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It is my true pleasure to welcome Amanda Cabot to the podcast this week. She’s a returning guest, but she has a new book out, After the Shadows, and it’s the first book in a new series, “Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing.” She once again has created this lovely fictional town, and she shares with us the story behind the house on the book’s cover, we talk about all the ways you can pronounce Cabot, and what her most memorable trip was. For my patrons, you get to hear about her brief stint (and mine) as a playwright.
After the Shadows by Amanda Cabot
A brighter future awaits–if she can escape the shadows of the past
Emily Leland sheds no tears when her abusive husband is killed in a bar fight, but what awaits her back home in Sweetwater Crossing is far from the welcome and comfort she expected. First she discovers her father has died under mysterious circumstances. Then the house where the new schoolteacher and his son are supposed to board burns, leaving them homeless. When Emily proposes turning the family home into a boardinghouse, her sister is so incensed that she leaves town.
Alone and broke, her family name sullied by controversy, Emily is determined to solve the mystery of her father’s death–and to aid Craig Ferguson, despite her fears of men. The widowed schoolmaster proves to be a devoted father, an innovative teacher, and an unexpected ally. Together they must work to unmask a killer and escape the shadows of their own pasts in order to forge a brighter future.
Bestselling author Amanda Cabot transports you to 1880s Texas Hill Country for a brand-new series that will have you flipping pages to solve the mystery and get to the happily-ever-after you long for.
Get your copy of After the Shadows by Amanda Cabot.
Meet Amanda
I agree with Thomas Jefferson when he said, “I cannot live without books.” Some of my earliest memories are of my parents reading books to me or — in the case of my father — telling stories he made up. And even when they weren’t reading to me, my parents could often be found, book in hand. Is it any wonder I decided to teach myself to read? Once I did learn, it was hard to find me without a book. My husband will tell you that that’s still the case.
At least in my mind, it’s only a small step from being an avid reader to wanting to be an author. From the time I was seven, I was convinced I should be a writer. The type of writing varied with the seasons. For a few months I fancied myself a playwright. Fortunately the teachers in my elementary school indulged me, and my class produced my two plays: “All About Thermometers” and “Hawaii.” Neither, I am happy to report, made its way to Broadway.
There was a brief time when I aspired to be a newspaper reporter, but that was soon eclipsed by my determination to be a novelist. All the while, though, I knew that writing was not the easiest way to earn a living, and so it was always going to be a second career. That’s why I went to college and majored in French, fully intending to teach at the university level. When I graduated, I married my high school sweetheart and took a “temporary” job as a computer programmer. Although it hadn’t been part of my plan, that turned into a permanent career in Information Technology.
Along the way, I’ve had a chance to do a lot of writing, including four technical books and what I describe as “enough technical articles to cure insomnia in a medium-sized city.” (My budgets were also considered to be works of fiction.) Now, though, I’m able to write full time, and for the first time, all I’m writing is fiction.
No doubt about it, I’ve been blessed. I had parents who nurtured my love of reading and have a husband who’s not just my best friend but who’s driven tens of thousands of miles to help me research books and who, after all these years, still hasn’t lost his sense of humor, even when dinner is late because I have “just one more scene” to write.
When people ask why I write, the answer is simple: it’s part of who I am and who I was meant to be. I truly believe this is God’s plan for me, and that’s why it is my fervent prayer that my books will touch my readers’ hearts and strengthen their faith in Him.