We’re thrilled to have here today Maggie and Matty from Alison Bruce and Kat Flannery’s new historical romance, Hazardous Unions. Maggie and Matty are twins sisters, age 18. They were separated by the Civil War. Maggie’s employer served with the Confederate Army. Matty’s employer stayed with the Union.
It is a pleasure to have them with us today at Beyond the Books!
Thank you so for this interview, Maggie and Matty. Now that the book has been written, do you feel you were fairly portrayed or would you like to set anything straight with your readers?
Maggie: First I would like to thank you for bringing us together, though I understand it is only temporary. It seems like an age since I saw Matty and I have missed her so much.
I suppose Miss Bruce was fair enough in her telling my story. I think she makes me seem as if I was more in charge of the situation than I really was. But then Captain Stone keeps saying I’m officer material and that’s plain silly.
Matty: Oh, yes thank you kindly for having my sister and I here. I’ve missed her so.
I’m quite satisfied with Miss. Flannery’s portrayal of me however, I do wish she’d have kept out the part where I drugged Colonel Black.
Do you feel the author did a good job colorizing your personality? If not, how would you like to have been portrayed differently?
Maggie: Miss Bruce did a fine job, but I can’t help wondering why she thought I would make a good subject when the rich and beautiful Patience was also available.
Matty: I feel Miss. Flannery could’ve added more about how much I read. You know I love Mr. Poe, Mag and I really thought she could’ve added more about that.
What do you believe is your strongest trait?
Maggie: I’m practical. I’m not the sort of young lady requires men to lay down their cloaks so they can step over puddles.
Matty: I’m giving. Pa taught us to love one another.
Worse trait?
Maggie: I’m practical. I’m not the sort of young lady that lay their cloaks down for.
Matty: Well, if you read the book I have a tendency to over embellish the truth.
If you could choose someone in the television or movie industry to play your part if your book was made into a movie, who would that be (and you can’t say yourself!)?
Maggie: I am very sorry, but your question makes no… oh wait, like a stage play? I cannot answer that but Miss Bruce says that I look a lot like an actress named Haylie Duff.
Matty: Maggie, I’m not sure I know what the question means. What is a television?
Do you have a love interest in the book?
Maggie: That is a rather personal question… I suppose you mean Captain Seth Stone.
Matty: Colonel Cole Black is quite handsome, but he has a nasty temper.
At what point of the book did you start getting nervous about the way it was going to turn out?
Maggie: I was nervous before the story began, from the moment we heard the Yankees were coming. It doesn’t matter that I’m a Yankee by birth and inclination, the family I was employed to take care of was on the Confederate side and the Major was languishing in a Union prison. I was deathly afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep the major’s wife and daughter safe.
Matty: On the second attempt on my life. I didn’t think Miss Flannery would ever get me out of the trouble I’d gotten caught up in.
If you could trade places with one of the other characters in the book, which character would you really not want to be and why?
Maggie: I truly would not want to be poor Nate Wentworth. What I put that man through to keep him safe. (giggles)
Matty: Oh, I wouldn’t want to be Mrs. Worthington. She is an awful women with a strong disregard for anyone who is not white.
How do you feel about the ending of the book without giving too much away?
Maggie: I would be happier if Miss Bruce or Miss Flannery brought Matty and I together but I know we’ll be together eventually. Other than that, I am content with how things are left. Very content.
Matty: I agree, Mag. I would have loved to been reunited but all in all I’m quite happy with the ending.
What words of wisdom would you give your author if s/he decided to write another book with you in it?
Maggie: I would truly like it if Miss Bruce found a happy ending for Thaddeus and I hope I am there to see it. Perhaps she’ll make me a little less practical and a bit more romantic, like Matty.
Matty: Please, have my sister in it. Maybe we could go on an adventure together. Oh, what trouble we would find.
Thank you for this interview, Maggie and Matty. Will we be seeing more of you in the future?
Maggie: If it requires another dangerous adventure… Maybe.
Matty: Oh, I don’t know. I’m quite content to settle down and have a family.
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SUMMARY:
Twin sisters separated by war, bound by love…
After the death of their father, twin sisters Maggie and Matty Becker are forced to take positions with officers’ families at a nearby fort. When the southern states secede, the twins are separated, and they find themselves on opposite sides of America’s bloodiest war.
In the south, Maggie travels with the Hamiltons to Bellevue, a plantation in west Tennessee. When Major Hamilton is captured, it is up to Maggie to hold things together and deal with the Union cavalry troop that winters at Bellevue. Racism, politics and a matchmaking stepmother test Maggie’s resourcefulness as she fights for Bellevue, a wounded Confederate officer and the affections of the Union commander.
In the north, Matty discovers an incriminating letter in General Worthington’s office, and soon she is on the run. With no one to turn to for help, she drugs the wealthy Colonel Cole Black and marries him, in hopes of getting the letter to his father, the governor of Michigan. But Cole is not happy about being married, and Matty’s life becomes all about survival.
Two unforgettable stories of courage, strength and honor.
Find on AMAZON.
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Alison Bruce has had many careers and writing has always been one of them. Copywriter, editor and graphic designer since 1992, Alison has also been a comic book store manager, small press publisher, webmaster and arithmetically challenged bookkeeper. She is the author of mystery, suspense and historical romance novels.
Find Alison on the web:
Website: http://www.alisonbruce.ca
Blog: http://alisonebruce.blogspot.ca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alisonebruce
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisonbruce.books
Kat Flannery’s love of history shows in the novels she writes. She is an avid reader of historical, suspense, paranormal, and romance. When not researching for her next book, Kat can be found running her three sons to hockey and lacrosse. She’s been published in numerous periodicals. This is Kat’s third book and she is hard at work on her next.
Find Kat on the web:
Website: www.katflannery-author.com
Blog: www.kat-scratch.blogspot.ca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katflannery1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kat-Flannery/131065966999142
Beyond the Books 
I love character interviews and this was a great one. Thanks!
How fun! Maybe Maggie and Mattie can have an adventure for their first wedding anniversaries. Oh, wait…babies.