A MATCH MADE IN TEXAS - Carol Cox, Mary Connealy, Regina Jennings, Karen Witemeyer - Three Free Books

Dear Readers, there were a lot of really good novella collections that I received in 2013. I read most of them and loved them. But this collection if my very favorite

Welcome, Carol Cox. How did your story for the collection come about?

I spent a number of years in Fort Worth while my husband was in seminary. During our time there, I fell in love with Texas. One of the reasons I was thrilled to take part in this collection was that it gave me an opportunity to write a story set in a state that still has a claim on my heart. An idea had been percolating in the back of my mind for quite a while about a young woman hired to help keep an eye on an older woman who is prone to flights of fantasy … or is her mind really a lot sharper than anyone suspects? A Match Made in Texas provided a perfect vehicle for bringing that story to life.

What other books have you had published?

This novella marks a milestone for me, since No Match for Love is my 30th published title. I’ve written novels and novellas for several different publishers in varied genres, including contemporary romance, contemporary cozy mysteries, and historicals. The historicals outnumber the others by far. You can find a complete bibliography of all my titles on my website: www.authorcarolcox.com

What is the hardest thing about writing a part of a novella collection?

No Match for Love is my 12th novella, so I’m very familiar with the process of putting a collection together. Some only have a unifying theme—a season, holiday, locale, etc. But in a collection like this, where the stories are intertwined, characters and locations overlap. It’s vital to keep them all straight, and that can be a tricky process! I felt very blessed to be part of a team that was so easy to work with and worked hard to keep all those details straight.

How did collaborating with this team impact you?

There’s something special about joining forces in a project like this. I love the brainstorming and sharing of ideas that goes on! Of the other three authors, Mary is the only one I’ve met in person. Working with all of them was a joy, and getting acquainted with Karen and Regina online was a real bonus. I hope to have the pleasure of meeting them face to face one day!

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers? If so, why?

I’ve been a member of ACFW since the beginning, back when it was known as ACRW (American Christian Romance Writers). Living in a somewhat isolated area, I don’t have many opportunities to connect with other writers locally. When I heard about a new group forming that would be devoted to Christian writers, I jumped at the chance to be a part of it. It’s such a blessing to be able to be a part of an organization like this, even though most of my connections are online rather than in person. The things I’ve learned through ACFW and the relationships I’ve formed with a number of the other members are priceless.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

I love connecting with readers online! You can find me:

at my website: www.authorcarolcox.com

on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.cox

I also blog on Writes of Passage on the first and third Saturdays of every month: http://www.writespassage.blogspot.com/

Thank you for a wonderful interview, Lena. I appreciate all the support you’ve given over the years more than I can say!

It’s been my pleasure to help promote your books I love them, and the Writes of Passage blog is on that I’ve followed and read a long time.

Welcome, Mary Connealy. How did your story for the collection come about?

Karen, Regina, Carol, and I are all Bethany House authors and Bethany wanted a novella collection. They hunted around for authors who had similar styles. We are all historical authors, who can write in a light-hearted style, plus we had time and were eager to do it. So we brainstormed story ideas and pitched them to Bethany House and we came up with this Matchmaker idea that we all loved.

What are you reading right now?

I am right this minute reading (brace yourself LOL) A Match Made in Texas. I hadn’t read the other stories in the collection. I finished Karen’s book on Christmas Eve. I am so in love with her Archer family that I was dying to get my hands on this book, and I finally had time late at night Christmas Eve after all the festivities were over AND I’d managed to launch myself into an insomniac fit, probably because of an overindulgence in caffeine laden things like chocolate. But I had the book at hand and just loved it. I didn’t get back to it last night but I’m looking forward to reading through the whole collection.

What other books have you had published?

