I’m thrilled to welcome Soul Mate author L.S. Young to the Power of 10 series. Today, Ms. Young shares ten interesting facts about Landra Andrews, the heroine of her debut novel, A Woman So Bold.

Here’s L.S.!

1. Landra is from a small farming town called Willowbend located in rural 1890s north Florida. The town is fictional but several of the nearby landmarks mentioned, such as the Withlacoochee River and Monticello Opera House, are real.

2. Her first name is a feminized version of her grandfather’s name (Landry) and her middle name is Elizabeth after her mother.

3. She speaks French because she had a governess but she doesn’t find much use for it in backwoods Florida.

4. At the age of seven she refused to cry in front of everyone at her mother’s funeral. Her reasoning: “It’s never been in me to give something to folks just because they expect it.”

5. Her favorite season is autumn and the cooler weather often distracts her from her chores.

6. When a rattlesnake threatens her brother and sister she attacks it with a garden hoe! (This scene was inspired by my grandmother.)

7. The day she meets her hero she is wearing her favorite white dress and he is riding his dapple gray mare.

8. She loves poetry and Mark Twain, but admits she hates the prim and dull heroine Elsie Dinsmore.

9. There is a hint of the witch about her, as evidenced by her superstitious grandmother’s proclamations, her connection to the earth, and her discerning dreams.

10. She has a secret she keeps from almost everyone, even some of her siblings.

Blurb

Twenty year old Landra Andrews is as brazen and unique as her first name. Although educated and well-connected, she is trapped by a dark secret from her past. She fears the rest of her life will be decidedly prosaic, until a dashing young man inherits a neighboring farm and sweeps her off her feet.

William Cavendish is a second son from an old Southern family. A gentleman in conduct and an artist at heart, he sowed his wild-oats in the years he spent abroad and is ready to settle down. He is taken with well-spoken, headstrong Landra from their first meeting, and his heart for her only grows.

William seems to be everything Landra has dreamed of but never dared to believe she could have–handsome, kind, and well-bred–but when they are wed, she soon finds herself in all too familiar surroundings, toiling once more against land that won’t yield. Her restless spirit and iron will rebel against her discontent, and when a lover from her misspent youth returns, she finds herself torn between two very different men. Will the mistakes of her past destroy the hope of her future?

Bio

L.S. Young resides in Florida with her husband and daughter. She received her BA in English with a minor in Religion from Southeastern University. After spending several years as a childcare worker and secondary English teacher, she turned to writing full-time.

She enjoys exploring the Suwannee River State Park, hiking in the Appalachian Mountains, swimming, and writing nature poetry. She’s an enthusiastic reader of fantasy, horror, Victorian literature, and historical fiction and has a large collection of coffee mugs and bookmarks. Like Lizzie Bennet, she is fond of a walk and dearly loves a laugh.

Young is a member of the Historical Novel Society. A Woman so Bold is her debut novel.

Where to find L.S. Young…

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Amazon