Hello Amanda & thank you for hosting this week! To start, can you please tell us a little about yourself and your novel?
Thanks for having me!
I’m an author and infection prevention nurse. My first novel, BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY, came out last year. My second, THE UNDERTAKER’S ASSISTANT, released a few months ago. I grew up in Colorado but now live in Las Vegas, NV with my husband and our pet turtle, Lenore.
This week I want to chat with you about BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY. The book explores the tragic intersection between white and Native American culture, seen through the eyes of a young girl who learns about friendship, betrayal, and the sacrifices made in the name of belonging.
It begins on a quiet morning in 1906 when a newspaper headline catapults Alma Mitchell back to her past. A federal agent is dead, and the murder suspect is Alma’s childhood friend, Harry Muskrat. Harry—or Asku, as Alma knew him—was the most promising student at the “savage-taming” boarding school run by her father, where Alma was the only white pupil. Created in the wake of the Indian Wars, the Stover School was intended to assimilate the children of neighboring reservations. Instead, it robbed them of everything they’d known—language, customs, even their names—and left a heartbreaking legacy in its wake.
How were you inspired to write Between Earth and Sky?
My favorite story as a child was NAYA NUKI by Kenneth Thomasma about a young Shoshone girl. I must have read it five times—and for someone who struggled with reading, that’s a lot. That was the start of an enduring love of Native American history and culture. The idea for this particular story took shape at the Lac de Flambeau Casino in Wisconsin. In the back, away from the cigarette smoke and chiming slot machines, hung several black-and-white pictures of Native American children in military garb. Boarding school students, my mother-in-law told me. I’d never heard of these schools and the children taken from their reservations to attend. The more I researched, the more engrossed in these children’s stories I became. Some went on to achieve the white man’s standard of success. Some returned to their homes on the reservation and became leaders of their people. Some never fit in either world. But all had been robbed of part of their cultural selves. In writing BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY, I wanted to share a part of these stories that seemed absent from the history books.
Can you give us insight into your writing process?
I start with several months of research to get a sense of the era and specific events I’m writing about. I’m also looking for voice during my research—how people of that period expressed themselves. Then I outline. When I’m done, I’ll have a loose sketch of my characters and each chapter in the book. Next is the fun part: writing! I don’t read back or edit as I go. Not until I have completed my first draft do I go back and revise (usually several times).
What type of research did you do for writing Between Earth and Sky?
I spent a lot of time in the library reading histories, memoirs, and language studies. I visited museums and historic sites, spoke with language experts, and watched documentaries. To get a favor for the vernacular of the time, I read novels and magazines published around the turn of the century like GODEY’S LADY BOOK and Edith Wharton’s HOUSE OF MIRTH. I even spent a day in downtown St. Paul retracing my character’s steps, imagining what it must have been like with gas lanterns and carriages instead of florescent streetlights and automobiles.
What was your favorite scene to write?
There’s a scene early in the novel when Alma awakes to find her classmates sneaking out of the dormitory. She’s eager to make friends and follows them into the woods that surround the school. I enjoyed writing this scene because it was fun to imagine the setting: the crisp fall air, the bonfire smoke, the song and laughter of children free from scrutiny. It’s the first time Alma gains some acceptance from the Native American children. She learns their names—their real, names—and receives a name of her own, the full meaning of which isn’t revealed until the very end of the novel.
What was the most difficult scene to write?
Two storylines are interwoven in this novel. Alma’s life as child and young woman at an Indian boarding school in the 1880s, and years later in her adulthood when she learns one of her former classmates is on trial for murder. The most difficult scene to write was one that occurs at the end of her girlhood storyline. I don’t want to give to much away for those who haven’t read the book, but it’s certainly a loss of innocence moment for Alma, one that will haunt the rest of her life. One of my early readers (before the book was published) pointed out that I’d taken too glancing approach to the scene and commended I rewrite it in a more unflinching, visceral way. It proved great advice, but was no small task. As an author, you fall in love with your characters and don’t want to see them suffer, even though you know they must.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I loved writing stories, even as a young girl. In junior high, a friend and I would pass stories back and forth to each other between classes instead of notes. But it wasn’t until I was in my late twenties, waking up every day to a job I hated, that I really examined my life and my passions and decided I wanted to be a writer.
What has been your greatest challenge as a writer? Have you been able to overcome it?
