Author Spotlight: Marianne Plunkert

�

After spending 25 years in academia, teaching finance and authoring finance textbooks as an independent contractor for major publishing companies, Marianne retired early to devote more time to her lifelong dream: writing a novel and having it published. What Might Have Been, her debut novel, was inspired by the rich history of the Denver, Colorado area, she discovered while living there. She currently lives in western North Carolina where she continues to enjoy writing, reading the works of others, and playing bridge and pickleball.

A little bit about Author Marianne Plunkert

I have been writing almost my entire life. In my youth, I wrote poetry and short stories, but my lifelong dream was always to write a novel and have it published. Life took me in another direction, though, and I ended up in academia, teaching finance and writing finance textbooks as an independent contractor for major publishing companies. (Hey, it paid the bills.) When my career took me to Denver, Colorado, I fell in love with the rich history of the area. I had never been a history buff, but I was inspired to dig deeper and joined the Colorado Historical Society (now History Colorado). I soon realized what I learned would be good fodder for a historical romance. My debut novel, What Might Have Been,�is the result.

This is Author Marianne Plunkert’s writing and publication journey in her own words…

Inspiration to start writing…

I always loved to read, and when I did, I fantasized about being able to write stories others would enjoy reading. I studied what it was about a certain poem, story, or book that drew me in and attempted to employ the same techniques. I’m a die-hard romantic, so I like writing romances, but I have also always preferred reading books that teach me something I didn’t already know, regardless of the genre, thus I leaned toward historical romances. That has become my preferred genre to write in, too.

What Might Have Been Blurb

In the tumultuous year of 1864, when both the Civil War and Indian
uprisings are raging, Melissa Sullivan is desperate to escape a
lecherous uncle who is accusing her of killing her aunt. After stowing
away in a wagon bound for the Colorado Territory, she discovers its
owner is a high-handed lieutenant in the Union army who is escaping
his own demons. While he believes he has the right to make decisions
for her, she is determined to become self-sufficient like her new
friend Mavis, an Irish lass with a soft heart, a hard exterior, and a
weak acquaintance with the truth. Swept along by the relentless push
westward, Melissa finds herself entangled in circumstances far beyond
her control. When pivotal historical events, including the Sand Creek
Massacre, unfold around her after her arrival in Denver, she is faced
with limited choices. Will she win the fight to determine her own
destiny? Will she make the right decision when it comes to love?

One of Marianne’s favourite scenes from What Might Have Been…

Hearing the soldiers boast about how they had caught the savages by surprise and that most of the braves had been with the village at the time, Melissa wondered about the fate of the old squaw who had taken care of her and the younger woman who had ordered her brother to let Melissa go. Were the white men any kinder in their attack than the Indians had been? Had they spared the women and children? Somehow, she doubted it, and the words of the young Indian woman echoed in her ears. Perhaps all men were savages, regardless of their color, in the throes of battle. The whites were fighting to protect their own as they attempted to make their homes in this wild country. At the same time, the Indians were fighting to protect their lands from the white invasion. And things were hardly better back East where people purported to be more civilized. There, whites fought against whites, brothers and fathers against brothers and fathers. She had heard the rumors of plantations being burned and women raped by the Union soldiers. Horrors of what befell Northern women when the rebels gained ground in a battle had not escaped her ears either. While Melissa did not believe in slavery and she had not quite understood it when she had heard her father talking about how the Southern states claimed they were fighting for something called “states’ rights,” she wondered if anything was worth all the bloodshed. Everything had seemed so simple less than a year ago. The North was right; the South was wrong. The whites were righteous in driving the savages from the land they had always inhabited; the savages were, after all, a dirty, inhuman bunch—closer to beasts, really. Such were the beliefs with which she grew up. But the young Indian woman had given her back her freedom, even if out of a sense of repayment for another good deed. Now nothing seemed so black-and-white anymore.

Marianne’s works…

Aside from the numerous finance textbooks I authored, What Might Have Been is my only published work to date. (I am working on a sequel, though.) It can be purchased online at the following retailers:

It is also available from the publisher, The Wild Rose Press