Leila Meacham makes a grand return after a 20-year absence with Roses, a compelling East Texas saga with echoes of Gone with the Wind.

Why did you stop writing in the 1980s?

I quit writing because I wanted to devote my full time to teaching, my first love. English teachers have mountains of papers to grade and lesson plans to prepare. Also, I found deadlines grueling. The pressure took the joy away. That is no longer true.

So you're a comeback kid at 71?

Yes! I retired in 1994 after 20 years of teaching. I did a lot of volunteer work, took care of my mother, did book clubs and, at 65, I was bored with it all. So I was in bed one morning and I looked up and said, “Lord, what do you want me to do for the rest of my life?” and I felt Him say, “You're going to take down your novel and finish it.” I had my husband take down this huge box containing the first draft, and then I worked on it for five years. I wouldn't have finished it if it had not been my commitment to God. It required a lot of perseverance. It was a miracle, but I want to encourage anyone that they can do it.

There's a pretty strong connection between feisty plantation owner “Mary Lamb” Toliver DuMont and Scarlett O'Hara.

I've never read Gone With the Wind, but I've seen the movie. Scarlett was the first feminist as far as I know from the movie. She should've been a man!

What was your biggest challenge?

I think the challenge was weaving in the cotton industry, the timber industry, trying to capture the essence of the people as they were, making them as believable as possible. You know once you get them established in your mind and in your heart, they are real. They run the show and take you where they want to go.

What's next?

I love writing about Texas—another epic.

Do you have a favorite rose?

My favorite must be the Tudor rose. Elizabeth, Henry VII's wife, had the white York rose blended with the red Lancaster rose to show the unity of the two families.

What message do you want readers to take away from the book?

To avoid obsession for anything, at the sacrifice of those things essential to human happiness. In Mary's case, it was her obsession with the plantation and perpetuation of her line.