Hatfield 1677 by Laura C. Rader
Author's Profile + Interview + Book Profile / by lcr123 / 4833 views / Featured
Set against the backdrop of 17th-century colonial America, Hatfield 1677 by Laura C. Rader unfolds a gripping tale of survival, resilience, and humanity. The historical fiction follows Benjamin and Martha Waite, Puritan settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, whose lives are shattered when their village is raided by Algonquian warriors. Martha and her children are taken captive alongside other settlers, thrust into a harrowing journey through the wilderness. As Benjamin Waite and his ally Stephen Jennings take on a desperate chase to rescue their loved ones before they are sold to French traders in Canada, Martha faces her own battle to protect her children and endure the brutal conditions of captivity. Meanwhile, Ashpelon, a Native sachem, tackles the perilous line between resistance and survival, striving for freedom and justice for his people. This is a story of courage and sacrifice on all sides, a vivid portrait of a turbulent moment in history.
- Listing ID: 28350
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About the Author:
Laura C. Rader earned a BA in psychology from San Diego State University, where she minored in history and took creative writing and literature classes. She drew on those passions in her thirty-year career as a history and English teacher of elementary and middle school students.
Now a full-time historical fiction author, Laura also enjoys studying genealogy, attending neighborhood book club meetings, taking forest walks with her Rough Collie, and visiting her adult daughter in Brooklyn. Originally from California, Laura lives twenty miles north of Raleigh, North Carolina.
Laura's debut novel, Hatfield 1677, is a work of historical fiction inspired by the lives of her ninth great-grandparents in colonial Massachusetts Bay colony. - URL of the book's purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Hatfield-1677-Laura-C-Rader/dp/B0CWY6Q29S/ref=sr_1_1?
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Awards, reviews, press releases, and other relevant information:
American Writing Awards 2024 Finalist
Kirkus Review excerpt: "Rader paints a stirring picture with the subtlest of brush strokes—this is no simplistic struggle between good and evil...Martha, in particular, is an impressively drawn character, deep and complex...overall, this is a moving work, dramatically compelling and historically searching. An engrossing novel that challenges stale narratives of colonial America."—Kirkus Reviews - Genre: Historical Fiction
- Author's Name: Laura C. Rader
- Your Email Address: lcrwriter@gmail.com
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Did you love reading books when you were little? Why or why not?:
Yes. When I was very little, my father made up stories to tell me and my mother read to me. When I started school, I struggled at first learning phonics, but once I grasped the concept of sight words and spelling patterns, I learned to read practically all at once. By second grade I was reading classics such as "Black Beauty" and soon advanced to reading everything I could get my hands on.
I always loved the magical way that fiction can transport you into the minds of characters and allow you to walk in their footsteps to far away, long ago, and/or magical places.
Non-fiction only appeals to me when I am curious about something or eager to research information for one of my novels. - At what age did you start reading books? What were your best memories of that time?: I started reading on my own in first grade. I remember reading all the street signs from the backseat of the car as my parents drove us places, reading recipes, cereal boxes, comic strips and, of course, books. My mom took my sister and me to the public library every week in the summer, and I loved searching for and choosing my own books and entering the reading contest.
- What was the first book you loved reading? Why?: The first I remember was "Black Beauty." I loved that it was about horses because I love horses. I loved that it was written from the horse's first-person point of view. And I loved that it was so emotional.
- When did you first think about writing your first book? Why?: In 6th grade, when I was 10, I wrote a 30-page handwritten story from dual points of view: mountain lion and a hunter pursuing her. I researched mountain lions and the setting before writing, and my teacher read my story out loud to the class and told me privately that she thought I should publish it. I never did, but her encouragement stayed with me throughout my life. It was thanks to my parents (who were teachers) and my teachers that I became a teacher myself, and also that I became a writer.
- What was the greatest obstacle you've encountered when you were writing your book? What made you overcome it?: I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, so I had to learn to let go of editing too much while I was writing the first draft. Now I write until I'm mentally exhausted, which is usually no more than 5 or 6 pages, stop for the day, and the next day reread the previous day's writing, make any crucial changes, and plunge ahead.
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What pieces of advice can you give aspiring authors? What worked for you?:
Take courses on creative writing, read lots of books on the craft of writing, but take it all with a grain of salt and experiment with different approaches until you find what works for you.
Outline or not, your choice.
Do try to push through and complete your first draft and then set it aside for at least a month before you reread it and make any revisions.
Find a supportive, honest and kind critique group or other writers to read your work and offer feedback, at some point between finishing your first draft and publication.
If you want a traditional publisher, you will need a query letter that will require more effort than your book did, you will need tremendous patience with the slow process, and you will need to learn to have your work rejected dozens of times without taking it personally.
If you choose to self-publish, you will have more control, but it is also a lot of work. -
Who are the authors or what are the books that had the greatest influence in your own writing? Why?:
As a child, my favorites were Marguerite Henry's books featuring horses and Albert Terhune's books about dogs. I love 19th-century literature, and some of my favorite books and authors are from that period: "Oliver Twist", "A Christmas Carol," and "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens; "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson; all the Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll, and "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott.
More recently, books that have influenced me as a writer include "The Nightingale" by Kristen Hannah, "The Stand" by Stephen King," "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, and almost every book by Tana French, Lisa Jewell, or Amy Harmon. - What are your current or future writing plans? What can readers further expect from you?: I have a slew of half-finished historical fiction novels, and one out on submission based on the life of a turn of the century composer. I'm currently writing a historical biographical novel about the Revolutionary War in the American colonies, and what freedom means to different people.
- Do you offer a free book copy to interested readers?: Please contact me to discuss.
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