Interview with novelist Charlotte Whitney

Today’s special guest author is novelist Charlotte Whitney. We’re chatting about her new mystery, The Unveiling of Polly Forrest.

During her virtual book tour, Charlotte will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Charlotte Whitney is the author of historical fiction set during the Great Depression in the rural Midwest. Her most recent work, The Unveiling of Polly Forrest, a stand-alone historical mystery follows her groundbreaking novel, Threads A Depression-Era Tale, which was met with both critical acclaim and commercial success. She received a master’s degree in English at the University of Michigan, and after a short stint of teaching at two community colleges, worked at the University of Michigan where she was an associate director of the Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts. Currently living in Arizona with her husband and two dogs she enjoys hiking, bicycling, swimming, and yoga.

Welcome, Charlotte. Please tell us a little bit about your new release.
Rural Michigan, 1934.

During the throes of the Great Depression Polly marries for money. After her husband Sam dies in a bizarre farm accident, new bride Polly assumes she is set to pursue her dream of opening a hat-making business. Instead, she becomes the prime suspect in Sam’s murder. Secrets abound and even Polly’s family can’t figure out the truth.

Excerpt from The Unveiling of Polly Forrest:
Reverend Wesley Johnson

Sunday, June 24, 1934

This morning, finding myself at the pulpit I looked down at the congregation, I no longer felt rancor about our family’s current situation. I told Willard’s story veiled in anonymity, his mother being too ill to attend church, anyway. I mentioned the problems in my own family and the unknowns we are facing. Somewhere in the sermon I recited the list of sick members and the fact that right now almost all of us were facing challenges we’d never anticipated.

I remarked how we all wanted to be facing decisions about whether to electrify our houses and put in an indoor bathroom. Instead, we were facing decisions about how long we could hold on, and whether we’d lose our crops if rain didn’t come, what we’d eat this winter if our gardens didn’t produce and what we’d do if we lost our farms. I don’t think anyone expected me to be this specific about our collective worries.

“Lord, lift these worries from us. Lift them high above us. Lord, lift these worries from us.”

Next I asked everyone to take a minute and count their blessings.

“Instead of focusing on what we don’t have this morning, think about what we do have and be thankful. What are you happy about today?”

“I need an hour,” my friend John Newson piped up. Everyone laughed.

By the time we started our last hymn, “Joyful, Joyful,” there was a smile on every face, including mine.

Tell us about a secondary character and who inspired him/her.
There’s a character in my latest historical mystery, The Unveiling of Polly Forrest, named Viola Cross. In general, she’s a busybody, always listening in on the eight-party line that Polly and Sarah shared with other neighbors. When she wasn’t listening in, she tied up the phone in long conversations. My real-life inspiration for this character was a neighbor when I was a kid, who was on the eight-party line most of the time. She was a good person at heart but as a kid all I could see was an old lady who was the first to call my parents if anyone had died. She loved to talk for hours on the phone, and my mother, trying to be polite, would listen to her for long patches, then complain to us how long she talked. (My mother needed some assertive-skills training back then.)  I went off to college and never knew when this older neighbor passed. Now as an adult I understand and have compassion for this woman and wrote Viola Cross’s character as sympathetic in the end. You’ll have to read the book to find out how Viola saves the day.

What do you do to handle the stressful parts of being an author?
After my first book was published, I was invited to be on a panel for the Today in New York show. It was at NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Center. I was panicked! My friends gave me all kinds of advice. Imagine all the viewers are in their underwear. In your mind’s eye shrink all the fellow panelists down to the size of insects. Wear a bright red power suit. In the end what I did was bring along my six-year-old son. It turned out to be an excellent idea. Before we got to the studio he needed a restroom. Then he was hungry. When I finally checked in with NBC he accompanied me to the Green Room and got pampered by the interns. So, I simply didn’t have time to be nervous or feel stressed; I spent all my time taking care of my son.

Have you ever had an imaginary friend?
No, but I always wanted one. Living on a farm was a solitary experience and I became a bookworm and found dozens, maybe hundreds of book friends. So when I wrote Threads: A Depression Era Tale I created an imaginary friend for Nellie, who was seven years old. Her friend was ZeeZee, a little boy from outer space who took flew her up to the tops of trees where she could see the birds up close and all that was happening down below. Like Superman, ZeeZee helped out folks in trouble, and, just like Nellie, could communicate with all kinds of animals. ZeeZee was a kind and generous boy, who disappeared when Nellie grew older. As an adult Nellie drew inspiration from him and even included him in some of her books. I must admit, I made Nellie an author when she grew up. I just couldn’t help it.

Do you read your stories out loud?
I have my computer read them aloud to me. It’s an excellent method of proofreading for dropped words, incorrect tenses, and poor grammar. On my computer I select the Review tab in Word and then hit “Read Aloud.” It’s a great tool for spotting errors that you might otherwise miss.

Links:
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