This weeks featured author is Jo Ann Butler who’s book Rebel Puritan follows the life of her own ancestor, Herodias Long, beginning in 17th century London, England and ending in New England.
Hi Jo Ann, Thank you for joining me on my blog today, it’s
good of you to come. I am really
fascinated by the main protagonist in your novel Rebel Puritan. She is an ancestor of yours, is that right?
Jo Ann: My
grandparents were surnamed Gardner, so when I started researching my genealogy
in the late 1970s, I began with them.
The first line I found led back to my 8th-great grandmother
Herodias Long, via her liaison with George Gardner.
What made you decide to turn Herodias’ story into a novel?
Jo Ann: Herodias
led an amazingly modern life for a 17th-century woman, but with two
separations from unsuitable husbands, she was considered quite scandalous in her
day. In 1658 she protested against the Puritans’
abuse of Quakers, and that led to her own whipping. That bold act made Herodias’ story
irresistible, so I wrote the novel about her that I wanted to read!
I suppose, as a genealogist, researching for Rebel
Puritan came quite naturally but how difficult, as a first time author,
did you find it to turn the bland facts of her life into a flesh and blood personality?
Jo Ann: Herodias
laid out her life in petitions for divorce, so research was easy. However, I studied archaeology in college, not
creative writing, and Rebel Puritan was the first project I undertook. There’s nothing like starting big! I’d write a chapter, let my friends and
family comment on it, and then rewrite.
By the time I finished the mss, I had sold several magazine articles, so
I learned as I went.
Fellow writers are immensely important. I know from
experience just how very difficult it is as a self-published, unknown author to
get noticed. What marketing strategies do you employ to promote Rebel
Puritan?
Jo Ann: After
Rebel Puritan was published, I asked readers to post reviews on GoodReads, and
it’s still thrilling to see reviews pop up there and on Amazon. Word-of-mouth on Facebook has been
invaluable, and so have reviewers and bloggers like you. I’m still seeking reviews from historical
fiction readers, historians, and genealogists.
If anyone would like a review copy, please contact me at
joann(at)rebelpuritan(dot)com.
Writing a historical novel is like painting a country you
have never visited and can never visit. Rebel Puritan spans a number of
years and two different countries. How
did you go about researching 17th century London and New England?
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| Jo Ann and Richard at the LDS Genealogy library where they met tewnety-five years ago. |
Jo Ann: New
England was easy, because I live in upstate New York. My mother, uncle, and I must have spent
several months in archives and genealogy libraries. We also visited museums and ancestors’ homes,
where I picked up that 17th-century flavour. I got most of my English information at the
Mormon Church’s genealogy library in Salt Lake City, which has a superb book collection
and over two million rolls of microfilm.
As a bonus, I met my partner compiling his genealogy in the Mormon
library, and after twenty-five years we are still together.
A love story! How wonderful! I’ve never met any likely partners in a
library. I must have been doing something wrong. And Rebel Puritan has won the IndieBRAG
medallion? Can you tell us what that is and what it means for your book?
Jo Ann: IndieBRAG is a group of American, European,
and Canadian readers promoting high-quality independently-published books – the
sort you would recommend to your best friend.
Helen Hollick mentioned the group on her Facebook, so I asked them to
review Rebel Puritan. IndieBRAG promotes
winners of their Medallion at book expositions and online, and I’m delighted to
talk about the group and their Medallion award to Rebel Puritan. We’ll scratch each other’s backs!
Have you caught the historical novel writing bug now? Will
there be any more?
Jo Ann: The writing
bug caught me! I’m preparing to publish The
Reputed Wife this fall, the sequel to Rebel Puritan, and there’s at least one
more book in the series. Another of my
ancestors was a doctor on the upstate New York frontier in 1803, and she is
whispering in my ear.
Well, that is good to hear. Give me a shout when The
Reputed Wife is released and I will share the word. Online presence is
invaluable for an author these days. Do you have a blog or a webpage that
readers can visit?
Jo Ann: My Rebel
Puritan website is at www.rebelpuritan.com/ and I
have a blog at http://www.rebelpuritan.blogspot.com/ , and I even have a public figure page for
Herodias Long on Facebook!
That’s wonderful. Brace yourself for an onslaught of
visitors. Thank you so much for giving us your time. Good luck with Rebel
Puritan, I hope it does very well.
Thank you for hosting me, Judith.
It’s been my pleasure!
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| Rebel Puritan is available as a paperback and as a Kindle on Amazon and other leading bookstores. |
UK readers click here.
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