Bio: ANNE GREENE delights in writing about wounded heroes and
gutsy heroines. Her second novel, a Scottish historical, Masquerade Marriage, won
numerous writing awards. The sequel Marriage
By Arrangement will soon release. A Texas Christmas Mystery also won
awards. In 2014 her World War II novel, Angel With Steel Wings, about WASPs,
women test pilots will release. She makes her home in McKinney, Texas. Tim
LaHaye led her to the Lord when she was twenty-one and Chuck Swindoll is her
Pastor. In 1990, Anne graduated summa cum
laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Literary Studies from the University of
Texas.
View Anne’s other books, her blog, Addicted to Excellence, extensive travel pictures, and art work at http://www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com. Anne
is active in ACFW, FHL, Sisters in Crime, The Writer’s View, and the Southwest
Chapter of ACFW. Anne loves to speak to book clubs, libraries, and conferences.
Her love of sailing, horseback riding,
history, and art, as well as her Citizens Plano Policy Academy training, and
military life sometime figure in her books. She maintains a web site, two
blogs, and judges the Rita, Golden Heart, and Book of the Year, but she’s never
too busy to talk with her fans.
Why do you write the
kind of books you do?
I write inspirational fiction because I want my readers to
find meaning in what they read. I want readers to finish my books with a happy sigh
and say “I didn’t know that. What a great book.” I really want to touch
readers’ hearts and pray that the Holy Spirit will lead them into new
discoveries—into a deeper spiritual life. I also love to plunge my readers into
a different, exciting world where they meet characters they love and cannot
forget.
Besides when you came
to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?
Finding the Lord when I was twenty-one was by far the
happiest day of my life and nothing comes close to comparing with it. Being a
mother, the birth of my daughter and son were the second and third happiest
days of my life. Perhaps the next happiest day occurred during a tornado. My
dear husband and father of my children had died several years before, and that
day I married my second husband.
How has being
published changed your life?
I don’t think my life has changed at all. I’m elated, of
course, to see my work in print because one of my highest goals is having
others read my books. But I have the same friends, attend the same activities, and
love the same people. Sometimes speaking in front of groups takes me out of my
comfort zone for a while, and other times I’d prefer to be enjoying outdoors
rather than sitting in front of my computer, but I’m still the same me.
What are you reading
right now?
I’m about to start a book by one of the other writers in the
new book series I’m contracted with B & H Publishing Group. I like to see
how her writing complements mine and mine hers. I’m also reading a dozen research
volumes for my same book. I usually read for research and seldom have time to
read for pleasure, though sometime pleasure and research do coincide. There are
seven authors in our World War II series
– Anne Greene, Cara Putman, Sarah Sundin, Tricia Goyer, Eric Wilson, Eva Marie
Everson, LeAnn Harris, and Jeanne Dickson.
What is your current
work in progress?
I’m doing edits for my new Scottish Historical, MARRIAGE BY ARRANGEMNT which will soon release. And I am
three-quarters finished with the first draft of my World War II book about
WASPs—women test pilots, with the working title ANGEL WITH STEEL WINGS.
What would be your
dream vacation?
I’ve been blessed with travel. My dear
husband just retired as a Special Forces Colonel from the Army, and we have
visited twenty-seven foreign countries. Plus, we both love travel. I just
returned from three weeks in Israel
where I was baptized in the Jordan
near where Jesus is said to have been baptized. You can find pictures on my
website, AnneGreeneAuthor.com. It’s
hard to beat that vacation. But I truly enjoy each place I visit at home or
abroad.
How do you choose
your settings for each book?
Great question! Some I’ve chosen from my travels. I fell in
love with Scotland
and several of my other books are set in other foreign countries. I never write
about a place I haven’t spent enough time in to pick up the ambiance and
peculiarities. I’m such a visual person, often the different settings resulted
in a book. Several of my books are set in my hometown McKinney , Texas .
My current book, Angel With Steel Wings,
resulted from visiting the Confederate Air Force Museum in Harlingen , Texas .
My dear husband was in the air show there and first jumped from American planes
and then turned around and jumped from German planes. In the museum I saw
pictures of WASPs who’d flown during World War II, and I became totally
intrigued with those brave women. The story percolated for a number of years
because no publisher was interested in World War II until recently.
If you could spend an
evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?
Years ago I was privileged to sit in an auditorium where
Corrie Ten Boon spoke, and I was overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit
emanating from her. Then a few years later, I was a counselor at the Billy
Graham Crusades and in that huge arena experienced the same anointing coming
from Billy Graham. Being near the anointing presence of the Holy Spirit was
such an enlightening experience for me that I’d love to meet another person so
totally anointed by God.
What are your
hobbies, besides writing and reading?
I love to travel. My husband and I go whenever we have the
time and the money. I love being with my family. I sing in a wonderful one
hundred fifty voice choir. I do a little oil painting. And I would love to
learn how to play the harp or the violin. I enjoy spending time with friends.
And I share my husband’s passion for movies. We also take a lot of photographs.
