Jeanne Charters, author of Shanty Gold, on Writer’s Block Blog Talk Radio LA 
http://latalkradio.com/content/writer-022516%20#audio_play
In 1849’s famine-ravaged Ireland, thirteen-year-old Mary Boland is found lying mostly dead on the side of the road to Cork Harbor, Queenstown, Ireland. She just buried her mother and baby sister after they both died of starvation. Now she is headed for Boston to find her father—no matter what. Raped and beaten by the evil crew of The Pilgrim’s Dandy, she is rescued by a fifteen-year-old Negro slave who had been used in like manner for some time and had vowed to throw himself to the sharks that very night. Together they survive the harrowing two and a half month trip, helping others as well. Their friendship is the key to the new world for both of them, carrying them through hardships and trials, and eventually to happiness.
Jeanne Charters lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband. She is the mother of five daughters who all somehow inspired her character Mary Boland. In Charters’ first iteration, Mary was the start of a novel called Daughters of Ireland, the first of four generations of women. Writing class instructors and published authors alike told her, “Each of these women deserves her own book.” They were right. So, she started over and told Mary’s story in Shanty Gold. The next woman’s story is half written and will be called Lace Curtain, and then the third, Silk Stockings.
“We sail with Mary Boland from Ireland and are immediately caught up in the challenges this young immigrant faces. Charters captures the wistfulness of leaving home, the desperation of surviving a brutal voyage, and the ultimate triumph of a girl who won’t give up.The story is taut, the characters compelling, and it left me with a new appreciation for the grit of the people who came before us to America. I highly recommend it.” — Sallie Bissell, author of the Mary Crow Mystery Series
Published by Rogue Phoenix Press Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency