Interview with Cara Luecht

1) Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I choose to write historical fiction because I love history. My first book, Soul Painter, has a 

significant spiritual element (the main character is a prophetic painter). When I first began 

writing about her I didn’t know she had that ability. That came through once I put pen to paper. 

Sometimes I write the kind of book the character demands.

2) What are you reading right now?

Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping and I’m rereading To Kill a Mockingbird

3) What is your current work in progress?

I am putting the finishing touches on the sequel to Soul Painter. It is due to release in December 

of 2015.

4) How do you choose your settings for each book?

The setting is truly the starting point for me. Right now, my favorite era is the late 1800s. So 

much was changing at that time, and all of that tension between tradition and progress makes

for a dynamic setting.

5) Tell us about Gathered Waters.

They want to worship as their hearts demand... 

but can they sacrifice everything for it? 

Brianna has only ever been what her life demanded. A wife, a hostess, a mother. But 

when a stand her husband takes ostracizes them from the Lutheran church that 

controls so much of life in Sweden, Brianna finds herself needing to find a strength 

beyond her station...a strength that will see her through prejudice and persecution 

and to a home she never dreamed she would find. 

Based on the true story of the author's family's journey from Sweden to America, 

this sweeping saga paints the brilliance of new faith, the bravery of a new land...and 

the beauty of plunging beneath the waters and emerging a new person, capable of 

what one never thought one could do.

6) How did Gathered Waters get started?

At the end of the novel are some pages of Hulda’s story. At the time Gathered Waters is set, 

Hulda would have been a child. But she is on my family tree, as my great-great aunt. Before she

died, she told another family member all about her childhood in Sweden, about the persecution 

they faced as they joined the Baptist movement, and of their struggles once they reached 

America. This other family member typed out the document that you will see at the end of the 

book.

I found those pages while rummaging through some of my grandmother’s paperwork. At that 

point I had never even thought to become a writer, but once the story started growing in my 

mind, I realized how much I enjoyed it. 

After years of working on the craft of writing, and rewriting this novel countless times, I finally 

finished what I call a fictional account of their journey. If you read Hulda’s memories, you will 

recognize many differences in our stories, but I tried to stay true to the spirit of the story, the 

timeline, and when possible, the events.

7) Where do you like to write?

Usually in my office at home. But sometimes, with kids, it can be pretty impossible. Honestly, 

there are days where I am scratching out the outline for a new scene while waiting for a stop 

light to turn green. I just do the best I can to keep a consistent schedule, and if that means 

bringing a pencil and a notebook to orchestra practice, then that’s what that means.

8) If someone else were sitting at your desk, what would they see?

Normal stuff. I do keep organized though, so it’s pretty neat. I can’t work in clutter.

9) What advice would you give a beginning author?

Work on craft. Never ever think that you have a finished draft. Everything can be improved. 

Expect this. Embrace it. 

10) Where can readers find you online?

www.caraluecht.com or they can email me directly at cara@caraluecht.com

Link to buy Gathered Waters:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SVWWJQM?tag=freshfiction-

20&link_code=as3&creativeASIN=B00SVWWJQM&creative=373489&camp=211189

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cara.luecht

Twitter:  @caraluecht