IMOGEN'S CHANCE - Paula Vince - One Free Book

Readers, Paula Vince is one of my writing friends who live in Australia. I’ve featured Paula before, but it’s been a while. I’m thrilled to have her on the blog again.

Welcome back, Paula. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

They are the kind of books I’ve found I’ve learned most from. Although I love many genres, I live in the contemporary world and find the challenges experienced by characters in our fast-paced, media-driven times easy to relate to. I also like the opportunity to show that the twenty-first century can be as fun to live in as “the good old days.”

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day of your life?

Although giving birth to each of my three children is surely up there, I’ll choose another day. Before having them, I’d suffered several early miscarriages and was wondering if that situation would ever change. Although I was feeling quite sick, I remember the day an ultrasound technician said, “There’s a tiny baby here, and you can clearly see the heartbeat.” That little baby is now a young man aged 19, but I’ll never forget how happy and excited I was that day.

How has being published changed your life?

I think the biggest impact has been in my confidence level. It makes a world of difference to know that somebody has thought enough of my books to risk publishing them, and trusted that they would sell.

What are you reading right now?

It’s a new novel called, How Sweet the Sound by Amy K Sorell, set in the southern states of America, somewhere I’m very unfamiliar with.

What is your current work in progress?

I haven’t started a new story yet. I’ve only recently finished the polishing touches of Imogen’s Chance, so my head is still full of those characters and their plight. I do have a few unformed ideas beginning to float around.

What would be your dream vacation?

I’d love a tour to each of the sacred sites and wonders of the world. That way I’d be cheating a bit, by getting to see a lot of our planet in the one vacation.

How do you choose settings for each book?

I usually stick to my own local environment. I’ve lived in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia since I was a teenager, so I’m familiar enough with it that I can write more convincingly and effectively than if I had to research. It’s a great place for a setting, with an interesting history of battling pioneers, and a different beauty and colour for each season. If I ever do need to do a little research, it’s usually no more than a day’s drive away.

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

I’d choose an old High School English teacher of mine, who encouraged me to keep writing. He was a trendy and popular teacher, so I appreciated his efforts to single me out to praise my writing, as I was shy and unsure of myself. I’d love to show him my books and say thanks for old times.

What are your hobbies besides writing and reading?

I love bushwalking, cooking, and homeschooling.

What is your most difficult writing hurdle and how do you overcome it?

It’s probably dealing with the earliest feedback from friends and family. At that stage, I get anxious and read into their facial expressions messages which they aren’t trying to give. I overcome it by remembering that their tastes in reading material differ from mine, and they’re trying to help.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Don’t expect the first draft to be perfect. I think we have an automatic tendency to get discouraged at the outset, but the truth is that first drafts always need revisions, no matter how many books we’ve ever written. We need to get used to the idea that each project may take far more work than we expect.

Tell us about the featured book.

My heroine feels guilty and partly responsible for a couple of horrible events which happened when she was younger. One day she vows to return and fix things up if only she gets the chance. For Imogen, back-tracking means returning all the way from America to South Australia. She finds that one of her old friends, Asher, has a problem which seems impossible for her to help with. As he’s one of the people she feels most wary about facing again, she’s unsure how she should behave around him. And she dreads the possibility that her secrets will be exposed.

Imogen’s Chance blurb:

She has given herself a chance to fix her personal history. But will old mistakes bring up new emotions?

Imogen Browne longs to make up for past mistakes before she can move on. She quietly resolves to help the Dorazio family, whose lives she accidentally upset. Her biggest challenge is Asher, the one person who may never forgive her. And he is facing a crisis of his own. Imogen must tread very carefully, as trying to fix things may well make them shatter.

A sensitive story about misplaced loyalty, celebrating life and falling in love. Can family secrets, concealed with the best intentions, bear the light of day?

Please give us the first page of the book.

Ginny squirmed, turned her pillow over and sighed. The worst part of staying with the Dorazio family was being sent to bed by Mrs Dorazio—Aunt Marian—at nine o’clock, even though there was still a tinge of daylight visible through the chinks in the blind. Becky’s breathing was already even, and the usual few hours of boredom and homesickness stretched ahead of Ginny.­

Humping her back beneath the covers, she pressed her face into the pillow, trying to smother her thoughts. It never worked. They just got shaken up a little, and then jostled each other through her head. Her mind insisted on reviewing each day before she could sleep.

At least I might get to see The Twelve Dancing Princesses tomorrow. Seth Dorazio had offered to take Ginny and the twins to the movies, but they couldn’t agree on which to see. Seth had ripped a piece of shiny, gold construction cardboard into fifty tokens which he’d hidden all around the house, and the person who found the most would get to choose the movie.

So far, Ginny and Becky had pooled together their eighteen tokens while Asher had discovered twelve. Twenty tokens were still concealed but Aunt Marian had announced it was bedtime, and she never listened to protests. Ginny and Becky would have to find the others in the morning. They just had to. There was no way Ginny would sit through the silly movie Asher wanted to see, about racing cars and basketball players. She and Becky hadn’t thought of checking the back of the laundry cupboard yet. Or behind the dishwasher, or under the plastic thingy in the cutlery drawer….  

If I was Seth, where would I choose to hide tokens? That was a challenge, to imagine the way a cute fourteen-year-old boy would think.

Movement along the passage caught her eye.

How can readers find you on the internet?

Please visit my blog, www.justoccurred.blogspot.com

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Vince/112910232067021

Twitter, @PaulaVince1

I also blog for www.internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com

www.australasianchristianwriters.blogspot.com

www.christianwritersdownunder.blogspot.com

Thank you, Paula, for sharing both the new book and your life with us today.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Imogen's Chance - Amazon
Imogen's Chance - Kindle

Christian Book Store

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (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 Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, 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