C’mon, Lena, you don’t want the list and you know it. A Match Made in Texas is my … I’m gonna say 27th book. Mostly all romantic comedy with cowboys—though I’ve done a few other things. And last spring I signed a new contract with Bethany to keep doing this for a while, so the next book from them Stuck Together, which is book #3 in the Trouble in Texas series comes in June then we start a new series in September called the Wild at Heart series, book #1 is Tried and True.

I didn’t have those two books scheduled on my blog, so I just scheduled them. What is the hardest thing about writing a part of a novella collection?

Well, there was nothing about this that really counted as hard, so when I say hardest part it wasn’t hard at all. But we did start each of these books in the same town, Dry Gulch, Texas. My book stayed in Dry Gulch but Karen, Regina, and Carol took there “show on the road” you might say. They started there and immediately left. Still that start forced us to get our story straight about Dry Gulch. How big was it? Was there a train? What was the name of the General Store? Was anyone mentioning names of the characters in town and if so, what are those names. I had the son of the banker be my hero, the Whitfield Bank. So if anyone mentions the bank, they need to call it the Whitfield Bank. Karen’s heroine’s long deceased father owned the General Store. I had a General Store called Claasens. So she mentions the store as part of her backstory and then she has to say the old name and get the current name right, or at least not get it wrong. So we had to get a few of those facts straight, but that just gave us a change to talk to each other and that was always fun.

I have to tell you a funny story, Mary. I host a critique group in my home. Many newer authors have too much backstory in their first chapter. I've written it so many times, I started saying "too much BS." A while back, one of the new authors almost fell off her chair when she saw that. How did collaborating with this team impact you?

Mainly it gave me a chance to get to know Karen, Regina, and Carol better and that was great. We had a lot of fun writing this book.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

After 27 books, naming characters is just part of the landscape of my life, Lena. You know how that is. I name more people by noon on Wednesday than most people do in a lifetime. The main characters take a little thinking as do villains but there are a lot of secondary characters too and some of those names just don’t MATTER. It just needs to be done. Sometimes I name them by clicking on some random link on Google and just skimming some news article until a likely name jumps out at me. I try to be careful about that. I don’t think I’ve got any secondary characters named Tim Tebow, at least not yet.

Mary, you are so funny, Mary. What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

My main goal in my books is to entertain. I’m trying all the time to write the best, most entertaining book I’m capable of writing. If someone gets a deeper message from it, well that’s probably an accident.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

Seekerville
Petticoats and Pistols
My Blog
My Website
My Newsletter

Friend me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maryconnealy

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/maryconnealy

Welcome, Regina Jennings. What are you reading right now?

I am reading The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung, A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman, and The Headmistress of Rosemere by Sarah E. Ladd.

I just finished reading The Headmistress of Rosemere last week. I loved it. What other books have you had published?

Like A Match Made in Texas my other books are historical romances and usually involve Western settings. My first two releases are Love in the Balance and Sixty Acres and a Bride, and I’m really excited about the upcoming spring release Caught in the Middle which stars a buffalo-hunting woman and a railroad tycoon.

What is the hardest thing about writing a part of a novella collection?

I’ve never written anything shorter than 95,000 words, so this was a huge shift for me. While plotting I kept thinking of subplots, secondary characters, changes in settings, and then I’d remember that I have a quarter of the words I’m used to having. That was difficult. On the other hand, my favorite scenes are always those that feature the romance. An Unforeseen Match gave me permission to stack those scenes up one after another, without apology.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

In this novella I kept thinking of my heroine as Faith but then I realized that she’s losing her eyesight and we can’t have Blind Faith, can we? Her name is now Grace.

Clayton Weber shares a last name with a friend of mine whom I used to babysit. Now she’s a librarian in Florida and yes, I’ll try to take credit for that.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

I want to remind them that they are capable of accomplishing great things. In the story, Grace fears that she has nothing left to contribute to the world because she is losing her sight, but with Clayton’s help she learns ways to compensate for her disability. In real life, our oldest daughter suffers from severe dyslexia and is a patron of the Library for the Blind. While visiting their facilities, we’ve met blind staff members who work fulltime shelving the audiotapes and books. With modified computers they keep tabs on their circulation and answer emails. There seems to be no limit to what they can do, and that opinion was solidified through the biographies I read about visually impaired people.

