Main Character Monday: Interview with Anna Katherine O’Sullivan

A Song of Deliverance character InterviewOn today’s Main Character Monday, we’re featuring an interview with Anna Katherine O’Sullivan from A Song of Deliverance by Donna Wichelman. A Song of Deliverance is her latest release and a historical romance published by Scrivenings Press. I’ll share more about Donna and the book after our interview.

But now, let’s welcome our guest, Anna Katherine O’Sullivan. Thank you for being with us today, Anna. Please tell us a little about yourself.

Born into the Irish system of landholding that favored the moneyed class, I had no dowry and no chance of marrying the man I loved. Seamus and I had known each other since we were children because my mother worked as a domestic for the O’Connor family, and we played together most days. We knew everything about each other—our foibles and faults, our strengths and virtues. It seemed only natural that childhood friendship would blossom into adult affections.

But when the day came, and we announced our plans to marry, Patrick and Ina O’Connor would not give their consent. Though Seamus tried to reason with them, they would not hear of it, threatening to disinherit him if he did not cut me out of his life. Though Seamus said it didn’t matter to him, I could not allow him to lose his inheritance. I knew he would resent me for it in the end. Heartbroken without parents to support me, I fled Ireland to tend to Uncle Liam’s house in Colorado and take on my deceased aunt’s sewing business.

It takes true love to put aside your wants for what is best for another person. Not an easy thing to do, at all. Tell me something about you that readers may find surprising?

I love sweets way too much, especially chocolates. It’s an indulgence that I’m way too fond of and would most likely resemble Eli of Bible fame if I never restrained it

I have to agree. Good chocolate is a test of my self-control too. What is your favorite book in the New Testament and why?

That would be Romans, particularly the eighth chapter, the twenty-eighth verse, which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

You see, before I arrived in Georgetown, I had high hopes for a good life in America. My uncle had sent me a watercolor by post of the grand and glorious Colorado Rocky Mountains and promised a prosperous life in the flourishing mining community.

But when I arrived in Georgetown, my uncle didn’t meet me at the stagecoach, and the town was in an uproar over a mine disaster at the Singing Silver Mine where my uncle worked. The next twenty-four hours proved painstaking, waiting on the rescue team for news of the men trapped in the belly of the earth. A pastor’s wife, Mrs. Laurel Thomas, who I was later to call my best friend, tried to comfort me.

Then, the horrific happened. Nine of the fourteen men trapped hadn’t survived, including Uncle Liam. I wept, for now I was orphaned and destitute again. I stayed in my uncle’s cottage that night alone and despondent, with no one for my comfort.

Mrs. Thomas came by the cottage the following day to ask how I was fairing. I bitterly complained of God’s cruelty for the circumstances that had befallen me. How could God be so cruel to bring me here just to take away my only living relatives, leaving me alone with no way to earn a living? As far as I was concerned, it was a poor plan on God’s part, and I would have remained in Ireland if I had any inkling of what was to come.

In her practical wisdom, Mrs. Thomas unfolded her story—how she and Pastor Thomas had left behind all they’d known in Ohio to start a church in Georgetown. “Most of us make our plans; we think we’ve got everything under control. Then something gets tossed at us—something we didn’t expect, and we’re left to figure out what to do with a circumstance we would never have chosen for ourselves. That’s where God’s providential plan comes in,” she said. “But all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”

It took months for me to understand what that meant for my life—months of waiting and watching and wondering. But by Christmas, it all came together, and what Mrs. Thomas had predicted, God had orchestrated in a harmonious chorus more lovely than I could have ever imagined, and I saw that she had been right all along.

I can’t imagine the depth of loss you felt after having already lost home, family, and love. I’m glad you had Mrs. Thomas. We all need a Mrs. Thomas in our lives at times. God called Gideon to lead his army. Gideon didn’t believe he could, but he trusted and did as God asked. Have you ever felt like you weren’t equipped to do what God asked you to do? What did you do?

After the initial shock of learning my uncle had died in the Singing Silver Mine disaster, I grieved not only for what had been lost but also for what I never had. I know that sounds strange, but it wasn’t my uncle I grieved since I had never really known him. But I grieved that I had come to America expecting to live a comfortable life and found an uncertain future waiting for me on the other side instead. If God had called me to Georgetown, I had no idea how to navigate this new world. I had to dig deep in my heart and soul to gather my faith, courage, and ingenuity to establish a life in a community where I didn’t know anyone and had no way of earning a living—or so I thought. But as the days and weeks unfolded, I realized God had brought me to Georgetown for just such a time as this, as Mordecai said to Esther in the book named after her. So, I lead the charge to help unify the community in an effort to help those who were hurting after the mine disaster. By doing so, I not only endeared myself to many, but we gave the town a fighting chance to overcome the calamity and gain prosperity again.

Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Is there one of these you find easier to accomplish? Is one harder?

I wish you could have known Miss Cecelia Richards, my formerly enslaved, God-fearing friend. She accumulated more wisdom than most in her eighty years of life. Even after enduring fifty years of bondage to white men, having her husband and children sold away from her, then finding freedom and earning enough money to invest in local mines, she said something that has stuck with me. In answer to why she hadn’t allowed bitterness to dictate her life, she said, “I don’t look down on anyone as if they don’t deserve a kindness. I reckon we all got shackles we need to get freed from to get by in this life.” Her love, humility, and charity toward others impressed me as something I wanted to emulate. I pray daily the Lord would make me into a woman after His own heart by showing me how to love and serve those who he brings into my life.

She sounds like a wise woman. I think I would’ve liked to meet her. If you could leave readers with one message, what would it be?

My story is more than a story about one poor Irish woman’s road from rags to riches. It’s about finding the faith and courage to persevere despite the most tragic circumstances and discovering God has never been further than a hair’s breadth away. As Cecelia said, we all have shackles we need to get freed from. We can only experience true freedom in Christ when we choose to trust God and lean not on our own understanding. We may make our plans, but God’s plans are infinitely greater than our own.

Thank you for taking time to answer these questions that give readers a peek into who you are on a serious level. Now, I’m going to let them get to know your author, Donna Wichelman a bit better.

Donna, if you could have any exotic animal as a pet, what would it be?

A cheetah. They’re sleek and fast and can be trained.

If you could travel through time, would you?

Since I’m a historical romance author and love history, traveling back in time would give me the ability to conduct research in real-time and scope out the stories about actual people and the places where they live. I could explore their perspective on events as they occurred and interview them in-depth about how they felt about their role in the circumstances that led to how events unfolded.

Sunrise or sunset?

Sunset—My husband and I met and married in California and occasionally used to sit on the beach as the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. Very romantic indeed!

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Definitely chocolate. I love anything chocolate, especially Rocher Ferrero Balls.

No electricity or no plumbing?

This is a tough one. Probably no electricity. I can always put on more coasts and sweaters if there’s no heat, but squatty potties are unbearable.

If your character had only three words to describe you, how would they do it?

Idealistic. Charitable. Empathetic.

I want to thank Donna for allowing this Interview with Anna Katherine O’Sullivan. I’ve enjoyed getting to know her a bit more and look forward to the rest of her story. I’m going to share more about where to find A Song of Deliverance, but first, a little more about Donna.

More About Donna

Donna WichelmanWeaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna’s love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending an international college in Wales. She enjoys developing plots that show how God’s love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, forgiveness, and belonging in a world that often withholds second changes.

Donna received her master’s degree in mass communication/journalism from San Jose State University. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published Christian romantic suspense novels in her Waldensian Series—Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, just released on December 3, 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

Social Media Links:

Website: www.donnawichelman.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DonnaWichelmanAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donna.wichelman

X (Formerly Twitter): www.x.com/DonnaWichelman

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donna-wichelman

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/donna_wichelman

Purchase your copy of A Song of Deliverance

 

Please follow and like us:

Get in on the conversation

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

No Comments