Sunday, July 22, 2007

Arline Chase Introduces the Hero From Ghost Dancer



I'm very pleased to introduce you to Arline Chase, author and publisher. She is sharing information with us about the hero from her novel Ghost Dancer.


What's his name?
Rowan Cameron, or in the Blackfoot Nation he is the warrior Walks Alone

Why did you pick that name?
His father was a Scot who was transported after the battle of Culloden. His mother was a blue-eyed Cherokee, who named all her children after trees --Rowan, Larch and Loblolly. She named him, I didn't.Give us a brief description of how he looks.His picture is on the cover. He is young, only 23, but has been a man from the day of his naming ceremony when he was 15.

Is there anything unusual about his appearance?
Six feet, well muscled, long loose black hair, bright blue eyes, excellent teeth. Of course there are scars on his side from his Sun Dance, and the Ghost Dance shirt and the war paint are a bit un-fashionable in the moveable town of End-ofTrack.

Who does he love? Why?
He loves Christina Lawrence, a debutante who left a broken engagement behind her and traveled west for her health. Rowan has no idea why he loves her. She is everything he dislikes in a woman, argumentative, disrespectful of a warrior, a shameless and inventive liar, and--worst of all--skinny. He thinks very little of her people, because it is obvioius they have neglected the woman and they must be very poor hunters to provide her so little food.

Does this person love him?
Christy does love Rowan, but she doesn't WANT to love him. She wants to help him find his way in the white man's world--a world he has all but forgotten -- to help him with the twins and to teach him now to behave in a civilized way, now that she has saved him from the savages.

Tell us about his family. Are they important to him?
Rowan was lost from the wagon train when his parents headed west. His parents settled in Oregon, but died in a smallpox epidemic only the year before, leaving his 12-year-old twin siblings, Larch and Lolly alone. Where is he from? He was born in Virginia, lost from the Wagon Train in the high plains and lives with the Blackfoot people on the reservation.


Does his hometown affect his behavior, thoughts and attitude?
Rowan has almost no memory of anything that happened before the Blackfoot found him.

What does he want out of life?
Christy. To be respected as the shaman and healer that he is. And more than anything to recover one small blue-eyed --well to say more would indeed be a spoiler.

What's his biggest secret? (Only share if it isn't a spoiler in the story.)
The sadness that fills him.

Did you write more than one story about him?
No, but I have another in mind. He and Christy may travel to Paris in 1906. Rasputin was there, then, with the Russian royal family. What do you think? Would the Russian magician Rasputin be a worthy opponent for Rowan?

How would he describe you?
Rowan doesn't know that I exist. He lives his life and cares for his family. I follow him around and write down what he says and does, but he has no idea I am here.

It was wonderful to meet him. Thank you for bringing him to meet us. By the way, do you have a picture of him that you'd like to share? Again, he is on the book cover, war paint and all.
Ghost Dancer is available at: ebooksonthe.net and www.cambridgebooks.us , on amazon.com, on www.fictionwise.com and www.mobipocket.com and Arline's website at www.arlinechase.com.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You write very well.

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!