Classic Interview: Laura Ingalls

Our next interview is with that darling child of the frontier, Laura Ingalls. Let's hear what Laura's got to say.

Greg: Welcome, Laura. It's really great to have you here.

Laura: Thank you for inviting me. I haven't seen this many trees since we moved away from the big woods.

Greg: Why don't you tell us a little bit about that, Laura.

Laura: Why sure. I was born in the big woods, in Wisconsin. Pa and Ma and Mary and me were real happy there. We had the best of times, working on the farm, and sugaring off--that's making maple syrup iffin' ya didn't know. Sometimes, after sugaring there'd be a dance. I loved the dances. Pa would play his fiddle, and we had a grand time.

Winters were cold, but wonderful. At night we'd sit by the fire and listen to Pa play his fiddle. Mary and I would dance with Ma and clap our hands. Sometimes I'd just sit quiet and listen. I could listen to Pa play for days on end, if his arms would let him.

Greg: Sounds lovely. How did you come to leave Wisconsin?

Laura: Pa got word that there was land opening up in Kansas. He sold our little house in the big woods, bought a covered wagon, and took us lock, stock and barrel to Kansas. Funny thing, he never told us it was still technically Indian Territory. I suppose he didn't want to worry us. Ma was pretty surprised. She wasn't partial to Indians, I've since found out.

Pa built the most lovely little house on that ol' prairie, but even Pa couldn't do it by himself. Our new neighbor, Mr. Edwards, helped him some. Pa put in the floor, put on a roof, and dug the well all by himself, though. He was just the strongest, handsomest and smartest man in the whole Kansas territory was Pa.

Greg: So everything was perfect, I take it.

Laura: Well, no. We had our share of trouble. There was the fever, for one. Ma called it fever 'n' ague. It nearly done us all in. Ma says we got it from eating watermelon, although that never made much sense to me.

Once we were better, Mr. Edwards brought us Christmas presents from Independence. That sure was a nice Christmas, right after being so sick and all. We were happy there, but we had to move again on account of our land really still belonged to the Indians and the army was gonna make us leave.

Greg: Oh dear, so it was on the road again, was it? Where did you wind up next?

---

Laura: Funny enough, we wound up on the banks of Plum Creek--that's near Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Our bulldog, Jack, came with us, and little Carrie. Pa traded our two horses to Mr. Hanson for some land.

At first we lived in a house dug out of a hill, but Pa built a nice wood house soon enough. He farmed the land and did all right for himself, all things considered.

I liked Walnut Grove. I got to go to an actual, real school for the first time in my life. My teacher, Miss. Beadle, was a real inspiration to me. That's where we met that old Nellie Oleson. She was so high falutin' calling us country girls like she was born and raised in New York City. Well, Walnut Grove, Minnesota is no New York City, I can tell you. I don't know where she got such strange notions.

Greg: So, did you stay in Walnut Grove?

Laura: Land sakes, no! Things were all right for a time, but after the plague of locusts wiped out our crops, and Pa was nearly froze to death in a blizzard, and we all got scarlet fever that made Mary go blind, it was time to move on again.

After leaving the banks of Plum Creek, we moved on to the shores of Silver Lake in South Dakota. It was really the idea of my Aunt Docia who had come to Minnesota on a visit. She said Pa should come and work in my Uncle Henry's railroad camp in South Dakota. Ma and Pa thought it was a good idea, so we all up and moved again.

Pa sold out, and took the wagon and the team, while we followed by train, Mary being so weak still and all. It was exciting travelling on the train, I'd never been on a train before. It went so wonderfully fast. I didn't know you could go as fast as that!

So Pa was all set working for the railroad. But, wouldn't you know it, not long after, the railroad camp pulled up stakes and headed back east. Things weren't so good. Winter was coming on, and we still hadn't found a place to stay.

Luckily, Pa was able to find us a place watching the county surveyor's house for the winter. We were living high off the hog there, I can tell you. In the spring, Pa found us some land, and we got settled. We stayed there for quite a spell.

Greg: Well, it certainly sounds like you've had quite an adventurous life for one so young. Maybe you should write a book!

Laura: You know, I've always thought about writing a book. Maybe one day when I'm grown I'll up and do it.

Greg: Well, good luck with it. Thank you so much, Laura. It was a pleasure talking with you.

Laura: The pleasure was all mine, you're almost as nice as Mr. Edwards, but you don't have an old scraggly beard like him.

A Writer's Week #154: Sorting Things Out

June has turned out to be a great month so far. Book sales have been brisk, and the events that I've attended have been very successful. I am being a little more choosy about the events that I'm attending, especially to the cost of a table. I am sprinkling in more no cost shows, thanks to Andrea and Luca at Connecticut Book Festivals. CBF was established a few years ago to give Connecticut authors a means to get their work out to the public, benefitting both authors and readers. Membership is free and they also offer associate memberships to aspiring, unpublished authors. I have had the pleasure of mentoring several of these aspiring authors and a couple have since gone on to publish books of their own.

Anyhow, I've also had some good news on the professional front. I recently received a promotion at work which will be effective on the 29th. it will give me the opportunity to double my little training department of one (one and a half if you count a colleague of mine who prescreens applicants). This will be a huge help as I was beginning to feel stretched rather thin. I'm excited because it will allow me to expand what we can do for the bank branch teams that I've been working with for the past five years, and hopefully make their jobs a little easier and help them to grow as well.

One the writing front, I've been struggling with the overall goal of the current Dragon Island Legends tale. I recently posted chapter 1, which I believe is pretty much set in stone. My struggle is between two possible outcomes and which direction to go. I've written as much as I can, but now I have to make a decision and commit to it in order to progress further. Right now, I am at chapter 11, 38 pages and 6,200 words. I also think this is the reason why I have not been able to come up with a title. I have to know where the book is headed.

The good news is that this morning I sat down and reviewed all my notes dating back to November of last year. After considering both alternatives (and a surprising third that reared its head a couple nights ago), I believe I've made my decision. What excites me about my choice is that I won't have to rewrite much, if any, of what I've written so far. It also will enable my main character, Shadra, to continue to act according to the morals and ethics she's demonstrated so far. 

The other alternative would require her to do something that is pretty out of character for her under the pretext of saving the clans of the steppes--kind of giving up her soul for the greater good. What really bothered me about her making that choice was that deep down I didn't feel that it was something she would realistically do.

                                                                    

One of my concerns with both of the potential scenarios was that this book would take place 500 years before Fire & Ice, and that meant that book 3 would therefore also take place right after book 2 as it is a direct result of the events in that book. That would mean I would have three books all taking place 3,500 to 3,000 years before the events in The Golden Dragon of Ang, leaving only two books to be set sometime in that 3,000 year gap. However as I was scanning TGDoA, I came across an event that a character casually mentions which took place 1,000 years prior. So perhaps instead of five books, the series will wind up being six, with three stories happening during the 3,000 years between Fire & Ice and The Golden Dragon of Ang. I think I can live with that.

                                                                

Now, if you're not totally confused by that waffling, I tip my hat to you. If you're as confused by all this as I sometimes am, then you'll just have to read the books when they come out. Hopefully then all will be made clear. As with the first book in the Dragon Island Legends series, the other five will be shorter tales of around 100 pages each. I have a fantasy of one day compiling all of them into once large leatherbound Dragon Island Legends book, horribly expensive to produce, but also really cool, and selling it as a special edition. We shall see.

Hopefully, the remainder of book 2 will come spilling out now that I've decided on a final course of action. In any event, I'll keep you posted on my progress. 

Peace

Dragon Island Legends, Book 2, Chapter 1

 Today, instead of a Writer's Week post, I thought that I would share the first chapter in my as yet untitled work in progress. It will be book 2 in my Dragon Island Legends series. The series consists of tales that illuminate the history of the Dragon Islands, the world Eric and the Deliverers visit in The Golden Dragon of Ang, the third book in the Deliverers series.

The goal of the series is to tell the story behind one event on each of the five Dragon Islands. The first book, Fire & Ice, takes place on Ang, the Head of the Islands, in the time before the Golden Dragon removes herself from the Islands and (slight spoiler) how that comes to be.

This book takes place even further in the past--500 or so years before Fire & Ice. It is about a teen named Shadra who lives with her clan on the steppes of Jongchin, the Heart of the Islands. So, here is chapter one. I'd love to know what you think. If folks like it, I'll post chapter two in the near future.

Chapter 1

The small, mounted hunting party rode over the grassy steppes of Jongchin. They had been out on the hunt for almost a week but had nothing to show for it. Game had been scarce this cycle, something unheard of among the clans for untold turnings. Shadra rode ahead of the others, looking for antelope sign. A girl of 16, she was unique among the clans of the western steppes. She was the only female to hunt, which made her strange. Moreover, she was highly skilled, which made her intimidating to the men of her clan, and, in some ways, a threat.

The rest of the hunting party laughed and joked among themselves as she rode ahead. One muttered, “When will the ‘Great Huntress’ mark a herd? Where’s she leading us? I think we’re going in circles.”

His companions chuckled. Shadra heard them but took no notice. “If they are getting antsy, why don’t they try tracking for a while?” she thought bitterly. “Instead, they allow themselves to be led across the steppes like a group of pack mules.”

Still, she shared their frustration. Winter was coming, and the clan’s food reserves were dwindling. The hunting had been unusually poor. Game was scarce. If their luck did not change soon, the clan faced starvation once the snows of winter set in.

In normal times, several clans would unite to conduct a nerge—a hunt where hundreds of horsemen would drive an antelope herd across the steppes to a strategic, predetermined spot such as a canyon or valley where archers waited to bring down large amounts of game. However, with the scarcity of game, the clans had to range farther than normal across the steppes in search of it, which prevented them from teaming up.

Shadra shifted the bow that was slung across her shoulders. It was her primary weapon and her pride and joy. The curved bows of the Jongchin steppe clans were legendary. Constructed of a composite of wood, horn, and sinew, they served the clans when hunting and fighting. The clansmen of the Jongchin steppes were skilled at shooting from horseback, and Shadra was better than most. This was grudgingly acknowledged by her clan, but because she was a woman, it was a cause of shame rather than pride. To be outhunted by a woman, much less outfought, was considered dishonorable.

A high-pitched screech from the air caught the hunters’ attention. They pulled up their horses and scanned the sky. Circling high above was the form of a great golden eagle. They watched as it circled lower in ever-shrinking circles until it alighted on Shadra’s outstretched arm.

The large bird dropped the body of a red fox onto the girl’s saddle. Shadra smiled. “Ah, Kreeva. Well done!” Shadra offered Kreeva a piece of dried meat, which the eagle greedily devoured.

Turning in her saddle, Shadra tossed the fox to the hunter who had mocked her. “Here you go, Shai-Phoo. Stow it with the others. It seems Kreeva is the only one having any luck this trip.”

Turning to face forward once more, she said, “All right, my dear. Let’s see if you can find any bigger game.” With a flick of her arm, she launched the giant eagle into the air.

Kreeva rose into the sky, circled once, and flew east. The small hunting party followed, with Shadra still leading.