Tuesday Promotion in Motion: The Seekers, by the Cuffe Sisters

I had the great pleasure of cyber-meeting Sadie and Sophie Cuffe recently during a Clash of the Titles event not soon to be forgotten. They’re neat ladies, and great songstresses, too – go on , ask them to sing!

I am also delighted to introduce their book, The Seekers, historical fiction. Take away, ladies!

About the Book:

THE SEEKERS

You don’t say no to the President of the United  States, even if it means saying no to your heart, but when Captain Lawrence Wainwright gets sucked into Civil War espionage, can he save his future wife without blowing his cover and getting them both killed?

Union Cavalry Captain Lawrence Wainwright has one goal: to make sure his horse survives the war. But when he becomes President Lincoln’s spy, Lawrence assumes the identity of a slow-witted boy/man, and suddenly he’s undercover protector to an aging slave and his two young grandchildren, and to Rachel, a stubborn Yankee woman on a mission of her own.

As Lawrence and Rachel get entangled in the subterfuge of Confederate secrets and double crosses, the safe circle surrounding them shrinks with each passing hour. In a deadly game where no one is who they seem, and even brothers turn against one another, Lawrence chafes at his alter ego. He longs to come out swinging and be himself. Rachel steals his heart, but, if she discovers his true identity, it just might get them all killed.

dbp:
http://tinyurl.com/csyxgfh

amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/d2v6x23

B&N:
http://tinyurl.com/9v7ut5a

What do you love about this book?

As you may already know, The Seekers takes place during the American Civil War, and Sadie has a thing about writing a Civil War novel. But unhealthy obsessions aside, the things we love most are the characters in this story. They represent what’s real and vital in all of us: our pride, our faith, our passion, our loyalties, our conflicts, and our stupidities. They have their moments of humor and failure, but they also possess the ordinary quality of someone who moves in next door and, the instant you meet them, you connect and know you’ll be lifelong friends. That may sound rather stupid or ethereal, considering they’re made up of pixels and characters (no pun intended) on a monitor screen, but in the Cuffe sisters’ unofficial (and sometimes wanky) rules of writing, if our characters don’t make us cry, we haven’t done our job in telling their story.

What’s the main thing you learned during the process of writing and publishing this book?

We learned writing a historical novel is fun, in terms of getting sucked into a different era and discovering tons of facts, trivia, weird trends, and cool expressions. We read actual personal accounts written during the war and tried to keep it true to the mores of the times, and that meant steering clear of any anachronistic expressions and references. We also discovered, in this genre, it’s deadly to assume your research is ever complete. Our editors required us to document details on everything from carriage wheel height to the use of the word ‘reticule.’ Since our readers always possess more wisdom than both of us put together, we’re glad for the meticulous edit (and if we messed up any detail, it’s totally our fault!), but it did teach us that historical novel writing is much more involved and time consuming than its contemporary counterpart (in our opinion). Since this was book two of a trilogy, the publishing aspect was already in place, so we didn’t have to go through the process of pitching it to our agent so he could pitch it to a publisher.

What should your readers discover and want to share with their family and friends after reading this book?

We hope they’ll discover the fact that ordinary is extraordinary. The daily aspects of our lives, the little heart parts that make us individuals — our personal perspectives, rural heritage, commitment to faith, loyalty to family (whatever makes you YOU) — are what make each of us wonderful and make our lives a blessing to others. Many of us may think of ourselves as ordinary, but we’re all “ordinary heroes” to someone in our lives. Knowing this can strengthen our confidence and faith in God’s plan for us, and empower us to do things we never thought possible. Everyone’s personal potential is endless. We don’t say so – God does.

A little about us:

As a sibling writing team we bring the strength of a living sisterhood to our work, as well as the spice of differing perspectives on everything from Type-A tendencies (Sophie), to downshifting on curves (Sadie). Our father became a pastor of small rural churches when we were halfway through our childhood, so we know both sides of the PK issue–a unique position which translates into an ability to connect with all ages and personalities. Through years of Bible study, interaction and teaching of youth, seniors, and women’s groups, we identify with our audience because we’re one of them.

Our dad (who was also our pastor) died suddenly in 2008, teaching us the value of time, the preciousness of senior friends, and the power of a graceful Christian example. Since his passing, we’ve been on a steep learning curve in the church, our writing, and our life as adult children that centers around prayer and the challenge of Philippians 4:11-13.

We’ve got rural roots that go deep, which gives our writing a clear friend-to-friend, down-to-earth style. In addition to freelance writing, we run a small farm in Maine’s UnorganizedTerritory.  We bring Jane-of-all-trades life experiences to our work, and believe God’s given us this background to write squarely to the heart of real women who don’t always wear a size 2, and who prefer boots to high heels. If you want to “talk shop” about family, rural life, livestock, music, God, house construction, or girl stuff, we’re ready.  We believe with God anything is possible; and that some of the best stories aren’t hatched in creative writing class, they’re composed on the seat of a tractor.

We hope you’ll visit us at
http://www.cuffesisters.com/
and check out our blog “Off the Cuffe,” our author interviews “Complimentary Cuffes,” and our books “Cuffe Works.”

About these ads