Meet Carrie Pagels, author of “Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance”

Today, I’m delighted to feature Carrie Fancett Pagels, a friend of mine who has recently had her debut inspirational fiction novella, Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance published.

Carrie has been an inspiration to me in the past two years as we’ve been traveling the path to publication.

Carrie Pagels

Carrie, what sparked your personal writing journey?

 I had been writing for years, since childhood.  What really jump-started my writing was when our son sank into autism after a second set of MMR shots.  I felt like I might lose my mind with all his bizarre and extreme behaviors (which I won’t describe here.)  I began writing a story about a boy who recovered, over time, with God’s help.  And PTL, my son has made tremendous strides and is doing very well now.

 

Let’s talk about your new inspirational book, Return to Shirley Plantation. Please tell us about it.

 This story is about radical obedience despite what might be in a situation for oneself; selfless sacrifice and obedience to our Lord.  It is about waiting for God’s leading and timing.  Angelina Rose is a multi-generational mixed-race woman who is only 1/8 African-American and appears white.

The Abolitionists used photographs of white slaves (white by appearance but in slavery like Angelina) to stir up Northern sentiments.  An exhibit from a couple of years ago, that focused on this, stirred my interest.   I began to imagine how a girl in the 1860’s, enslaved, could be 1/8 white at that point. It wasn’t a pretty thought.  But unfortunately it happened frequently where you have multi-generational abuse of slaves, resulting in yet another generation of children born into slavery with a white father.  

I used a thread in the book where Angelina compares herself with her sister, who is 1/4 African American and had a father whom her mother loved. I have to think that happened, too, where you knew you weren’t the product of a loving union. And I’d also read about a gentleman, who after his death was revealed to have been a man “passing” as white and he was a very prominent man up north.  But essentially, the story is a romance and a historical fiction set at one of our nation’s Historical landmarks–Shirley Plantation, which is an amazing place.

 Return To ShirleyPlantation_RtSP_coverShirley Plantation was a Union field hospital during the Civil War. The Carter women were very impressive in their willingness to tend to the wounded soldiers. Mary Braxton Carter, in particular, is documented to have possessed a very strong faith.  And I have a tragic figure, the real-life Hilly Carter, Mary’s son, who had trained to be a minister.  

I hope my story will “take” people there and help them understand some of the things that went on during the war.  I do not present a one-sided view (I am Northern-raised) but try to give a balanced approach to what people might have been thinking at the time.

 

God often teaches us something through our writing. What did you learn about life, faith, or yourself in the process of writing this book?

SO many things!!!  

~ That I need a critique partner, like Kathy Maher, to help me.

~ That I don’t like to write in isolation.  

~ That when God enables me to do something He will give me supernatural favor to get it done.

~ That listening for that still, soft voice is something we all need to do.

 

What are you working on right now? 

Two different manuscripts–one is set up north during 1895 and the other is set along the James River in 1745!  I am going back and forth between the two!

 

Thank you so much, Carrie, for joining us today. Every success as you continue to serve God through your writing.

Here is a bit more about Carrie and where you can find her:

Bio – Carrie Fancett Pagels, Ph.D.

With a Ph.D. in School Psychology, Carrie served as a psychologist for twenty-five years. Married for over 25 years to the love of her life, she resides in Virginia’s historic triangle. She has an 11-year-old son and a 24-year-old daughter. 

 

Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance, is an Amazon top-rated Civil War book.

Carrie contributed to God’s Provision in Tough Times, Lighthouse of the Carolinas (July, 2013).

Carrie’s short story, “Snowed In: A Northwoods Christmas,” will appear in Guidepost Books’ A Christmas Cup of Cheer (October, 2013).

www.carriefancettpagels.com

Facebook Author Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carrie-Fancett-Pagels/317053071710640?fref=ts

Facebook Personal Page http://www.facebook.com/carriefancettpagels

Twitter https://twitter.com/cfpagels

Pinterest http://pinterest.com/carriefpagels/

GoodReads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7043690.Carrie_Fancett_Pagels

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=131454255&trk=tab_pro

Links to purchase Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance 

Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Murray-Puras-American-Series-ebook/dp/B00C2EZ5L6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1370264197&sr=1-1&keywords=carrie+fancett+pagels

Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murray-puras-cry-of-freedom-volume-1-return-to-shirley-plantation-murray-pura/1114941171?ean=2940016542836

God’s Provision in Tough Times

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Provision-Cynthia-Howerter-La-Tan-Murphy/dp/1938499441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358266747&sr=8-1&keywords=cynthia+howerter

My Work

Writer’s manuscripts are like children. We pour our time, love, faith, wisdom, imagination, discipline, and hope into them. We want to see them mature into a creation we can be proud of, and that others will benefit from and enjoy.

THE CAPTIVE HEART is a manuscript and STEWART’S GREEN is a work in progress.

  

 

She indentured herself and fled Scotland

on a ship to Virginia

to escape disgrace and start a new life,

only to find faith and a future she could never have anticipated.

 

Book One ~ A story of forgiveness

THE CAPTIVE HEART

Woman Colonial_Woman_Williamsburg_(4664967915)
photo courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg

 

In 1770, Heather Douglas, disillusioned and desperate to escape her native Scotland, signs a seven year indenture and flees aboard a British merchant vessel headed for the Virginia colony. When a common planter purchases Heather’s indenture and takes her to his farm, she is faced with new and constant challenges. It is in the Virginia countryside that Heather begins her greatest journey, one of self discovery and of maturing faith. Here, she discovers that her emotional and spiritual scars bind her far more than her indenture.

Matthew Stewart, a widowed farmer with two young children, needed someone to help raise them. Was God leading him to take this unknown indentured servant as his wife? How would these two individuals, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, and each having experienced their own tragedies, bridge their differences to make a life together?

 

A tender, heartfelt novel about new beginnings and love blooming in unexpected places. The Captive Heart weaves rich history and romance together into a beautiful tapestry of faith sure to find a special place in readers’ hearts.                                            Laura Frantz, author of Love’s Reckoning and Love’s Awakening

 

 Life was better than she dreamed,

now the conflict between the

British and the colonists

threatened the loss of everything dear,

even her husband.

 

Book Two ~ A story of faithfulness

 

Stewart's Green 

STEWART’S GREEN

 

It was spring of 1775 and the antagonism between the colonists and the British had escalated to direct confrontation. Throughout Virginia, as well as at the Stewart’s ordinary in the Virginia countryside, strife between factions loyal to the crown and those demanding independence was pitting friends, neighbors and families against each other. Like so many others in this newly birthed nation, Heather and Matthew Stewart’s world was turning upside down. Loyalties are questioned and when Matthew disappears, odd and confusing events create doubts and suspicion. The inevitable war will challenge the family’s faith, alter relationships, and change their lives forever.