Linda Hoover: Mountain Prophecy

Happy Valentine day! I’m Linda Hoover. Thank you, Julie for giving me the opportunity to use Throwback Thursday to talk about the book I published in 2016, Mountain Prophecy.

Mountain Prophecy is a young adult book with romantic elements that adults will enjoy as well as teens. It’s set in 1918 in the Kentucky Appalachians and features fifteen-year-old twins, Dusty and Darla and seventeen-year-old Aidan, who is part of a mysterious reclusive clan living in a cavern at the end of an old mine shaft.

This interview with Dusty will give you a condensed version of the summer from his perspective. I hope you enjoy it.

Interview with Dusty

Q  Will you tell us a little about yourself? Where you were born, what

     your family’s like? Brothers or sisters?

A  I was born here in Cincinnati. My mom is from Kentucky and has a           

big family there. Dad owns a department store that my great-  grandfather built. Dad wants me to take over someday, but what I really want to do is play baseball, hopefully with the Reds. I’m a good pitcher, but can play most any position. 

I have eight older brothers and one sister, who is my twin. Darla, and I 

are fifteen years old. 

Q   You see your cousins every summer. Do you look forward to going?

A   I like spending time there. It’s a complete change from the city and the

     family is fun to be around, even if they are superstitious and can’t get

    along with their neighbors. The exception is my cousin Jordy. He’s a year

    older and has always given me a hard time about being a city kid. That

    changed this year.

Q  What made this year different?

A   Things were crazy from the time Darla and I got there. Right away we

found out two young women from the other clans in the area had gone

into the abandoned mine on our family’s land. Next thing I knew,

Darla went into a trance and started into the mine, too, but I stopped

her. People around there were talking about trolls, our oldest aunt was

shooting at people, Darla and I were shot at and there was a snake

handling preacher. I even got sprayed by a skunk.

     The worst happened one night when Darla ended up going into the mine.    

I didn’t find out until the next evening. She may be stubborn and make

me mad sometimes, but she’s my best friend. I was frantic to get her out

of there.

The mine tunnel led to a large cavern. Now I’ve got to tell you, I’ve

never believed in “Mountain Magic” like Darla. And I thought the folklore

about trolls looking for brides was ridiculous, until I got inside that

cavern and got a look at those people. The prince was all set to marry

Darla. Of course, I couldn’t let that happen, even if she did think God had

called her there to help those people. They had her in some kind of

trance and she wouldn’t leave. It wasn’t until our uncles came in, armed

and ready to shoot, that we made any progress. Then I came up with an

idea that put my ace pitching skills to use and all kinds of good things

happened as a result. One of them is, no one thinks of me as “just a city

kid” anymore.

Q   It sounds like your pitching saved the day.

A   My God given talent to pitch, and my willingness to use it, helped. The

mine people had a prophecy that a heavenly being would come to them

and lead them to a better life. Darla, even though she’s definitely not

heavenly, was willing and God used her. Even our family and the other

families in the area finally got past their hatred for each other and

pulled together to help the people in the mine.

This whole thing has been a humbling experience. I always felt like

logical thinking would provide answers and I was sure of my ability to

rush in and save the day. I found out you have to leave room for God to work and rely on his guidance.

Thank you for talking to us. Good luck to you and your family, and God bless.

I’m not going to lie, I’m not one bit objective about this story. It’s a lot of fun. I hope you’ll stop by my Facebook page and leave a comment or stop by my website. If you’re interested in buying a copy of the book it comes in print or ebook. There’s a Buy link on the BOOKS page of my website.    

     

Linda lives in west central Ohio with her husband, daughters, grandson and a cat who thinks he owns the house. She earned a degree in psychology from Anderson University where she learned the voices in her head were actually characters from stories waiting to be told.

By day, Linda works as a library assistant at a branch of the county’s public library system where two of her duties include choosing books for the young adult and Christian fiction sections. As a result, she has a very long “To Read” list. In her spare time she writes the stories her voices tell her.