Blog Tour: Hatfield 1677 by Laura C. Rader #blogtour #interview #giveaway #historical #fiction #rabtbooktours @LauraWriter2B @RABTBookTours

Historical Fiction

Date Published: May 21, 2024

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

Colonist Benjamin Waite, a devoted husband, father, and skilled military scout in King Philip’s War, reluctantly obeys orders to guide an attack against a camp of Algonquian Natives.

After the catastrophic event, Benjamin is burdened with guilt and longs for peace. But the Algonquians, led by the revered sachem Ashpelon, retaliate with vengeance upon Ben’s Massachusetts town of Hatfield, capturing over a dozen colonists, including his pregnant wife Martha and their three young daughters.

Hatfield 1677 is a tale of three interwoven yet diverging journeys of strength and survival: Benjamin, driven by love and remorse to rescue his family; Martha, forced into captivity and desperately striving to protect her children; and Ashpelon, willing to risk everything to ensure the safety and freedom of his people.

Based on the lives of the author’s ancestors, this riveting and unforgettable novel gives voice to three vastly different experiences in North America during a time before the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Then, the land was but a wilderness and a battleground; equality was not yet perceived as self-evident; and liberty and happiness were nothing more than dangerous pursuits.

INTERVIEW

Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?

Several. Everyone is the hero of their own story. Love never fails. And America missed an opportunity in the 17th century for European colonists and First Nation People to live harmoniously.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Weaving action and description into dialog.

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

Hatfield 1677 is my first novel, so it will always be my favorite.

If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?

There are three distinct point of view characters, so may I pick three?

Benjamin Waite: Liam Hemsworth or Alex Pettyfer.

Martha Waite: MacKenzie Foy or Sadie Sink

Ashpelon: William J. Finley or Jerry Wolf.

When did you begin writing?

When I was a child. In third grade, I wrote a three-page report on Mexico from the first person point of view of a young Mexican boy. In sixth grade, I wrote a 30-page short story with dual points of view, a hunter and a mountain lion. In seventh grade, I won the local newspaper’s Halloween short story contest. In college, I wrote lots of short stories for creative writing classes, and then I taught writing for 32 years. I started writing Hatfield 1677 in 1995, then set it aside for 25 years and came back to it in 2020. It’s my first novel-length work.

How long did it take to complete your first book?

I found the inspiration for Hatfield 1677 in 1995. But I really began the novel in the summer of 2020, and finished the final revision in the summer of 2023. So, three years.

Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?

I read widely as a child, mostly Victorian authors for some reason, and I think that might be why I write historical fiction. My work has influences from those authors: C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, Anna Sewall, and Louisa May Alcott, to name a few.

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

Research and the first draft.

Describe your latest book in 4 words.

Love and courage prevail.

Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?

I’ve just finished a second historical novel, Echoes, based on the life of Paul Tietjens, who composed the score for the 1903 Broadway Musical of The Wizard of Oz.

About the Author

Laura C. Rader earned a BA in psychology from San Diego State University, where she minored in history and took creative writing and literature classes. She drew on those passions in her thirty-year career as a history and English teacher of elementary and middle school students. Now, a full-time historical fiction writer, Laura also enjoys studying genealogy, attending neighborhood book club meetings, taking forest walks with her Rough Collie, and visiting her adult daughter in Brooklyn. Originally from California, Laura lives twenty miles north of Raleigh, North Carolina. Hatfield 1677 is a work of historical fiction inspired by a story Laura discovered about her ninth great-grandparents while researching her family’s genealogy.

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