Interview With Annette O’Hare

Today we will be interviewing an up and coming author who I know you will want to read, well as soon as she’s published that is! Her name is Annette O’Hare. Annette hail’s from Deep South Texas, just north of Houston.

Interviewer: So tell me Annette, what are you working on right now?

Annette: Oh, so glad you asked! I’m currently working on a historical romance novel set during the Civil War.

Interviewer: Can you tell us a little bit about the book?

Annette: Of course. Main character, Margaret Logan’s fiancé is killed in the war. And to add to her misery she’s been uprooted from the magnificent city of New Orleans and moved to desolate Bolivar Point, Texas. Her father, a lighthouse keeper, is re-commissioned to man the Bolivar light only to find upon their arrival that the lighthouse has been completely dismantled because of the war.

Interviewer: Interesting. So where does the real conflict come in?

Annette: Well, the action starts when Margaret comes across a severely wounded Union soldier washed up at the bay. Because her fiancé died at the hands of the North, Margaret instantly hates this man. Much to her surprise, her parents insist on bringing him to their home to nurse him back to health.

Interviewer: Sounds Interesting! Did the book require much research?

Annette: Most people have no idea how much work goes into researching a historical novel. Fortunately I really love this part of the novel writing experience. I happen to have a connection to the lighthouse at Bolivar Point, a real place that’s featured in the book. You see, my great aunt was married to the man who bought the lighthouse at auction in 1947. One of the two houses adjacent to the lighthouse bears the name “Maxwell” which is my grandmother’s maiden name. I understand that a Maxwell currently lives in the house with his young wife. I would love to meet them.

Interviewer: Wow! That would be wonderful.

Annette: Yes, especially if I could hand them a signed copy of my book! Hi I’m your cousin. We’ve never met, but I would like to give you a copy of the novel I wrote about this lighthouse.

Interviewer: Hilarious! Well, Annette I’ve enjoyed our interview and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with me.

Annette:  And I thank you. I hope we can talk again soon so I can tell the readers about another book I have in the works for young adult readers called Puppy Ciao!

History In The Making

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:9

I apologize for the lack of blog posts over the past month, but I’ve been pursuing another venture…historical research! I’ve always been intrigued by history, especially local (Texas) history. I suppose it’s something I picked up from my dad who’s quite the history buff himself.

Dad has a way of talking about things from the past that makes history come to life. For instance, I can remember him taking me and at least one of my brothers to the capture site of Santa Anna (President of Mexico and commander of the Mexican army). This extremely significant and yet little known historical site is located next to the Pasadena Paper Mill front gate, facing the Houston Ship Channel. After I had children, Dad and Mom took them to the site…along with the San Jacinto Monument and the Battleship Texas.

When I was a young child my family went on a road trip from Houston, Texas to Destin, Florida. Along the way, my father took us through the Civil War battleground at Vicksburg, Mississippi. At the age of eight (?), I thought that was the most boring thing we ever could have done. Now that I’m…well, let’s just say I’m grown up, I wish I could remember more about it.

My love for history has encouraged me in my latest writing project. I decided to write a book series based around the Lighthouse at Point Bolivar, Texas. I’ve always been intrigued by lighthouses and this one in particular because I have a familial connection to the current owners, (who, unfortunately I’ve never met).

The first book in the series is based on a fictional family who has been called away from their home in New Orleans to man the lighthouse during the Civil War only to find when they arrive that it has been dismantled completely because of the war. The book is a romance of a forbidden nature involving a Union soldier and a southern girl. Sounds interesting, right?

Some things I’ve learned in my historic research:

1.      There was a Confederate ship Named the CSS McRae (My maiden name)

2.      During Hurricane Ike, part of the Civil War Ship Monticello washed up on the Alabama coastline

3.      The penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas was built BEFORE the outbreak of the Civil War

4.      During the Civil War the penitentiary sold more than two million yards of cotton and nearly 300,000 yards of wool to both civilians and the Confederacy. Wartime production made a profit of $800,000

I had no idea combining historical facts with a fictional account could be so much fun. Please pray for me as I pursue this exciting new endeavor.