Launch day for Pegg Thomas

Author Pegg Thomas won the 2022 Selah Award for historical romance with Sarah’s Choice, the first in her 18th-century Forts of Refuge series. The second in that series, Maggie’s Strength, finished in second place for the same 2022 Selah category.

On top of which, she spins! In The Heart of Courage, my character Susanna hates spinning, a common skill in the 18th century. But the craft has not totally died out!

Join me as I ask Pegg about her hobby and her new release.

Interview:

Hi Pegg, tell me about the horses in your new book. I love it when horses aren't just moving furniture.

Horses were the strength and speed of the military up until WWII. One can’t write about the cavalry without showcasing them as the four-legged warriors and heroes they were. But in this story, they are almost upstaged by Peaches. The readers will have to get a copy of the book to learn about her.

A large part of my life was spent with horses. My old horse, Trooper, passed away at age 25 in 2017. But he’s living on in this book which bears his photo on the cover. That means a lot to me.

That is so neat!

What gave you the idea for the Union series?

My great-great-grandfather was in the Michigan 7th Cavalry during the Civil War. (He makes a cameo appearance in the first book of the series, Emerald Fields.) He joined at the very end of the war—when he came of age—and went from there to finish his military career on the frontier forts, spending most of his time in Colorado. That was the spark for this series.

I was amazed to discover that you actually spin--and knit! Tell us about that.

I learned to knit at age 9 in 4-H, and I’ve been knitting ever since. I learned to spin after seeing a woman at a rabbit show (I also raised and showed rabbits in 4-H). She had an English Angora rabbit on her lap and was plucking the shedding fibers and spinning them on the spot. It was amazing! I found someone to teach me and learned to spin at age 16.

I eventually started raising French Angora rabbits and at one time was the top point breeder in the state of Michigan. Then we moved, and I had enough land to start with sheep. I raised registered Border Leicester sheep for 28 years. I sold the flock in 2021. After three surgeries on my right hand, I just couldn’t do the shearing anymore. However, I have bins and bins and BINS of wool in my basement. Enough to last me many years of spinning.

Congrats on your Selah award. How did it feel to win?

Gobsmacked.

What are your plans going forward as an author?

I plan to release four novels this year. That sounds like a lot—and it is—but two of them are already written. After Cobalt Skies will be Silver Prairies on May 16th, the last book in A More Perfect Union.

Following that, I want to return to Colonial America, which is my favorite era to read and write. I have a series called Path to Freedom that takes place against the backdrop of the Quaker migration from the slave-holding states to the free Northwest Territory (then Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois). I plan to release the first, Freedom’s Price, which is already written, and Freedom’s Pride, which is half-written, later this year, and hope to put out the final book Freedom’s Promise in early 2024.

After that, I have plans for a spinoff series, Beyond the Forts, that will follow the lives of some of the characters readers met in Forts of Refuge. But I also have a couple of family history-related stories perking at the back of my brain… so… we’ll see!

Check out Pegg's books on Amazon, or go to her website: https://peggthomas.com.