I am excited to welcome Inspirational Author Jody Hedlund. I asked her to join me to answer a few questions about her latest book, With You Always releases today. With You Always is the first book in the new Orphan Train series.
What is
the inspiration behind your new Orphan Train series?
I have long been fascinated by the era of the Orphan Trains and
the heart-wrenching stories of the homeless and helpless young orphans that
were taken from the streets of New York City and other eastern cities and
shipped West by the dozens. I was familiar with stories of those scared orphans
who were placed out in what was thought to be a more wholesome, healthy
environment of the newly settled Mid-Western states. Some of the orphans found
happy endings and were adopted into loving families. Others experienced great
abuse and heartache in their new homes.
While stories of the orphans who rode the trains have been
told—and rightly so—the stories of the women who were involved in the movement
are not as well known. One of the things I particularly like to do when telling
my stories, is focus on women who have been overlooked by the pages of history.
I consider it a great privilege to be able to bring forgotten women to life for
our modern generation. Thus, throughout this series, I’ll be focusing each book
on a different aspect of the Orphan Train movement, particularly from the
perspective of women who experienced riding the trains in one form or another.
How did
you come up with the idea for the first book in the series, With You Always?
For this first book in the series, I decided to base the story
around the placing out of women that happened in 1857 as a result of a
financial crisis and economic panic in the autumn of that year. Women laborers
were already at a disadvantage with poor working conditions and low wages. In
September of 1857, estimates of New York unemployment ran as high as forty
percent. Female employment was cut by almost half. With prostitution already a
main source of income for many women, the recession drove even more to desperate
measures and the number of women in prison rose as well.
To meet the growing crisis, the Children’s Aid Society in New
York, along with organizations in other cities, who were already sending
children West, decided to set up special placement offices to find jobs for
seamstresses and trade girls in the West. The associations only wanted women of
“good character” and they were required to provide references. If the women met
the qualifications, then they were sent on trains to towns in Mid-Western states,
particularly central Illinois where the demand for cheap labor was prevalent.
They were presented to western employers as “helpless females left without the
means of support.” Placement of these women continued until the spring of 1858.
It was my hope through the first book in the
series, With You Always, to give
readers a glimpse into the disadvantage of women during this particular era by
showing the heroine Elise Neumann’s struggle, first in New York City and then
also the continued heartache and problems that arose after leaving her family
behind so that she could attempt to start a new life in central Illinois.
What special research did you do in
writing With You Always?
In
the beginning phases of writing this series, I did a great deal of reading
about the orphan train movement. In particular, I really loved Stephen
O’Conor’s book, Orphan Trains,
because he includes so many personal stories and details about real orphans,
which are heart wrenching.
I
also read, A History of New York City to
1898, by Burrows and Wallace, which gave me great insights into the lives
of immigrants, particularly immigrant women. Masses of foreigners were arriving
into New York City on a daily basis, and the book gave a detailed look into
their pathetic housing situation, the difficult working conditions, as well as
gang problems and the underworld.
Finally,
another important aspect of the story that required a concentrated amount of
research was the development of railroads. The mid-1800’s was an incredible
period of growth for the railroad industry in the Mid-West. The new railroads
aided the orphan train movement but also brought about the settlement of the
Midwestern states, including Illinois, which is one of the settings of the
book.
What do
you hope readers take away from With You
Always?
One of my hopes in telling this story is to leave readers with the
reminder that God is walking with us in whatever dark valley we’re going
through. Often, like Elise, we tend to pull away from God and let the
bitterness of our circumstances drive us into a cave of isolation and
self-blame and heartache. But God wants us to realize that even if we pull away
from Him, He’s still there walking by our side, waiting for us to reach out our
hand and grab ahold of Him. He never leaves us or forsakes us. He’s there
waiting.
With You Always is the third book
you’ve released in 2017. How do you find
time to write so many books?
I keep a very rigorous writing
schedule, usually writing six days a week. I give myself a challenging word
count goal—a certain number of words to write every day. Then, in the morning, I
sit down and write until I meet my goals. It’s as simple . . . and as hard as
that!
I like to compare being an author to a
marathon runner. The person training to run a marathon doesn’t start off
running twenty-six miles the first time she runs. Instead she begins with just
a few miles, strengthens her muscles, builds her endurance, and slowly adds
more miles.
Writing is the same way. Over the
years, I’ve strengthened my writing muscles and built up my endurance so that
now I can write faster and for longer stretches.
What are you working on next?
The second book in the orphan train
series releases next summer in 2018. The story continues with Marianne Neumann.
She gets involved in the orphan train movement as one of the placing agents and
accompanies the orphans as they ride the trains west. I hope readers will enjoy
Marianne’s story and also appreciate learning more about the orphan train
movement from the eyes of the compassionate workers who tried to place the
orphans into new homes.
Do you have any parting words?
I love hearing
from readers! Make sure you stop by one of these places and say hello!
Thank you for stopping by Jody! Please visit one of the places and say hello to Jody. I recommend this book and already look forward to the second book. Check out my review!
![An Awakened Heart (Orphan Train): An Orphan Train Novella by [Hedlund, Jody]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ORldRLyGL.jpg)
