Welcome Ramona
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What is your writing schedule like? • I generally begin writing about eleven in the morning. I work until 2:00PM when I break for lunch. I return to work at 3:00 and work until 6:00 or so. |
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What would you say is your interesting writing quirk? • I have trouble turning off my internal editor. I tend to edit as I go, so it takes me a bit longer to finish a rough draft that writers who can ignore that internal editor. |
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How did you come up with your title? • The Time for Healing actually has multiple meanings. My heroine, Ginny Red Fawn McLain is a Shawnee medicine woman. The story opens twelve years after the Pigeon Roost Massacre in southern Indiana where a band of Shawnee warriors killed twenty-three white settlers and took Ginny captive. The title also refers to the emotional healing that needs to occur for Ginny and the hero, Jeremiah Dunbar as well as the Pigeon Roost survivors now living in Underwood, Indiana. |
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Tell us about your hero and heroine. What makes them likeable? • I think Ginny is likeable because she has a good and kind heart, especially a heart for healing people and is doing her best to care for her ailing adoptive mother.
Jeremiah is likeable because he is honest, kindhearted, and desires to bring the good news of Christ’s salvation to those who haven’t heard it. |
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How much of the book is based in real life? The book was inspired by the real life story of the Pigeon Roost Massacre that occurred September 3rd, 1812 in southern Indiana. In the real story a small girl, Ginsey McCoy, was taken by the Shawnee. Many years later her uncle, a Methodist minister turned missionary to the Native American tribes, found her living among the Mississippi River. Upon learning the story my writer’s mind immediately went to “I wonder what would have happened if. . .” Everything else is fiction from my own imagination. |
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What makes this book special to you? I’m a history buff, especially when it comes to the history of my home state of Indiana. I love when I’m able to showcase Hoosier history in my novels. Another thing that makes this book special is that Jeremiah and his family were “supporting” characters in one of my earlier novels, Heart’s Heritage. It was fun to catch up with them and with the heroine of my earlier book. |
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Are plots based on someone you know or events in your own life? No. Since I write historicals my plots are generally inspired by historical places or events. I do sometimes like to choose character names from my own family tree. That’s fun. |
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What books have most influenced your life? • As a Christian the Bible, of course, has most influenced my life. Aside from that, growing up I very much enjoyed the books by the Hoosier author, Gene Stratton Porter. Of her books, Laddie was my favorite. I read a lot of books set in early America. Some of my favorites were the Mark Twain books, David Taylor’s Revolutionary War novels like Mistress of the Forge, Lights Across the Delaware, and Storm the Last Rampart. I loved Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Drums Along the Mohawk by Walter D. Edmonds, and almost anything by Barbara Cartland. As a young adult I read Marblehead by Joan Thompson. It inspired to write my first novel. |
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What makes this a "must read" and why? • Set in the Midwest frontier of the early 19th Century, The Time for Healing has both likeable and believable characters who struggle with trying to navigate a budding romance while dealing with a clash of cultures, their own prejudices, and conflicting life goals. |
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Do you have a person you consider a mentor? Yes. Christian author, Louise M. Gouge has been both a friend and mentor to me for over a decade. |
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What book are you reading now? • Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs |
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What do you do when you're not writing? • I enjoy reading, cooking, gardening, and visiting places of historical interest. |
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What does your family think of your writing? They are proud of my accomplishments. |
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What is your next project? I’m working on another historical romance novel set in 1870 and inspired by the colorful history of my town, Seymour, Indiana. |
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If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book? I think I’d change the first name of one minor character, I won’t say which one. |
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Is there anything you find particularly challenging when it comes to your writing? Writing the first line of a book. The first line is so important and it has to grab the reader. I’ve sometimes pondered for days over that first line. |
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Who is your faviourte author and what is it that really strikes you abou their work? My favorite author is generally the one I’m reading at the moment. I love Liz Curtis Higgs’ vast knowledge of Scottish history, her beautiful descriptive voice and the way she keeps me turning the pages. |
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What is the hardest part about writing? Pushing through when you hit a block—not knowing exactly in which direction to go with the next scene. I’ve learned that the best way to deal with this is to just forge ahead and get something on the page. Anything can be changed later if you have something to work with. |
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Did you learn anything from writing this book? What was it? Yes, I learned a lot about the Shawnee culture. I’m a stickler on getting my facts right and I spent hours and hours studying different aspects of the Shawnee culture. |
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Do you have advice for other writers? 1. Pray for God’s guidance each time you sit down to write. 2. Find a good writing group that includes both amateur and professional writers. 3. Get into a good critique group that includes at least two writers at your level or above. 4. Attend writers’ conferences. 5. Try to write something four to five days a week. 6. Do your research. 7. Study deep POV and write in it. 8. Learn to write good chapter-ending hooks. |
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Do you have anything specific you want to say to readers? • I love and appreciate all my readers more than I can say. I strive with each stroke of the keyboard to give you the best story I possibly can. My prayer is that, through my characters, I touch your hearts with God’s timeless truths. |
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Is there anything you'd like to add? • I am so excited about the release of The Time for Healing and the opportunity to share Ginny Red Fawn’s and Jeremiah’s story with readers of Christian historical romance. |
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How can readers connect with you? to Purchase The Time for Healing https://www.amazon.com/Time-Healing-Ramona-K-Cecil-ebook/dp/B08CMY2CQL
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