Featured Interview With Trana Mathews
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I'm the little old lady from Pasadena. Oops, not entirely true because I live in beautiful southeastern Arizona. I grew up in Northwest Indiana and fled the cold and snows of the Midwest after I retired. My daily companion is a cat named Machiatto who adopted me.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
As a young child, I became addicted to the Nancy Drew mystery books. Frank L. Baum's Oz fascinated me and I read every novel of Oz that I could get my hands on! By the time I reached high school, I was a confirmed "bookaholic".
I didn't start writing until after I retired. I didn't have time to answer the writing muse while I worked full time and raised two children.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Pearl S. Buck, Willa Cather, Elizabeth Goudge, Susan Howatch, Douglas Adams, Stephen King, Robert Jordan, Arthur C. Clarke, John Jakes, Orson Scott Card, Richard Adams, James Clavell, Taylor Caldwell, L.E. Modesitt Jr., and David McCullough are a few of my favorites. I enjoy fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mysteries, and sci-fi. I don't like romance novels. Every book I've read has been an inspiration.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Increase Mathews is a very young child when his older male relatives join the Continental Army. "The Mathews Family: Mathews Family Saga Book 1" begins with the ringing bells of 1776. It is a coming-of-age story as much as historical fiction. Increase remains on the farm with his mother and siblings. After the Revolutionary War ends, social unrest continues in central Massachusetts. One of the battles fought during Shays's Rebellion occurs in their town. While Increase is still growing up, his older brother John Mathews, sister and brother-in-law Susannah and Captain Jonathan Stone, and uncle Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam leave Massachusetts in 1788 to settle in the Northwest Territory. These men are among the first 48 settlers to Ohio. Included in my novel are transcripts of actual letters written between these relatives.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles