After spending a few of my youngest years on a military base in Germany, I was raised in the Ozark foothills of Arkansas. Most of my stories, whether contemporary or historical, take place in Arkansas. I grew up with the blessings of a large family that enjoyed telling stories, most of which were fact with a bit of fiction thrown in for spice!
During my publishing journey, I learned that a writer has to "kiss alot of frogs" (potentially write a lot of garbage) before getting published, or even acquiring an agent, in most cases. But, to me, the outcome is worth the journey.
In 2007, I received my first contract for a cozy mystery. Since then, I've sold tens of thousands of my mystery series and have recently ventured into the world of historical romance. What fun to write of the people and events that shaped our country. My first historical is based on The Harvey Girls, women who played a huge part in taming our west. This book, Cooking Up Love, releases July 1, but more on that later :)
Years ago, an uncle of mine researched my paternal family history and had it bound in a book. What a precious heirloom he gave his family. Writing historical fiction is a bit like that book. Although it may not be about our personal history, it still plays a part in forming who we are. All the things that came before play a part and history, and historical romance, bring this to life.
To see a full list of all genres and books that I write, please visit my website at www.cynthiahickey.com. Also, come back here in March to win an Amazon gift card.
Oh, I love the Harvey Girls. I even have a story somewhat plotted out. We have a Harvey House here in town. I'd love to visit but from what I understand they only do banquets, which would be absolutely fun.
ReplyDeleteHi, Cynthia. It is such a pleasure to get to know you and your work better. I love your analogy of kissing frogs. I am sure by now you have met and written about many handsome princes and lovely princesses who have enjoyed their happily ever afters. Here's to many more!
ReplyDeleteHi Cynthia I am sure i have or read some of the cozy mysteries. (was member of club)Your upcoming book sounds interesting. (love your gift in March as I can enter).
ReplyDeleteHey, Cynthia, nice to meet you. Love the picture of you with the frog. I've never read the Harvey Girls; sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Cynthia I love to read historical romance and glad to hear you are writing about the Harvey girls. I read some about them before and they were some couragous women, will be looking for your stories.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing today.
Paula O(kyflo130@yahoo.com)
I knew the Harvey Girls were a part of American history, but I had no idea how significant their role was until I started researching. What fun I'm having. There should be four books in the series.
ReplyDeleteAccording to our Great Overland Station the Harvey Houses started right here in Topeka. ;) Love it!! And I like cozy mysteries, can't wait for this one to come out.
ReplyDeleteI love Harvey House stories too. Welcome to the world of writing historicals, Cynthia.
ReplyDeleteYou gotta admire a gal who'll kiss a frog for a photo op! Good blogging with you! ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Cynthia, I'm passionate about the Harvey Girls, too. I've tried a couple of the recipes from The Harvey House Cookbook (George H. Foster and Peter G. Weiglin, Longstreet Press, 1992). One of these days, I want to plan a dinner party for our critique group using only those recipes. I'm looking forward to reading your "Cooking Up Love" when it comes out in July.
ReplyDeleteGood evening, Ms. Hickey,
ReplyDeleteI must confess, despite finding this blog @ exactly midnight on the 22nd of February, I am already a bonefide RSS subscriber!! You all have won me over with the launch of this brilliantly wicked historically encompassing blog!! What I love about it is how welcoming you all are too! As I was telling Ms. Costello my family and I enjoy giving back to deployed servicemen and women through the armed forces!! Its always such a pleasure to make sure that those who are not expecting mail to receive some! :) Let your family know that we appreciate everything that they did whilst they served! :)
Its refreshing to hear so many of you guys who have had the pleasure of having living histories and fables passed down through the generations! I was starting to think that those of us who charished those moments were nearly lost to the folds of time! I love how it encouraged you to write and to share your own characters with all of us! I have a serious itch for cozies by the by!! My favourite cozies right now are: Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series {I am a Sherlockian who is picky as I appreciate the canon to stay in tact but with stories that spin out past where it left off! Next to her, I am always excited when my library picks up the next series of Sherlock straight from the BBC!}; Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse mysteries {who doesn't love java if your a writer? and coffeehouses are like quintessentially the best meeting place!}; Heather Graham's ghost mysteries; and the delightful Nancy Alterton's Aunt Dimity series! I grew up on Agatha Christie, so you could say between those stories, Nancy Drew, and the cozies on tv {Cabot Cove included!},...there is always a soft spot in my heart to find a new mystery author!
Out of the breadth of what you've written, where should I begin!? What should I request at the library!? They are awesome when it comes to ILLs when its not in the catalog, so please give me a few titles to search for, as I'd love to check out your work! :)
I'll be back in March for sure, but I will skip over the Amazon gift card! :/ I shoppe on Powells + the Book Depository instead! :)
Ooh, your quite right about how our personal histories encourage what we write to life in our novels!
Hallo again, Ms. Hickey!! :)
ReplyDeleteI clicked on your personal site, then clicked on your blog, and realised I overlooked something! The Heartsong releases you have coming in June + November?! I am hoping those will be included in my Mum's shipments! She recently re-joined Heartsongs in time for the January shipment, as she originally joined several years ago but had to take a break! We were positively gobsmacked that the line was discontinued but overjoyed when we learnt that Harlequin saved it!! I am happy to be finding several Heartsong writers on CFHS because their seriously some of the best stories that we have ever come across! Their perfect in size, brilliantly written and long after you've read them {years later!} you're still fondly talking about them!!
Congratulations on your Heartsong book deal!!