An Interview With Sara Barnard

Sara Barnard is a native Texan, conservationist, mother of four youngsters, wife to a handsome Texan and elementary teacher. She started writing in grade school, and hasn't stopped since. During the past year, readers have thrilled to the very special story of Indian Em'ly, published by Painted Pony Books.

Recently, Richard Prosch visited with Sara as the fourth book in the series, The Journey Home, nears publication.

Richard: The inspiration for the Indian Em’ly books is rooted deep in your past. What did you see at Fort Davis Texas when you were a child that stuck in your memory? 

Sara: My mom, dad, and I were lost in the tangle of misbegotten trails in the park at Fort Davis. We came upon the ruins of the old post cemetery and there was only one marker. Apparently all the rest of the bodies had been relocated to San Antonio when the post was abandoned, except for this one. It was the marker of a young Native American girl named Indian Emily, or Em'ly as they put it. The inscription said something about her loving a soldier at the fort and accidentally being shot while trying to deliver to him a message of the impending Indian attack, but not before "saving the garrison from massacre".

Richard: Are you working on a specific arc, or number of books, with a beginning, middle, and end, or will the Indian Em’ly story continue on?  As a corollary –can each story stand alone?

Sara: Each story can certainly stand alone, but is best when read all together. It begins with Indian Em'ly's death and the kidnapping of the children she and this soldier could have had, and the last story in the series will release this summer with the wayward children finally finding the peace they've been missing.

Richard: In the first story, Apache siblings Wind That Knocks Down Lodges and Cactus Flower have their world turned upside down. How have they grown by book two and three?

Sara: Knocks Down (who appears in my Everlasting Heart series, as well) and Cactus Flower (who is named after Cynthia Ann Parker's daughter Prairie Flower) are forced to form trusting bonds with select pale faces, despite the fact that it was the pale face Army who murdered their mother. Not only are they beginning to question and rationalize their world, but they must rely on each other in ways they never had to before, as well.

Richard: The two characters have a typical brother & sister relationship. Do you have siblings? Or: Are you drawing from your own life?

Sara: I draw from my own experience, but not from brothers and sisters of my own. I write these adventures after my own children :-) I have four of my own, ages 3,5, 8, and 10 and we have recently taken in a 12 year old child, as well. So there is certainly no shortage of inspiration and quotable quotes around here!

Richard: Your bio says you write Amish fiction. What’s your inspiration there, and where can we find those stories?

Sara: I do! Rebekah's Quilt is my first Amish romance and stemmed from my familial research and finding what I believed were Amish ancestors. One man had the nickname of the Pennsylvania Dutchman and another photo showed a woman in an Amish covering. However, another family historiographer has found that these people may have been Jewish! This is very exciting and I am just as proud either way <3

Richard: Where can we find more information about you and your books?

Sara: Find my work at www.sarabarnardbooks.com

Thanks for having me at the blog!

NEW RELEASE -- The Saga of Indian Em’ly Book 3: The Orphanage by Sara Barnard -- Giveaway!

Be sure and leave a comment for a chance to win an ecopy of Sara Barnard's The Orphanage!

Far from home in a land foreign to them, kidnapped Apache siblings Wind That Knocks Down Lodges and Cactus Flower are at the mercy of the Army soldiers they have grown to despise. When ordered to dispose of the children or else, the Army soldiers waste no time in depositing them at the nearest Catholic orphanage, where unlikely alliances are forged and Knocks Down must make a decision: conform to the Pale Face world or risk everything for an unlikely chance at escape.

Excerpt

    “A new garrison,” Cactus translated, though she didn’t have to. I was rolling the pale face words off my tongue easier with each passing sunset. “Wants to see the …prisoners?” Her word tweaked up at the end, turning it into a question. She looked at me. “Do they mean us?”

     Glancing over the seat again, I could see that they did. “They’re coming with a big man that is red in the face and whose head is covered in silver hair, like the cunning fox. Sit up and look like one of The People.”

     Cactus Flower did as I said, just as the dirty canvas pulled back. The red faced man peered in, a brown wad that looked like a fat twig clenched in his teeth. He must have held it there often, because a brown stain from the juice had crusted on his lips. “Kids!” he spat, flinging the wad of juicy brown paper and leaves into the back of the wagon with us. Neither Cactus nor I flinched. “Brats! Whelps, they are.”

     Silence covered the men like the burial shroud had covered my mother.

     The big man with the hair like the silver fox continued, his face growing redder with each breath he sucked in. “You call these Injuns prisoners? It’s no wonder why the general saw fit to relieve you bunch of misfits. Me and my men are taking over. Now.”

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