Spinster's Folly is coming out!
Marie Owen yearns for a loving husband, but Colorado
Territory is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors, so a future
of spinsterhood seems more likely than wedded bliss. Her best friend says cowboy
Bill Henry is a likely candidate, but Marie knows her class-conscious father
would not allow such a pairing. When she challenges her father to find her a
suitable husband before she becomes a spinster, he arranges a match with a
neighbor's son. Then Marie discovers Tom Morgan would be an unloving, abusive
mate and his mother holds a grudge against the Owen family. Marie's mounting
despair at the prospect of being trapped in such a dismal marriage drives her
into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable
dangers.
This fourth book in the Owen Family Saga is infused with
potent heart and intense grit.
Bio:
Marsha Ward is an award-winning poet, writer and editor
whose published work includes four novels in The Owen Family Saga: The Man
from Shenandoah, Ride to Raton, Trail of Storms, and Spinster’s
Folly; and over 900 articles, columns, poems and short stories. She also is
a workshop presenter and writing teacher.
Interview with Marsha Ward:
Q: Tell us about
when you first started writing and a little about your writing
journey.
A: I've been a writer
all my life. My sister tells me that when I was of pre-school age, I
covered pages of notebook paper with scribbles and said it was my
novel. I have no idea how I knew what a novel was. I do know I
excelled at English and composition classes throughout my schooling.
The teacher of the English class I took during my junior year of high
school told me I should be teaching the class. Whoa! That blew me
away.
I began what became my
first novel, The Man from Shenandoah, in 1965. At the time, my
goal was to write “The Great American Novel.” Soon I had a
manuscript of twenty chapters that I carted around with me for years,
but I didn't seriously work on it again until the 1980s, when I began
to consider sending work out to publishers. I'd been reading certain
books and told myself I could write as well as any of their authors.
I dusted off my “Great American Novel,” realized it was only a
summary, then studied creative fiction writing with several teachers
and through reading many instruction books.
In the meantime, I
started writing commercially for LDS newspapers, so feature and news
articles were my thing for several years.
After learning what
commercial fiction writing really entailed, I began to hone what
natural talent I had, and bit by bit, after throwing away a lot of
chaff—such as too many characters—and adding the good stuff—like
sensory details and emotions and actual plot—I had a manuscript to
send out. That I did.
I was getting good
remarks from editors (but no offers yet), when I had a health crisis
in 2002. It looked pretty bad. I wanted to leave my work behind in
fixed form so no one would throw it out upon my death, so I looked
into self-publishing. After some intensive study and thinking about
what form of self-publishing I wanted to engage in, I chose to go
with iUniverse. After a terrible false start on the cover, I provided
them with a photo to use. I was so delighted with the quick
turn-around and then the great response to The Man from Shenandoah
from readers, that I decided to use the same method of publishing for
the follow-up novel, Ride to Raton.
When word leaked out
that my third novel, Trail of Storms, was finished at last, I
was encouraged to submit it to a couple of publishers. I knew it
wasn't right for them, but did so. I regretted wasting those eight
months until rejection when a reader came up to me in a grocery store
and begged for the new book. Why delay what clearly had a ready
market? I went back to iUniverse for a third go-around.
After the success of my
electronic books, I decided to go in another direction to publish the
print edition of Spinster’s Folly. It is published by
WestWard Books, my company.
Over the years I've won
national prizes for poetry, and published columns in several
periodicals. I've also written chapters for non-fiction books on
writing and publishing. All of my novels include romantic elements.
There may come a time when I'll write a mystery.
I had an epiphany
several years ago when I realized that I write to let people know
there is always hope, and to show them through the experiences of
fictional characters that they can get through hard times, even
really, really terrible times, and find happiness at the end of it
all.
One of the hallmarks of
my fiction is fast-paced adventure peopled with believable
characters. Readers tell me when they're forced to put a book down
they worry about my characters until they can read about them again.
If I can take people out of their own worrisome lives enough to be
concerned about fictional folks and see them through to a satisfying
ending, then I've done the job of relieving some of their day-to-day
stress. Isn't that what books are for?
Q: Tell us about
your novels and where we can find them.
A. Actor Tom Sellack once
said there should be a shelf in bookstores labeled "Darn Good
Reads." I like to think my novels go there. My fiction works are
historicals set in the 19th Century West. That broadly classifies
them as Westerns, but if you think all Westerns are about outlaws and
lawmen, or cowhands and sheep-herders, guess again. The Western genre
has grown and evolved into many sub-genres, including my
action/adventure/sweet romance novels dealing with Western Migration
and post-Civil War angst.
My novels have evolved
into The Owen Family Saga, with more books to come. The Man from
Shenandoah, featuring son Carl, introduces the series and the
family in post-Civil War Virginia, and starts the group moving west.
Ride to Raton tells the other side of the coin to Carl's
happiness, as it details his brother James's travels to get away from
an unhappy situation, and his growth through some really interesting
events. Trail of Storms goes back to Virginia and brings
neighbors of the Owen clan out of the beleaguered South. A stop on
their trip to Albuquerque brings new turmoil into the life of Jessie
Bingham, the protagonist. Spinster’s Folly recounts the
harsh adversities Marie Owen endures because of poor decisions she
makes in her desperate search for a loving husband.
The first three books
are available in print at iUniverse.com; and at retailers Amazon.com,
Barnes & Noble.com, and other online booksellers. Spinster’s
Folly is published by WestWard Books. It is available from my
website, marshaward.com; at CreateSpace.com; and at the above online
retailers. Autographed copies of all my novels can be purchased at
MarshaWard.com.
Electronic versions of
the novels in The Owen Family Saga may be found at Smashwords.com,
BN.com, and all the Amazon Kindle stores. I also have various
collections and short stories available as ebooks.
I’m in the research
stage for the fifth Owen Family Saga nove, Gone for a Soldier.
Since it deals with the Civil War experiences of oldest Owen son
Rulon, I suspect I’m in for some intensive study to get the details
right.
Q: What is one piece
of advice you would give to new writers?
A. Do your homework and
learn how to write well. Then don't be afraid to check out the
freedom and almost instant readership being an independent
self-publisher can give you. If you are the kind of writer who wants
to connect with readers, you may want to do an end run around the
very time-intensive and very limited traditional publishing world and
check out the electronic and print self-publishing arena. If you are
the kind of writer who needs the validation of gatekeepers and has
plenty of time to spend chasing down an agent or a publisher, not so
much. Over all, have faith in a bright future!
Links to her author pages at Smashwords and
Amazon:
And links to her Social Media
sites:
Online Book Release Event at Facebook on November
10:
