DREAMS OF SAVANNAH by Bestselling Author, Roseanna M. White

DREAMS of SAVANNAH 
 
Cordelia Owens is in love, which makes this plantation daughter’s life wonder-filled and splendid until the Civil War interrupts. Her heart belongs to the charming Phineas Dunn, who sails away to defend their shores from the Yankees. But as all wonderful novels go, the difficulties and tragedies of life roll in.

Unexpected additional characters influence the main characters in a way that they never could have dreamed. Okay, I know—those are imaginary people. So let me switch up and change that to we could never have imagined their influence and how they could become so dear to our hearts! Is that better? LOL!

Roseanna is amazing at characterization, and she uses time and place with the precision of a scalpel. I love the freshness and nearness of her stories, and I’m glad to say I’ve influenced others to read her work and they love her also! Her characters become my new friends (despite the fact that I do have a life!), and her plots carry me away into concern and joy and concern and oh, no!!!!!!! Yes, she is that good and even better!

I love the talent that Cordelia (Dilia) enjoys as she strengthens and entertains those around her. And Phineas (Phin), Dilia’s love interest, is so fascinating and determined. But there is another who vies for Dilia’s attention and hand. I loved seeing everything play out and with the Civil War as a backdrop—well, Roseanna had me in Savannah from the very first page.

Do you wish to gasp, applauded, smile, and cheer characters on? Then I highly recommend DREAMS OF SAVANNAH for your next read!

Questions for Roseanna:

Your character, Luther, really gripped my heart. How did you develop his personality?
 
Hilariously, I first developed Luther for another story, where he was the sidekick of a pirate captain—hilarious, because said captain was Phillip Camden, who also got snatched from that old plot and made the hero in On Wings of Devotion. Luther came to me as a character who was huge and intimidating but with this moral core and deep love. When I needed someone to save Phin in Dreams of Savannah—literally and also to point him there spiritually—I knew Luther would fit the bill! So I gave him a history that would make him an anomaly in Phin’s eyes but also the perfect person to be in that position. I gave him a calling from the Lord, but also a mission in the story…and from there, he just grew into the Luther you see on the page.
 
Is the Civil War a favorite time period for you? If so, why? If not, what is your favorite time period to write about?
 
Honestly, I just love history! I do find the Civil War fascinating and have written two books in that setting, but I don’t favor it above the other time periods I’ve written about, to be perfectly honest. I’ve spent most of my writing career with English settings, and I have no complaints about that…but it was certainly fun to hop back to this side of the pond!
 
I loved the stories that Delia wrote. Were these stories that you had dabbled with before?
 
Nope, those were all original to Delia! So glad you got a kick out them!
 
Do you research as you write? Or do you do all gathering of facts beforehand?
 
I usually take a couple weeks to gather my sources and learn enough to begin…then I just begin and continue to research as I go. In the case of this story, I had to research some of the things like the Sumter’s timeline and the battle for Fort Pulaski well ahead of writing so I could work out my time frame, but there were certainly plenty of things I looked up as I write as well.
 
What would you like to tell your readers about why you wrote this story and possibly what it means to you?
 
I actually wrote this story nine years before Bethany House decided to publish it—so about ten years ago now! When I first wrote it, I wanted to portray a “typical” Southern gentleman and take him on a journey to better awareness, and I wanted a heroine that was kind of an Elizabeth Bennet meets Scarlet O’Hara mashup. But as I worked on it again before publication and did a LOT of rewriting, my hopes and desire for the story really began to change…the better, I hope, to reflect our world today. My prayer, as I handled edits and rewrites while there were riots going on just miles from my publisher’s headquarters, was that God would somehow use the story of Delia and Phin, Salina and River, Luther and Eva, to show one of His Truths: that we are all God’s children, beloved by Him, and that if we focus first on loving each other as He loves us, the things we perceive as differences fall away.
 
Who or what was your favorite encouragement while you wrote this story?
 
I don’t honestly remember from the original writing ten years ago, ha ha, but during rewrites, my biggest encouragement—as I totally flipped out at the thought of this book coming out now, when there was so much unrest in the world about these subjects—was, as always, my family and my critique partner/best friend, Stephanie. Both she and my husband reminded me that God knew when it would be releasing and that it had sat in my computer for nine years because this was its time. It was still terrifying, but it made me aware of how ultimately, this story was God’s to do with as He pleased.

 Wow, thank you for a GREAT interview, Roseanna! Your DREAMS OF SAVANNAH  
 was delightful to read  and inspiring. I do believe that this was the right time to release your story! Thank you, for your perseverance as an author and your obvious love for the Lord that shines off of your pages! 
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 You may find Roseanna M. White at https://www.roseannamwhite.com/