Thumb Fire Desire by Carol Nickles

 Please welcome Carol Nickles author of Thumb Fire Desire

Thumb Fire Desire

by Carol Nickles

 

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GENRE: Historical Romance

 

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INTERVIEW:

A college history teacher in my freshman year told me I “had an intrinsic recognition of the complexities of man’s relationship with humanity” and that I should consider a career in journalism.  My graduate school thesis director awarded my work with one of the only two 4.0 grades she bestowed during her academic career as a thesis director.  “Keep writing,” she said.

The idea for Thumb Fire Desire originated with the realization of the Great Thumb Fire of 1881, the most significant natural disaster in Michigan’s history.  The only narratives of this event were delivered in a flat, monotone style. I wanted to give poetic voice to the people who experienced the days preceding, during, and proceeding this devastation.  

I have a Master’s degree in Historic Clothing and Textiles from Michigan State University.  My thesis earned a 4.0 grade and is a historical narrative of one of Michigan’s woolen mills. I have been a faculty member at two major universities and served fifteen years as a College Administrator. 

Have you ever watched one of those TV shows where the host reveals a hidden heritage to a guest?  Mouths drop.  Guest gasps. OMG!  Who would have ever known that my great-great-great-great-great relative was….TA-DA!  I can relate.  Short version:  I have a ninth great uncle named Johann Valentin Andreae.  Johann Valentin Andreae is credited with being the first writer of the science fiction genre! 

My publishing house, The Wild Rose Press, put out a submissions call for novella-length stories for their Christmas Cookie series. The title had to include the name of a Christmas Cookie.  My manuscript, Beards, Brunscrackers, and Snowflake Kisses, was contracted and is currently in edits. This sweet holiday romance should be available this fall.  A full-length romance, Past Preserve Us garnered a finalist placement in the 2022 Florida West Coast Writer’s Contest.  Past Preserve Us is set on a major university campus and takes us behind the scenes of integrated campus museums and historical collections. The major love interests are a textile curator and a mammologist.  This work has not yet been presented to my publisher.  

Here's a sneak peek into Thumb Fire Desire:  

Ginny sighed.  “I’m going for a little fresh air.” She walked out into the June evening and drifted aimlessly through the sandy arena, smoothed horseshoe prints with her boots, and strolled to the spot Peter straddled earlier in the day.  She climbed to the area she occupied before and tucked her feet behind the lower rung.

A low whinny echoed in the barn.

A soft snickering answered.

Moonlight illuminated the delicate gestures of a black cat licking her milk-soaked paws.

With persistent and beseeching meowing, a slatternly tomcat successfully romanced the ebony feline and lured her into the shadows.

Ginny thought back to the recent lazy afternoon she shared with Nadia and Peter. I would’ve told you what I want in a husband, Peter Nickles. I would’ve told you a man with your hearty laugh, your ability to make distressing work fun, and a man who is loyal to his friends like you are. If we’d been alone, I would’ve asked you how the scars on your back came to be, and I would’ve kissed them in every direction.

She rocked on the top rail of the corral and, with a trembling hand, shifted the braid hanging against her back to the swell of her breast.  Rolling the tail in her hand, she eased off the fence and walked a solitary path back to the house, painfully aware of the coupled world about her.

I sought a freelance developmental editor and sent her the mess of a manuscript.  She culled through it, made organizational and chronological sense, and encouraged me to seek publishers. 

I will never know why an assistant professor told me, “You know, Dr. Creekmore feels you are incapable of writing a Master’s thesis.” For three years, that opinion went unchallenged as I met with Dr. Creekmore, my thesis advisor, and worked on my thesis. Every week for three years, I submitted my work in progress and gracefully and gratefully accepted criticism and direction.  Shortcut to the ending.  Dr. Creekmore awarded my thesis a 4.0 grade and told me, “Keep on writing!” 

I just start writing!  

I nurture all facets of my creativity – sewing, performance (I’m a professional Mrs. Claus and I like to sing in choirs), comedy, graphic arts, and photography.  One facet fuels the others!

 

BLURB:

 

In the Spring of 1881, indigent seamstress Ginny Dahlke arrives in one of the earliest Polish American settlements-Parisville, Michigan. Deemed charmless and awkward by her mean-spirited sister-in-law, Ginny disparages her chance of securing love. But sought-after widowed farmer Peter Nickles is enamored by Ginny's perseverance, her pioneer spirit and, her inclusive acceptance of the indigenous peoples of Michigan. The seductiveness of a buxom heiress, a twisted story of an old-country betrothal, and the largest natural disaster in Michigan's history-The Great Thumb Fire of September 5, 1881, challenge their fledgling attraction and ultimate committal.

 

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EXCERPT:

 

“Watch your step. Watch your step, please,” the steward beckoned from his place on the platform, offering his arm to leave-taking passengers. Ginny stepped down. The heel of her kid leather pump caught in the juncture of the aisle floor and the train ladder’s top step. The blankets in her arms dropped onto the backs of the descending nuns. Her valise—weighted with a treasured book collection, conveyed from her father’s study, and two pounds of beef jerky wrapped in butcher’s paper—whacked the starched veil of the woman who spoke on her behalf. The target’s knees buckled. The nun tumbled face down on the back of her traveling sister.

 

Ginny toppled next. Mark Twain’s bestseller, the Dahlke family Bible, and a cracked leather-bound copy of Aesop’s Fables fluttered open and sailed into the congregation of the fallen.

 

From behind them, platform-roosting farmers rushed to retrieve the books, the butcher paper, and the integrity of three ladies.

 

A man resembling her father’s daguerreotype tugged Ginny by the shoulders and plucked her from the rubble. She clasped his neck and crushed her bonnet against his cheek. “Joseph,” she whispered, kissing a prickly cheek and whiffing aromatic cedar. She sneezed.

 

“Ginny, so glad you made it safely, even though the very last step of the journey is a sure-as-hell chance you’re going to Purgatory.” Her brother laughed, claiming her. “I mean, Ginny, you almost killed some nuns—nuns, for God’s sake,” he whispered as he tipped his hat to the black-and-white-clad women scurrying to a waiting wagon.

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Carol Nickles is the sixth generation of a German textile aficionado family.  In 1881, her great-great-great-grandfather founded Yale Woolen Mill—the longest-lasting of Michigan’s once twenty-nine woolen mills.  Carol earned a Master’s degree in Historic Clothing & Textiles at Michigan State University.  Her thesis is a narrative of the Yale Woolen Mill. She held faculty positions at both Utah and Michigan State universities. She lives in West Michigan and enjoys spinning a tale, weaving a story, and threading a luring hook. 

 

Website: www.carolnicklesauthor.com

Email:  carolnickleswriting@gmail.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Author-Carol-Nickles-102231548918144

Tik Tok:  @authornickles

Twitter:  @CarolNickles

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

 

Carol Nickles will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

RAFFLECOPTER:

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4237