Kimberly, what’s significant about the time and place for The Mayflower Bride?
Kimberley Woodhouse: It takes place in 1620, and covers a very interesting period in our history. The Saints and Strangers left Holland and England to start a colony in the New World, and weren’t prepared for all that they would face. It’s such an important piece of our history because a lot of people think of the Mayflower as the beginning of our country.
What kind of research did you have to do to get the details right?
Kimberley Woodhouse: I have to admit, this was one of the most intense books I’ve had to research. To write about such a significant piece of our country’s history, I wanted to make sure I had all the facts correct. And that proved difficult, since there are several details that differ in the accounts.
As a historical writer, I always look for three sources to line up, but in this case sometimes it was laborious to even find three sources at all. I did find a couple historians who were experts in this field, and they were extremely helpful. Reading the surviving journals of Mayflower passengers was also a huge part of my research. Then I also watched several documentaries.
What do you hope readers come away with after reading The Mayflower Bride?
Kimberley Woodhouse: You know, when I was researching this book, I often prayed about how to write an inspirational story when everything that happened was one disaster after another. I wanted to stay true to history, but wanted to show that “happily-ever-after” that most readers look for in a story. I found it in the journals of the real people, and in all the descendants of those passengers: I was amazed by the sacrifice that was made, the passion for religious freedom, and the hope for a better future.
More than anything, I hope that readers can see the same thing, and know that joy and forgiveness are available for all of us. Even in the direst of circumstances.
Kathleen, what’s significant about the time and place for The Pirate Bride?
Kathleen Y’Barbo: Unlike the first book in the series, the characters do not live in New England. Rather, Maribel has grown up in Spain and then, through a series of extraordinary circumstances and a brief stint as a member of a pirate crew, ends up growing to adulthood in an orphanage in the Caribbean. The wild setting of the fictional Caribbean island mirrors the child who grows up there.
During this time period, when relations between European kingdoms could turn from friendly to frosty seemingly overnight, men carried letters of marque allowing them to legally become privateers. Depending on what flag a ship was flying, those same men might be termed pirates.
Jean-Luc, my privateer, carries such letters along with a strong sense of right and wrong, and yet the French, who rule over his home city of New Orleans, have hurried to appease a new ally in Europe by calling him a pirate.
This story and the political intrigue threaded through it could not have happened in any other era. And I cannot imagine Jean-Luc and Maribel falling in love anywhere other than in these two beautiful locations.
What kind of research did you need to do to get the details right?
Kathleen Y’Barbo: After writing more than a dozen books with New Orleans settings, I began the project thinking I knew pretty much all there was about one of my favorite cities on the planet. However, I had never written a story that went all the way back to the very early years of the city’s. You see, 2018 marks the 300th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans. What a storied history the city has, pun intended.
I dug deep into the archives and the history and took copious notes. I also traveled vicariously to the Caribbean—where I haven’t actually set foot since the 1990s—and wrote about such varied topics as island trees, eighteenth century treatments for head injuries, and the various types of riggings on sailing ships, just to name a few.
What do you hope readers come away with after reading The Pirate Bride?
Kathleen Y’Barbo: We serve such a creative God. We humans think we know how our lives will turn out and what steps we will need to take along the journey, and we’re always surprised when those plans don’t turn out as we expect. Oh, but we forget that nothing surprises God.
No storm has battered us that He did not allow and use for His purpose and no plot twist has occurred that was not written by the Author of the greatest story ever written. As readers watch Jean-Luc and Maribel walk their journey toward happily ever after, I hope they will also see that God is taking us on that same journey only what He has for us is so much greater than any earthly love story.
Click through to find out how the five authors coordinated their books with the larger story…