Snow is falling in Hawaii. Schoolchildren in Michigan, I'm told, have lost in upwards of sixteen days of school because of the frigid temperatures and dangerous driving conditions. Cars are piling up on the freeways in Wisconsin. It would seem global warming is definitely a myth.
Yet, it's 80 degrees and above here. I was sweating today. The mid-summer, sun beating down, no sweet tea to be found kind of perspiring. We truly live in a wacky world these days.
However, there's nothing wacky about our next guest. So, without further reports of treacherous conditions, please welcome Donna L. H. Smith!
Donna, give us a quick picture of yourself.
In fifty words or less, who is Donna L. H. Smith?
Hi, I’m Donna L.H. Smith, and I write inspirational historical
romance western with a touch of the supernatural in my stories. I’m originally
from Kansas, but I live in Pennsylvania now.
Ohhh, you probably like Punxsutawney Phil this year, eh?
Has your writing crossed over into other areas? If so, how? If not, will it?
Oooh, well I’ve had people tell me that I should make Meghan’s Choice into a screenplay. I think I would love that. What you don’t know is that I was a broadcast major (TV, radio, film) in college. I wrote a script for a class midterm that got an A++ — so I think I could have been a good screenplay writer. It just didn’t work out that way.
And, it’s entirely possible that I may write a non-fiction book about rejection issues and how to be healed and delivered from them, that would coincide with those retreats I want to hold.
(I don’t have time to retire. I’m just getting started. I’ve been waiting my whole life for right now.)
Before you ever got a notion of
becoming a writer/author, how old were you, and what were you doing in that
time of your life?
I
never had a notion of becoming a writer until I was in college at ORU in the
70s. I was a broadcast major, and for a midterm, we were to write a script for
an existing half-hour series. I wrote a M*A*S*H script and got an A++. I’ve
been everything from a secretary and word processor, to a marketing assistant/coordinator/consultant
for engineering firms, to a certified balloon artist (decorating for special
events), to a radio reporter, etc.
Radio Reporter? Like Les Nessman? WKRP?
Are you married? Single? Have kids?
Married,
no children. Dog and my Mother for an 11-year overlapping period. That was
enough.
Do you have a
favorite line from a movie or book? If so, what is it and explain why it is
special to you?
“If we don’t try, we don’t do, and if we don’t do—why are we
here on this earth?” Jimmy Stewart in “Shenandoah.”
Sounds a little like Yoda. "Do or do not. There is no try." Hmmm?
Besides
storytelling, what talents do you have?
I’m musical and can play (if I were in practice) four
instruments: piano (which is the only one I’m in practice on right now), flute,
clarinet, and guitar.
I also used to make organic chocolate truffles and sold
them on the Internet some years ago.
I found out as an adult I could actually be fairly decent
at crafts. My mother wasn’t at all, so I grew up not really knowing how to do
much.
Do you have a crazy,
interesting, behind-the-scenes story about the publishing world you’d like to
tell your readers without boring them to death with industry gobbledygook?
Well…at one conference, I did run into the keynote speaker
(without knowing who he was) in the elevator and struck up a conversation with
him, that went like this:
He was wearing a Christian Coalition T-shirt. “Hi, are you
here for the writer’s conference.” He said, “Yes.” I said, “So am I.” We got to
a floor and the elevator doors open. He gestured for me to precede him. I said,
“I think this is your floor.” He smiled
and exited. A little later, I discovered who he was, and I felt really silly.
(Randy Alcorn at ACFW 2017).
Tell us about what
project you are currently working on.
I’m currently working on my third novel in the Known by
Heart series, Hannah’s Hope. It will be
the third installment in this series set in 1871 Kansas.
I’m a pantser who needs to know where her story is going to
end up, but how it gets there is great fun! I never know what’s going to come
out in a scene.
What surprised you
the most during the research for the book you are currently working on?
Most of the research was done before I wrote the first book,
Meghan’s Choice, but I did find that
something I was putting in this story
actually happened. That’s what fun for me. Finding an obscure fact of history
and putting it in my story.
There was competition between millers, and some people’s
mills got torched to eliminate rivalries and ensure the success of one mill
over another. So, I’m putting that in there. I found that fascinating.
I hope none of our readers' last names are Miller... Makes things a little awkward. Everybody will be wondering if their ancestors were guilty of such things. :-/
Knowing what you know
now about writing, publishing, etc., what piece of advice would you give to the
person thinking about writing that novel they have always wanted to pursue
since they were young, or the person who believes they have a non-fiction book
in them that would be helpful to others?
Write it. Get into a writer’s fellowship. Learn the craft.
Decide to persevere, because you never know what God’s going to do.
Boy, I needed that. "You never know what God's going to do." Amen!
If you had one person you could
meet (think ONLY Bible characters here) and could spend as much time as you
wanted with that individual, who would it be besides Jesus?
Deborah.
How’d she do it? How did Lapidoth allow her in that time period to be a
prophetess, judge, and warrior? How did she get that favor to be Israel’s only
female judge? I just love her.
What’s the craziest thing you have
ever done?
I’ve
kissed the Blarney Stone. You have to lean over backwards, then grab the
railing. It was interesting, and very unsanitary now that I think about it.
Millions have probably kissed that thing. Ew.
Why do you live where you live?
I
was born and raised in Kansas, but I live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. I
came because I did a voluntary service term, then stayed. When I was young, I
always fancied myself living in the East, because you had so many different big
cities to choose to visit: Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, NYC, etc.
The
only big city close by (within an half hour of where I grew up) was Wichita.
Kansas City. It was at least three hours away. Oklahoma City about the same. Tulsa was four hours away, etc.
When you look for a new car, what
are the things that are important to you?
Funny
thing. We just got a new car (for us) last fall. The number one thing: it had to
be a Prius, it had to be no more than three years old, and of course, have
“everything.” It didn’t matter this time, what color it was. We ended up with a
silver 2015 Prius C hatchback, and we love it!
When you are looking for a book to
read, what are the things that are important to you?
I
read and write in historical romance western. I look for the romance, I look
for exciting plot, and interesting characters and situations. I especially look
for as much trouble as possible in that back-cover blurb. How much difficulty,
especially danger, will those characters be in?
Beyond
westerns, I love romantic suspense. Same thing here: the danger. And what must
the characters overcome?
Covers
are good, but the blurb is what will really draw me in. I’m rarely
disappointed.
Is
there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about you, or anything
we didn’t cover?
My second novel, Rose’s Redemption, was
just released late last fall. Pre-published, it won two first place
finishes at the Advanced Novelist Retreat contests in 2017. Meghan’s Choice, my debut novel, made
the Selah Award and the Will Rogers Medallion Award finals last year after
publication.
I am a member of ACFW and AWSA Protégé. I serve as managing editor of Almost
an Author and as ACFW Mid-Atlantic zone director.
Donna, it's been a pleasure! We wish you well on your writing endeavors!
And readers, if you're looking to find out more about Donna, here are some places you can go to do just that!
FACEBOOK:
Donna L.H. Smith––Stories Are My Passion and Almost an Author
TWITTER:
@donnalhsmith and @a3writers
AMAZON LINKS
to Meghan’s Choice
In last month’s Part 1 of “May This Blog Haunt You Pleasantly,” I stated how important it is for writers to read about other writers. Whether they were trailblazers or path-wideners, each writer has his or her own story. Being as human as we are, those stories paint for us pictures of triumph and tragedy…two things from which we can learn. 
