Hello everyone,
Today I am coming to you with another character interview. This time, I am speaking with Lydia McCarthy, from Journey to the Mountaintop, the second in my Stepping Stones Mystery series.
Before I have a little chat with Lydia, I have a personal update to share with you. As of the date this post is published on my blog, I am in the middle of writing a book to help new writers publish their books on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). This book is designed with the blind in mind. Although I will have screenshots and photos for visual readers, I will share my story and give directions in a way that is also friendly for people who use screen reading software on their Pc’s. Keep an eye out for this new little book coming out in the next month or so.
In other news, I am working in earnest on revisions for the book in which my character is featured. Since I have added a scene, which onioned into another chapter, I am having to go and take out some scenes that don’t fit the narrative and do a bit of onioning within the remaining chapters. Onioning is basically going back through what I’ve already written and adding more content. I had planned to do that anyway, but this gives me more creative direction in the book’s story line and character development. Keep an eye out for the closing book to the story I started in Journey of Faith. Keep reading, to see where you can purchase this first book so you won’t miss a thing when the new one is released. in the next few months.
Without further ado, let’s meet Lydia.
Ann: Hi Lydia! It’s good to finally get to talk to you. I’ve heard you’ve had a trying experience; can you tell us a little about that?â€
Lydia: I am stuck in this God-awful truck, with a man who I thought was a kind and loving father. I know, I know, Jennifer told me that he was a bad man, but I just couldn’t believe the worst of him.
Ann: Why is that?
Lydia: Because he always brought us presents and pretended to love our mother, though she never complained about him. Now that I think about it, she always avoided him, so she wouldn’t get abused along with my sister and me. Oh, he spanked us, but I didn’t think it was abuse, but at that age, I didn’t know any better.
Ann: How old were you at the time?
Lydia: Jennifer says I was four, but I don’t remember much about what happened, so I can’t tell you for sure.
Ann: What do you think of him now that you’ve been kidnapped? Is he really your father, or do you think that you were carried off by some other man?
Lydia: I’m not so sure, but I know that I am beginning to hate him for sticking me in this stupid truck.
Ann: How did you feel when you woke up in the truck bed, with your wrists and ankles bound with rope?
Lydia: Wait just a minute! I’ll tell you about the kidnapping, but I need to backtrack a little bit. First, let me tell you about the car. I bought that car with hard earned money, from a job I landed while I was in college. Now, it isn’t any good for anything. It’s off in the side of the road somewhere, and my mother will have to pay to repair the damages, because I can’t afford it!
Ann: Okay, I know that you’re mad about the car, but I thought he ran off with it. What happened after he kidnapped you?
Lydia: I don’t know what happened to that blasted car, all I know is that I found myself in the bed of a truck, rolling down some ungodly road at who knows what speed and I was scared out of my mind. I couldn’t move, because there were boxes of some sort squishing the daylights out of me. I couldn’t scream because of a stinky rag tied around my face and I wanted to get out of there PDQ, if you know what I mean. Wait a minute, though! Before you ask me any more questions, I want you to know that he’s not alone. There’s someone in the front seat with him.
Ann: What makes you so sure?
Lydia: I hear them talking about me every time we stop. I’m not going to tell you what they say, because you’ll have to read the book to find out. I also want to be sure I heard them right before I tell anybody what I overheard. I think I heard them talking about someone being adopted, but I’m not quite sure that’s right. If it is, I certainly don’t believe it. However, they talk, and it isn’t very nice. Listen, they’re coming back, so I’ve got to go!
Ann: Who do you think was adopted?
Lydia: I don’t know! No! No! Let me go!  Muffled cries are heard before a truck door slams and she disappears from view.
Ah well, we didn’t get to learn much about the conversations she’s overheard, but I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out. This gives me a bit of inspiration. Let me jump off here and go do a little onioning and scene dumping, because I’m out of excuses, so I need to go write.
Until then, check out A Journey of Faith: A Stepping Stones Mystery in Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H7SCQNM
and paperback: