{"id":2747,"date":"2026-01-01T05:42:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T05:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianregency.com\/blog\/?p=2747"},"modified":"2026-01-01T05:42:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T05:42:32","slug":"author-sarah-e-ladd-coffee-talk-and-giveaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2026\/01\/01\/author-sarah-e-ladd-coffee-talk-and-giveaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Author Sarah E. Ladd: Coffee Talk and Giveaway!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"HW<\/a>
Watercolor painting, Alphonse Mucha. (Photo: Wiki Commons, public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Due to schedules of busy authors that also happen to be moms, author friend Sarah E. Ladd and I scheduled a virtual coffee date to chat about the exciting release of her debut novel, The Heiress of Winterwood. <\/i>You\u2019ll find out quickly, just as I did, that this author has a great love for all things Regency, as well as a true heart for the Lord. (Not to mention a sincere and mutual affection we both have\u00a0for coffee!)<\/b><\/p>

\"Fire<\/a><\/div>\n

Sarah has her vanilla latte and I have my coconut mocha coffee in hand… We’re ready to start this virtual chat! So grab your favorite mug of coffee\u00a0too\u00a0(or English Breakfast tea), and join us as we celebrate the debut release for author Sarah E. Ladd:<\/p>\n

Kristy: Hi Sarah \u2013 We\u2019re delighted that you\u2019ve stopped by Regency Reflections today to talk about your Genesis Award-winning and debut novel, The Heiress of Winterwood. <\/i>I\u2019ve prepared for the occasion with a cup of coffee and an edge-of-my-seat anxiousness to talk about this amazing book!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for having me!<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

K: Let\u2019s jump right in. We\u2019ve just met you in the elevator at a writing conference, and we\u2019re in love with the fact that your first book is a Regency. Can you give us a quick summary of the story before the elevator reaches our floor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure!\u00a0 When Amelia Barrett vows to raise her dying friend\u2019s infant daughter, she will risk everything to keep her word, even if it means proposing to the child\u2019s father \u2026 a sea captain she\u2019s never met.<\/em><\/p>\n

K: The thought of proposing marriage is a bit terrifying. (Now I understand what the guys go through when they\u2019re about to bend a knee.) But to have a woman propose marriage to a man, in the year 1814 \u2013 what kind of cultural significance does that hold?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think that in order to answer this question properly I need to step back a bit. When I first started planning to\u00a0 write this book, I knew I wanted to set the novel in the Regency period.\u00a0 My goal was to write a strong heroine that really challenged the societal expectations of the time. So before I put pen to\u00a0paper (or fingers to keyboard) I asked myself the following question:\u00a0 What is the one thing that a woman in the Regency period would never, ever do?\u00a0 And the first answer that came to mind:\u00a0 Propose marriage to a man.\u00a0 And that is how the idea for ‘The Heiress of Winterwood’ was born!<\/em><\/p>\n

So jumping back to the question \u2026 proposing marriage to a man would have damaged a lady\u2019s reputationbeyond repair \u2013 and during the Regency, a woman\u2019s reputation was her most prized possession.Keep in mind that Amelia had to be married by the time she turned 24 otherwise she would lose her inheritance, so not only was she risking social ridicule, but she was also risking her fortune and security.\"HW\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

K: In The Heiress of Winterwood, <\/i>your heroine finds herself in quite a life-changing moment right from the first\u00a0scene of the book. (I actually had a breathless moment when I read the first line!)<\/em> How attached did you feel to Amelia as she walked through this heart-wrenching journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh my goodness!\u00a0 I felt like I was in the room with Amelia, watching the tragedy unfold.\u00a0 And as I wrote the rest of the book, I kept coming back to this opening scene, tweaking it and making sure it was true to her character. \u00a0\u00a0Amelia\u2019s reaction in this room really spoke a lot about the type of person she was, and that moment was truly a defining point in her life \u2026 it was the moment she decided that she would put someone else\u2019s needs before her own and dedicate her life to making someone else\u2019s life better.<\/em><\/p>\n

K: You\u2019ve written characters that give the readers a very intimate look at the inner struggles they face \u2013 Amelia with her heart for a young child and the fierce protection she feels as a new mother, and Graham, with his unwavering strength as he begins to understand what it means to be a father. <\/strong>Can you tell us more about the inner struggles your characters go through on their journey and how\u00a0 they bridged those challenges to find love?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amelia\u2019s parents died when she was young, and as a result, she faced loneliness and was always searching for the true acceptance that a family could offer. \u00a0Because of this, Amelia feels an immediate connection with Lucy, the baby, for she wants to prevent this innocent child from growing up as she did \u2026without love.\u00a0 This leads us to Amelia\u2019s struggle. You see, Amelia believes that she knows what is best for herself and for Lucy.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0She believes that by careful planning, courage, and hard work she can create the perfect life for them both. But in the end, Amelia realizes that her own strength and determination will only take her so far, and it is only when she relies on God\u2019s strength and seeks His will does she find peace and contentment.<\/em><\/p>\n

Graham, on the other hand, struggles with the guilt of his past.\u00a0 There are many things that the wishes he would have done differently.\u00a0 Throughout the course of the story, he learns that in order to find true freedom from the stronghold of his guilt he must forgive himself and, more importantly, accept God\u2019s forgiveness.\u00a0 His journey is about breaking down the walls that he built around himself.<\/em><\/p>\n

In essence, both Amelia and Graham dealt with the issue of pride, only in different forms.\u00a0 When I wrote their stories, this Bible verse kept coming to me.\u00a0 I think it fits both of their journeys:<\/em><\/p>\n

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.\u00a0 ~ Proverbs 11:2<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 _____________________________________________<\/p>\n

Keep your coffee cups on the warmer, friends… We’ll continue Sarah’s interview in our\u00a0Friday post.\u00a0But until then, drop her a line here with a comment\u00a0and find her on social media to keep the conversation going. She’s so looking forward to talking with each of you!<\/p>\n

\"Sarah\"<\/a>You can find Sarah on:<\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a>\u00a0 | Twitter<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Goodreads<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 |\u00a0 Website<\/a><\/p>\n

GIVEAWAY: You’re in luck, Regency readers. Sarah is giving away a *signed* copy of her debut book,The Heiress of Winterwood, <\/em>to one lucky reader\u00a0of Friday’s post.\u00a0In the meantime, Sarah will be monitoring the comments and would love to connect with you. So…<\/p>\n

Now that you’ve met Amelia and Graham, what has you completely breathless to read their story?<\/em><\/p>\n

Come back on Friday for the second installment of our Coffee Talk interview with debut author Sarah E. Ladd. (Hint: Make sure to join us. We’ve got a couple of surprises in store!) <\/em>And don’t forget our\u00a0GIVEAWAY – details to follow in the next post!<\/p>\n

In His Love,<\/p>\n

Kristy<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Originally posted 2013-04-10 05:00:39. <\/small><\/p>

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Due to schedules of busy authors that also happen to be moms, author friend Sarah E. Ladd and I scheduled a virtual coffee date to chat about the exciting release of her debut novel, The Heiress of Winterwood. You\u2019ll find out quickly, just as I did, that this author has a great love for all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,79,66,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","category-author-interview","category-free-book","category-new-release"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2747"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2777,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747\/revisions\/2777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}