Author Interview for To Rescue a Witch

Historical Fiction / Action & Adventure / Witch Trials

Page Count: 398 pages

Publication Date: March 1, 2024

William MacLeod, a fierce Scottish lawyer with a kind heart, takes on a daunting task—rescue young Annaliese from the clutches of her tormentors in the untamed wilds of Virginia colony and deliver her safely to her aristocratic father in London. But lurking in the shadows are enemies eager to expose MacLeod’s own wife, Fiona, as a witch with a dark secret.

Their perilous journey takes an unexpected turn when their ship wrecks, and Annaliese’s haunting nightmares and unexplained Devil Marks trigger suspicion among the crew. Tension peaks when MacLeod must become Annaliese’s unwavering protector in a witch trial, where Fiona’s clairvoyance and a murder are unveiled.

To Rescue a Witch navigates themes of betrayal and redemption, in a spellbinding narrative that blends history, magic, and the unyielding resilience of the human spirit.

Author Interview with Lisa A. Traugott

Where did your love of storytelling come from?

Every night when I was little, I’d climb on my dad’s shoulders, and he’d carry me upstairs and tuck me into bed with a story. One book was never enough. My favorite part was when he set the book aside and told me Little Red Riding Hood. I was always drawn to stories about girls deciding to wander off the sanctioned path to face down wolves.

What was the hardest part of writing his book?

History is hard. In the 1700s there wasn’t any understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder or much sympathy for abused women, children, indentured servants or enslaved people. Domestic violence in its many forms was commonplace and legal. Have you heard the phrase, ‘the rule of thumb’ to give a rough estimate? Rough indeed! In 1778, a judge named Sir Francis Buller (who earned the nickname Judge Thumb) apparently said that a husband could beat his wife as he saw fit, provided the stick used was no thicker than his thumb. My young protagonist, Annaliese, was abused in every way imaginable. Even fewer protections existed for children. In America, child abuse wasn’t even a crime until 1973! To help understand these characters raised in a brutal society, I spoke with two therapists who explained common behaviors and coping mechanisms children and women use to overcome trauma today and what they might have done in times when therapists didn’t exist and the laws were decidedly against them.

Has Texas influenced your writing in any way?

Originally from New Jersey, I moved to Austin fourteen years ago when my son was a baby. I love Texas, particularly my friends and neighbors, the big skies and warm weather. What I don’t like is the current state of politics and the ugly turn it has taken. When Roe v. Wade was stricken by the Supreme Court, Fiona’s storyline of being pregnant after rape suddenly seemed more urgent, confusing, and complicated. I did my best to present multiple points of view to process such a difficult situation.

In researching this book, did you learn any unexpected, unusual, or fascinating information?

My favorite fact discovery was that while Witchcraft was punishable by death for a long time, in 1736 it got downgraded to a misdemeanor and remained in force until 1951. For real. But just because laws shifted didn’t mean that public opinion did.

What’s something interesting, fun, or funny that most people don’t know about you?

Every year for my birthday I do something to scare myself. It’s kind of like having a bucket list, only instead of doing one hundred things and then dropping dead, I do one thing per year and then eat cake. This year I turned 50 (!!!) and I am finally able to say that I’ve published my first novel. Other birthday scares include entering a bodybuilding competition, jumping out of a plane, doing five minutes of stand-up comedy, running a marathon, taking dance lessons with my husband to do ‘the lift’ from Dirty Dancing and, this is true, being on a reality-TV show called American Grit hosted by John Cena.

Who would you cast to play your characters in a movie version of your book?

This is the fun part! I’d cast Gerard Butler (from the film 300) as William MacLeod (he’d have to dye his hair auburn), Millie Brady (Aethelflaed in the Netflix drama The Last Kingdom) as Fiona and I’d reach back in time to cast a young Lindsey Lohan (The Parent Trap) as Annaliese. I’d love, love, love to cast Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones) for Lady Margaret.

What projects are you working on at present?

I’m turning To Rescue a Witch into a series. I’m writing two books at the same time – a sequel called, Damn Rebel Witches exploring the Scottish Jacobite Rebellion in 1745 (Annaliese is now fifteen) and a prequel. In To Rescue a Witch a diary written by Annaliese’s mother plays a very important role. The prequel is that story, The Diary of a Mistress. I’m aiming to release one (or both!) next year.