Caryl McAdoo – Romantic Character Interview – Part 2 of 3

Shannon here: Inspirational author, Caryl McAdoo shares insight into her characters’ romance from her latest release, Sins of the Mothers. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated May 25 – 29 to enter the drawing. Winner’s choice print or digital. Deadline: June 6th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Caryl:

Hello, excuse me. Might you two be willing to answer a few questions for my paper? My name is Sadie Speel with the Californian.
Yes, ma’am. We’d love to. My father loves reading the news. He might see it one day. I’m Mary Rachel Wheeler, and this is my husband Caleb. We’re newlyweds, eloped, and married in Jefferson, Texas.
Mary Rachel, what caused you to fall in love with Caleb Wheeler?
Please, I forgot. It’s only Mary. That’s what Caleb calls me. What caused me to love him? Well, he is so handsome, and older, of course. A man to be certain, even though my stubborn father would never admit it! Caleb treats me like a princess, like Daddy always had. He gives me all his attention and loves only me! I mean, he’s just perfect for me as you can plainly see. I cannot understand Daddy’s objections!
And you, Caleb, what drew you to Mary?
Not hard to see how beautiful she is! Why, she’s the prettiest gal in Clarksville, well the Red River Valley to tell the truth, probably the whole of the State of Texas if one was to search it out. Lots of folks back home were saying it’s on a count of her money. I mean everyone knows how rich her father is, but that doesn’t mean a thing to me. His wealth isn’t hers anyway. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Look at her…I love this woman for her own self. It don’t matter what people think—including her father.
Now, Mary, you two eloped. What actually made you want to do that? Most young women dream of a big wedding. You didn’t?
Oh, yes, ma’am, I certainly did. I never wanted to run off, sneak off in the middle of the night like I did, but my father made me…him and his fool stubbornness…gave me no choice in the matter. I actually dreamed of a big wedding with all my sisters as bridesmaids and Rebecca, she’s the oldest and only a half-sister, but we’ve never paid that any mind. Anyway, I always thought she’d be my matron of honor. I missed all that, I truly did, but nothing was more important than becoming Mis’ess Caleb Wheeler—not to me. Daddy’s the one who kept me from my dream! All he had to do was give us his blessing!
Weren’t you scared, leaving under the cover of darkness and traveling all that way alone to meet up with Caleb?
I do admit I was. Especially beings as how my own sister-in-law, Mis’ess Rose Baylor was stolen right off the prairie when she was only fifteen years old; taken by the Comanche who held her captive five long years. My heart did beat the band until I linked up with my beloved. Also, though, I took Daddy’s horse The Black for the trip, and no Indian pony could outrun that animal! I left him in Mt. Pleasant with Andrew Titus, that’s one of Daddy’s old friends who owns the trading post there. And I wrote a quick note to Levi—the closest thing I’ve got to a big brother—to fetch him back quick as he could. Daddy was in Europe, so he wouldn’t be back for a while.
I see. Well, Caleb, for one, I’m surely proud you and your beautiful young wife came to San Francisco to settle. Were you intending on striking it rich in the gold fields?
Oh no, ma’am. My cousin John Wheeler is here already. Owns Wheeler Dealer Dry Goods over off Broadway, and I came to be partners with him in the business. I’m no flash in the pan miner. Brought over five ton of new merchandise for the store. Figure I’ll make a right nice living for me and my Mary. The trip was great, coming by steamer; the S.S. Antelope made for a right nice honeymoon for my little bride. Have you met John’s sister, Lanelle, here? You could say she’s my favorite cousin.
Nice to meet you, too, Miss Wheeler. So Mary, wasn’t three a bit of your crowd on your honeymoon?
Oh please, no, of course not. Lanelle is family, and I just loved having her along, although…poor thing…she got sick as a dog. I had my own bout with seasickness, but not as bad as hers. She spent almost the whole time in her quarters. My wonderful Caleb saw to us both and nursed us back to health. Her being so much sicker, he had to spend a lot of time with her. Bless his heart. I’m so looking forward to getting to see her brother again. We’re all going to be one big, happy family.
What’s next for you then, Caleb?
My cousin John and I plan to enlarge the store. After the last fire, he got the property where the store is now and the lot next door as well. He’ been working on it already, and now I’m here to help. My Mary is sharp as an arrow and a pure marvel at dealing. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen this woman negotiate, cuts a mean bargain, and I expect we’ll be making a pretty profit before you know it.
How nice! I’m sure you will. Might you share with my readers some of the things you brought?
You might say a little bit of everything. We tried to keep the gold diggers in mind, so we brought lots of tools, axe heads, hammers, shovel, and the like. Mining pans, picks, and washboards. And staples, you know, flour, sugar, beans and rice. Mary wanted to get chalk and slate boards, material and threads, like sewing stuff. Before I left, I distilled some fine whiskey, and we brought that along, though my sweet wife doesn’t want me making any more. Oh, and some of those newfangled britches out of that sturdy jean material.
Mis’ess Wheeler, very nice to meet you, as well. My pleasure, ma’am. And I do hope if you plan on putting this interview in the paper, I do hope you’ll mention the Mercantile. That’s what we’ll be calling it, not Wheeler Dealer—so crass, don’t you agree?
So I’m hoping to name it after my home state, the Lone Star Mercantile. I hope you’ll mention our business in your newspaper, ma’am, and let everyone know that in no time we’ll have all our new merchandise disembarked then organized and logged in at the Mercantile. We’re sure to be open for business in two weeks or less. If you could mention that…I mean my husband and I would be ever so grateful. And you be sure to come by.
Of course. Thank you both so much.
Excuse me, Sir! Sir! Might I have a moment of your time?
About Caryl: Christian, hybrid (Simon & Schuster & Indie) author Caryl McAdoo is currently writing three series from a perspective of faith: her historical Texas Romances; the contemporary Red River Romances; and The Generations, her Biblical fiction. The novelist loves singing new songs the Lord gives her and painting. In 2008, she and her high-school-sweetheart husband Ron moved from the DFW area—home for fifty-eight years—to the woods of Red River County. Caryl counts four children and fifteen grandsugars life’s biggest blessings believing all good things come from above. Praying each story gives God glory, she hopes it also ministers His love, mercy, and grace to its readers. Caryl and Ron live in Clarksville, the county seat, in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State.

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May release – http://tinyurl.com/SinsMothers

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About the book – Sins of the Mothers: Persistent faith brings redemption and reconciliation. Blind love propels Mary Rachel to defy her father and elope to California with Caleb Wheeler. The newlyweds partner with his cousin in his San Francisco dry goods business. Unbeknownst to the young bride, her new husband sends his kissing cousin ahead to have both his love and his new wife’s money. Betrayal and murder drive Mary, soon a young mother, to the depths of despair. Is there a man who can love her enough to cover her sins and deliver her out of the horrible pit she’s dug for herself? She travels from frontier Texas to the raw bone boomtown of 1850’s gold rush days, then all the way to genteel New York to find redemption for the sins of her mothers.
Reviews:
I tell you what, folks, this girl can write! I do love this series, and maybe most especially this book Mary Rachel Buckmeyer is smart as a whip. She can out-negotiate the experts, out-guess marketing trends, and out-stubborn a mule. Trouble is, she tends to follow her heart into disaster. She falls in love with Caleb Wheeler, a man her father says is a boy. As she finds out, he’s not only irresponsible, he has a meandering eye, lies like a braided rug, and has all the loyalty of a new-born pup. Mary hops from one frying pan to another until one man shows up who could steady her and get her out of the fixes she gets herself into. But again, trouble is she might throw him away. When will this girl ever learn? Such a great story! I know you’ll love it
–Patricia Baxter Campbell, Author of
I’ve often wondered if the past can repeat itself in a person’s life and Mary Rachel Buckmeyer gave me my answer. Love, betrayal, despair, the sweet faith of little children, and the perseverance of a miner. These all made for a wonderful story of what life was like in San Francisco during the gold rush of the 1850’s. When I finished the last page of Mary’s story, I smiled and thought… I loved this story! But… There had better be another book coming because I want more of these Buckmeyer’s! I’d recommend this story to anyone who enjoys reading a good Christian, historical fiction of the 1800’s.
–Deanna Stevens, Nebraska reader
Question: Did you or anyone you know elope?

Come back May 29th for an excerpt from Caryl’s book!