VOW UNBROKEN - Caryl McAdoo - One Free Book

My review: Caryl McAdoo is a new voice in historical Christian fiction. This book is her debut novel. I was eager to read it, so it went right to the top of my to-be-read pile when it arrived. Of course, I love reading books set in historical Texas. Her voice is unique, and I fell in love with the characters from the very first page. They pulled me into their lives and kept me there through the whole interesting storyline. I found the setting authentic, and Caryl kept me turning pages. When I turned the last one, the characters stayed with me for awhile. I know you’ll love this book as well as I did.

Welcome, Caryl.

Hello, Lena, Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog! I’m honored to be here!

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

I find a lot of myself in most every female character I write, but it’s as though different parts of myself in different characters. I know one of the kudos I get is how different and well-developed my women are. I believe we all are so multi-faceted. Now my heroes are all a lot like my husband, and my characters’ girlfriends are very similar to my own dear lady friends!

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

I went right ahead and just looked quirky up hoping it would give me some ideas, insight into myself. Basically we’re talking about a peculiar personality trait. Synonyms include
eccentric, idiosyncratic, unconventional, unorthodox, unusual, strange,bizarre, peculiar, odd, out-landish, zany. Yes, that helps. I think the quirkiest thing about me, and I’ve done it a lot, is to burst out singing a song in just about any setting. Sometimes something someone said triggers it, but anyone around me is liable to be serenaded!

And ONE thing I did was when I was a teen and at the grocery store with my mother. She was shopping in the produce department at our local Safeway. Back then they had li’l squirt hoses to keep the veggies moist and fresh. I picked one up and squirted her GOOD! J

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

As a little girl I loved books, and English was my favorite subject. In 1962, at Letot Elementary in Dallas, I was a 7th grader with an essay to write. “What will you be doing in the year 2000?” Well, I wrote of being an intergallactically famous author jetting from planet to planet signing autographs! Though space travel may not have met up to my imaginations, my first book did come out in the year 2000. How fun is that? So long ago, God gave me the desire to write, and then let me remember the homework assignment!

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

Since I started writing, I do read less, but I pretty much still have a book with me everywhere I go. The older I’ve got and the closer to the Lord I’ve drawn, the more I hate reading novels with foul language because I can’t escape saying the words in my head. Ugh! So these days, that eliminates a LOT. For the last many years, I’ve only read authors I personally know for pleasure, and now that I’m in the Christian genre which thrills me so! I love historical and contemporary romances as well as Biblical fiction. I steer clear of horror and a lot of fantasy (when wizards and witches are characters). My favorite author I don’t know personally is Bodie Thoene. I devoured her Zion series!

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

Yes, Miss Lena, and you don’t know the half of it! There’s only one answer to this question and that is : by the mercy and grace of God! In 2002, after one thrilling year of empty nesting with my high school sweetheart, the Lord saw fit to fill our nest right back up with four precious grandsons aged 6, 4, 3, and newborn straight home from the hospital. The oldest is a high school senior this year and will be off to college in the fall. When I read scripture that says He won’t put on us more than we can bear, sometimes I think He has way too high an opinion of this woman J But He is faithful to give me energy to go to one more parent/teacher conference and drive to one more season of baseball practices and games. How does anyone make it without God’s peace continually raining down on them?

That is so true. How do you choose your characters’ names?

Isn’t this one of the most fun parts of writing fiction? I love naming characters or goats or dogs and horses, even chickens J When I hear an interesting name, I try to make a mental note to remember that one. But actually choosing a name is quite random, I use what hits me or comes to me. I like to go and look up what it means after. In a WIP, THE BEDWARMER’S SON, the historical heroine’s name is Jasmine. She’s the bedwarmer. I went and looked up Jasmine to find it’s a flower that blooms in the night and its essential oils have a sedative quality. How awesome is that? I attribute such to Holy Spirit’s inspiration.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

I had to think about this one for awhile. My immediate response would have been reeling in my handsome husband, but I can’t take credit for that because I know God created him in his mother’s womb to be my husband and me to be his wife, so I can’t very well be proud of that. Next I thought of being published by Simon and Schuster’s Howard Book division. I suppose that could be the answer since it is a personal accomplishment I never dreamed would come to pass, but without God introducing me to Mary Sue McAdoo Seymour and her suggesting that I write a historical Christian romance … I suppose in the end, as scripture says, ALL good things come from above, so the accomplishment I’m most proud of is accepting Him as my Lord and Savior. Everything else pales in comparison.

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

I’ve always said I would want to be a bird if I wasn’t a human. I love being up high and looking down on creation. Living in trees appeals to me, flight seems absolutely thrilling, and knowing God’s eye was on me … AND, I could still sing and sing!

