#Interview with Rosemary J. Kind, author of New York Orphan -

Welcome to the book tour for New York Orphan by Rosemary J. Kind! Today she tells us more about her new historical fiction novel and also reveals her dream superpower and where she would take us if we paid her a visit. Feel free to ask more questions in the comments section. Follow the tour to learn even more and to leave more comments. Best of luck entering the giveaway!

Describe your book in one sentence or fewer than 25 words.

Orphaned on the ship to New York in 1853, how strong will bonds of loyalty prove for seven-year-old Daniel Flynn when everything is at stake?

What kind of research did you have to do for it?

I was lucky enough to go to America and visit the Orphan Train Museum in Concordia. I was able to see first-hand accounts of what life was like for the orphans both there and in the New York Library which holds records from the Children’s Aid Society. Local history groups, in the locations I wrote about, were also a great help when I couldn’t find answers to key questions, as were experts in a number of fields that I thought correct details were essential.

Of course, I read a number of books on the period and events surrounding the subject I was writing about too.

The art is being able to use only so much of my research as is needed to give meaning and setting to the story and not so much that the reader is distracted from the story.

What was one of your favorite scenes?

I loved writing the court scene which comes towards the end. My imagination is very visual and when I’m writing I can often see the scenes playing out in my head. When I’m writing, I come away from my desk almost feeling as though I’ve been there or that I’ve seen the movie. Hopefully I can convey those images to the reader. Another scene for me which is very vivid, apart from life on the streets of New York, is when Daniel is trying to escape from his pursuers and hides in a steam engine cab.

Who would be your dream narrator for the audio book version?

I’m really lucky there. When we were auditioning for narrators I wasn’t at all happy with the voices who came forward. With one of them I was even shouting at my pc when I heard the clip, ‘NO! Molly can’t sound like that.’ At that point I turned the whole process around and went out to find the voice I thought would fit the characters perfectly. I found the wonderful Lee Brophy and asked if he would consider the project. I was delighted when he accepted and, as a result, it is already narrated by my dream narrator. His recording is so good that when I first heard the finished book I was in tears as much for the joy of hearing my characters so perfectly brought to life as from the story itself.

What do you hope people will get out of your book?

You can read most of my books at two levels. You can simply enjoy the story and I hope it’s a more than good enough story for those readers who choose to do that. However, my novels also tend to ask deeper questions. I’m always delighted when readers tell me that my books have made them think about some of the key issues involved and maybe as a result start to see the world in a slightly different light.

What does your upcoming release schedule look like?

The next in this series, Unequal By Birth, comes out on October 18^th, so I’m busy preparing for that right now. I’ve also started writing the one that follows that, which will come out next year.

When not writing, what can we find you doing?

I’m normally with the dogs either out walking or snuggled up at home. I’m chairman of the Entlebucher breed club in the UK so that keeps me pretty busy. I help develop the breeding programme and also assist people with importing puppies of our breed. It’s a real labour of love and one I’m passionate about. My dogs are a great comfort and inspiration in my life.

What is one skill you wish you had?

I wish I could speak another language fluently. I’ve been working hard to learn German for several years now and am still really not very good. I can read the language quite well but I am hopeless at keeping up in a conversation. I admire greatly those who have that ability.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Is time travel a superpower? I’d go for that as a way to get more time. My husband jokes that I already have superpowers as I have an exceptionally good sense of smell and taste. It’s as much a burden as a benefit, so I’m not sure I’d really want to ask for any others.

Let’s say I’m coming for a visit to your area. What are some must-see places?

You’ll definitely need your walking boots. I spend every opportunity I can outdoors. My husband is working in Switzerland right now so I spend a lot of time out there. My favourite place in the world is the Raten. It’s a very gentle mountain pass only two miles from where we live. There are footpaths in all directions and the dogs can have a good run. The air is incredibly clean and the views are breathtaking. There is something wonderfully soothing about the place. I always come away calmer and happier and feeling all is right with the world.

New York Orphan

From fleeing the Irish Potato Famine, to losing his parents on the ship to New York, seven-year-old Daniel Flynn knows about adversity. As Daniel sings the songs of home to earn pennies for food, pick-pocket Thomas Reilly becomes his ally and friend, until he too is cast out onto the street.

A destitute refugee in a foreign land, Daniel, together with Thomas and his sister Molly, are swept up by the Orphan Train Movement to find better lives with families across America. For Daniel will the dream prove elusive?

How strong are bonds of loyalty when everything is at stake?

Read an excerpt:

Daniel slept fitfully through the rest of the day. He woke with a start several times, from the noises of the street during the hours of light. There’d be no singing, no wake celebrating a life well lived, no fiddlers and no cheer. The sound of Molly’s sobbing was all that punctuated the quiet, sombre mood. Tom had gone out into the day as soon as they’d returned. He said nothing of where he was going and neither Daniel nor Molly asked. Each of them needed to grieve in their own way and for Daniel it was an overwhelming bone-weary tiredness that descended.

When he roused himself sometime well after noon, Molly was at the pot boiling rags, weeping as she pounded the cloths with a long stick to move them round in the murky water. She made to wipe her eyes when she saw he was looking, but he stayed her arm. “It’s ok.”

“Now don’t let Tom be hearing you saying that.” Her lips turned up slightly in a smile, but there was no sign of the rest of Molly’s face joining in and the sadness in her eyes was unabated. “Don’t you go thinking you can be lying about here all day when I’ve got work to be doing.”

Now Daniel did smile and he thanked God for this feisty companion who was so like Mammy had been while she was well.

Buy it here

About Rosemary J. Kind

Rosemary J Kind writes because she has to. You could take almost anything away from her except her pen and paper. Failing to stop after the book that everyone has in them, she has gone on to publish books in both non-fiction and fiction, the latter including novels, humour, short stories and poetry. She also regularly produces magazine articles in a number of areas and writes regularly for the dog press.

As a child she was desolate when at the age of 10 her then teacher would not believe that her poem based on ‘Stig of the Dump’ was her own work and she stopped writing poetry for several years as a result. She was persuaded to continue by the invitation to earn a little extra pocket money by ‘assisting’ others to produce the required poems for English homework!

Always one to spot an opportunity, she started school newspapers and went on to begin providing paid copy to her local newspaper at the age of 16.

For twenty years she followed a traditional business career, before seeing the error of her ways and leaving it all behind to pursue her writing full-time.

She spends her life discussing her plots with the characters in her head and her faithful dogs, who always put the opposing arguments when there are choices to be made.

Always willing to take on challenges that sensible people regard as impossible, she established and ran the short story download site Alfie Dog Fiction for six years building it to become one of the largest in the world, representing over 300 authors and carrying over 1600 short stories. She closed it in order to focus on her own writing.

Her hobby is developing the Entlebucher Mountain Dog in the UK and when she brought her beloved Alfie back from Belgium he was only the tenth in the country.

She started writing Alfie’s Diary as an Internet blog the day Alfie arrived to live with her, intending to continue for a year or two. Thirteen years later it goes from strength to strength and has been repeatedly named as one of the top ten pet blogs in the UK.

For more details about the author please visit her website at www.rjkind.com For more details about her dog then you’re better visiting www.alfiedog.me.uk

Twitter @therealalfiedog
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rjkind/

Rosemary J. Kind will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.