THE GUARDIAN'S PROMISE - Christina Rich - One Free Book

Welcome, Christina. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

When I first started writing I knew I wrote a lot of myself into my stories. I thought I had gotten away from that, but I still see traces of me in them.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Sometime last year I decided to demonstrate the Gangnam Style dance to my writers’ group in a coffee shop. Yeah, not one of my best moments. Thankfully, there were only two of them, we were in a corner and they love me very much.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

I wrote all the time when I was a kid. I wrote songs and tried to write poetry. When I was in high school all my electives were writing classes. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-thirties that I absolutely knew I was a writer. Funny thing is it took me about month to gather up the courage to tell my mom. I’ll never forget her response. “It’s about time.”

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I like reading some classics but I am a huge historical romance reader. I love being swept away to another era, another world and discovering love in the midst of impossibilities. Recently, though, I discovered Colleen Coble and Ronie Kendig. Oh, and one day I’ll finish Don Quixote.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

There is only one answer to that: Pray.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Sometimes the character names come to me before I even know their story, and then I hit the databases to see what the name means.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Staying married and raising four kids.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

Wow, this is a cool one. A dolphin. It seems like they are very friendly and happy most of the time. Besides, I like the water. If I couldn’t be a dolphin then maybe a sea turtle.

What is your favorite food?

Grilled squash and zucchini. I can’t seem to have one without the other. I could live off them, especially during the summer.

I love squash and zucchini, separately or together. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Commas! I’m the comma queen, oh wait, maybe it’s the run-on sentence queen. Seriously though, I’m not a technical writer, not by any means. I could blame it on my inability to retain facts, but I remember all sorts of weird stuff when it comes to history. I could also blame it on my dyslexic tendencies, which includes thinking. But the truth is I don’t always get the rules. It took me almost a year to discover head-hopping didn’t actually mean I was chopping off heads, but that I was moving from one character’s point of view to another with the proper notification.  I drove a lot of people batty. I know I did. And goodness if I get this telling vs. showing down it’ll be a miracle. ;)

We all went through that kind of thing when we started writing. Tell us about the featured book.

An evil queen and her royal guards will stop at nothing to find—and kill—the rightful heir to the throne of Judah. When their pursuit leads them to Mira’s village, only her father’s bond servant, Ari, a man shrouded in secrets, can keep Mira safe.

Abandoning his life as a temple guard and becoming an indentured servant was the only way Ari could protect young Joash, the true King of Judah, from Queen Athaliah. But his sacred duty prevents him from confessing his feelings for his master’s daughter. With the future of their nation on the line, Ari and Mira will risk everything to save their people.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Near En Gedi, Judah

835 BC

Ari’s heart hammered in his chest as the horses thundered toward the groves. Instinct had him reaching for where his sword should have been, a sword he had discarded years ago when he’d traded his life of a warrior for that of a bond servant. He’d been a fool to leave his weapons hidden away when danger lurked close at hand, but he could not very well play the servant dressed as a soldier.

It would do no good to dwell on this lack of foresight, even if it had almost got him killed years ago. Instead, he picked up a curved lava stone and prepared for battle.

He peered around the corner. The queen’s soldiers brought their mounts to a halt on the dusty pathway, their eyes trained in the distance. Ari followed their line of sight and inhaled a sharp breath.

I can’t wait to find out what they saw. How can readers find you on the Internet?

I am all over the place:

www.authorchristinarich.com

www.threefoldstrand.com

http://christianfictionhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/christina.rich.90

www.twitter.com/ChristinaInspy

Thank you, Christina, for sharing this new book with us.

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The Guardian's Promise - Christianbook.com
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