inspirational historical romance

Welcome to Novel PASTimes, James Cooper! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Tell us something about where you live:

Right now, I live in Stone Creek, a small backwater town. I mean, would you believe my boss at the paper wants me to report on a fox getting into a chicken coop? He’d probably love for me to write a story about a cow wandering off a farm too. The town needs more interesting news than that. Anyway, the people are nice enough. We have a newer pharmacy where they actually carry items like aspirin. And we have our own paper, The Stone Creek Herald.

I prefer the faster pace of our state capital, Lansing, where I worked the last couple of years at a bureau of the Detroit Free Press. By the way, Detroit is where I grew up.

What do you do for a living? And what are your ambitions for your career?

For too long it seemed I was a lowly copywriter at the Herald, but I jumped at the chance to do some cub reporting at the Lansing bureau of the Free Press. When I heard there was an opening for a reporter at the Herald I had some hopes that eventually I could become the editor, but then I got off on the wrong foot with Clem Montgomery, the owner’s son.

I was hoping when he moved onto another of his father’s businesses, I’d slip into the spot. But that obnoxious gum-chewing so-and-so has it in for me right now. And that won’t help me look like editor material in his father’s eyes.

What happened to cause this rift between you two?

He isn’t too happy with how I reported the suspected arson at Hope’s Place, the unwed mothers’ home. Now I must apologize to the local pastor, Reverend McCormick. I’m not sure why the people of Stone Creek can’t accept honesty better, but I’ve been warned to take a lighter tack.

What’s your family like? Do you have brothers and sisters?

I’m an only child. I was raised by my Aunt Phoebe, who was my mother’s best friend. The odd thing is that I always felt more at home with her than with my birth parents.

She is quite eccentric. I didn’t have many friends growing up. The other boys’ parents warned their sons about hanging out with the kid who lived with “that Vaudevillian entertainer.” Not everyone’s mom sings and dances around the house.

I heard you were sweet on Nora Armstrong. Are you planning on wooing her anytime soon?

Huh! Like that will ever happen. She’s a lovely girl… and I think she used to be sweet on me too… but she’s been keeping me at arm’s length. I just wish I knew why. And her Aunt Gert and Uncle Edmund, who she lives with, don’t want her to have anything to do with a lowly newspaperman.

Oh, and since Phoebe came to Stone Creek to visit, they’re even less likely to allow her to be in my orbit. Her being a former entertainer and all.

But what if that changed?

Well, I do admire Nora. She’s grown more beautiful in my absence, and I’d really like to renew our acquaintance. She rebuffed me the first time she saw me back in town in the aftermath of the fire.

You wouldn’t believe how mean her aunt is to her, and her uncle is such a milk toast. Yet, she remains kind to them and to others. I think it has something to do with her faith… which I don’t share. That’s another thing that comes between us.

I’m a man of science and letters of course. It has to be logical to me. And how she endures them, well that’s not logical!

What are your hopes for the future?

Please don’t tell Nora, but if I were being honest, I wish my future could include her, but I don’t see how. There are just too many things keeping us apart.

Eventually I guess I’ll need to move on and find another paper where I can become the editor. Shoot! I’d like to start my own newspaper if I had the means. Then I could cover the news I think is important that helps protect the people, warn them of the evil around them, and I could make sure it gets reported properly.

I sure would miss Nora, but I don’t think I can stay around and watch her marry some fop her aunt picks out for her.

You’d give up that easily?

Of course not! I haven’t yet. I’m doing my best to show her kindness when I get the chance, which unfortunately isn’t often enough. I suppose I should remedy that somehow.

On that note, James, I want to say thank you for coming by Novel PASTimes and sharing with us about your life today. I wish you all the best with Nora.

Kathleen Rouser is a multi-published, award-winning author of historical and contemporary Christian romance. She is a longtime member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Faith, Hope and Love Christian Writers. She resides in southeast Michigan, a location which she often uses in her novels, with her hero and husband of forty-some years and two sweet cats who found a home in their empty nest. 

Find out more about Kathleen at her website.

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Dr. Carlisle, would you prefer I call you “Doctor” or something else?

Oh, I’m Dr. Carlisle in the office, but I’m Libby to my friends, and Cactus Creek is so friendly that I have a number of friends after only a week.

If you don’t mind, I will call you Libby then. Libby, what made you decide to leave your father’s thriving practice in Indiana?

My father is a well-known physician in Muncy, Indiana, and when I tried going into practice with him like he wanted, most of the patients preferred a man and asked for my father. Then my mother decided I should be married and have a family instead of trying to be like my father. She even had an older friend of the family picked out for me to marry. When I saw the ad in our city newspaper, I hopped all over it like the frogs in our garden pond. I wanted to prove to my parents that I am a good doctor and can make it on my own.

How was your journey?

I came by train and had to stop over for several hours in St. Louis. The trip gave me the opportunity to meet people and see parts of the country I’d never see otherwise. Even though I traveled in the middle of July, and it took me nearly five days, I loved every minute of the adventure. My clothes suffered a little as did my energy, but I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Well, I must say, I’m glad you arrived safely at your destination after such a trip. What do you think of Cactus Creek and its people?

At first the town utterly dismayed me by its size, but the hills in distance and the groves of trees gave it a beautiful backdrop. I had to laugh because the good people of Cactus Creek called them mountains, but they were nothing like the mountains I’d ever seen. I expected a lot of cactus and dry land with that name, but very few cactus plants grow anywhere. I learned that the people who settled here came expecting a desert and lots of cacti. That’s the name they decided to give it. My hometown isn’t that large, but we have electricity and motor cars, and many more people, so I’m adjusting to small town life, and I think I like it.

Cactus Creek is a prickly sounding name for sure. I think I would definitely miss electricity and motor cars if I were in your shoes. How have you settled in there?

After the wonderful people of the town helped me clean up the clinic and get it ready, I moved into the upstairs rooms where the former doctor lived. I will say this. Dr. Forrest must have been an excellent doctor because the equipment left behind after he died is some of the best I’ve seen. He was up to date with everything. I thought I might have a little problem with the town accepting me as both the new doctor and a woman, but it hasn’t been like that. They all wanted a doctor after being without one for five months.

That must have been a relief for you!

You seem like an eligible young lady. Are you looking for a husband any time soon? Why? Or why not?

I didn’t come to Texas to get married. I came to be a doctor, and until I find a man who is willing to let me be both a wife and a doctor, I prefer to remain single. Of course, I would love a home and a family, but I see that as far down the line in my future.

I heard that Deputy Sheriff Garrett Lofton may have taken a shine to you. How do you feel about that?

Oh mercy, my cheeks are getting warm. That is the most handsome man I’ve ever met, but he’s a little ornery and stubborn, and he teases me something terrible. However, he’s been very nice and showed me the way out to some of the people who live on ranches and farms outside the town. He even arranged for me to have a buggy available at the livery for when I needed to make those trips. I suppose if I were looking for a man right now, Garrett Lofton might be the one to interest me. I fooled him one time. He thought he was going to teach me to ride, but I already knew how. I took lessons when I was a young girl and rode with my father a lot. I learned side saddle, but it didn’t take long for me to catch onto riding astride, and I must say I do love it.

About the Author:

Martha Rogers is a multi-published author and writes a weekly devotional for ACFW. Martha and her husband Rex live in Houston, Texas where they are active members of First Baptist Church. They are the parents of three sons and grandparents to eleven grandchildren and great-grandparents to five. Martha is a retired teacher with twenty-eight years teaching Home Economics and English at the secondary level and eight years at the college level supervising student teachers and teaching freshman English. She is the Director of the Texas Christian Writers Conference held in Houston in August each year, a member of ACFW, ACFW WOTS chapter in Houston, and a member of the writers’ group, Inspirational Writers Alive.

Find Martha at: www.marthawrogers.com, http://www.hhhistory.com Twitter: @martharogers2 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarthaRogersAuthor