Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Interview with Heather Gilbert

Recently, I interviewed author Heather Gilbert about her upcoming Viking novel, God's Daughter, which is set for release in ebook format on November 1, 2013.  

TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.

I've been a novel writer for five and a half years and agented about five of those years. I've completed a paranormal (Speculative fiction) novel, a Viking historical, and a Contemporary Appalachian Mystery. So...quite the gamut. The Mystery is out on submission, but in the meantime, I've decided to self-publish my Viking historical. 

Viking woman shown holding a sword on cover of God's Daughter, by Heather Gilbert

GOD'S DAUGHTER BLURB

One Viking woman. One God. One legendary journey to the New World.

In the tenth century, when pagan holy women rule the Viking lands, Gudrid turns her back on her training as a seeress to embrace Christianity. Clinging to her faith, she joins her husband, Finn, on a voyage to North America.

But even as Gudrid faces down murderous crewmen, raging sickness, and hostile natives, she realizes her greatest enemy is herself--and the secrets she hides might just tear her marriage apart.

Almost five centuries before Columbus, Viking women sailed to North America with their husbands. God's Daughter, Book One in the Vikings of the New World Saga, offers an expansive yet intimate look into the world of Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir--daughter-in-law of Eirik the Red, and the first documented European woman to have a child in North America


WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO WRITE A VIKING NOVEL?

It's the one time period I can't get enough of. From the time I was little, my Grandma told me how we were related to Eirik the Red and Leif Eiriksson...my maiden name would've been Thorvaldsen if my Great-Grandpa hadn't changed it when he came to America from Norway. I bought the huge book, The Sagas of Icelanders, and I was hooked. I was especially intrigued by the stories of the Vikings (such as Leif) who came to the new world, long before Columbus. Once I read about Gudrid, a Christian Viking woman who was beautiful and wise, I knew I had my story.

I’VE HEARD YOUR NOVEL INCLUDES TOUGH TOPICS. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF THEM AND WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO INCLUDE THEM?

Yes. I feel strongly that traditional marriage is under attack today, and sometimes it seems the church is unwilling to address topics like lust, especially when the wife is the one struggling. As I imagined Gudrid's life, I realized here was this drop-dead gorgeous woman and she was stuck in a camp in the new world with all kinds of men. How do you deal with that? Also, in my novel, her husband is the leader, and he has to travel. Gudrid already has abandonment issues because her mother was killed when she was a child. What kind of depression would that throw her into...and who might come alongside to fill the gap her husband left? Those are the kinds of questions I had to ask myself.

I felt I should deal with topics the Bible deals with, and we all know that it deals with lust (Bathsheba, Tamar, etc.). I wanted to handle it in a similar way and speak to wives who might be silently struggling with thoughts they can't control.

WHAT IS THE THEME OF THE NOVEL?

One of the primary themes showing readers that Vikings were human and struggled with the same issues we do. They had families to protect and dreams to follow. They used tweezers and other personal hygiene items and weren't stupid about healing techniques. I'm so tired of people in history being portrayed as half-stupid Neanderthals. Humans have always been smart, from the beginning of time, and therefore would try to take care of themselves and those they love.

Along those lines, I wanted to bring to light the documented fact that Christianity was good for the Vikings. It was their pagan practices that were inhumane. I'm also tired of reading historicals in which paganism is elevated and revered, such as The Mists of Avalon. I consider my book a sort of reverse-Mists.

WHAT MESSAGE WOULD YOU LIKE READERS TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE STORY?

Again, that Vikings were human. That marriage is worth fighting for, even when you don't entirely understand your spouse, or when the grass might seem greener on the other side. That even before Christians had the Bible in hand, they knew right from wrong.

WHAT WAS THE MOST INTERESTING THING YOU LEARNED WHILE CONDUCTING RESEARCH FOR THIS NOVEL?

Hard question! I've been encouraged by continuing archeological discoveries reinforcing that the sagas could have been true...even down to some (Canadian) Native Americans at that time having pale skin and red hair. I thought it was amazing that Gudrid took a very strong stand for Christianity, and that the sagas recorded it. I loved researching the possibility of Vikings using mushrooms to go berserk. But the most spectacular fact, the one that negated history I'd learned as a child, is that the first documented European baby born in North America was not Virginia Dare in the colonies, but Snorri, Gudrid's baby boy.

YOU CALL YOURSELF A HYBRID AUTHOR. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THAT MEANS?

Gladly. When I use that term, I mean an author who is using multiple methods to get his/her stories into readers' hands. For example, I am self-publishing this Viking historical, and yet I have an agent and my Mystery is out with traditional publishers. Hopefully, at some point, I will be both traditionally and self-published.

HOW DO YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR TIME WHEN YOU ARE NOT WRITING?

Ha! Good question. Lately I've wondered if I have any other hobbies. I homeschool, so that keeps me busy during the school year. But between mommying, writing/editing, blogging, marketing, and teaching my kiddos, I have few hobbies. For fun, I do enjoy puttering in my flowerbeds and hanging out in the great outdoors with my dog (she's the one I imagined when writing the wolf scenes in my novel...I'll include a picture at the end of the both of us).

HOW MAY READERS CONTACT YOU?

Pinterest (lots of pics from my book inspirations!)

Author Bio:
Heather enjoys writing stories about authentic, believable marriages. Sixteen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as ten years spent homeschooling her three children. Heather is the ACFW West Virginia Area Coordinator.

Heather Gilbert and her dog


17 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for having me today, Heidi. I loved every one of your questions and am excited to visit Sleuths and Suspects today!

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  2. Great interview!! I LOVE this author!!

    And is that you little puppy? He's HUGE!!!

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    1. Thanks, Jennifer! Yes, she is a big one but she is QUITE the loyal doggie. As I wrote this book she sat right near me much of the time, so it was easy to picture what my wolf would act like in the book!

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  3. Fascinating. I've been to Norway, and saw a couple of fragmentary Viking ships in a museum...very well thought out, and not the work of savages.

    Have you ever read Nevil Shute's "An Old Captivity". Rather an interesting take on the Vikings and their travels. It's beautifully written, the kind of prose one would give a limb to be able to write.

    http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/

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    1. Andrew, I haven't! I really need to up my intake of Viking historicals. I did read a non-fiction novel based around my heroine, Gudrid, entitled THE FAR-TRAVELER by Nancy Marie Brown. I loved how she went to Iceland and talked with people about Gudrid's history. I'm in a cool Medieval group on Goodreads and they have lots of Viking histfic suggestions--I haven't read Bernard Cromwell but I've been hearing a lot about him, too. Thanks for the suggestion on Shute.

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    1. Thanks, Rachel, Heidi really asked some great questions!

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  5. Sounds like a based-on-truth account of a rarely-seen story world, and some tough, very real hurdles for your MC to overcome, with only her faith to cling to. I enjoyed learning these things about your book, Heather. Thanks, Heidi!

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    1. Thanks, Bethany...hoping I didn't give too many spoilers! I tend to do that! But yes, it's definitely a time when survival was difficult...and for Gudrid, the survival of her marriage was in even more jeopardy at times.

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  6. Heather - so loving the marriage theme here. Yes, the church is slow to address some of these issues, and really, so is the CBA. I once received a critique from a prestigious CBA contest I'd entered and was told "Your story has a definite Women’s Fiction feel to it, as opposed to a Christian romance or inspirational fiction. If you are targeting the secular market, this story would be a good fit, however, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be suitable to the inspirational market. A married woman having an affair is a huge No-No! To be considered in the Christian market, the affair would have to be in your character’s past (before the story starts), something she’s trying to forgive herself for and seek her husband’s forgiveness for. You would start the story with the couple trying to salvage their relationship after the affair. Even so, you would still need a more concrete goal for both characters to give the story a better foundation. For example, maybe one of the children is in crisis and they have to come together to help him/her. Their main goal would be that situation, with fixing their marriage a secondary, or internal, one."

    This was such a telling statement about the condition of the church in general, that we don't want to discuss the progression and fall into sin we CHRISTIAN WOMEN are prone to, but we'll trivialize it by having our characters "work on their marriages" as a SECONDARY storyline.

    I applaud you for taking this to the streets, Heather. I'm so proud of you.

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    1. Thank you, Becky. Why shouldn't we be about the business of strengthening marriages by talking about this stuff while women are experiencing it, instead of lamenting it after it happens? I know many women's blogs are dedicated to topics just like this, stepping in at just the right moment in a woman's life (Women Living Well, To Love, Honor, and Vacuum, etc) to speak to her hidden thoughts. I think fiction that will make a difference will also stare into the abyss and show characters who struggle with these issues we see busting up marriages every day. And kudos to YOU, my friend, for writing your honest stories in a way that could turn someone on the brink around, too.

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  7. The common things that mark us at human throughout history...I love your heart, Heather. Great interview!

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    1. Thank you, Voni! Yes, I wanted to show that Vikings had the same kinds of desires and emotions we do! Hoping people will read it and relate to this era in ways they never had before!

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  8. Wonderful interview! Heather, I love your willingness to address such issues on the marriage side of life. I haven't seen that in the Christian market. Your surname would have been "Thorvaldsen"? That's pretty interesting! :->

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    1. Thanks so much, Gwen! Yes--my maiden name would've been Thorvaldsen! I know...I really thought that would be a cool pen name but I'm kind of glad I didn't go that route, for my other books that are NOT about Vikings! Ha.

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  9. Great interview (as usual), Heidi.

    Heather, I enjoyed reading your interview. Of course, with your mention of vikings, I remember in late '99 Mallard Filmore talking about the then much publicized bust called Y2K where he had Mallard talk about that computer glitch and have Hagar the Horrible show up.

    I like the fact that you're tackling deep issues as well.

    Have a blessed day.

    Jeff Reynolds

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    1. Thank you, Jeff. Good ol' Hagar the Horrible! And glad you like that I'm tackling the issues, as well.

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