Caryl McAdoo – Character Interview – Part 1 of 1

Shannon here: Caryl McAdoo interviews her characters from her Historical Romance, Gram’s Match for T.J. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for an e-book copy, U.S. only. Deadline: Jan 11th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Caryl:

Good morning! I always love coming to the Inkslinger and have been visiting pretty regularly since 2013! That’s eleven years, Shannon! Can you believe it? Thank you for having me again!

I’m Caryl McAdoo, a Christian hybrid author from Texas with over 75 published titles, mostly historical Christian romance. I have two special people with me today, my hero and heroine from GRAM’S MATCH FOR T.J. which debuts today. 

So I have Thomas Jefferson DeMorse and Abishag Dawn with me today along with his grandmother Esse DeMorse who was responsible for bringing these two lovebirds together. I thought I’d ask them a few questions and get to know them a little before the story of their romance goes public!

Caryl: Sounds like fun, and welcome back Caryl. Esse, why don’t we start with you. How did you play in these two meeting?

Esse: Well, I will say I believe it was by divine appointment. I had a tooth paining me something fierce, you see, and just happened to travel to Dallas with my best friend Biddy—we’ve been practically joined at the hip since grade school—to go to a new dentist there, a Doctor Groom. I’d heard he was very good, and hoped he could save my tooth as it is very important to my that I go to my grave with them all in tact.

Caryl: I see, so what part does that take in Abishag meeting Thomas?

Esse: Oh, yes. I was getting there. Sorry to be so chasing so many rabbits, but it’s all pertinent. So . . . it also just so happened that Abi here came to the good doctor’s office on that same morning. Had the doctor not been late, we might never have had the chance to meet and visit. She is a precious girl, a preacher’s daughter who knows the Word ’bout as good as I do.
     I knew right away, she would be perfect for T.J. That’s what we call my grandson for short. I invited her to lunch that afternoon at the Lowell House where Biddy and I were staying. I had won a night there, you see. During lunch I told her about T.J. and the troubles he’d had since the war. Biddy and I agreed Abi was perfect, so I slipped her our mailing address so she could write to him if she had a mind to.

Caryl: And I suppose you did write, Abi, since we’re all here today. Tell us about that. Why would you decide to write a perfect stranger?

Abi: Oh, you could say I fell in love with Miss Esse right there in the dentist’s office, and when she told me she thought I would be perfect for her grandson . . . I don’t know. It gave me hope. I’m thirty-four and had pretty much given up on love and resigned myself to spinsterhood. I went to the dentist that morning because the man I thought was going to propose the evening before gave me a chipped tooth instead.

Caryl: He hit you?!

Abi: He did, but I must admit only after I slapped him twice for being so rude and crude, downright mean to me. (chuckled) I think that’s why Miss Esse thought I would be tough enough to handle her grandson.

Caryl: Handle him, huh? Thomas, why would you need to be handled?

Giveaway

T.J.: I’m plagued by nightmares from the war. I lost Dad at Gettysburg. We’d joined up together and he died right there in front of me. Sometimes I get a little violent fighting the Rebs. Hurt my hand bad once knocking a hole in the wall. Took better than a year for it to heal.

Anyway, when I got home, my girl had married a friend of mine. I wasn’t marrying material after that. Just took to the bottle but seventeen years ago, I promised God I’d quit. Hadn’t had a drop since. By then though, most those my age were married with families. I figured I’d just live with Gram and help her around the farm you know.

Esse: And oh, what a help he is! I couldn’t get along without him, but I prayed all those years for God to give him someone to love. Someone to love him. I knew it was Abi. I just knew it.

Caryl: So back to your letter, Abi. What did you say to this man you’d never met?

Abi: Oh, not too much at first. You know, introduced myself and told him about meeting his grandmother. A little about me and my interest in meeting to see if we might be the fit Miss Esse thought. I was so surprised when he wrote back. That first letter was not encouraging though. I could tell by his second though he might consider marriage, so then it was all about meeting face to face. Before that happened though, I loved him already. He had shared so much of his heart with me.

Caryl: I was going to ask who said I love you first.

Abi: It was me. After we met and I dance with him . . .

T.J.: My declaration of come wasn’t far behind though. That first night together, we knew Gram was right. It was a match made in heaven without a doubt, but her father seemed to be against it from the start . . . and where we would live came as an issue as well.

Caryl: Tell us what the most romantic gift T.J. ever brought you was.

Abi: Oh, that’s easy. The first time he came to our home in Dallas to meet my parents, he brought us all gifts. He has such a generous heart. He brought me a ruby pendant on a gold necklace. It was the first gift his grandfather had given dear Gram, and I cherish it deeply.

Caryl: Wow, I see this interview is already over a thousand words, so, as much as I’d like to visit all day, we best be getting back. I know we didn’t get to all the questions you wanted to ask, but . . . I sure am glad we came. Shannon, thank you again and may the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, His beloved among the saints.

It has given me such joy to be with you. Hearts Stolen is one of my top three favorites of the stories Abba has given to me, and I believe the winner will enjoy it! Until we meet again, blessings and grace in the new year ahead to you all!

Question for Readers: Have you ever played a matchmaker or been at the mercy of a matchmaker? How did it turn out?

About Caryl: Best-selling author Caryl McAdoo, praying her story gives God glory, loves God, her husband Ron, their children, twenty-eight grandsugars, and writing books, with over seventy-five published. Her historical family sagas are loved around the world. The McAdoos live in Clarksville, Texas—waiting expectantly for God to open the next door.

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About the book – Gram’s Match for T.J.:

Can a match be made in a dentist office?

Gram prays it’s so. Since her grandson T.J. returned from the war without his dad over twenty years ago, only to find his sweetheart married to another, she’s been trying hard to find him a wife—especially after he sobers up. Who wants a drunk plagued by night visions of Gettysburg? At forty, T.J. is resigned to his fate. Seeing as how a cad slapped Abi, giving her a chipped tooth instead of an engagement ring the night before, she shows up at the dentist’s office that fateful day. What a coincidence! Though skeptical, she is open to explore the possibilities of Gram’s suggestions. Her preacher father however is adamantly against any fast actions. After exchanging several introductory letters, they finally meet in person, and sparks fly, but the reverend totes a big bucket of water.

Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Caryl’s other titles?

Get your copy/copies now!

Gram’s Match for T.J.           Caryl’s Books

Come back Jan 8th for Jennifer Slattery!