What is your most
difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
I love writing the first draft and finding
out what my characters are going to do. I love rewriting and working with
words. I love signing contracts. But I find keeping up with social-media a bit
of a problem. Just as I learn one new venue, a new one arises. I’m just not
very techno-savvy, and feel pulled in too many directions. The publicity now
expected of writers takes me out of my comfort zone. I’ve started a teaching
ministry and think I will enjoy it, but until I’m up in front of the audience I
find it difficult getting over the pre-speaking jitters.
What advice would you
give to a beginning author?
Be certain God has called you to write. Unless you’re one of
the handfull of big name writers, you can make more money doing almost anything
else for the amount of time you put in. You face a lot of rejection before you
gain acceptance. It takes time to learn the craft. But God’s calling is sure,
and if He called you, He will do it. In His time.
Tell us about the
featured book.
A lady Coastguardsman searches for a killer. An oil rig
troubleshooter accused of murder races to clear his name. The murderer strives
to silence them both.
Amber Meredith needs to solve her first case. But the
handsome Cajun suspect makes her heart race and her toes tingle.
As Amber seeks to arrest Derrick, sparks fly.
Derrick Darbonne worked all his life for his high-paying,
adventurous job. When his past threatens his future, will he endanger the woman
he loves?
Please give us the
first page of the book.
Only one thing scared Derrick
Darbonne. He had no fear of fire, hurricane, sabotage, high seas, drunken
roughnecks, reckless roustabouts, brawls, or hard work. But losing the job he’d
slaved all his life to obtain terrified him.
He’d worked himself up from oaks
draped with Spanish moss, murky alligator-filled water, and a tiny cabin on the
banks of the bayou with no running water or electricity. He’d finally gotten to
where he wanted to be. And now someone was trying to pin a murder on him. Some
Christmas present.
Derrick crushed the schematics
he’d been scanning and jammed them into his pocket. He braced his legs wide on
the steel floor of the oil rig and raised the binoculars. A Coast Guard cutter
slashed a white wedge through the sparkling Gulf waters straight toward his oil
platform.
His jaw tightened, his spine
stiffened, and he swallowed.
Standing beside him, Joe
Bridges, the Man in Charge, swore.
If Derrick had been a swearing
man, he would have joined Joe. Instead, he gripped the Navigational Binoculars
tighter. “Third time this week. If I had anything to hide, I’d jump ship.” He
smacked his hard hat so thoroughly his ears rang. “Thought so! That guardsman
is a female.” Here was a Coastie bearing down on him with the authority to shut
down the operation. The men would be out of work just in time for Christmas.
What pretense to investigate the murder was the Coast Guard using this time?
Derrick lowered the binoculars
and frowned. “She looks familiar.”
“Ever since you arrived for the
routine inspection, Cajun, the Coast Guard’s been on our backs.” Scowling, Joe
thrust out a hand for the glasses. “Then there was the murder. That’s the
reason the big boss’s keeping you out here again, so long.”
“Don’t I know it! And now I’m
looking for a saboteur as well. Probably the same guy.” Derrick slapped the
binoculars into Joe’s hand and tried to lighten his foreboding with a jabbing
tease. “Now I’ve got to get the Coast Guard environmental crew out of your hair.”
“Rib me, will ya?” Joe
repositioned his yellow hard hat over his bald head and shook a stubby finger.
“I’ll bet you I can get that Coastie to go for me and my shiny head before she
goes for you and that Cajun accent of yours. Loser pays a hundred bucks.”
“You want us to distract her
with our masculine charm so she won’t sniff out any violations that could shut
us down?” Derrick surveyed the rig’s two-hundred-foot deck looking for any OSHA
or EPA trouble the Coast Guard might cite them for. Sunlight slanted off the
metal plates causing enough glare to hurt his eyes. He didn’t like Joe’s plan.
“You got it.” Joe grinned.
Derrick gave a tight smile. His
gaze slid to the roughneck inside the glass-enclosed room, jiggling the joy
sticks and pushing the buttons that worked the rig’s floor. The big man hooking
a new drill in place beneath the five-hundred-foot drilling tower wore his
safety equipment. No problem there.
Derrick’s gaze flicked over the
new hire, the eighteen year old from Galveston .
The kid’s long blond hair straggled from beneath his yellow hard hat. He was
bent over washing sludge and mineral oil through sand to clean out the last
drop of hydrocarbon before reusing the sand. Kid was a hard worker, already
adept at his job. No laws broken. No environmental procedures shortcut.
The rest of the crew, roughnecks
and roustabouts, worked steadily. None violated safety measures. No oil spills
or pipe breaks had occurred. The hole drilled through the sea bottom was clean
and not yet exceptionally deep. They should hit oil soon. Joe Bridges had a
salty vocabulary, but the boss man ran a tight rig. So why suddenly all the
anonymous phone calls about regulation problems? Had to be the murder.
Derrick had to come up with
answers.
“Alamo Oil pays you a hefty
salary to make sure things run smooth on all two hundred of its rigs.” Joe’s
voice sounded more than a little jealous.
“Don’t I know it.” Derrick ran a
hand over the stubble already growing after his close morning shave.
