Meet the Author Monday: Delores Topliff
It is my pleasure to introduce you to Delores Topliff on this week’s Meet the Author Monday interview. After meeting Delores at a writing conference, I can say with complete sincerity, if you ever have the opportunity to get to know her, you should take it.
Before we get into the tough questions (like I ever ask tough questions!), let’s get to know a little more about Delores.
I grew up in Washington state but married a Canadian. So, I enjoy dual citizenship. I teach university and travel. I wrote prizewinning children’s books before my historic novels and my memoir-travelogue of many trips to Israel, A Traveling Grandma’s Guide to Israel: Adventures, Wit, and Wisdom. I love my two doctor sons and five grandchildren. And I divide my year between a Minnesota farm and the gentler climate and people of Northeastern Mississippi. You can find me at delorestopliff.com and at https://www.facebook.com/DETopliff
Wow. And I know this is only scratching the surface of the author who is Delores Topliff. You mentioned writing historic novels. One of these is Wilderness Wife, which our readers can find out more about at the end of this interview. I’m curious. What inspired you to write Wilderness Wife?
Growing up as a kid in the shadow of Fort Vancouver, Washington, the end of the Oregon Trail, we knew lots about its founder, Dr. John McLoughlin, but the Lord inspired me to research his wife, Marguerite Wadin MacKay McLoughlin. I found solid gold and wrote Wilderness Wife. Despite early abandonment leaving her the single mom of four children, Marguerite embraced courage and fulfilled a key role in shaping North American History.
After enjoying this book, one reader said, “I love Wilderness Wife. The heroine is such a strong, compassionate, and resilient woman in a time and climate that was hard. Beautiful story.
Beauty amid harsh times. That makes for a great story. And speaking of story, what can readers expect when they open up a story by Delores Topliff?
I’ve taught university courses for many years, mostly English, History, and World Geography. I’ve written or rewritten many courses. One adult student came up to me after a class and said, “You don’t just teach us history and events. You teach us to think.” I hope that’s true. Besides being reasonably informed and entertained, I’d love for my readers also to engage with thoughtful story and life questions that lead them to finding more answers for themselves.
That is a worthy goal. It sounds like you’ve been a great teacher in classes, and I’m sure you can’t help carrying that over to the written page. Being a teacher has its benefits, but so does being an author. What is the biggest blessing you’ve received as an author?
Imagine my shock in November when I got an email from a northern Michigan reader saying, “My mom and sister and I are 4th and 5th generation direct descendants of Marguerite. We love your book and wonder if you’re related to us.”
(Not that I know of, but I’d love that.)
We eonnected online and they joined our November ACFW Book Club discussion of Wilderness Wife via Zoom. Marguerite’s relatives are encouraging me to write the sequel to her inspiring life. I’m seriously considering that. We may meet in Ontario, Canada next July. I’m thrilled that so many fine qualities I admire in Marguerite are alive and visible in her descendants. I see again that as life choices are made and seeds planted, they produce an ongoing harvest that blesses future generations.
So amazing. I can’t imagine how exciting that must have been for you. You’ve brought some true history into your fictional story, and I think that’s wonderful. But what about in what you read? What is the latest nonfiction (not including the Bible) that you’ve read
This September I visited friends in Scotland who are great readers. When it was time for my flight home when I had nothing to read, they gave me Just A Little Run Around The World by Rosie Swale Pope–great choice. It’s the account of a British widow who honored her husband by literally running around the world in five years. I enjoyed it and learned so much, one day soon I’ll read it again.
I have never read that one, but it sounds like an inspiring story. Before we share about Wilderness Wife with our readers, I have one last question. Do you prefer physical books, eBooks, or audiobooks?
There’s something wonderful about holding a book in my hands. And I love libraries—even the smell and physical appearance of books. When my sons were young and I brought them to libraries, one of their favorite spots. They happily said, “We’re going to the book cave!”
I have to agree. And maybe our libraries would benefit from being renamed “book caves”. I think it adds a little mystery. I want to thank Delores Topliff for joining me on this Meet the Author Monday interview. Before we dive into her book, here’s where you can find out more about Delores.
Visit her website delorestopliff.com
Connect on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DETopliff
Sign up for her monthly newsletter – https://mailchi.mp/919a77d66e15/newsletter-sign-up
More About Wilderness Wife
Marguerite Wadin MacKay believes her 17-year marriage to explorer Alex MacKay is strong—until his sudden fame destroys it. When he returns from his 1793 cross-Canada expedition, he announces their frontier marriage is void in Montreal where he will now go to find a society wife—not one with native blood. Taking their son with him, MacKay sends Marguerite and their three daughters to a remote trading post where she lived as a child. Deeply shamed, she arrives in time to assist young Doctor John McLoughlin, a Hudson’s Bay Trading Company employee, with a medical emergency. He’s impressed with her fine character and woodland and medical lore.
As their friendship deepens, when McLoughlin declares his love, she dissuades him from a match harmful to his career. She’s mixed blood and nine years older. But he will have no one else.
After abandonment, can a woman love again and fulfill a key role in North American History?
Purchase your copy of Wilderness Wife
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