Interview with Michelle Griep

I’m excited to share my Interview with Michelle Griep today. She’s talking about her latest book, The Captive Heart. Pull up a chair, grab a pot of tea (or coffee), and join in. Be sure to show her some love on social media!

On the run from a cruel British aristocratic employer, Eleanor Morgan escapes to America, the land of the free, for the opportunity to serve an upstanding Charles Town family. But freedom is hard to come by as an indentured servant, and downright impossible when she’s forced to agree to an even harsher contract—marriage to a man she’s never met.

Backwoodsman Samuel Heath doesn’t care what others think of him—but his young daughter’s upbringing matters very much. The life of a trapper in the Carolina backcountry is no life for a small girl, but neither is abandoning his child to another family. He decides it’s time to marry again, but that proves to be an impossible task. Who wants to wed a murderer?

Both Samuel and Eleanor are survivors, facing down the threat of war, betrayal, and divided loyalties that could cost them everything, but this time they must face their biggest challenge ever . . . Love.”

Purchase: Amazon

Whoa! (You should see the stunned look on my face.)

2. What is it about history that made you want to write fiction in that time frame?

Currently our freedoms are being chipped away piece by piece, which got me to wondering how I’d feel if all my liberty was taken from me. I set my story in pre-revolutionary war America because that era is somewhat of a mirror-image of today. Eleanor, my heroine, experiences having her freedom stripped from her and must learn how to not only cope but thrive.

What a fantastic message! I’m a fan of thriving and not merely surviving.

3. When you sit down to write, what does your writing space look like? Care to paint a picture?

The aroma of freshly ground coffee beans wafts on the air. Conversations drift like unmoored ghosts around me. I sit in a cozy leather chair, next to the fake woodburning stove. Where am I? In a coffee shop. I can’t write at home because my dog won’t leave me alone, or there’s a load of laundry to throw in, or one of my kids pops in and wants to talk, yada, yada.

What a great image! Your coffee shop sounds inviting.
 
4. What are three elements that always find their way into your writing?
Redemption, forgiveness and grace. I can’t breathe without these elements in my life so it goes without saying that I must use them in anything I create.

Amen!

5. Last but not least, who are your favorite writers and how did they inspire your writing?
Charlotte Bronte – strong female leads
Travis Thrasher – the element of surprise
Jessica Dotta – lovely historical details
John Steinbeck – keeping things real