Interview with Author Miralee Ferrell

Today, I’m thrilled to have Miralee Ferrell, author of the historical romance, Love Finds You in Last Chance, California, visiting with me here at Favorite PASTimes. Miralee Ferrell lives with Allen, her husband of nearly 37 yrs in Washington state, in a rural area. Miralee enjoys spending time in her flower beds, garden, and riding her horse with her daughter Marnee on nearby trails. She and Allen hope to take off on their sailboat in the next couple of years and do some offshore sailing, where she'll probably come up with more book ideas. She's also actively involved in women's ministry and teaching/counseling with women at her local church.

All writers have a story about how they got started. I’d love to hear how you got into writing.

I've had people over the years suggest I do some writing, but never took it seriously until Feb., 2005. I went forward at the end of an evening church service with a special speaker. He prayed for each person individually and started to pray for me, then stopped and spoke to me instead. He said that the Lord impressed him that I need to be writing…he didn’t know what type, but felt strongly that it needed to be published. That was it. Short and to the point, but it impacted me in a huge way. I spent two weeks praying about it and decided to be obedient and begin writing. I spent a few weeks writing a 100,000 word auto-biography covering the time my husband and I met one another to the present. It wasn’t meant for publication, but for family, although I infused a lot of spiritual applications throughout and someday might consider revising for possible publication. Afterwards I went on to short stories, then wrote The Other Daughter, which was contracted a year later with Kregel.

I noticed on your blog that you’re a big fan of historical fiction, yet your first book release was a contemporary woman’s fiction. How did that happen?

A friend that also happens to be a writer, suggested I consider writing Christian fiction and I didn't have a clue what to write about. The creative side of my brain hadn't been used in years, and I couldn't conceive of coming up with an idea for a novel. She told me to "write what I know" and we brainstormed a bit about my life experiences. I remembered a rather shocking letter we got about 18 yrs ago, when an 18 yr old girl wrote to my husband stating he was her father. That blew both of us out of the water! We investigated and believed her claim, as my husband had been with her mom one time prior to meeting me, and prior to becoming a Christian, then never saw her again (her family moved out of the area). I took that story idea and changed it to a 13 yr old girl who's mother is dead and needs a place to stay, so she seeks out her bio-dad. By the way, in case your readers are interested, we followed through with the girl who sent the letter, got acquainted, led her to the Lord and her three kids are now our grandkids.

You’re published in both contemporary and historical fiction. Which one do you feel is a better fit? How did you come to that realization?

It's funny....because I have another contemporary releasing in Jan. next year--the sequel to The Other Daughter, but I'm also working on another historical right now for Summerside. I'm leaning towards going the historical route for the long term. I need to finish out my commitment to Kregel, so I'll have one more book in the set of three that are all contemporary, then I'm turning my attention back to the old west. (Unless some publisher wants a contemporary, and I'm game!)

Your historical release is through a relatively new publisher, Summerside Press in their new Love Finds You series. Could you give our readers some hints on writing a successful proposal for Summerside Press?

Summerside wants unique stories set in real towns with quirky names that fit into the romance genre. The characters need to be very real, the story line intriguing, and the setting should be almost a character of its own. They want a small town feeling (think Mayberry or Mitford) so you come away feeling like you've visited the area when you finish the book, and the characters stay with you.

Alexia Travers, your heroine in Love Finds You in Last Chance, California is loosely based on the life of Kittie Wilkins, a woman who ran one of the largest horse ranches in her time. How did you come across her story and what made her so fascinating to you?

I was researching women from the old west, trying to see if there was a woman who was successful in running a ranch, and found Kittie's story. Her father started and ran the ranch until she grew up, then she took over (even tho she had two brothers). I was originally going to write the story (prior to being contracted by Summerside for a romance) as women's historical fiction, and kill off the heroine's fiance right at the first. Kittie lost her fiance in a gun battle, apparently, and I was going to follow the same pattern, but fictionalize it. My mother threw a fit, LOL! She hates books that kill off the good guy, even if it's at the front of the book. Shortly after that, Summerside contacted me about writing for them, and I pitched the idea (minus the death) and instead of being set in Idaho where Kittie lived, we set it in Last Chance, CA. As I wrote the story, I pulled totally away from anything that resembled Kittie's life story, and made it Alexia's... there really are NO details in the book from Kittie's life, other than the two women both ran a horse ranch in the old west.

You also mention in the acknowledgements of your book that some of Alexia’s qualities reminded you of your own daughter, Marnee. Is this a case of writing what you know?

Come back tomorrow for the continuation of my interview with Miralee and remember to leave a post in order to be put in a drawing for a copy of her latest book, Love Finds You in Last Chance, California. And for more information about Miralee and her books please visit her on at www.miraleeferrell.com