Juanita: Hi Donna, welcome back. We are excited to hear more about your latest novel “The Doctor’s Daughter,” a western romance that is actually set in an area of New Mexico that you call home. Would you tell us more about your setting, as well as your history and love for the area?
Donna: To those who have never visited, New Mexico is a very diversified state. Areas near White Sands and Las Cruzes are very arid yet abundant with jack rabbits, cactus and coyotes. In the northern section of the state are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, known for its rugged beauty, lush forests, tall peaks and fast-moving waters. There’s white-tailed deer, elk, long horned sheep, and a multitude of wildlife. I’ve packed on foot and horseback in these mountains, fished for trout in many of the streams and roasted my catch over an open fire just as my hero and heroine do in The Doctor’s Daughter. Way up in the “high country,” away from any sign of civilization, it comes naturally to me to turn back the clock and imagine how it was a century ago.
Juanita: What happens in “The Doctor’s Daughter”?
Donna: Rebeccah Randolph, a young British aristocrat, leaves her fiancé in England to honor her mother’s dying wish that she be reacquainted with her estranged father, a retired Army doctor. Reluctantly, Rebeccah ventures to the untamed New Mexican Territory where she also has to earn her own keep for one year as a teacher, a profession her mother insisted she learn. Her sister, Lydia, arranges for her to be the personal tutor for two young Mexican girls, the daughters of the well-to-do rancher, Don Fernando Gutierrez. When she arrives in Santa Fe, she’s rescued from a rain-swollen arroyo by Colonel Sayer MacLaren of the US Cavalry. Although he’s not as refined as her English fiancé, there’s something wildly exciting about him. However, as she learns more about his brutal past fighting in the Plains Indian War, she wonders if she loves him enough to forgive what he’s had to do to survive. At the same time, Sayer wonders if he can forgive himself enough to fall in love.
Juanita: Would you tell us about your lead heroine Rebeccah Randolph? What is her personal journey in this story?
Donna: Rebeccah’s a rich and pampered, well-bred, English young lady. Outside her education to be a teacher, she’s done very little other than what propriety deems a lady should do. The moment she arrives in Santa Fe, she learns it’s far different from London. At first she strongly resists changing her preconceived ideas of western men, but after persistent, and patient tutoring from the colonel, she begins to think her past life was rather boring. She gains confidence and discovers she’s a stronger woman than she ever thought she could be.
Juanita: Donna, you like to cast strong lead women in your novels. Would you tell us more about this preference? How did you come up with Rebeccah’s character?
Donna: My mother was a “war bride”, born in England and brought to New Mexico at a very young age when my father got out of the Army. Having heard many of my mother’s stories of her early years in America, I found it very natural to turn back the clock, take my mother’s situation and make it Rebeccah’s. The booming, post-war American West may not be the same as the wild frontier days, but my mother had to adapt to an entirely new set of surroundings, just as Rebeccah does.
Juanita: What type of research did you do to prepare for this novel? How long was the writing process?
Donna: This book actually went rather quickly. I completed it, along with its sequel, Honorable Intentions, in about eight months. Because of my knowledge of New Mexico, my many packing trips in the mountains outside of Santa Fe, and having heard countless stories of my mother’s experiences, my research was practically done for me.
Juanita: The communities in which “The Doctor’s Daughter” is set still embrace much of the old time history, as well as the values of the era. Why do you think people are still enthralled with the Old West?
Donna: What’s not to love? Here, in New Mexico, we still have glorious sunsets–just like we saw on the old western movies; lots of cattle ranches, lots of equestrians and many “wild west” shows. There’s a little town near Santa Fe called Glorietta where folks re-enact one of the major battles of the Civil War, the Battle of Glorietta. There’s also something wonderfully romantic about the west and cowboys which led me to think of cavalry officers, which led me to think about handsome men in uniform who ride horses…is there anything better? I married a man in uniform, you know.
Juanita: Northern New Mexico in the late 1800′s was a much different place than Rebeccah’s homeland of England. How does she handle the change?
Donna: Rebeccah’s first look at New Mexico is from the train. After the Civil War, New Mexico began to establish itself. Santa Fe back in the 1800′s had dusty, dirt roads, a mix of nationalities from Anglos, Mexicans, and Native Americans. Many old traditions blended with newer, more modern ones. The railroad had only just made its way into the territory. Mining was big business. There were bloody range wars, and the Rough Riders were formed. The cattle business was booming in the 1880′s. New Mexico was an infant compared to the timeworn, but sophisticated cities of England.
Juanita: Who are Rebeccah’s love interests?
