It's my pleasure to introduce author Rita Gerlach. Rita lives with her husband and two sons in an historical town nestled along the Catoctin Mountains, amid Civil War battlefields and Revolutionary War outposts in central Maryland. She was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in a large family in the Maryland suburbs. Her family claims that storytelling is their blood, handed down from centuries of Irish storytellers. Rita believes there just may be something to that theory.
Rita says, "The goal of my writing is to give readers a respite from a stressful world.." In many of her stories, she writes about the struggles endured by early colonists, with a sprinkling of both American and English history. Currently she is writing a new historical series set in the Gilded Age. Her latest release, Beyond the Valley is available now.
Beyond the Valley ~ Book 3 in The Daughters of the Potomac series
When Sarah Carr's husband Jamie drowns, her young life is shattered and takes a turn that she never expected. Pregnant and now widowed, she reaches out to Jamie's family for help but they are unwilling. Instead they devise a plan to have her kidnapped and taken to the Colonies to live a life of servitude. Sarah's new life in the Colonies finds her surrounded by a family's whirlwind of secrets, while she hopes the young doctor she loves with will bring her freedom.
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Here's how Rita answered my Ink Dots prompts...
If I could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, it would be...If I weren’t a little squimish about flying over the Atlantic, I’d go to the United Kingdom, rent a car, and with my husband take a tour through England and Scotland. I would especially visit some of the locations I have in my novels, such as The Hope Valley in Derbyshire and Bassets Cove in Cornwall. I have fans there and I’ve told them if I ever make it over, I’d love to visit them and have tea.
One thing I enjoyed today is... having breakfast with my husband. Since he retired two years ago, we have breakfast together every day.
A secret pleasure of mine is... well, I have none that I can think of that are secret. Chocolate is a guilty pleasure, and everyone that knows me knows it.
A moment that changed my life is... It happened twice. The births of my sons. My life was forever changed when I looked into their sweet faces when they were born.
When I was a child I wanted to... own a pony. I came up with all kinds of reasons why I should have one that I presented to my father. He let me down gently but telling me he’d think about it ‘when his ship came in’. I thought it were true since he had been in the Navy during WWII.
Too funny!
Too funny!
I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but... I am writing an Edwardian period novel beginning in 1908, set in Chevy Chase, Maryland and a made up hamlet in the mountains of western Maryland called Chestnut Grove. A lot of writers usually keep their works in progress to themselves with a few hints here and there. Oohhh... and we get a look into the secret world of your work in progress. I love the Edwardian era. Great choice... Looking forward to hearing more about it.
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Rita's offering one of her Daughters of the Potomac Series books to one lucky Ink Dots visitor. To enter, share what you wanted to own when you were a child. Was it a pony, like Rita? I wanted a typewriter. Thankfully my dream came true on my twelfth birthday. How about you? I'll announce the winner in the comment thread here on Friday.
