I wanted to explore why and how people identify so closely with the past even when it is impossible to ever know exactly what happened.
Heidi Hackford – 15 November 2022
The Back Flap
Are we ever able to escape the past? Should we be allowed to?
Though deeply ashamed of her slaveholding heritage, Temple Preston’s sense of duty and bittersweet memories tie her to Folly Park, her family’s crumbling ancestral plantation in Virginia. Now a cash-strapped tourist attraction, Folly Park was once the home of Confederate General Thomas Temple Smith, a southern war hero who died under mysterious circumstances. Temple is pursuing a plan to secure the house museum’s future when her summer research assistant, a Black PhD student, uncovers a remarkable secret: the general’s wife gave birth to a biracial baby while he was away fighting in the Civil War. This discovery turns Temple’s quiet, insulated life upside down, and—along with further revelations about the past that come to light in the ensuing weeks—fuels the growing tension in her hometown as a Black activist and Temple’s own race-baiting brother square off in a local campaign for mayor. Faced with threats and betrayal, Temple discovers who she really is—and how much she’s willing to lose to tell the truth.
About the book
What is the book about?
The novel is about a young woman’s quest to expose the secrets of her family’s slaveholding past no matter what the cost. It’s also about how the bonds of friendship help her to grow as a person when her own family’s dysfunction threatens to hold her back.
When did you start writing the book?
Almost twenty years ago. It has gone through many, many drafts and revisions.
How long did it take you to write it?
About ten years, on and off.
Where did you get the idea from?
I was working at Monticello on Thomas Jefferson’s papers, and I was shocked at the uproar when the administration publicly stated their belief that he had fathered children with Sallie Hemings, an enslaved woman. I wanted to explore why and how people identify so closely with the past even when it is impossible to ever know exactly what happened.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
One of the reasons the book took so long was that I struggled so much with making the main character relatable. She is a very privileged White woman from a slaveholding family. I also wanted to like her since I was spending so much time with her, and it took years to get to that point. She actually started out as a man in my first draft, and I also experimented with first person point of view in another draft.
What came easily?
I’ve read through a lot of primary sources from the nineteenth century like diaries and letters for my dissertation and in my work as a historian, so it was fairly easy to make the language in the fictional historical materials sound authentic to the time period. (Or at least I hope so!)
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
The characters are fictitious, but I certainly had some real-world folks in mind as I fleshed out their personalities, particularly the not-so-nice characters.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
There are many, many authors that I admire, and I wish that their influence was more apparent in my own work. Some favorites include Geraldine Brooks for how she approaches historical subjects in creative ways, Toni Morrison for her language and sharp insight, Karen Joy Fowler for her utterly believable families and relationships, and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers for the in-depth fictional world she built in The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois, which I just finished reading. I also really admire Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s chilling My Monticello.
Do you have a target reader?
I think the book will appeal primarily to women—I hope from ages 16 to 96!
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
When I have an idea, I write it in a notebook. If I’m still adding to it after a few days, I realize I have a story. I find that at this early stage my imagination works better with a pen and paper than a computer.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I create a very general outline for the story arc at first so I can get started writing while the idea is fresh. Then, as the draft progresses, I flesh out the outline to include what needs to happen in each chapter to move all the threads of the story along.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
I’m constantly editing. It helps me get back into the world I’m creating if I review what I’ve written before I start a new writing session. It’s also a great activity for days when I’m less motivated or not feeling very creative.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
No
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
Yes. I submitted to dozens of agents and had a fair number ask to see sample chapters.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
It was a gradual process of finding that agents were initially interested but declining to represent the book. Finally, after about two years, one very experienced agent told me that although she loved the book, she would not be able to sell it to a big publisher because they wouldn’t be interested. I was very grateful for her honesty and happy to find an indie press that focuses on women authors.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
It was professionally done by my publisher.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
Like my writing process, I have a loose outline of potential marketing activities that I’ll flesh out as I experiment and learn. So, I’m basically winging it.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Promoting your work is very time-consuming and you can’t do it all. There is a lot of free information available, and I recommend exploring until you find a couple of areas to focus your efforts on. If you don’t focus, you will likely be overwhelmed and never feel like you’re doing enough.
About You
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a suburb of Buffalo, New York. Lots of snowy winters allowed me to indulge my obsession for reading.
Where do you live now?
I live in Half Moon Bay, a small town on the California coast near San Francisco. It’s a little slice of heaven on earth.
What would you like readers to know about you?
I love thinking about how history influences our daily lives, even when we don’t realize it. I have a blog that allows me to explore this idea, and I can’t seem to avoid having it becoming a theme in my stories and novels.
What are you working on now?
I’m writing another historical novel that sort of flips the Pride and Prejudice story around. It’s set in an Old West town with a woman shortage.
End of Interview.
For more from Heidi Hackford visit her website and blog, then follow her on Facebook.