Q&A: Frances Devine

Windy City Brides (Romancing America): Will faith see three couples through pivotal moments in Chicago’s history?

Q: Your ‘Romancing America’ book started out as separate titles for the Heartsong
Presents readers. Tell us how the individual novels are linked together into a
larger picture.
Windy City Brides is a compilation of three historical romance novels — A Girl Like
That, Once a Thief and Sugar and Spice all feature stories of the same family in
Chicago in the years preceding, during and after the turn of the century.

Q: When you were originally writing the series, how much were you focused on each
individual title — and how much were your eyes on how each piece fit into the
larger story?

I
wrote the second book , Once a Thief, first — so my focus was on my characters and story.
When I realized my heroes’ parents had a story of their own to tell, I went back
and wrote A Girl Like That. By that time, I realized the three books were
linked, so my focus was on the series as well as the individual books. Sugar and
Spice wrapped up the series.

Q: What was your inspiration for the original series? (And how much did your
original plan change over the course of the arc?)

I’ve
always been fascinated with historical Chicago, and I thought an Oliver
Twist-type story would fit in well. When I began researching for A Girl Like
That, I was mesmerized with all the facts I found about the great Chicago Fire.
Further research revealed the disastrous sinking of the Eastland, a steamship
that went down with hundreds of vacationing passengers, so I included that in
the final book. I hope I portrayed the courage and grit of the people of
Chicago during those horrible occurrences that changed the city.

Q: How does your faith influence your writing?

I
sincerely hope my faith is revealed through the characters in my stories and
how they deal with life issues.

Q: What do you most hope readers get out of your fiction?

That
God’s love is real and He wants to be a vibrant part of each person’s life.