that insane...

So?

5 Dairy Milks out of 5.

I mean, WOW.

Lori Benton knows how to build and build and build and then you are freaking out because the phone DARED to ring and AHHHHH!!!

What is up with that??? Stupid phone!

So, sweet Tamsen lives with her mother and her not exactly Pa Walton-esque step-father. When things go awry, Tamsen manages to find herself in the care of two strangers. One is as mysterious as they come, the other is insufferable and arrogant and umm, fan yourselves...

One of the things I love about Lori Benton's writing is that she's an artist, like, an actual wildlife artist. So she knows the value of intricate details and the perfect phrase in the perfect spot. She weaves and stitches and pulls it all together and by the last page, you'll want to drop from happy exhaustion. Kind of like shopping with your supermodel friends and everything YOU LIKED fit, it was all 90% off and then you got 100% off coupon for the shoe store.

Tamsen is not a wilting, frail flower. Jesse is umm, has an , umm, horse, I think...Cade needs a wife and is the epitome of dedication...

Lori's use of an historical event as a character in and of itself is masterful, as is her occasional one-two 'life ain't pretty' punch to shake up the reader and draw us further into the story and make us even more emotionally involved.

I adored this book. It's quite a departure from Burning Sky, but it's as lush and rich as the Appalachians on a hot summer day.

Lori Benton could write a grocery list and make it an epic.

The winner is????

Here at TFTR, we like to shake things up a little.

So, I did the high tech work of writing each entrant's name on a piece of 3x5 index card, folded it perfectly and put it in a hat.

But not just ANY hat.

My straw cowboy hat I bought last summer at the Indian Trading Post in Oklahoma. 

It is being worn by my handsome assistant, Zachary. Who is also modeling our unfinished steps.

"Can I wear the hat?"

"Sure."

He's shy, JUST like his mother. And he needs a bath.

"Now what do I do?"

"Shake up all the pieces and make sure you touch each one a few times."

Which he DID, but I accidentally deleted that photo.

"Now what?"

"Pick one!"

"Okay!!!"

                               

"Hold it up to the camera."

The winner of Lori Benton's debut novel, Burning Sky is 

Patti Iverson!

Congratulations, Patti!

I will email you and get your deets, and Lori will mail the copy to you.

Sadly, it will NOT be personally delivered by Neil or Tames His Horse.   

Which I think is just wrong...

A visit with author Lori Benton. And what? A drawing for a copy of 'Burning Sky', too???

Have you ever picked up a book, read the first line, and gasped because that first LINE told a story?

"The woman who had been Burning Sky had kept off the warrior path 

that came down from the north through mountains, along the 

courses of rivers and creeks."

Ummmm. What? Had been? What do you mean *had been*?

After subtle, polite hints such as "oh pleeeease!" and the ever delicate "PLEASE!!!", I was privileged to receive an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of Burning Sky in June. 

Then, basically as many members of the Royal Family do, I "quietly withdrew from public life."

Which is a nice way of saying "Don't bug me!! Lori's book arrived!!! Feed yourselves!"

I curled up in my favourite reading chair, brewed a vat of Earl Grey and wandered into the life and struggles of dear, sweet Willa Obenchain.



But before I introduce you to Willa, I want you to meet an amazing woman.

~~~~

Lori Benton

~~~~

You can visit her at : http://loribenton.com

She'll tell you about life, survival and being a writer coping with chemo-fog. 

But if your mouse is tired, here's a wee blurb from her blog...

Lori Benton was born and raised east of the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by early American and family history going back to the 1600s. Her novels transport readers to the 18th century, where she brings to life the Colonial and early Federal periods of American history, creating a melting pot of characters drawn from both sides of a turbulent and shifting frontier, brought together in the bonds of God's transforming grace.

When she isn’t writing, reading, or researching 18th century history, Lori enjoys exploring the mountains with her husband – often scouring the brush for huckleberries, which overflow the freezer and find their way into her signature huckleberry lemon pound cake.

As I got to know Lori via Facebook and email, I found her to be sweet, gracious witty and warm. There was not one iota of "I am a Published Author, feel free to kiss the ring". More like "So, what's up? How are you?"
I've learned quite a bit from Lori, and I'm sure you will too. Here are a few questions and answers about the book, the Mohawk, American history and some of the complex issues post-Revolutionary War.

1)      What was the catalyst for Willa's story? Did you have an "ah-ha" moment or did she grow on you?

A little of both.
There were two images that intruded upon me which I suppose were the first catalysts for Willa’s story. The first was of an old woman living in a ramshackle cabin in a clearing bounded by ridges, alone and quite isolated. She had a garden, and grew herbs to sell, but she had no one. I wondered who she was and why she was so alone and sad. I knew her name was Willa.
The second image I had was of a young woman, tall and strong, striding across a mountain with a heavy basket on her back and a heavier weight of grief, coming home. I knew it was the same woman and that the first image would be her fate… unless someone intervened.
From that the story grew as I brainstormed, story-dreamed, and did my research into the time and place.



2) Were there many European settlers in what is now New York State, or were most settlers from England?

The 18^th century New York frontier was a melting pot of European and Native nations. The predominant nationality that first settled in the western reaches of the Mohawk Valley was German. There was also a large contingent of Scottish Highlanders. There were Dutch, Irish, Ulster Scot, English, African, Mohawk, Oneida, Tuscarora, Delaware, Onondaga and more, and many who claimed more than one of these races and nationalities in their ancestry.  I enjoy peopling my stories with characters from diverse backgrounds. The New York frontier, indeed the whole of the 18^th century frontier, is a perfect setting for it.



3)Did you do a lot of research on the Mohawk and Iroquois Confederacy? Where did you look for your research?

I’ve spent years researching the Iroquois Confederacy and their interactions with European settlers, and the consequences of that. As I mention in the author’s note at the end of Burning Sky, there were many historians who made it possible for me to tell this story. It would make for a long list to name them all, but foremost among them are: Barbara Graymont, The Iroquois in the American Revolution; Timothy J. Shannon, Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier; Isabel Thompson Kelsay, Joseph Brant, Man of Two Worlds; Alan Taylor, The Divided Ground; Richard Berleth, Bloody Mohawk: the French and Indian War & American Revolution on New York’s Frontier; E. Wilder Spaulding, New York in the Critical Period, 1783-1789. I’ve also benefitted from countless online sources, both websites and people I encountered with the knowledge and willingness to answer my endless questions.



4) What is the feedback you've gotten on poor Tames-His-Horse? Are people divided over his situation?

Since the book is yet to release (as I write this) I’ve yet to receive reader feedback on any character save Willa and Neil, and that only general, so I’m not yet able to answer that question. But I certainly look forward to reader responses about Joseph Tames-His-Horse. He is one of my favorite characters, though he demanded more from me in the writing than any other.



5) If it wasn't the Mohawk, which nation would you have written about?

Definitely the Oneida, the second easternmost nation in the Great Longhouse of the Iroquois that once stretched from the Hudson to the Great Lakes. In fact I’m working on a series (not under contract at present) that will follow the Oneidas through their experiences just before and during the Revolutionary War. While it wasn’t a unanimous decision, they were the nation that mostly sided with the Patriots during that conflict, while most of the rest of the Confederacy fought for the British. The heartbreak and impossible choices that faced the Iroquois during this time have captured my imagination, and I hope to tell their story through the eyes of a cast of characters I’ve already come to care deeply about.



6) Can you explain the unique relationships between captives and those who stole them? Was it always combative?

Great question! That relationship was as individual as the persons involved. In Willa’s case, she was taken during what was called a “mourning raid,” where the women of a clan would request their men go out and bring them captives to replace loved ones lost by war or other death. It was part of their grieving process, part of their healing. The new person, no matter their sex or age, would take the place of the lost one, to be loved and cared for as if they were born to the clan—if they were agreeable to the women in question. If not, that captive could be made a slave, or killed.
From the captives’ point of view, how they coped often depended on their age. Young children, according to accounts of the time, adapted quickly and grew up happily as part of the clan that adopted them. Young women, when given the choice to return to their former homes, often chose to remain. One reason being, women among the Iroquois were accorded more freedom and influence than their European counterparts of the time.
Men taken captive in battle were often tortured or killed in retribution for losses the clans had suffered previously, whether those particular captives had anything to do with those losses. Some men found favor with their captors, however, through a show of courage and endurance, or for some other reason, and were adopted as sons and brothers. Some were content to remain so. Others tried to escape.
Captivity was a complex and (to Europeans minds) arbitrary occurrence, with many possible outcomes. It’s easy to imagine the terror of those taken into this unpredictable situation, the sense of loss and displacement, or the heartbreak when, once resigned to or embracing of their new lives, they were forced by treaty agreements or other circumstances to be given back, and were torn from yet another life and family to find themselves so changed they no longer fit comfortably in the place where they were born.



7) How open were Native Americans to having peace with the settlers?

At times very open—to the point of bending over backward to accommodate demands. At other times, especially after too many treaties and promises were broken, too much land stolen, too many crimes against them gone unpunished, they set their hearts on war. Yet in my research of the New York frontier I encountered stories of men and women, some of mixed ancestry but not all, who crossed the Middle Ground between their cultures and lived productive lives among Europeans and Natives alike, who were known by each people, accepted and valued. These are the people who intrigue me, who compel me to spin my own stories around their historical examples.



Can we hope to hear more about Willa, Neil and Tames-His-Horse?

With all my heart I hope so, down the line. There’s more of their story to tell. I hope to have the chance to do so.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My thoughts on Burning Sky...

Perhaps overcoming so much in her life has made Lori able to write characters who face such heart wrenching obstacles that the only ways to overcome are up, or through. Because retreat and surrender are not options, not for her, and not for the characters so real, you weep.

Willa, Neil and Joseph-Tames His Horse; oh how I loved that my heart ACHED for these friends, these dear souls who had been ripped apart by circumstance and determinedly moved forward through life, because life itself was all they had left. 
Hope was a vapour untouchable, security was only in that the sun would rise and love was beyond the next breath, if only they could stay alive to breathe it.

Burning Sky will always be on my 'must read again' list, I loved it. It wore me out, I am still pondering the effect it has had on me. 
If you're thinking to read this at the beach? Think again. Why? Crying at the beach is a downer for everyone else. 

Thank you, so much, Lori for visiting us at Tales From The Redhead!

Now about that

GIVE AWAY!!

If you would like to win a copy of 'Burning Sky', leave a comment, your name and your email in a non-spam-able format like this: (bettysue(at)bigserver(dot)com.
If you DON'T want to be in the draw, please say that in your comment. 

You have until midnight, July 31st.  I will do a draw August 1st, then I'll post the name of the winner on the blog that day.