Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Sandra McGregor. Tell us, Sandy, what inspired you to write your book When Truth Takes Flight?
Hi, thanks for inviting me. The story behind this book hits very close to home. My husband was told by his mother all his life that his father was deceased and that talking about him upset her, so he learned to never ask questions. At 21 when he was ready to get married, his mother told him that he’d have to legally change his name. What?!! Years later he was able to find his father and had a chance to get to know him, but he’d lost a lot of years and then had to work on forgiving his mother a lifetime of lies.
How do you use setting to further your story?
Answer: When writing historical romance (set in the US 1930s & 1940s) I spend a LOT of time researching so that the setting is authentic. For instance, Los Angeles doesn’t have a subway system today, but it did decades ago. Then I try to give enough detail to make the reader “feel” and understand what it’s like. I also like to have the characters doing “normal” things—like shopping for food—and use that situation to let the reader know what things cost back in the era of the story. Correct details are vital.
Tell us something about yourself we might not expect!
I’m a very young-thinking and acting great-grandmother who has retired from public service after 32 years and firmly believe that as we get older, we need to continue to try new things. Otherwise, we’ll get older much faster and at the end of the race, we’ll realize we didn’t have nearly as much fun as we could have. Consequently, hubby and I travel—a lot, volunteer at the local police department, teach CPR, and I do voice-over commercials.
To you, what makes a great romance hero or heroine?
Answer: The hero and heroine must be believable so that the reader can relate to them. They must have a flaw or two to overcome, even if, in the case of this story, the biggest flaw of the hero is his loyalty to someone who puts him in the situation of having to lie to the woman he’s beginning to care about in order to fulfill a promise.
If you could live during any era of history, which one would you choose?
1945 - Right after WWII. This generation—men, women, and even movie stars—rose to the occasion to help stop a dictator from taking over Europe and to respond to Japan’s bombing of our battleships at Pearl Harbor. With everyone back home in 1945, the economy was soon booming, and the US was filled with patriotic people who wanted nothing more than to work hard to provide for their families and have a good life.
When you’re brainstorming for a new story, what usually comes first for you, the plot or the characters?
I start with a story idea...or maybe a setting, such as the 1939 NY World’s Fair, or 1940s Los Angeles and a basic theme, such as misplaced trust, how lies can come back to bite you, second chance at love, etc. Then I start researching and gradually the characters and what personalities I need to give them in order to tell the story...who they need to be to face the challenges of that era and the specific challenges I plan to give them. Of course, they sometimes take over and tell a slightly different story than I originally planned, but that’s the fun of writing.
Give us a brief summary of When Truth Takes Flight:
WWI is over and light is starting to shine at the end of the depression when newly graduated aeronautic engineer John Staples stops in New York for a quick visit with his ex-stepfather who generously paid for his university education. Unfortunately, the mafia don has a small favor to ask of John in return—keep an eye on his daughter and report back if she’s ever in need of anything.Hannah Montgomery works at Paramount Studios doing hair and make-up for movie extras and nights managing the boarding house after her mother is killed by a taxi. Having never known the father her mother claimed died in the line of duty as a police officer, she is now truly alone.
What starts out as a room for rent in the boarding house, and an innocent arrangement for cooked meals, soon turns into something John never expects—love. But the web of lies and withheld truth to maintain the don's secrecy has him caught in the middle, and he fears their budding relationship might not survive the truth.
Bio:
Sandra McGregor was challenged by her husband in 2001 to not wait until retirement in 2005 to start writing the books he had been hearing about from the beginning of their marriage decades earlier. Picking up the gantlet he threw down, she spent the next eight years honing her craft before publishing. Sandra currently has sixteen novels and two short-stories published with another 1940’s historical romance due to launch later this year and her twentieth is due out in early 2019.
She now lives in South Georgia with her husband and cat and enjoys reading, writing and traveling. Check her site at http://www.SandraMcGregor.com to see what’s new!