“Alamo
doesn’t want to fork out any stiff fines or lose any drill time because of
environmental pollution, safety violations, mismanagement, or accidents. So
make sure she’s distracted.” Joe winked. “And don’t mention the murder. We’ve
trampled that ground too many times with the Coast Guard already.”
“Right.” An uneasy feeling
nagged Derrick about the murder. Nothing he could put a handle to, but—too many
clues led directly to him. Once the Coast Guard put the puzzle together, they’d
come looking for him. He grunted. How had
his personal helmet wound up grasped in the dead kid’s hand? Fortunately, he’d
stumbled over the body before anyone else, and since the evidence had been
planted, he’d had no qualms about removing the hard hat before he called the
Coast Guard.
Joe swore loud enough that the
crew cleaning sand looked up. He lowered his voice. “That Coastie’s gonna cause
trouble. I feel it in my bones.” His eyes, shadowed under his hard hat, looked
wary. “We gotta keep her thinking about us, not her job.” He handed the
binoculars back.
Derrick frowned. “I think you’re
just hard up for a date. You want a girl friend to share Christmas with.”
“Whatever!”
As the Coast Guard cutter pulled
alongside their offshore rig, Derrick focused on the trim figure in her blue
uniform. He’d not seen many women in the Guard, and none that looked so
curvy…wow, hotter than a Louisiana
mudbug boil. Dread inside his gut heightened. Sweat beaded his forehead. He got
tongue-tied around women. “Can’t be good!”
“Yeah. The broad’s probably a—”
“It’s Amber Meredith!” Derrick
fumbled the expensive binoculars, made a grab for them, and caught them just
before they hit the deck.
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
http://www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com.
You can purchase my books at Amazon and http://www.PelicanBookGroup.com.Thank you, Anne, for sharing this interesting story with us.
Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
A Texas Christmas Mystery (Christmas Holiday Extravaganza) - Kindle
A(Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com
34 comments:
The blurb was enough to sell me on this one...Thanks Lena and Anne for a great interview and giveaway!
marianne from northern Alberta
mitziUNDERSCOREwanhamATyahooDOTcom
I would love to read this book.
California
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
I love Christmas, I love Texas and I love a good mystery. I would love to be entered to win an ebook copy of A TEXAS CHRISTMAS MYSTERY! Thank you for the opportunity.
I live in Indiana.
Smiles & Blessings,
Cindy W.
countrybear52 AT yahoo DOT com
This sounds like my kind of christmas book!! Can't wait to read it!
- Leauphaun from BC
the perfect combination of everything I enjoy in a book. Can't wait to read this one!
cheryl in IL
msboatgal at aol.com
Thank you for hosting this giveaway, the book sounds great.
Wendy from FL.
wfnren(at)aol(dot)com
Thanks, Marianne. It's good to hear from you. I know if you win, you'll love this book.
Thanks Marianne. I know you'll love this book if you win it!
Thanks, Linda. This is a great mystery!
Smiles & Blessings, back to you Cindy.
Cheryl, It's good to hear from you. I wish you all could win this book. I know you'll love it.
Wendy, thank you for participating.
Love giveaways! Sounds good too.
Sharon, San Diego
Hi Sharon, Fun to meet wih you here. I'm glad you are intrigued.
What an exciting story. A TEXAS CHRISTMAS MYSTERY has it all.
Mary P
QLD AUSTRALIA
I loved reading Anne's interview. I can't wait to read her book.
Merry Christmas to You & Yours,
Janet E.
von1janet@gmail.com
Florida
Thanks for the opportunity to get this book.
Lyndie Blevins
Duncanville Tx
Thanks, Mary. I hope you enjoy the book.
Hi Janet, Merry Chirstmas to you too. Thanks for your comments.
Hi Lyndie,
Nice to see you here.
I would love to win and read this book.Thanks for the chance.Jackie Tessnair from N.C.
I love Christmas stories and love cozies so this sounds like a perfect book. Thank you for the opportunity!
Blessings,
Jo from Southern Arizona
azladijo(at)aol(dot)com
Hi Joe in southern Arizonia. I think you will really love this mystery, although it really isn't a cozy. But you'll find some interesting information that I'm pretty sure you didn't know.
Hi Jackie, I wish every one of you could win this book. I'd love to send each of you a copy, but unfortunately, I can't. I love my readers to becme fans.
A TEXAS CHRISTMAS MYSTERY sounds great. Thanks for the interview.
sharon, san diego
A Texas Christmas Mystery would get me into mysteries genre! Kathleen ~ Missouri
lanehillhouse[at]centurylink[dot]net
Hope you win, Kathleen. Mystery Genre is special.
Hi Sharon, Thanks for meeting me here! Good to see you.
Book looks great would love to read it.
Lourdes in Long Island, NY
I love Christmas stories and mysteries, so what's better than both? Would love to win. I'm in MN.
Veronica, I agree, that's all here in one book. But all my books, including my historicals have suspense and some mystery. However, this one you can try to solve.
Lourdes, I've only been to Long Island once, but I liked it.
Enjoyed the excerpt! Thanks for sharing it! :)
Jes (CA)
jswaks at gmail dot com
My pleasure, Jes!
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