Kathy Cretsinger 's "Callie's Mountian" Interview

I’m so excited to have an interview with my friend Kathy about the release of her new book, Callie’s Mountain.
When did you fist realize your calling to write?
I’ve wanted to write since in elementary school. I didn’t have any idea how to go about it until I met a friend who was an author. She showed me I could write, and helped me with the process of getting started.

What inspired you to write Callie’s Mountain? The story of the Melungeon people has been dear to me for a long time. They were so mistreated by the white people. I guess I feel for the downtrodden people. I’d much rather write about people who are lifted up from the depths of hurt.
We were researching our family tree, along with my cousin’s husband. He found information about our family that we had not heard of before. Believe me, it was a wild family. With his discovery, we realized we had Melungeon blood in our veins, from my father’s mother. My father and his siblings bore distinct characteristics of the Melungeon race. I tried to use native Melungeon names in the book, but it isn’t about anyone in particular.

Writing Callie’s Mountain has been quite a journey for you. Do you care to talk about it?Callie’s Mountain has had a lot of starts and stops. The book has been with me, and a part of my life, for seven years. I started writing for therapy after my father’s death. I wrote off and on while caring for my mother. Callie wouldn’t let me alone, and I continued to write.
There have been a lot of discouragements, mostly from agents and publishers. We all have them if we desire to write. I have persevered. It’s made me a better person and a better writer.

What is Callie’s Mountain about? What time period is it set in? What makes it stand out?Callie’s Mountain is set in the hills of Tennessee, around Rogersville, in 1798. It is a love and hate story. Callie’s father tells her he has arranged a marriage for her with Jacob McGinnis. She’s never met him, and she rebels. First on her agenda is to teach school. Then she wants to find her “own true love.” The wagon train they are traveling across the mountains in is attacked by three strange men, the first introduction of the Melungeons. Jacob runs them off, but it doesn’t impress Callie.
She becomes close to one Melungeon family, and teaches them to read and write. The store owner raised prices when he sells anything to the Melungeon. He is killed by Indians, who he also cheated, before they have a chance to approach him with their knowledge.
There are Indian attacks, Callie likes Jacob, then doesn’t. I think there’s a lot of action.
To me the story of the Lost Race, the Melungeons, makes it stand out. Very few books have been written about these people and I want them to be portrayed as the sweet, wonderful people they are.

What about your new publishing company Mantle Rock?
When I was having trouble being published, my dear friend and author, Sandi Rog, encouraged me to start my own company and self-publish. My husband, Jerry, and I decided this was the way publication was going. It’s hard to be published in a large publishing company. It takes years to see your book in print. Mantle Rock Publishing can publish your book for you with no cost to you, and in months instead of years. The only thing we ask is you have it edited before it comes to us. We want a perfect manuscript. We can then have it printed on Kindle and in paperback. You will receive a commission when the book is sold. We will also help you market your book by helping you with blogs, interviews, and other ways of marketing. Of course, you have to do a lot of the leg work. Callie’s Mountain is being printed now in paperback. If anyone has other questions, they can contact me at kathycret at yahoo dot com.

What other releases do you have coming out?Susannah’s Hope is scheduled to be released in January, 2013. Susannah is a brat in Callie’s Mountain. She goes through a lot of changes in the beginning of the story. She takes a complete 360 turn when her father dies and she is left to manage the store. Dr. Val Minor befriends her. There are no Indian attacks, but a smallpox epidemic. This book also involves mixed marriages between Melungeon and Caucasian. It really happened in that time.
After that is Emily’s Faith. Emily is the daughter of Callie and Jacob McGinnis. This will involve the Trail of Tears and be set in Hopkinsville, KY. After all, I live in Kentucky now and the Trail of Tears is part of our area. It is also a love story between Emily and a part Melungeon man. I think it will be a sad book to write because of all the things that happened to the Cherokee Indians. I am enjoying the research.
In the fall, I hope to finish Gilded Winter. I may change the name to Golden Winter. Haven’t decided yet. It’s set in 1908 on Jekyll Island. It’s the end of the Gilded Era, and Jekyll was a winter haven for the rich. It’s about four employees on the island. It’s a little lighter book than the Melungeon stories.
After that, I have several running around in my head. I pray God lets me live long enough to tell them.
A lot of the process of my writing is on my blog, www.kattscribbles.blogspot.com. My website should be up soon. It will be www.kattanderson.com. I also write another blog for teen girls. I invite you to stop by www.forchristiangirls.org. You may also check out Mantel Rock Publishing at www.mantlerockpublishing.com. Thanks Brooke for having me on your blog. I’ve enjoyed being here. Thank you to the readers who have taken time to read the blog. I pray you will enjoy my humble endeavors to tell my story.

Fireworks!

     30 years ago in last April, I saw the best fireworks display ever!! I saw my future husband Tim for the first time. Here’s a little surprise, I knew I was going to meet him before I met him.
     At the start of my junior year in high school, God told me three things. I was going to have somebody who was to be very special to me, I didn’t know him yet, and I was going to the prom with him. Every time I went out with somebody, one of the conditions was not met. By the spring of 1982, my junior year was almost over and I hadn’t met anybody to fit all three of God’s conditions.
     Did I misunderstand God? Was I being silly romantic teenager? When I least expected it, I met Tim. From the first moment I looked into his big green eyes, he had my heart. It was as if God whispered in my ear, “This is the one I was telling you about.” He meet all of God's onditions and more! Three years later on October 12, 1985, I married Tim, the man God chose especially for me.
     I want to dedicate the following verse to the man who is the love of my life, my husband, and my best friend.

Song of Songs 5:10-16 (NIV)
“My beloved is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.
His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels.
His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh.
His arms are rods of gold set with topaz. His body is like polished ivory decorated with lapis lazuli.
His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars.
His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.”

Stringin’ and Breakin’

    I’m a farm girl who’s not a farm girl. Seriously! I was raised on my grandfather’s farm and I didn’t fit in at all. I didn’t want anything to do with any farming except for stringin’ and breakin.’
Stringin’ and breakin’ what you may ask? Green beans of course.


    After the beans were picked, my family and I would sit together to string and break them. It was a    wonderful time for many reasons. My family was together laughing and talking. If it was during the day, we’d sit in the carport. Sometimes the wind would blow a gentle cooling breeze. Other times, we’d plug in the fan. It was still nice. If it was night, we’d pile in front of the TV and watch family shows like Andy Griffith and the Beverly hillbillies.

“This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:2 (NKJV)

    Too bad I didn’t realize how special that time was or how short it would be. Too bad I didn’t realize what a blessing everything was; from the beans to my family. Stop and thank God for what He has given you. Rejoice in the day the Lord has made.

Spit Bath

     Aw, the joys of childhood. We have those wonderful moments we will never forget no matter how hard we try. Mine is my mother’s Spit Bath. Yeah, you heard me right, Spit Bath. If we were out somewhere like church or the store, I got them quite frequently. I was a tomboy and I got stuff on my face all the time. It drove my mother crazy. She’d make me sit still while she spit on a Kleenex and wiped my face off. I call it stuff because it could have been anything from dirt to chocolate. There were a couple of times my mother couldn’t figure what I had gotten into. I liked to think of that as a special talent. J

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

     Sin is like that stuff I used to get on my face. Whether you can see it or not, everybody else can. It’s not very becoming; in fact, it takes away from you. Who wants to look at a nasty face? Here’s the really bad part: No amount of scrubbing or soap will get rid of it. The only One who can is Jesus. Unlike the spit baths from my mother, you have to ask Jesus to cleanse you. All you have to do is confess your sins and ask for forgiveness. Fortunately for us, He doesn’t have to spit on a Kleenex first to do it.

***

Fun info!!

Did you know that Jesus used to use spit to heal? Check these verses in Mark out:

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). Mark 7:33-34 (NIV)

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” Mark 8:22-23 (NIV)
*Special thank you to my friend and Coworker Susan Bradley for remembering these spit verses.

What is that?

   
     “What in the world is that behind us?” My friend Lynda’s husband Alan asked that as we were traveling along I-40. We were on our way to a Smokies Game when Alan saw something strange in the rear view mirror. Of course, everybody in car turned around to look. What we saw is in the picture below. We took pictures of it with our cell phones. I think it made the driver mad, but what do you expect when you’re driving on an interstate with a large moose head duck taped to the back of your small car?
     I sent the picture to several people and most of them had no idea what it was. Many of them thought it was a giant boot or cast attached to the small car. Since my husband does taxidermy, it was obvious to me that it was a moose head. But then again, I’m used to seeing dead animals attached to things. Seeing that moose head was a unique experience to say the least.


“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV).
     “One and only” is how Jesus is described in the above translation. The King James Version uses the term “begotten.” Both terms mean special, unusual, and unique; just like Jesus. There is no one or nothing else like Him. Man cannot create anything that can even come close to comparing to Him and His love.
     As in my above example, some people did not recognize the moose head in the picture since it was so different. There are many today who cannot or will not recognize Jesus and his “uniqueness.” If only people could get past what the world has taught them to see Jesus as He really is. Now that would be an experience they would never forget!

 

SNOT!

     There’s only one thing that I like about snot: everybody has it. It’s a great equalizer. From Prince William to the child at day care, we all have snot, but unlike the day care child, you probably won’t see Prince Williams’. So why am I talking about snot?
     When I was a child in Sunday school, I learned the Lord’s Prayer. I was so proud of myself that I couldn’t wait to recite it to my mother. I’m glad I did or I would have been so embarrassed if somebody else had heard me. Instead of saying, “lead us not into temptation”, I was saying “lead us SNOT into temptation.”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)
      Remember, I was a small child. I did think it was weird to put the word “snot” in a prayer, but that’s what I thought I was hearing. Like all the other humans on the planet, I made a mistake. No matter how hard we try or how good our intentions, we mess up. All of us! God knows this better than anybody. That’s why he commands us to Trust Him and not what we think we know. Chances are we are wrong! But guess what? He never is. And that’s nothing to blow your nose at!

 

Yum! Yum!

To say that I love chocolate is like saying the sun is a little hot.   Thanks to my sweet-tooth, Hershey Pennsylvania is on my “Got to go to” list.  I told my husband Tim I wanted to spend a weekend there and tour the Hershey factory.  Unfortunately for me, Tim wasn’t too keen on the idea.  Dread is the look I would describe that came across his face.

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”  Psalm 119:103(NIV)

          Reading and studying the bible should not be a daily task.  It’s not something to mark off of our “To do” list and go on to the next chore.  As Christians, God’s words should be our desire and pleasure. We should savor His words as much as we savor a flavorful desert or a special treat.  Instead of your waist expanding, you’ll expand your faith. 

          That doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy chocolate. J