Victoria Caine's Humor, Inspiration and Camaraderie

I am pleased to be doing a blog swap today with another fellow Prism Book Group author,
Victoria Pitts Caine. Vicki's here to share a little humor, inspiration, writerly camaraderie. Take it away, Vicki.

My writing journey began over twenty years ago when I published a small article in an adoptive parent magazine. Then my super-mom gene took over and I enjoyed the events surrounding my daughter’s lives:  school, sports, music, dance and cheer.

When the oldest left for college in New Mexico, I began researching my family heritage.  After several years of investigation, I entered a genealogy writing contest and won honorable mention.  At that point, I felt the need to tell the story of my mother’s family.  I began writing my self-published historical novel, Rachel.

My own inspiration:  My first book, Alvarado Gold, evolved from a family story told in an old letter from my mother’s great uncle. My ancestors developed a town in Texas and periodically drove cattle to Seattle, Washington. On one such trip, the brothers including my third great grandfather buried the money. The family continued to look for it well over a hundred years later and it was never found.

The verse that runs through the book is from Ecclesiastes 3:1-9, beginning with for everything there is a time and a season. When the church worship band played the song, "Turn, Turn, Turn" one weekend – I knew I had to get the story published.

Camaraderie:  Anything that brings writers together is a benefit. I think we all feed off of each other (in a good way). I facilitate a class once a week for writers where we read our work and do a short lesson. Most of all we share our sorrows and triumphs in the publishing arena. The triumphs usually are celebrated with cake!

Humor:  A funny story from my writing journey. . . for many years I attended a writing class taught by an accomplished author who had several Harlequin Romances under her belt. Several of the students in the class had traveled extensively to exotic places like Africa, Egypt and the Middle East.

We were required to read our WIP each week and I read a scene from my book Cairo that took place in a restaurant. I’ve never been to Egypt and found a virtual tour of an eating establishment on the internet which I described in the book.

When I finished reading, one of the women who had recently returned from Egypt looked at me and said, “I didn’t know you’d been to Cairo. I ate in that restaurant.”

Ah, the power of good research.

Be sure to check out Victoria's newest release: available here or here

Vicki lives in Fresno, California, where she shares her home with her husband, her youngest daughter, two dogs, one very large cat, and about twenty fish.  Other than writing, she enjoys reading, craft work, and collectables. She also collects exotic gemstones. 

Thanks so much for swapping blogs today Vicki. Be sure to visit Victoria's blog 

As always, feel free to comment or ask Vicki questions.