Once again, I’m excited to welcome another author with a book that is going onto my to be read pile. This week, it’s Rebecca De Marino with the intriguing story about her family that inspired her latest release, To Capture Her Heart. And, if you get here before midnight on July 22nd, scroll all the way down for a link to her giveaway. You could win a copy of To Capture Her Heart (lucky you!)

1. What made you want to write about your 9^th great-grandparents?

I grew up hearing stories from my mom about our ancestors who came from England on a little ship called The Swallow. These stories had been handed down from generation to generation, but she never had a clear idea of where the settled in New England. When we found that there was a lighthouse named after him on Long Island, I took her out to see it. What we found there was amazing. My 9^th g-grandfather’s grave is covered by a blue slate and the epitaph he is said to have written is still legible. There was so much information about him at the library and the historical society. I discovered he was a widower when he married my 9^th g-grandmother with two small boys. In a few short years, they had left family behind and sailed for the New World. He was a baker and became a magistrate of Southold. But there was little known about Mary beyond the date she married Barnabas. I went home and a story began to jumble around in my brain. I knew I wanted to give Mary a voice.

2.  Does your family have an extensive genealogy that they’ve had done?

My brother became interested in genealogy in the 1990’s and that is what led to the discovery of the lighthouse on Long Island. It was commissioned by George Washington in the 1700’s and built in the 1800’s on land that used to belong to Barnabas and Mary Horton. Since then I’ve been able to trace our Horton ancestry back to the 1200’s in England. And recently I’ve traced my father’s side, the Worley’s, to the 1600’s in England. My 7^th g-grandfather, Francis Worley, came over in the 1680’s as a young boy on one of the William Penn ships and grew up to be a surveyor in Pennsylvania. Exciting stuff and maybe another series, lol!

3.  The 17^th century isn’t a time period that’s written about much. What intrigues you most about that era?

The exploration of the unknown and the harsh conditions people endured to stay true to their beliefs and reach for their dream. They left families behind and put their faith in God. It makes some of the minor inconveniences I endure today seem so small. And yet I’m also intrigued by how we still face some of the same issues in love and life. It is why writing inspirational historical fiction can relate so easily to our lives today. And God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

4. Tell us a little about your heroine, Heather Flower.

She is a strong woman who in the eyes of the European immigrants is a princess because she is the daughter of the Grand Sachem of Montauk. I first discovered information about her when I was researching my first book in the series, A Place in His Heart. I loved what I’d found, and wanted to use her in the first book, but it didn’t fit—it was the wrong decade. So with book #2 I decided to take the Horton’s up a decade. Barnabas’s two little boys are all grown up. The Horton’s and Southold, the town they helped found, is still the backdrop. But Heather Flower is my beautiful heroine!

5. What was the most difficult part about taking a true story and turning it into fiction?

The contradictions I found in my research and the fact that at least half of what I find is unsubstantiated and can’t be. So the hard part is deciding what to use. But it also can be an advantage. I did uncover court documents about one of my characters, Johnny Young, that made such an interesting turn in the story. So I keep the known facts in place, use the legends and lore as I see fit, and fill in the rest with imagination! It’s really quite fun!

6. Spoken like a true history buff! What’s up next for you?

I just turned in book #3 in The Southold Chronicles. It’s called To Follow Her Heart and is Patience’s story, who is one of my fictitious characters from book #1. She came over on the ship with Mary and Barnabas. Right now I’m in the middle of edits and I’m loving this story!

Thank you so very much for this fun interview! I loved your questions!

And we enjoyed having you, Rebecca! Here’s the link for the giveaway:

http://www.rebeccademarino.com/lets-celebrate-to-capture-her-heart-with-a-giveaway/

A little more about her:

Rebecca DeMarino writes love, legends and lore as a historical romance author and lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She inherited her love of baking and gardening from her mother, a love of horses, reading and writing from her dad, and the wanderlust gene from both parents. Her travels have taken her from Alaska to Nebraska and Florida, from Long Island to England and Italy, and from Washington DC to Texas, California and Guam. But usually you can find her at home, enjoying her grandchildren and baking crisp little ginger cakes. From Publisher’s Weekly ~ DeMarino’s … strong suit is recreating history and relating it to readers.