This week I’m hosting Hannah Alexander with Collateral Damage (US only) and Carol Cox with Truth Be Told (US only). If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on your post with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (June 22nd) evening.
Interview with the heroine from Truth Be Told by Carol Cox:
1. Amelia Wagner, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
Even though we’re seeing big changes in the roles women play as we near the end of the 19th century, there aren’t too many women running newspapers. And considering that I not only want to print news, but am adamant about printing only the truth, that makes me even more unique.
2. What do you do for fun?
I expected to have fun working with my father at the Granite Springs Gazette this summer, but his unexpected death meant making major readjustments in my life. Now that I’ve taken over running his newspaper, my days are consumed with work. Every so often, I have to cover a community event that offers some enjoyment along with my reporting duties, and I’m grateful for that. And then there’s Ben Stone. I’m not quite sure what to make of him or the attention he’s been paying me, but that might also count as fun…mightn’t it?
3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?
Writing to my mother. Even though she’s in Denver and I’m in Arizona, she wants to manipulate every area of my life. It seems we’ve always had a difficult relationship, and now that Papa’s gone, I don’t see things getting any better between us.
4. What are you afraid of most in life?
Not living up to the standards my father set. He always placed such trust in me, and I can’t stand the thought of letting him down. Or the people of Granite Springs, who depend on the Gazette for the truth. Or Homer Crenshaw, who now depends on me for his livelihood. Sometimes the responsibility seems overwhelming, and I’m not sure I’m up to the task.
5. What do you want out of life?
I want to be the best newsperson I can possibly be. At some point, I would love to have a home and family, if I can find a man who would be as good a father to our children as Papa was to me. And I would try my hardest to be more understanding than my own mother has been.
6. What is the most important thing to you?
Right now, my mission in life is to fulfill my father’s last request: to uncover the truth about the Great Western Investment Company. There’s something wrong with that company, I just know it. I trust my father’s instincts, and I feel it myself.
7. Do you read? If so, what is your favorite type of book to read?
Being the editor and publisher of a weekly frontier newspaper means I’m always dealing with the written word, but I seldom have time to read strictly for pleasure. For my after-hours reading these days, I’ve been poring over the articles my father wrote on Great Western. Maybe I’ll find some snippet of information that will point me in the right direction.
8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I’ve been so focused on my research on Great Western and the people who run it, I sometimes lose track of what’s going on around me. Poor Homer! I’ve left him to shoulder more than his share of the responsibility for running the Gazette, and that’s hardly fair. That is one thing I need to change very soon.
9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
Between chasing down news, writing the stories, setting type, and printing the Gazette, there simply isn’t time to tend to an animal…but I love the thought of having the luxury of time to sit and read by the fire in the evenings with a faithful dog curled at my feet. Once things calm down a bit, I hope I can make that dream a reality. Maybe I’ll call him my newshound, and he can help me sniff out the news!
10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
I’d go back to the days before my parents separated and my mother dragged me off to Denver. Maybe I could have done something to help hold my family together, even if it meant persuading Papa to move to Denver with us. But then…I might never have met Ben. As much as I’d like to change things about my past, I have to remember that God is able to work all things together for my good.