SCRAPS OF EVIDENCE - Barbara Cameron - One Free Book on This Blog, Plus More

Welcome back, Barbara. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

I feel very blessed. I just finished my third Amish series for Abingdon Press (Amish Roads) and they’ve signed me for a fourth series. I also have a novella anthology being considered right now.

Tell us a little about your family.

I have two grown children—a son and a daughter—and four grandchildren—two granddaughters and two grandsons. Some symmetry going on there! 

Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

Yes, I don’t get as much time to read for pleasure as I’d like these days … and I have to do a lot of reading for research.

What are you working on right now?

I’m finishing up One True Path, the third book in the Amish Roads series.

What outside interests do you have?

Not many! I’m pretty busy with deadlines. I’m also a homebody. I love nothing so much as having my little Chihuahuas (three) sitting in a basket at my feet as I write. I do some work with a local rescue which is how I ended up with three Chihuahuas …

How do you choose your settings for each book?

I love St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the United States. It’s full of history and mystery and so romantic. I love to visit it. One day I visited and Scraps of Evidence was born. It’s a romantic suspense, quite unlike my Amish stories.

My setting for my Amish stories is Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, setting of the second largest Amish community in the United States. Then I decide where specifically I’ll set it—such as in Stitches in Time series the story took place in a shop with that name.

If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?

I’d love to spend an evening with author Charlotte Bronte who influenced me so much as a young girl with her novel Jane Eyre. I wore out several paperback copies when I was a teen.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

I wish I’d learned how to be more organized in the process. I tend to rely on my memory a little too much and on having stacks of notes, books, etc., around. 

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

I got a very firm message from Him recently that I needed to slow down and take better care of myself.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

Study the market and see how you can write a story you love within the genre the editors are buying for. Read like crazy and attend writer conferences and workshops. Be the kind of writer an editor wants to work with—not a prima donna who thinks she knows everything and argues over every little thing.

Tell us about the featured book.

Scraps of Evidence is a romantic suspense, part of the Quilts of Love series (Abingdon Press). A brief synopsis:

Tess has taken some ribbing from her fellow officer, Logan, for her quilting hobby. He finds it hard to align the brisk professional officer he patrols with during the day with the one who quilts in her off-time. Besides, he’s been trying to get to know her better and he’d like to be seeing her during those few nights a week she spends with her quilting guild. Then one afternoon Tess and Logan visit her aunt in the hospital, and the woman acts agitated when Tess covers her with the memory quilt. Aunt Kathy is attempting to communicate a message to them. There’s a story behind this quilt, they realize, one that may lead them to a serial killer. Will they have a chance to have a future together, or will the killer choose Tess for his next victim before they find him?

Please give us the first page of the book.

Tess fought back a yawn as she walked into her aunt’s hospital room. Excitement had kept her awake half the night.

 

 “I told you that you didn’t need to come,” her aunt said when she saw Tess.  But she smiled.

 “I wanted to.” She bent down and kissed her cheek. “You’re my favorite aunt.”

“I’m your only aunt.”

“Still my favorite.”

Tess pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and set the tote bag she carried on the floor. “What did the doctor say?”

“No concussion. But I have to stay another day for observation. Doctors,” she muttered, her mouth turning down at the corners.

 

Tess studied her aunt’s pale face. Sometimes when she looked at her she missed her mother so much it hurt. She didn’t know what she’d do if she lost her, too.

She shook off the thought. Her aunt was just in her late fifties and in good health. There was no reason to believe she wouldn’t be around for a long time.

“Big day today, huh?”

“The biggest. It’s what I’ve been working toward since I graduated from the police academy.”

Her aunt reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I’m happy for you.”

 “Brought you something.”

“You shouldn’t have. You look tired.”

“Gee. Thanks.” She pulled the makeup bag from the tote and her aunt pounced on it.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Kathy cried. “They gave me a comb but a girl needs her lipstick to feel human.”

She pulled out a compact, opened it and grimaced. “Oh, my, it’s worse than I thought.”

Using her forefinger, she dabbed some concealer cream on the delicate skin under one eye, then shook her head.

“Going to have a bit of a shiner there,” she said with a sigh. She patted on some powder, applied some lipstick, then smiled at her appearance. “Not bad.”

“You look great. No one expects you to look like a beauty queen in the hospital.”

“One must keep up one’s appearance,” Kathy said, folding her hands primly on top of the blanket covering her.

Aunt Kathy had always reminded Tess of Grace Kelly, that icy blond actress in the old movies they’d watched together on TV years ago.

Tess was the opposite. She wore her shoulder length blond hair in a no-nonsense twist or ponytail, hated makeup and instead of being dainty had been five foot ten since high school. Oh, and there were those ten unwanted pounds that persisted in sticking around no matter what she did.

Her aunt turned the mirror on Tess. “Forgot something?”

She wanted to roll her eyes but decided not to. With a big sigh, Tess pulled a tube of lip gloss out of her pocket and swiped it across her mouth.

“My, my, don’t be primping so much,” her aunt said with a touch of sarcasm as Tess tucked the tube back in her pocket.

“Makeup just slides right off my face in this heat.”

“I like your new look.”

Tess stared down at her lightweight navy jacket and slacks worn with a crisp white shirt. She liked what it represented more. Not that she’d ever minded wearing a uniform. It was what had gotten her to this point. Now she simply wore a different one.

“You’re young,” Kathy said. “I guess you don’t need as much makeup as an old lady like me. And you’ve got those high, high cheekbones that don’t need blush for emphasis. Some blue shadow would really bring out those eyes, though.”

“You’re not old. And “I’m twenty-eight. That’s not exactly young.”

Tess reached down and withdrew a blue quilt from the tote bag and placed it on her aunt’s lap. “I thought you might like to have it here to remind you of home.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

 My website is www.barbaracameron.com 

I am on Facebook with Barbara Cameron Reader Page.

Barbara Cameron's Scraps of Evidence is the newest book in the Quilts of Love line, and Barbara is celebrating with an "intriguing" Kindle HDX giveaway!

One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• Scraps of Evidence by Barbara Cameron
• Tempest's Course by Lynette Sowell
• Aloha Rose by Lisa Carter

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on March 8th. Winner will be announced on the Quilts of Love blog on March 10th.

Spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

Thank you, Barbara, for sharing this new book with us. I just love the Scraps of Love series from Abingdon Press. Such a wonderful variety of books with a quilt theme.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Scraps of Evidence - Christianbook.com
Scraps of Evidence: Quilts of Love Series - Amazon
Scraps of Evidence: Quilts of Love Series - Kindle

Christian Book Store

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