Now that I’m often writing under deadline, my greatest challenge is time management. It’s easy to get sucked down the internet rabbit hole and spend half a day researching different types of horse-drawn carriages or how to operate a wood-burning stove. And promoting the books I already have out also takes time. To make sure I’m spending enough time writing, I use daily word count goals and carve out specific chunks of time in my schedule. When I get to something in the story that needs more research, I highlight it so I can keep writing and come back to it later.
Who are your writing inspirations?
I love contemporary authors Hilary Mantel, Geraldine Brooks, Louise Erdrich, and Jesmyn Ward. But I’m also inspired by novelists from the past like Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, and Zora Neale Hurston.
What is the last historical novel you read?
I just finished a great historical mystery: A LADY’S GUIDE TO ETIQUETTE AND MURDER by Dianne Freeman. Her characters are witty, tenacious, and an absolute joy to follow through the story. I’m not a big mystery reader (I can never figure out ‘who done it’ before it’s revealed at the end), but the humor of this story and its fun historical backdrop kept me enthralled to the end.
What are three things people may not know about you?
When I was 18, my family and I got lost hiking in the Colorado Rockies and had to be rescued by the National Guard via helicopter.
I’m the middle child. My second novel is dedicated to my two sisters.
My favorite food is cheese. (Lucky for me, I married a man from Wisconsin.)
What appeals to you most about your chosen genre?
Historical fiction brings history to life in a way that textbooks cannot. It’s easier to appreciate the modern relevance of past events when we see them through the eyes of everyday people—people whose hopes and desires and imperfections aren’t all that different from our own.
What historical time period do you gravitate towards the most with your personal reading?
I love regency and Victorian-era fiction, but I’m open any period as long as it’s a good story.
What do you like to do when you aren't writing?
I enjoy anything that takes me outside—swimming, biking, gardening—and the simple pleasures of good friends and good food. And, of course, I love reading. Historical fiction, but other genres too.
Lastly, will you have more projects together in the future?
I’m currently working on a novel set in the 1920s about a mother who’s ripped away from her family when it’s discovered she has leprosy. She’s sent to live at the Federal Leper Hospital in Louisiana, hundreds of miles from her home. There she struggles with the reality of her disease and fights to return to her family. It’s a story about society’s alarmist reaction to a feebly contagious disease and our inhumanity in the face of fear. But it’s also a story about love, friendship, and healing.
Thanks for having me!
I’m an author and infection prevention nurse. My first novel, BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY, came out last year. My second, THE UNDERTAKER’S ASSISTANT, released a few months ago. I grew up in Colorado but now live in Las Vegas, NV with my husband and our pet turtle, Lenore.
This week I want to chat with you about BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY. The book explores the tragic intersection between white and Native American culture, seen through the eyes of a young girl who learns about friendship, betrayal, and the sacrifices made in the name of belonging.
It begins on a quiet morning in 1906 when a newspaper headline catapults Alma Mitchell back to her past. A federal agent is dead, and the murder suspect is Alma’s childhood friend, Harry Muskrat. Harry—or Asku, as Alma knew him—was the most promising student at the “savage-taming” boarding school run by her father, where Alma was the only white pupil. Created in the wake of the Indian Wars, the Stover School was intended to assimilate the children of neighboring reservations. Instead, it robbed them of everything they’d known—language, customs, even their names—and left a heartbreaking legacy in its wake.
How were you inspired to write Between Earth and Sky?
My favorite story as a child was NAYA NUKI by Kenneth Thomasma about a young Shoshone girl. I must have read it five times—and for someone who struggled with reading, that’s a lot. That was the start of an enduring love of Native American history and culture. The idea for this particular story took shape at the Lac de Flambeau Casino in Wisconsin. In the back, away from the cigarette smoke and chiming slot machines, hung several black-and-white pictures of Native American children in military garb. Boarding school students, my mother-in-law told me. I’d never heard of these schools and the children taken from their reservations to attend. The more I researched, the more engrossed in these children’s stories I became. Some went on to achieve the white man’s standard of success. Some returned to their homes on the reservation and became leaders of their people. Some never fit in either world. But all had been robbed of part of their cultural selves. In writing BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY, I wanted to share a part of these stories that seemed absent from the history books.
Can you give us insight into your writing process?
I start with several months of research to get a sense of the era and specific events I’m writing about. I’m also looking for voice during my research—how people of that period expressed themselves. Then I outline. When I’m done, I’ll have a loose sketch of my characters and each chapter in the book. Next is the fun part: writing! I don’t read back or edit as I go. Not until I have completed my first draft do I go back and revise (usually several times).
What type of research did you do for writing Between Earth and Sky?
I spent a lot of time in the library reading histories, memoirs, and language studies. I visited museums and historic sites, spoke with language experts, and watched documentaries. To get a favor for the vernacular of the time, I read novels and magazines published around the turn of the century like GODEY’S LADY BOOK and Edith Wharton’s HOUSE OF MIRTH. I even spent a day in downtown St. Paul retracing my character’s steps, imagining what it must have been like with gas lanterns and carriages instead of florescent streetlights and automobiles.
What was your favorite scene to write?
There’s a scene early in the novel when Alma awakes to find her classmates sneaking out of the dormitory. She’s eager to make friends and follows them into the woods that surround the school. I enjoyed writing this scene because it was fun to imagine the setting: the crisp fall air, the bonfire smoke, the song and laughter of children free from scrutiny. It’s the first time Alma gains some acceptance from the Native American children. She learns their names—their real, names—and receives a name of her own, the full meaning of which isn’t revealed until the very end of the novel.
What was the most difficult scene to write?
Two storylines are interwoven in this novel. Alma’s life as child and young woman at an Indian boarding school in the 1880s, and years later in her adulthood when she learns one of her former classmates is on trial for murder. The most difficult scene to write was one that occurs at the end of her girlhood storyline. I don’t want to give to much away for those who haven’t read the book, but it’s certainly a loss of innocence moment for Alma, one that will haunt the rest of her life. One of my early readers (before the book was published) pointed out that I’d taken too glancing approach to the scene and commended I rewrite it in a more unflinching, visceral way. It proved great advice, but was no small task. As an author, you fall in love with your characters and don’t want to see them suffer, even though you know they must.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I loved writing stories, even as a young girl. In junior high, a friend and I would pass stories back and forth to each other between classes instead of notes. But it wasn’t until I was in my late twenties, waking up every day to a job I hated, that I really examined my life and my passions and decided I wanted to be a writer.
What has been your greatest challenge as a writer? Have you been able to overcome it?
Now that I’m often writing under deadline, my greatest challenge is time management. It’s easy to get sucked down the internet rabbit hole and spend half a day researching different types of horse-drawn carriages or how to operate a wood-burning stove. And promoting the books I already have out also takes time. To make sure I’m spending enough time writing, I use daily word count goals and carve out specific chunks of time in my schedule. When I get to something in the story that needs more research, I highlight it so I can keep writing and come back to it later.
Who are your writing inspirations?
I love contemporary authors Hilary Mantel, Geraldine Brooks, Louise Erdrich, and Jesmyn Ward. But I’m also inspired by novelists from the past like Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, and Zora Neale Hurston.
What is the last historical novel you read?
I just finished a great historical mystery: A LADY’S GUIDE TO ETIQUETTE AND MURDER by Dianne Freeman. Her characters are witty, tenacious, and an absolute joy to follow through the story. I’m not a big mystery reader (I can never figure out ‘who done it’ before it’s revealed at the end), but the humor of this story and its fun historical backdrop kept me enthralled to the end.
What are three things people may not know about you?
When I was 18, my family and I got lost hiking in the Colorado Rockies and had to be rescued by the National Guard via helicopter.
I’m the middle child. My second novel is dedicated to my two sisters.
My favorite food is cheese. (Lucky for me, I married a man from Wisconsin.)
What appeals to you most about your chosen genre?
Historical fiction brings history to life in a way that textbooks cannot. It’s easier to appreciate the modern relevance of past events when we see them through the eyes of everyday people—people whose hopes and desires and imperfections aren’t all that different from our own.
What historical time period do you gravitate towards the most with your personal reading?
I love regency and Victorian-era fiction, but I’m open any period as long as it’s a good story.
What do you like to do when you aren't writing?
I enjoy anything that takes me outside—swimming, biking, gardening—and the simple pleasures of good friends and good food. And, of course, I love reading. Historical fiction, but other genres too.
Lastly, will you have more projects together in the future?
I’m currently working on a novel set in the 1920s about a mother who’s ripped away from her family when it’s discovered she has leprosy. She’s sent to live at the Federal Leper Hospital in Louisiana, hundreds of miles from her home. There she struggles with the reality of her disease and fights to return to her family. It’s a story about society’s alarmist reaction to a feebly contagious disease and our inhumanity in the face of fear. But it’s also a story about love, friendship, and healing.