Donna: In England, Rebeccah fancied herself in love with an English businessman named Edmund. Because Rebeccah wasn’t in line to inherit her Grandmother’s title, she thought Edmund’s status sufficient and his quiet life-style appealing. However, she’s drawn to Colonel MacLaren no matter how hard she tries to resist. Partly because she sees him as something sinfully intriguing and partly because he’s not as far from her opinion of a gentleman as she thought.
Juanita: What can you tell us about Colonel Sayer MacLaren and his own journey in “The Doctor’s Daughter”?
Donna: Sayer is unique considering his father died fighting Indians, and his mother was murdered and scalped. In spite of this, he’s become an advocate for peace, empathizing with the tribes he fought against. He and Rebeccah will have many discussions about her views of the American Indians.
Juanita: How does Rebeccah meet Don Fernando Gutierrez, and how does he factor into the story?
Donna: Rebeccah’s older sister, Lydia arranges for Rebeccah to tutor Don Fernando’s two young daughters in English and etiquette. As lovable as Don Fernando is in the story, he’s not exactly what he appears to be. Now I’m playing my get out of jail free card; if our readers want to know more, they’ll have to read the book.
Juanita: Were the borders of New Mexico the same geographically as today? Was it common for Mexican ranchers to hold large pieces of land in the United States at that time?
Donna: New Mexico didn’t become the state or the shape we recognize today until December of 1912. As I mentioned, many different nationalities owned large parcels of land, which encouraged many range wars for possession. Cattle was also big business–another reason to take land from your neighbor.
Juanita: Rivalries with local Indians factors strongly into this novel. What tribes were in the area during the late 1800′s, and were most homesteaders guaranteed some time of negative interaction with them?
Donna: Predominately the Navajo, but they were much more peaceful than their rivals, the Apache. Apaches were much more reluctant to remain confined to reservations, and had every right to feel that way. Many of the reservations were remote, barren areas with little water and little hunting. American soldiers’ were on the verge of war with the Apache Indians who refused to give up their homes without a fight. The Indians were thought of as savage and uncivilized, but in many ways, whites were as savage in their taking of what wasn’t rightfully theirs.
Juanita: “The Doctor’s Daughter” sends readers on a fast paced ride once Sayer is gravely wounded. What can you tell us about the importance of this turning point?
Donna: First, in order to keep Sayer alive until she can get help, Rebeccah has to use many of the skills he taught her. This is the stage in the book where she struggles with self-confidence. She’s forced to face what being a soldier’s wife could be like. She’s unsure if she’s strong enough to stay, always reminded that her former, pampered life awaits her in England.
Juanita: What is the underlying message of “The Doctor’s Daughter”?
Donna: This is a tough question. I think I would like the underlying message to be deeper than just Rebeccah’s transformation from sheltered lady to capable frontier woman. I think I’d like the reader to pause and remember that atrocities were done on both sides in the Great Plains Indian Wars. I’d like my readers to put themselves in the Apache’s or the Lakota’s place and try to imagine what we would do if a group of people came and decided to take our homes by force. I want my readers to come away from reading The Doctor’s Daughter and be more like Sayer.
Juanita: Donna, you really shine in this genre. Why do you think westerns lend themselves so well to romance?
Donna: There are so many great western stories, western movies, and so much incredible history. The West was majestic yet violent place where men killed each other over the placement barbed wire fences. Life was precious and precarious, so romance–passionate love probably offered reprieve from the day to day struggle to survive.
Juanita: It may be too soon to ask, as you are just releasing The Doctor’s Daughter,” but do you have any other books in the works? Will you be venturing off into other areas?
Donna: I mentioned the sequel to The Doctor’s Daughter, named Honorable Intentions. It’s not published yet, but I’m waiting to hear. It’s Lydia’s, Rebeccah’s sister, story. Since I’m also published in medieval historical romance, I’m also working on an early, early Welsh romance set in the 900′s, but it’s not quite complete. And, like any writer, I’ve got about five or six outlines saved to disc, five of them westerns.
Juanita: How can readers find out more about you and your books?
Donna: I’ve got my own website, donnamacquigg.com where readers can view my book covers, excerpts, reviews and pictures of my horses in the Santa Fe National Forest. There’s also a mailbox where they can send their opinions or comments to me.
Juanita: Donna, it has been great talking with you once again. We have enjoyed hearing about your new novel “The Doctor’s Daughter” and will certainly be looking forward to your future releases. Before we depart, do you have any last thoughts?
Donna: As always, I want to thank my readers for their continuing support. My first western, The Price of Pride got many great comments and reviews, and I’m hoping I won’t disappoint any of them with The Doctor’s Daughter. And, before I leave, I’d like to thank Reader Views for their help in promoting my career. I look forward to working with you again soon with Honorable Intentions.
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Interview with Donna MacQuigg, Author of "The Doctor's Daughter"
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