Introducing Author Alethea Williams

Today, I’m going to take a break from plugging my own book and talk about someone else’s. In turn, this author has already posted about me and my book on her blog. This is what’s called a blog tour, and it’s a great way for authors to promote their work without leaving their offices.

According to her profile page, (Christine) Alethea Williams grew up in southwest Wyoming. She was an avid reader while living among railroad workers and miners. She took a variety of writing classes where she learned a lot about writing and publishing. She has written monthly newspaper columns, published short stories, and won awards for her writing. Willow Vale is her first novel. She was a past president of Wyoming Writers and now lives in the Northwest with her husband, a rescued senior dog, and an Amazon parrot named Bob.

According to her blog, Willow Vale is a great book for anyone who likes romance and historical fiction. Set in the Wyoming frontier after World War I, it is the story of Francesca Sittoni, an immigrant who is brought to this country against her will by a husband she never loved. She ends up widowed, pregnant, and with a small daughter. Because she’s afraid of being deported to her impoverished country, she answers an ad from Wyoming rancher and former doughboy Kent Reed for a housekeeper and cook. She agrees to spend a year with him but wonders if she is actually a secretly sought mail order bride.

This is the story of two strangers who manage to conquer their demons and create a life together. I haven’t read it yet, but I definitely plan to buy it. It’s available from Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Amazon, and the publisher Jargon Media.

Questions for Alethea Williams

Q. In what town in southwest Wyoming did you grow up? Were your parents railroad workers or miners? What else can you tell me about your childhood?

A. I grew up in Rawlins. My dad held many jobs on the Union Pacific Railroad, so we just kept moving west to towns along the tracks as he got another new position. I may have been the only person in history who had a nun tell her parents to make the child stop reading so much!

Q. What kinds of books have you enjoyed reading?

A. All books. I write historicals, so of course I read novels of any historic period. I read a lot of mysteries and detective fiction, mainstream and literary, Westerns; just about anything, really, whose cover catches my eye.

Q. Did a particular teacher inspire you to make creative writing a career?

A. Not really. The only suggestion I remember was journalism.

Q. Why did you decide to write a historical romance novel that takes place on a ranch in Wyoming after World War I as opposed to one that takes place on a plantation in Louisiana during the Civil War?

A. The advice goes: write what you know.Q. Do you have any plans for future books?

A. I have the first book of what I hope will be a trilogy already written.

Q. In what part of the northwest do you, your husband, dog, and parrot live?

A. We live in the Willamette Valley, (Oregon) about 60 miles from the coast. Although it is always green here, I miss Wyoming vistas.

Q. Is there anything about your writing that hasn’t been revealed before?

A. I do not outline. I compose directly to the computer. It took a while to learn to do that, but now I wouldn’t want to go back.

Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author of We Shall Overcome and How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver