Cover Reveal for Lori Benton's Shiloh, Book 2 of the Kindred Series!

At last!! It’s finally time to reveal the cover of Shiloh, the second installment in award-winning author Lori Benton’s Kindred duology. And here it is! Don’t you just love this cover? It’s every bit lovely as Mountain Laurel’s! 

And speaking of book 1, if you’ve read Mountain Laurel, I know you’re looking forward to book 2 as much as I am! Shiloh releases on October 5 this fall and will be available for preorder on March 1.

Shiloh is a rich historical novel of faith, hope, and second chances. Below is a preview of the story. 

DECEMBER 1795 

A year has passed since Ian Cameron reluctantly sent his uncle’s former slave, Seona, and their son, Gabriel, north to his kin in Boston. Determined to fully release them, Ian strives to make a life at Mountain Laurel, his inherited plantation, along with Judith, the wife he’s vowed to love and cherish. But when tragedy leaves him alone with his daughter, Mandy, and his three remaining slaves, he decides to return north. An act of kindness on the journey provides Ian the chance to obtain land near the frontier settlement of Shiloh, New York. Perhaps even the hope for a new life with those he still holds dear.

In Boston, Seona has taken her first tentative steps as a freewoman, while trying to banish Ian from her heart. The Cameron family thinks she and Gabriel should remain under their protection. Seona’s mother, Lily, thinks it’s time they strike out on their own. Then Ian arrives, offering a second chance Seona hadn’t dared imagine. But the wide-open frontier of Shiloh feels as boundless and terrifying as her newfound freedom—a place of new friends and new enemies, where deep bonds are renewed but old hurts stand ready to rear their heads. It will take every ounce of faith and courage Ian and Seona can muster to fight for their family and their future . . . together. 

~~~

If you haven’t yet read Mountain Laurel (Kindred #1), you don’t want to miss it! Be sure to grab a copy before Shiloh releases so you can catch up with the action. 

NORTH CAROLINA, 1793

Ian Cameron, a Boston cabinetmaker turned frontier trapper, has come to Mountain Laurel hoping to remake himself yet again—into his planter uncle’s heir. No matter how uneasily the role of slave owner rests upon his shoulders. Then he meets Seona—beautiful, artistic, and enslaved to his kin.

Seona has a secret: she’s been drawing for years, ever since that day she picked up a broken slate to sketch a portrait. When Ian catches her at it, he offers her opportunity to let her talent flourish, still secretly, in his cabinetmaking shop. Taking a frightening leap of faith, Seona puts her trust in Ian. A trust that leads to a deeper, more complicated bond.

As fascination with Seona turns to love, Ian can no longer be the man others have wished him to be. Though his own heart might prove just as untrustworthy a guide, he cannot simply walk away from those his kin enslaves. With more lives than his and Seona’s in the balance, the path Ian chooses now will set the course for generations of Camerons to come.

~~~

Shiloh also revisits several key characters from Lori’s debut novel, Burning Sky, and you’ll want to make their acquaintance too if you haven’t already. The good news is that there’s also plenty of time to meet the frontier denizens of Shiloh, New York, in the pages of Burning Sky before Shiloh’s October release.

Abducted by Mohawk Indians at fourteen and renamed Burning Sky, Willa Obenchain is driven to return to her family’s New York frontier homestead after many years building a life with the People. At the boundary of her father’s property, Willa discovers a wounded Scotsman lying in her path. Feeling obliged to nurse his injuries, the two quickly find much has changed during her twelve-year absence: her childhood home is in disrepair, her missing parents are rumored to be Tories, and the young Richard Waring she once admired is now grown into a man twisted by the horrors of war and claiming ownership of the Obenchain land.

 

When her Mohawk brother arrives and questions her place in the white world, the cultural divide blurs Willa’s vision. Can she follow Tames-His-Horse back to the People now that she is no longer Burning Sky? And what about Neil MacGregor, the kind and loyal botanist who does not fit into in her plan for a solitary life, yet is now helping her revive her farm? In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, strong feelings against “savages” abound in the nearby village of Shiloh, leaving Willa’s safety unsure.

 

As tensions rise, challenging her shielded heart, the woman called Burning Sky must find a new courage--the courage to again risk embracing the blessings the Almighty wants to bestow. Is she brave enough to love again?

Be sure to check out all three of these powerful, heart-capturing stories!

The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn

Today I’m celebrating the newest novel of my good friend Lori Benton with a day-before-the-release-date party, and one lucky winner is going to receive a copy of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn! Below Lori shares how she developed the story. Please leave a comment on this post before midnight Friday, April 18, to be entered in the drawing!

~~~

Lori

Where do you get your story ideas? That’s a question fiction writers are often asked. It’s often difficult to answer.

Ideas are everywhere. In the movies we watch, the books we read, the conversations we have, the news we’re exposed to. Life abounds with story ideas. Like scattered seeds, they are constantly being planted in a writer’s mind. They can lie dormant for the longest time, forgotten by the writer herself, until suddenly they sprout, and a story idea springs from seemingly nowhere, its roots untraceable except by more digging than most writers have time to do. Rather, we delight in the unexpected tender shoot and do what we can to nourish it, hoping it will sink those mysterious roots deep, and grow.

And then sometimes we do remember exactly where a story idea came from. That’s the case for my new release, The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn (WaterBrook Press, April 15, 2014). The first spark of inspiration for that story came straight out of the pages of history.

While researching an earlier novel set in 18th century North Carolina, I came across the mention of the State of Franklin—an attempt of the citizens living west of the Blue Ridge Mountains to form a separate state, just after the Revolutionary War’s ending. Had they succeeded (and they nearly did), Franklin would have been the fourteenth state admitted into the Union, instead of Vermont.

Why did they get the notion to do such a thing in the first place?

I think it’s accurate to say that the State of Franklin movement came about in large part due to geography. Several of the river valleys west of the Blue Ridge, known as the Tennessee country, had been settled well before the Revolutionary War. But those frontier settlements were a long way removed from the political centers of eastern North Carolina. With hundreds of miles between them, many of them sometimes impassable mountain miles, the settlers on the frontier became frustrated with the government’s lack of response to their needs.

In 1784, one group of these frontier citizens declared their region independent of North Carolina. They formed the State of Franklin and elected a governor—war hero John Sevier—but they never drew enough support from outside the region for their efforts to succeed. In fact, the region itself was divided, with the folk who clung to their identity as North Carolinians at odds with their neighbors who called themselves Franklinites.

This first post-Revolutionary War attempt at independent statehood spanned a brief but tumultuous period (1784—1789), and was marked by courthouse raids, fisticuffs, siege, and battle. For a little over four years the people of the Tennessee Valley region lived under the jurisdiction of two opposing governments, each vying for the same territory, taxes, and allegiance of the people.

How, I wondered, could such a situation result in anything but chaos for those folk simply trying to wrest a living from their farms or places of trade? Hadn’t they just lived through a devastating war between two rival governments? What was an Overmountain man and his family to do to get a little peace? And then there were the Chickamauga Indians seeking to sweep the whole lot of them back east across the mountains—and honestly, who could blame them?

It was a setting that begged for a story to be woven through it.

I began a file to keep track of those tantalizing hints of conflict surrounding the failed statehood attempt. Over time, as I read more about North Carolina, the sparse contents of this file would nudge me, suggesting story possibilities. Gradually a cast of characters clustered around it, they began to speak to me, and The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn took shape.

The story opens late in the summer of 1787, well into this unsettled situation in the Overmountain region. I thought it a fitting setting for a story about a privileged but subjugated young woman, Tamsen Littlejohn, and a rootless, enigmatic Overmountain man called Jesse Bird, who find themselves thrown together in a moment of crisis with a bewildering set of paths to choose toward security and safety—much as confronted the people of the frontier valleys. Tamsen and Jesse are faced with a choice of what sort of person each wants to become, what sort of life they want to live, and must decide what they are willing to risk to pursue that choice. And might the real question be—are they meant risk their hearts and make these choices together?

I’m excited to share with readers this stirring romance set against an epic period of history often neglected in the classroom: the formation of the State of Franklin on the heels of the Revolutionary War, the turmoil it caused on the North Carolina frontier, and how near it came to being our fourteenth state.

~~~

Thank you for sharing these fascinating insights into your creative process, Lori!

Readers, if you haven’t yet read Lori’s debut novel, Burning Sky, you need to purchase a copy asap! Her writing is lovely, evocative, and gripping, and Burning Sky will stay in your heart long after you turn the last page.

And I’m confident that The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn is going to be every bit as captivating. Leave a comment on this post to enter the drawing, which will close at midnight on Friday, April 18. Please include your name and email addy in your response so I can contact you if you win. I'll announce the winner here on Saturday.

A Song for the Story

I’ve never thought a song might link to one of my books in a spiritual way, but recently while I was reading my buddy Lori Benton’s forthcoming historical novel, Burning Sky, I rediscovered a song by Keith and Kristyn Getty titled “Jesus, Draw Me Nearer.” It touched my soul so deeply that I replayed it a number of times and prayed it for myself. And as I pondered the exquisite words and music, I began to think about the characters in Lori’s story and the trials they undergo. This song really seemed to fit the theme of Burning Sky particularly well, and I let Lori know that.

Then I began to wonder whether there was also a song that fit my series. I was immediately drawn to another of the Gettys’ songs, “By Faith,” which beautifully expresses the central theme behind The American Patriot Series—that of our sojourn on this earth as aliens and strangers, and our journey to find our true home in the City of God—“that holy city built by God’s own hand, a place where peace and justice reign (Keith and Kristyn Getty).”

I’d like to share the YouTube video of By Faith with you and get your reaction. Please listen—this version doesn’t have any pictures, which makes it all the more effective, in my opinion. I guarantee you’ll be blessed. And please let me know how these words speak to your soul.

Outstanding New Historical Novel

The debut novel of my dear friend and crit partner, Lori Benton, will release in August, and her cover has just gone live online. I’ve read and am endorsing Burning Sky, and I want to share the gorgeous, evocative cover with you in case you haven’t already seen it on her blog. 

Burning Sky is set in 1784, following the Revolution, and it’s a must read for anyone who loves historical fiction and historical romance. Lori’s writing is lovely and lyrical, and her grasp of the historical period she’s writing about and her ability to create characters who rise off the page is extraordinary. Burning Sky is available for preorder now. I highly recommend it, and here’s my endorsement.

In Burning Sky, Lori Benton brings to turbulent life the bitter aftermath of the Revolution, when those who fought on opposing sides returned to ravaged homes, soul scarred by horrifying acts they both suffered and committed. Wilhelmina Obenchain, named Burning Sky by the Mohawks who captured her as a child, has lived and lost two lives at war with each other, and twice had her loved ones ripped away. Fleeing sorrow too great to bear, drawn back to the now abandoned home of her childhood, she determines to begin again, heart barricaded against another breaking. With lyrical imagery and finely drawn characters who rise from the page, Burning Sky vividly portrays how God restores the bruised reed and the dimly burning wick and brings new life from the ashes of the past.

Web Surfin'

In case you missed this bit of trivia, I based Daughter of Liberty on the 1982 TV movie The Scarlet Pimpernel starring Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour. Odd’s fish, m’dear, what a romp it was, and though it’s a bit dated now, I still think it’s one of the best historical movies that’s come down the pike. So when I was doing a bit of Web surfing Tuesday and ran across the Web site Blakeney Manor, I was thrilled. To think that someone else was so obsessed with the inimitable Sir Percy and lovely Marguerite that they devoted an entire Web site and obviously hours and hours of effort and research to creating this site is mind boggling! Why didn’t I think of it first????

Go to Blakeney Manor to check out the original series by Baroness Orczy and the various movies as well as research links galore. There’s even a gift shop, though it’s pretty rudimentary. I hope they add to it soon. The thought of owning an object that sports “Sink me” or “Odd’s fish” or even “Noblesse Oblige” is just too delicious! And at the bottom of the home page you’ll find a link to a test to determine which Scarlet Pimpernel character you are, which includes code to embed it on your site or blog. You’ll also find it here down below on the sidebar. Naturally, I turned out to be Sir Percy himself! Here are the descriptions given.

On the picture of Sir Percy: You are brave, heroic, and very clever. Your enemies hate you. Everyone else adores you. You're a snappy dresser, and like every true Englishman, you just hate mushy sentimentality.

Below: You are a brave, heroic, and very clever Englishman with a philanthropic streak. You are the leader of fashion in London, live in a very big house, have a very beautiful wife, and a lot of lolly. When you're not playing the social fop, you enjoy organizing and carrying out dash-cunning rescues of poor little Frenchies from the scummy hands of the evil Revolutionary Government. Go you!

I must say that’s me—well, almost! No idea what it means that I turned out to be a man—undoubtedly there’s some Freudian implication there somewhere—but as long as you’re rich and an adventurer, does it really matter what sex you are? Somebody please send me the cash. Large bills, thank you! I’ll get started freeing those oppressed Frenchies right way!

I really cracked up when my middle daughter turned out to be Marguerite. Believe me, if you knew her, you’d know that was a foregone conclusion!

As if that wasn’t bad enough, my buddy Lori Benton started another nasty addiction by introducing me to a site called Morph Thing. You can use the images they provide or upload your own and morph 2 or more to create a blend. Lori has quickly become an expert at this, while I’m a little more morphing challenged. We’ve both been trying to come up with the main characters from our books, but she’s doing a lot better job than I am.

Here’s her version of Elizabeth Howard, which turned out amazingly close to the image I have of her in my head. She’s less glam, of course—no modern make-up was available in the 1770s, after all—but this is pretty much what Elizabeth looks like to me.

Her “parents” are:

Saira Mohan
Maria Menounos
EvyLily.jpg
Evangeline Lilly
Anne Hathaway
Catherine Zeta Jones
Ashley Greene

I’m also obviously culturally challenged because Anne Hathaway and Catherine Zeta-Jones are the only names I recognize! Haven’t a clue who the others are.

Lori almost has her hero, Ian, down pat, but I when I tried to create Jonathan Carleton I didn’t have much success. I know he contains some features from Philip Winchester and Simon Baker—like those fabulous blue eyes—but a morph of them ends up too much like one or the other. Lori tried adding several others to the mix, but we haven’t gotten there yet. We just need the right parents. If we ever succeed in creating him, I’ll definitely post the pic here so you can see what I see when I think of Jonathan!