My research inspired me to look again at my excuses and ask myself if I’m really doing all I can, and I hope this story inspires others, too.

  

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

Several places, and I hope they do come alooking! I love getting to know readers.

Facebook - website: www.reginajennings.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ReginaLJennings

Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/ReginaJennings  

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/reginaljennings/

Welcome, Karen Witemeyer. How did your story for the collection come about?

My story, A Cowboy Unmatched, came about because I really wanted to write a happy ending for the last of the Archer brothers. Travis and Jim had found their true loves in Short-Straw Bride. Crockett and Joanna had their happy ending in Stealing the Preacher. But the youngest Archer, Neill, still needed his story told. I had so much fun turning the tables and putting a pretty (and very pregnant) widow on the business end of a shotgun to meet him when he arrived to work on her roof. Since the reclusive Archers were always scaring visitors off their land with the threat of firepower, this seemed poetic.

When I started reading your story and realized it was an archer brother, I was thrilled. What are you reading right now?

Right now I am reading a western Christmas novella by Kaki Warner titled Miracle in New Hope. It's excellent.

What is the hardest thing about writing a part of a novella collection?

The hardest thing is making sure little details match up. We purposely tried to keep our stories linked yet separate so there would be less overlap and fewer details to try to coordinate. But even so, our editor still found a few discrepancies that we needed to tweak. For example, I originally described the town of Dry Gulch as a dusty, one-horse town with only a handful of buildings. Since most of my story took place outside of town, this worked well for me. However, other stories that took place more in town, described Dry Gulch as a much more developed place. So I adjusted my description to match theirs. Editors are such a blessing!

Yes, they are. We authors couldn’t do without them. How do you choose your characters’ names?

I love using historically accurate names. I often visit the Social Security website and search their database of popular names by year. You can search all the way back to 1880. A fabulous resource! I also love using biblical names. However, my Archer brothers were extra fun because I named them each for a hero from the Alamo – Travis, Crockett, Bowie (who only answers to Jim), and Neill. Neill was named for the commander who had to leave the Alamo to care for an ill family member and therefore survived because he was absent when Santa Ana laid siege.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

Galatians 6:2 says we are to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” While many of us are good at helping others with their burdens, we often refuse to let others help us carry our own. Whether it be pride that keeps us from accepting help or fear that others will let us down or think us weak, it is hard to ask for help. Yet that is what the brotherhood of Christ is all about. Carrying each other’s burdens. That is the message of Neill and Clara’s story. Not only are we to be willing and eager to serve others in their time of need, but we are also to step out in trust and humility and allow others to serve us in the same way. 

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers? If so, why?

Yes. I have been a member of ACFW since 2005. I credit this organization with launching my career. From pairing me with online critique partners, to providing an email loop where new authors can ask questions of seasoned veterans, to hosting national conferences where authors can interact with agents and editors from the top Christian publishing houses, ACFW is a Christian author’s best friend. I met both my editor and my agent at their conferences, and I truly believe I wouldn’t be published today without that contact.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

The easiest place to find information about my books is on my website at:

www.karenwitemeyer.com

I also love to interact with readers through Facebook and the two group blogs I contribute to: www.facebook.com/KarenWitemeyersAuthorPage

www.petticoatsandpistols.com (A western romance blog)

www.writespassage.blogspot.com (A Christian fiction blog of bestselling authors) 

Thank you, Carol, Mary, Regina, and Karen, for sharing with us today.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

A Match Made in Texas - Christianbook.com
Match Made in Texas, A: A Novella Collection - Amazon.com
Match Made in Texas, A: A Novella Collection - Kindle

Christian Book Store

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