Melanie Dobson shares her love of Mackinac Island
An interview
with Melanie Dobson, author of
Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan
Not only does God love to create, He also
loves His creation. This is the message author Melanie Dobson hopes that her
readers gain from her latest release Love
Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan (Summerside Press/July 1, 2012/ISBN
978-1609366407/$12.99) that combines historical romance with her trademark
element of mystery.
A story filled with beauty and
wonder, Love Finds You in Mackinac
Island, Michigan transports readers to a magical place and time. The story begins in the 1890s
at the end of the Gilded Age, a golden era of prosperity and growth. As the
Gilded Age comes to a close, the kingdoms of many wealthy industrialists begin
to collapse, including the once-wealthy Bissette family who has nearly lost its
fortune. However, the Bissettes still own a
home on the fashionable Mackinac Island, where they will spend one last summer
in the hope of introducing their daughter Elena to a wealthy suitor.
Q: Was there any special inspiration for the story? And
why Mackinac Island?
I've
always been intrigued by Mackinac Island (a very popular vacation destination
on the east coast) because I was told time seemed to stand still
there. There are no cars on the island so people ride bikes or horse-drawn
carriages, and from the moment you get off a boat, you can sense it is a
magical place.
Q: How does this book differ from your other books,
including the Love Finds You series?
Love Finds You in Mackinac Island is a historical romance with an element of mystery (like my other
novels). Many of my recent books have been about different religious groups,
but this story is about high society in the 1890s. Readers will recognize and I
hope enjoy some of the characters and twists inspired by Jane Austin's
novels.
I love being one of the writers for the Love Finds
You series! I grew up in a small town in Ohio and have always been intrigued by
small towns and their stories. The opportunity to research and write about unique
towns has been an absolute joy for me.
Q: Do you decide where the books in the Love Finds You (LFY) series are set, or
does the publisher assign locales? How do you decide where the story is set?
Summerside
has asked me to write about a specific locale before, but usually I send my
wonderful editor a couple ideas of places where I'd like to set a story and we
work from there. My book LFY in Liberty, Indiana was set in Liberty because
they were a major hub on the Underground Railroad, and the name Liberty was
quite fitting for their work helping runaway slaves. LFY in Amana and Homestead
were set in the Amana Colonies--a place I've been intrigued about since I was a
child. I've also been intrigued about Mackinac Island since my early years,
growing up in Ohio.
My desire is to write stories that stir people's heart and soul--whether historical or contemporary--but my favorite genres would be to write historical romance and romantic suspense. I love to research--so much so that it's sometimes hard for me to stop and actually write the book. :)
I always
visit the locations for my Love Finds You books before I write about the towns
because the setting is ingrained in these stories. I usually post blogs about
my visits to the locations once the books are released if you would like to
read about some of my adventures. http://melaniedobson.blogspot.com
Fortunately,
my next novel (Where the Trail Ends,
releasing in October) is set on the Oregon Trail so I didn't have to go far to
research it.
Q: The book takes place in the Gilded Age. What/when was the
Gilded Age?
The Gilded Age was a golden age of prosperity and growth in the United States from the late 1860s through the early 1890s. My story begins at the end of the Gilded Age when the kingdoms of many wealthy industrialists began to collapse.
Q: For such a small island, how did Mackinac Island
become such a popular getaway? How long has it been a tourist destination?
The resort island nestled into a strait below Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula is known by many names. Fairy Island. Land of the Giant Turtle. And
my personal favorite—the island that time forgot.
From the moment I stepped off the ferry and heard the
clip-clopping of horses’ hooves along the island’s historic Main Street, I was
transported back a good hundred years. Pronounced “Mackinaw” like Mackinaw City
(but spelled differently so the post office could differentiate between the
island and town), Mackinac Island is a place that time did indeed seem to
forget.
Even today, Mackinac Island reflects an era when the wealthy and
their servants escaped the heat and grime in cities like Chicago and Detroit to
enjoy natural spring waters and cool lake breezes. It was an era when women
wore beaded gowns and plumed hats and twirled parasols in their gloved hands,
when people were just beginning to talk about horseless carriages as they rode
in their own horse-drawn carriages to an elaborate ball at the Grand Hotel or
to an afternoon tea at what their neighbors would call a “cottage”—a residence
that more closely resembled a castle. A nineteenth-century writer once said
that the island was so healthy, a person had to leave Mackinac to die.
Mackinac Island hasn’t swung far beyond the era of the
Victorians, and both residents and visitors alike savor the past. Its diverse
history goes back hundreds of years, when Native Americans considered the
island the home of their Great Spirit and local tribes gathered there each
summer to fish. In the 1700s, lucrative French and American fur companies made
their homes and millions of dollars on Mackinac until the British took over
during the War of 1812 and held the island for three years before returning it
to the United States.
Then, in 1819, the first steamship of tourists arrived.
However,
the investors in the Grand Hotel made it a premier summer destination when they
built the hotel in 1887. The Grand Hotel (on the cover of the book) celebrates
its 125 anniversary this summer.
Q: What do you hope readers come away with after reading Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan?
I hope
readers will be inspired by God's majesty and be reminded that not only does
God love to create, He also loves His creation.
I've
published ten novels now, and LFY in Mackinac Island was one of my favorite
books to write. This story (I hope) is filled with beauty and wonder.
It's about a magical place, during a magical time, and I hope that
readers leave with a sense of God's majesty on this beautiful island where
time has seemed to stand still.
Q: As you were writing this book, you were able to travel
to Haiti to lead a women’s retreat. Tell us how you were able to tie your
preparation and experience there into the book.
In the
midst of writing this book, I went to Haiti to help lead a retreat for the
wives of Haitian pastors. Our whole team spoke on a different name of God, and
I spoke about God as Mighty Creator. As I researched God's passion for creating
and the love He has for His creation, it was a joy for me to incorporate the
wonder and beauty of the universe into this historical novel.
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