TEA FOR TWO - Trish Perry - Free Book

Welcome back, Trish. What are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about?

I usually wait for the spiritual theme to emerge while the story unfolds, because the character’s spiritual growth happens as a result of what happens to her along the way. Sometimes the theme is far different from what I thought it was going to be when I first started the story. But my books seem to have an overriding theme, which is how important it is for us to constantly turn to God for guidance in all things, big and small.

I so agree with that. What other books of yours are coming out soon?

My first novel with Summerside Press (Unforgettable) released in March, and in September Summerside will also release the two-novella Christmas collection Debby Mayne and I wrote, Love Finds You on Christmas Morning. Debby’s novella is Deck the Hall, and mine is ’Tis the Season. The two stories are related romances—one is historical, and the other is contemporary. Also released in March is Summerside’s Delight Yourself in the Lord . . . Even on Bad Hair Days, the devotional I wrote with Sandra Bricker, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Debby Mayne.

Yes, we introduced readers to Unforgettable and Delight Yourself in the Lord . . . Even on Bad Hair Days here on the blog. I'd really like to feature the Christmas book, too. If you could spend an evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why?

This answer changes daily for me, depending on my mood. Today I’d say Craig Ferguson might be fun company for an evening. He’s a Scottish-American late-night comedian with a rather oddball sense of humor. I love to laugh!

I love to laugh, too. You and I have often laughed together. What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

Today I’d say an evening with P.G. Wodehouse would be great. He was clever, smart, and always poked fun at people who took themselves too seriously. His mark was usually the British upper crust, and his characters were hilarious.

James and I are fans of some of the British comedies on TV, but not all of them. How can you encourage authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?

We all get rejections, even after we start publishing. It’s definitely easier to take once you’ve published, but rejection is always a disappointment and a part of any artistic endeavor. Here’s how I counsel about that: take time at the start of each day to tell the Lord you’re writing for Him. Ask Him for guidance in what you do and write (see, there’s that overriding guidance theme again). Then do the best you can with your writing efforts that day and rest in the knowledge that His hand is on those efforts. If you’re getting rejections but continue to feel that desire to write, He’s guiding you that way. If He wants you going elsewhere, He’s going to change your desire. Some other way of serving Him will attract you more.

Tell us about the featured book.

Tea for Two (Harvest House Publishers) is the second book in my Tea with Millicent series.

Zack Cooper tries his best to raise his children, but he's losing his grip on them in their teen years. They've both had scrapes with the local law.

Tea Shop owner Milly Jewel has the perfect woman in mind to help Zack. Counselor Tina Milano meets weekly at the tea shop with her women's group. Milly encourages Zack and Tina to work together to draw the teens back before they get in even hotter water. Milly never thought things might heat up between Zack and Tina. Or did she?

Tina's connections with the Middleburg police department prove a mixed blessing for Zack and his kids. Both her best friend and old boyfriend are officers on the force.

And when Tina's women's group gets wind of her personal pursuits and clashes, they want to help. The group's meetings at the tea shop take on a slightly different flavor. Tina wonders who, exactly, is counseling whom.

Sounds like a fun read. Please give us the first page of the book.

Zack Cooper wasn’t your typical male, and he knew it. He couldn’t simplify life by innately compartmentalizing its various issues. If something was wrong at home, that something tried to go with him when he left for work. And this rainy June morning, as he made a delivery to Millicent’s Tea Shop in downtown Middleburg, that something felt like a passenger sitting beside him in the front seat of his truck. Or maybe like two passengers, because his teenagers, Dylan and Sherry, were what was wrong at home.

He stopped in front of the tea shop and hurried to remove two boxes of produce from underneath his truck bed’s tarp. A chatty group of women walked toward the front door and blocked his path toward the shop’s back door, so he waited for them to file into Milly’s. He would have tipped his baseball cap were his hands free, but they didn’t seem to notice him anyway.

Most of the ladies shared umbrellas, squeezing together to avoid the rain. The lone woman at the end of the group, while the last to enter, somehow seemed in charge. As she neared Zack, she tilted her umbrella back to look at him.

“I’m sorry. Please excuse us.”

Zack experienced a momentary ability to compartmentalize. The kids were nowhere in his mind just for that instant. Neither was work.

This was one great-looking woman. Exotic, with dark hair and warm brown eyes. Even though he hadn’t said a word, her lips tugged into a subtle smile, and she looked at him as if he had the driest wit imaginable.

On the contrary, he stood in the rain, holding fruit, and struggled to string words together. “Uh, yeah. Sure. I mean, yes. Or, no. No problem.”

I like it. How can readers find you on the Internet?

My site is http://www.trishperry.com/, and my blog is right there on the front page. I usually interview other inspirational authors about their latest releases, and we do a couple signed-book giveaways each week. And I have a Books page there, which describes the basic plots of all of my published books.

I’m also on Facebook (Trish Hawley Perry) and Twitter (TrishPerryWtr).

So good to have you drop by again, Trish.

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