Happy Spring, everyone!

by Carolyn Brown

Are you ready for Easter egg hunts, gardening and sitting in the swing under the shade tree with a big glass of sweet tea?

A shade tree with a big glass of sweet tea…gives me a visual of the old south. Willow branches doing the ballet in the slow southern breeze, crickets and tree frogs doing their duets and handsome southern men who protect their sweet little women folk.

It was a pretty picture until Fairlee Lavalle tapped her foot and cleared her throat behind me. She says she’s not a woman that a man needs to protect: more like protect himself from.

I thought maybe everyone would like to get to know Fairlee better so I invited her to join us on today’s blog for an interview. She’s the heroine of Walkin’ on Clouds that came out the first of this month. Don’t y’all just love that cover? It’s one of my all time favorites. Fairlee is sitting under the shade tree with a big glass of sweet tea waiting for questions. Everyone got a full glass of tea? Oh, wait a minute. Lia needs hers refilled before we start. This editing business is tough and she deserves lots of sweet tea for her fantastic job.

Okay, everyone comfortable?

Fairlee, it is good to have you with us this morning. Are you ready for questions?

Fairlee: Of course and this is excellent tea. It must be nice to have ice any time you want it. In my generation ice was a luxury.

How did you feel when you woke up in a ship on the morning of what was supposed to be your wedding day?

Fairlee: When I figured out that I’d been kidnapped I was ready to jump ship and catch the next stage coach back to my beloved Matthew. We didn’t have that amazing love connection that my sister, Delia, had with Tyrell, but not every marriage has that kind of passion. Matthew and I might not have stars in our eyes but we would be happy.

What about when you realized it was Isaac Burnet who’d kidnapped you?

Fairlee: A lady would not utter the words that came to my mind. That outlaw had ruined my life again and he was going to pay dearly.

You’d traveled from Texas to Louisiana with the outlaws but you had your sisters back then. How was traveling with just you and Isaac?

Fairlee: That man was insufferable. I was determined to show him that I could outride, outshoot and outdo him but it kept me on my toes.

The title of your story, Walkin’ on Clouds, where did that come from?

Fairlee (with a giggle): Isaac and I had this big fight when I told him that I was in love with Matthew. He said that I was walkin’ on clouds and up that high anyone, even the devil, looked like an angel. Took me a long time to figure out that he was right and even longer to admit it.

When did you first figure out that fate had thrown you two together?

Fairlee: Looking back, there was an attraction there in From Wine to Water, but I would never, ever tell anyone. Not then! And it took me a long time to come to grips with it even after he’d kidnapped me.

What did you think of Momma Glory?

Fairlee: That woman scared the dickens out of me at first. When she spoke everyone jumped. But after a while I learned to love her and appreciate her wisdom.

I understand you got sick and had to spend a while at a cabin with Isaac?

Fairlee: Yes, I did and he was so bossy. A Lavalle woman doesn’t take well to a bossy man. They tend to rub us the wrong way and Isaac and I locked up horns regularly while I was recuperating. But (don’t tell him) I really did fall in love with him when we were in the cabin. He was bossy but he was also gentle and caring.

Are we going to read about your sister, Tempest, anytime soon?

Fairlee: I understand she’s been pestering Carolyn Brown for a while, saying that it’s not fair that Delia and I got to tell our stories and she’s had to take a back seat in the buggy long enough. Don’t tell Tempest because Carolyn wants to surprise her but her story is about to be revealed in A Trick of the Light in August. It’s been fun visiting with you lovely ladies but I’ve got to get back to the plantation now.

If anyone has any more questions to ask me or Fairlee, please feel free. I’ve got a hot line to her for the rest of today. So ask away!