What is your favorite food?

Mexican. I could eat jalepenos, tortillas, and beans morning noon and night. I enjoy a steak and when we eat out at Clarksville’s excellent little Mexican restaurant Rio Verde, I usually order Steak Mexican. They chop the steak about the size of my little fingernail and grill it with same sized chopped tomatoes, onions, bell pepper and jalapeños. Yum, with pico and sour cream. Is your mouth watering yet? Add the rice and beans J

I love Mexican food, only with a touch of jalapeños. I like my Mexican food mild, but with just a little kick of spice. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Life proved to be the biggest problem in the beginning, rearing my family (four children and work). I first started writing again when the two big ones were married and the two little ones were older. I suppose getting started heated my passion to a slow burn that’s never quit again even when we got the four grandsons, although marketing sure took a hit as travel became practically impossible.

Tell us about the featured book.

VOW UNBROKEN, the story of a spunky and determined young widow hanging onto God for all she was worth, is an anointed novel. Nothing has been easy since leaving her father’s home in rebellion to marry a man he didn’t approve of, and she thinks all her trials are only what she deserves for disobeying God and going against His Word. She’s bound her ownself by her vow, and it looks as though she’ll never know love again, that she’s doomed to live a lonely life rearing her daughter and orphaned nephew.

She misses her neighbors’ wagon train taking their crops to market; there’s no one left to help her. When she realizes she has to take her cotton herself, well, her friend remembers Henry Buckmeyer, but he has an awful reputation for being a drunk and lay-about. The land her husband and her brother left the children is in jeapordy—the very existence of her little family.

But God has other plans and uses all the seemingly bad things to her good, just like He promises. It’s a story I pray will call readers to a self examination of their heart toward God and draw them closer to Him.

Please give us the first page of the book.

He took the pinch of cotton Sue offered and rubbed it between his short, pudgy fingers. “I’m truly sorry, Mis’ess Baylor. Two cents is all I can pay.”

She seethed, but forced at least a show of civility. “Mister Littlejohn.” She spoke in a stiff staccato. “A week ago. Before everyone left. You promised three-and-a-half to four cents a pound! You said depending on the quality. That is the main reason. The biggest reason. That I didn’t go with the others.”

The man smiled. “Oh, I might have said two-and-a-half or maybe even three, but things change. You know that.”

She couldn’t stand being talked down to, especially by such a lying loafer.

“I wish I could help you, but two cents it is. I mean, besides, anyone can see.” He held the sample up. “It’s shoddy lint.” He shook his head. “Pardon me for saying, Mis’ess Baylor, but a granger you are not.”

“Anyone can see its excellent quality, you mean.”

A bit of breeze, a very little bit, stirred the top layer of dust from the street; it cooled her skin, but her insides still steamed.

He stuck out his bottom lip. “I’d advise you to take my offer. I can pay half now, the rest when I return.”

Sue studied his face while a hundred calculations ran through her mind. He certainly didn’t look like the weasel he’d turned out to be. Her cotton was as good, if not better, than any of the loads that left last Thursday. She reached up and massaged her neck, then lifted her braid to let some air dry her sweat.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

AUTHOR’s Pages

Website - http://www.CarylMcAdoo.com

Simon and Schuster - http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Caryl-McAdoo/411169289

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Caryl-McAdoo/e/B00E963CFG

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/CarylMcAdoo/author

Blog - http://www.CarylMcAdoo.blogspot.com

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/181587.Caryl_McAdoo

Google+ - https://plus.google.com/u/0/116386927782468472563/posts       

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedIn.com/CarylMcAdoo

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/CarylMcAdoo

Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/gramilady  

Angie’s DiaryTexas Tender  http://angiesdiary.com/texas-tender/point-view-whos-head/

VOW UNBROKEN’s Pages

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Vow-Unbroken-Novel-Caryl-McAdoo/dp/1476735514/ref=la_B00E963CFG_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383566283&sr=1-1

Barnes and Noble - https://www.google.com/search?q=Barnes+and+Noble+VOW+UNBROKEN+by+Caryl+McAdoo&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS509US509&oq=Barnes+and+Noble+VOW+UNBROKEN+by+Caryl+McAdoo&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.15268j0j1&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Mardels - http://www.mardel.com/search/default.aspx?Keyword=VOW+UNBROKEN

I look forward to sending VOW UNBROKEN to your Blog reader who wins the contest and hope they’ll get in touch with me after they read it! Thanks again for having me! I really enjoyed the visit.

Thank you, Caryl, for spending this time with us. And I am eager to be with you on Friday and Saturday at the writing conference in Mt. Pleasant, Texas.

Readers, if any of you are interested in checking out the writing conference, here’s the link to it.

http://www.netwo.org/

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