Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My grandmother came from a ranching family in Montana. She was proud of her heritage and loved to travel. Mother kept many of her artifacts, including cowboy chaps, Japanese kimonos, tortoiseshell cigarette cases, photographs of stern settlers who survived Indian attacks, and others. We ate meals around a table used on the ranch to feed the cowboys. These objects, belonging to and used by real men and women, suggested to me that history was more than the simple and dry facts we were encouraged to memorize in school.
Later, I began to read history more seriously. I don’t suggest in any way that I’m a scholar, but it does strike me that many of the cruelties inflicted on people derive from rancid ideas, ideas that are popularly supported – at least for a time. The next question, of course, is what happens when people are confronted by such an idea and its consequences. When and how does the little guy take a stand?
Years ago the narrator in a Jodi Picoult book (I forget which one) mentioned in passing that a character was a candidate for involuntary sterilization in Vermont. “Vermont?!!” I thought. “Couldn’t be.” I’d assumed those laws were primarily passed and enforced in Southern states. That thought stayed with me and was the germ that resulted in “Warrensburg,” a tale of a Virginia family’s fight against the eugenics movement when it threatened one of their own.
I don’t remember the precise genesis for “Beautiful Angels,” except that blaming the Jews for the bubonic plague was a popular idea irrationally embraced and in the face of clear evidence of innocence. Yet, the embrace of this “truth” resulted in thousands of deaths by starvation and burning all across Europe. “Beautiful Angels” is the story of a small group of unlikely allies, united only by their common humanity, who take a stand against the mob in their own small village.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Bayview Boulevard,” not yet published, is the story of an onshore whaling community during the golden age of whaling in the early to the mid-19th century. Although whaling made investors rich and their communities prosperous, beneath the enviable veneer, these communities and their families grappled with and were roiled by the divisive issues of the day including slavery, women’s rights, and others. Part love story and part coming of age story, the book also touches on the little-known, but an important avenue of escape provided by the whaling community for fugitive slaves.
I genuinely don’t remember how I stumbled on this idea since whaling has never been of any particular interest and I’ve always thought that Herman Melville could have used an editor. An onshore whaling community, however, provides ample fodder for someone interested in how ideas affect lives and behaviors.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I doubt it. I write in the morning and usually aim for a certain number of words. Sometimes, it’s a slog, a painful and slow process. Sometimes it comes easily. I suspect I’m not alone in this approach.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
During Covid when we were all house-bound, I read or re-read all the old Ross Macdonald books, the wonderful noir detective stories set in California in the mid-50s. I stumbled on the glorious “All the Light We Cannot See” and the little-known, but beautiful “The Tilted World,” a story about the 1927 Mississippi flood. I read Neil Gaiman for the first time and loved him, and I tried reading a couple of Pulitzer Prize-winning books I will not name that produced an uncomfortable level of irritation.
What are you working on now?
A story about Philadelphia in WW1.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am feeling my way with promotion sites. My website is fleurymillssommers.com
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Early on, I joined Romance Writers of America. Although I learned romance writing wasn’t for me, I’ll be eternally grateful for the craft I learned from that wonderful organization.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Neil Gaiman said something like “I’ve always read, but then I learned to read.”
What are you reading now?
James Lee Burke.
What’s next for you as a writer?
More of the same: reading, learning, writing.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Something light, but uplifting: a Dean Koontz “Odd Thomas” book
Something stunningly beautiful: “All the Light We Cannot See”
Something dense (in case rescue is slow): Maybe the Bible – to contemplate all my sins.
Author Websites and Profiles
Fleury Sommers Website
Fleury Sommers Amazon Profile
Fleury Sommers’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile