Dear Readers, when I first heard about this book, I
contacted Marion
and asked her if I could schedule it on my blog. I’m a second generation
American on my father’s side. His mother’s and father’s families emigrated from
Norway and Sweden and settled in Minnesota . I especially wanted this book,
because it’s set in Finland ,
another Scandinavian country. As soon as I received my copy of the ebook, I
read it, and loved it. The characters jumped straight into my heart and stayed
there. I enjoyed the setting and the situations of the story. I’ll be looking
for more books from Marion .
Bio: Marion
Ueckermann’s passion for writing was sparked in 2001 when she moved to Ireland with
her husband and two sons. Since then she has published devotional articles and
stories in Winners, The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter
(Tyndale House Publishers), Chicken Soup
for the Soul: Miraculous Messages from Heaven, and her debut novella, Helsinki
Sunrise (White Rose Publishing, a Pelican Book Group imprint, Passport
to Romance series). Her second Passport to Romance, Oslo Overtures, will be published in 2015.
Permission to use images obtained.
Welcome Marion .
Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
Not a lot, but I do think
there’s always a tiny trace of my DNA in each of my heroines J
Probably the quirkiest thing
I’ve ever done is eaten a mopane worm whilst up in Zimbabwe . I did get a certificate
for the crazy deed. It was quite a feat for me because I grew up in a small
town that was overrun by these large black and blue hairy horned worms. These
worms are actually large caterpillars of the Gonimbrasia belina species,
commonly called the emperor moth, and are known as mopane worms because they
are found chomping the leaves of mopane trees in the South African lowveld
after they hatch in summer. They’re sought after by the local Africans for food
and are apparently highly nutritious. They’ve become a delicacy in many
up-market restaurants in South Africa
and are even found in African restaurants in Paris . I wish I could say they taste
good—they don’t … not for me anyway. It was kind of like eating a piece of
bark.
We will be in Finland over
Christmas, and my son has a bucket list of things I need to do. One of the
things on his list is for me to jump into the avanto (or hole in the ice). This
is done by first roasting in a sauna of around 80 degrees celcius, then
hightailing your tush from there across the snow in temperatures of around
minus 37 degrees celcius before finally lowering yourself down a ladder through
a hole in the ice into the freezing Finnish waters. The entire sequence is done
repetitively. I have to admit that it would be a really quirky thing to add to
my quirkiest thing list. However, I’m
not sure if I’ll be brave enough.
When did you first discover that you were a writer?
My desire to write probably
started around twenty years ago, but it was only when we moved to Ireland in 2000
that I began to feed this desire by writing poetry. Two years later, after we
returned to South Africa ,
I penned my first (unpublished) novel, and so began my real passion … writing
stories.
Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy
reading.
99% of the books I read are
Christian fiction, ranging from contemporary romance, to suspense, to
historical and whatever comes in between. I’m not a person who’s set on one
genre, although I do have some favorite authors whose writing I always seek
out.
How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run
world?
I’m sane? (refer back to
question 2).
How do you choose your characters’ names?
With ease J I never stress over characters’ names. Normally a
name pops into my head, and I run with it. There are times when I’ll research a
name’s meaning and origin on baby name websites, and I’ve had occasions where
I’ve searched these sites for a name if one hasn’t just come to me or if the
name’s meaning plays an important role. When I do go looking for a name, I’ll
do so under the nationality category until I find one that suits the character.
What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Raising two awesome sons.
If you were an animal, which one would you be, and
why?
A Koala bear. I’ve always
loved them. As a little girl I can remember owning a few Koala teddies in
different sizes.
Why would I want to be one?
They hang about in trees all day getting high on eucalyptus leaves. What could
be better than life being as slow as it is for a Koala bear?
What is your favorite food?
All food J Seriously, I do love a good curry, especially lamb,
but chicken will do just fine, too. Oh, and chocolate. Chocolate is food,
right?
It is for me. I’m a real chocoholic. What is the problem
with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
Being an author in South Africa
and writing Christian fiction, it is really difficult to be published. There
are less than a handful of Christian South African publishers and they aren’t
really interested in unpublished authors. But it’s equally as hard to get an
American publisher or agent interested in a South African author. It’s also
almost impossible to attend writers’ conferences where one would have the
opportunity to present your manuscript to publishers and agents, as it’s just
too far and too expensive with our poor rate of exchange.
When I heard that Pelican
Book Group wanted stories for their Passport to Romance series, stories written
in foreign locations with foreign characters (ie. not American), I jumped at
the opportunity. Helsinki Sunrise was the first story I wrote for them. I have
since signed a contract with them for a second book in the series titled Oslo Overtures, and currently have
another two stories written for which I’m hoping to submit the full
manuscripts.
Passport to Romance has been
a wonderful opportunity to be published with an awesome American publisher.
It’s great to be a part of the Pelican family. I’ve plenty of ideas for more
stories and quite a few first drafts waiting to be edited for submission to
Pelican Book Group.
I want to schedule your next book on my blog. Be sure
to contact me as soon as you have a pub date. Tell us about the featured book.
My featured book, Helsinki
Sunrise, is one of the novella in the Passport to Romance series
published by White Rose Publishing, a Pelican Book Group imprint.
One of my critiquers likened
it to How to Lose a Guy in 14 Days
(although I think in the movie it was 10 days). In Helsinki Sunrise, readers
will find romance, comedy, and tension as two completely opposite characters
collide and try to wear each other down. Readers also get to experience the
beautiful country of Finland
and some of its unique culture.
I love what a recent reviewer
had to say about this story: I have never read a love story where the main
character is fasting and praying of all things, and yet Marion Ueckermann
skillfully turns what could be dry and boring into a modern day Taming of the Shrew with a Christian
twist.
I guess the easiest way to
tell readers about Helsinki Sunrise is to let them read the blurb. That way,
they’ll know just enough to be interested without me giving away the story J:
He needed the island to
himself. So did she.
Three weeks alone at a
friend’s summer cottage on a Finnish lake to fast and pray. That was Adam
Carter's plan. But sometimes plans go awry.
On an impromptu trip to her
family's secluded summer cottage, the last thing Eveliina Mikkola expected to
find was a missionary from the other side of the world—in her sauna.
Determined to stay, Eveliina
will do whatever it takes—from shortcrust pastry to shorts—to send the man of
God packing. This island’s too small for them both.
Adam Carter, however, is not
about to leave.
Will he be able to resist her
temptations?
Can she withstand his
prayers?
Please give us the first page of the book for my blog
readers.
“I need to get away for a
while.” Eveliina held her breath. If Joel said no, she’d go anyway. She’d
resign. She’d break up with him. Whatever it took to bring a little peace and
quiet to her harried life.
“But you just got back from Vaasa .” Joel crossed his
arms and leaned back in his leather chair.
“Exactly why I need to get
away.”
His eyes swept over her, and
Eveliina hoped she didn’t look as frazzled as she felt.
“You work too hard, Eveliina,
and I’m sorry. It’s just the nature of our business. Creating fantasy for the
world is not for the fainthearted.” He rose from behind his smoked-glass desk,
placed his hands on the edge of the table and leaned forward. “That’s why
people like us aren’t married. We’re wed to our computers, and it’s hard to
divorce ourselves from the beasts.” Joel straightened up. “But maybe soon we’ll
change that. I know you’ll be as dedicated and talented a wife as you are—”
“I doubt I could love doing
anything other than visual effects.” One sure thing got Eveliina
uncomfortable—talk of marriage. And these days, Joel didn’t miss an
opportunity. Eveliina stared him in the eye. “You’re right. I am married to my
job. And I don’t believe in divorce.”
She pointed to the framed 3D
characters that lined the walls of Joel’s ultra-modern high-rise Helsinki office like
family portraits. “You see those funny little creatures?—they’re the only ones
I’m happy to create.”
Joel scratched his chin. “So,
how was Ostrobothnia and the tall ships exhibition?”
“Bombarded by noisy children
and people dressed as Vikings…?”
He pulled a face. “That bad?”
“You try seven days
surrounded by,” she shuddered, “little people. If that wasn’t bad enough, those
Viking look-alikes are a crude bunch with a weakness for blondes.”
How can readers find you on the Internet?
Readers can find me at any of
the following places, and I look forward to connecting with them.
Blogs:
On my website there are also
links to blogs where I’m a regular blogger.
Helsinki Sunrise is available
to purchase from Pelican Book Group, Christianbook.com, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Watch the Helsinki Sunrise book
trailer on YouTube.
Watch the Passport to Romance book
trailer on YouTube.
Thank you, Marion, for sharing your debut novel with us.
Readers. 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:
Lena, it's great to be here on your blog today. Thank you for hosting me. I look forward to interacting with your readers. And I will certainly be back soon with Oslo Overtures.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, Marion! Hearing you mention eating those worms reminded me of the time I ate witchetty grubs in Outback Australia :)
ReplyDeleteIt was good to get a behind the scenes glimpse at Helsinki Sunrise. Such a fun book. Thanks Marion.
ReplyDeleteI always love a good comedy! Count me in!
ReplyDeleteJ.C. -Indiana-
Hi Marian,
ReplyDeleteLovely interview! I was here last week so the questions are VERY familiar!
Best of luck with your release!
Susan
LOL, Autumn...I'm not sure which sounds worse :
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by.
Kristen, good to see you here. I certainly had a great deal of fun writing Helsinki Sunrise, and I know my son and daughter-in-law had a lot of giggles making the book trailer for me. I'm looking forward to seeing your own Passport to Romance soon, too.
ReplyDeleteJC, there is nothing like a good laugh. Wishing you luck on the drawing.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I popped over to read your interview. Seems we have a lot in common ... raising two awesome children, making it to almost 30 years of marriage (our 30th is June 2015) and chocolate :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a unique story that i would like to read.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds adorable with her baking to get rid of him! I love that you ate worms! The closest I've gotten is my favorite sour gummy worms.
ReplyDeleteA great interview thank you. Your quirky notions are indeed that & not for me.
ReplyDeleteMary P
QLD AUSTRALIA
Mongupp, I like to think that Helsinki Sunrise is a unique story :) Hope you get to read it.Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteJanet, I had fun writing Eveliina's baking temptations. I must say that I struggle almost as much getting around the sourness of gummy worms as I did getting around the fact that I was eating an actual worm. Give me sweet any day. Thanks for taking time to read my interview.
ReplyDeleteMary, at least I can say "been there, done that" LOL, but I definitely won't try it again. Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteMarion's story is "can't put down" fun. I'm not sure I could do the sauna/ice jump either, but these types of details made me want to pack my bags for Finland.
ReplyDeleteI have the book so no need to enter me in the drawing.
Congrats again to Marion on a fabulous debut novel.
Thanks, Johnnie. I have to confess that I've packed my swimming costume for our winter Finnish trip next week, although I'm not sure I'll be brave enough to face the Avanto. I am looking forward to our trip to Lapland though as I'm currently conjuring up a Christmas story set there (so, I'll be doing some research for sure ... hope my characters don't decide that the Avanto is a must in the research - I have a sneaky suspicion though that they're already plotting against me).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Marion! Helsinki Sunrise sounds like a hoot! I used to date a guy from Helsinki and he had me dreaming of making a trip there one day, and still does. Btw, how generous of your son to make a bucket list for you and not just for himself, yeah? And your adventure in the Avento? I would gladly do that with you and/or for you! Safe travels next week and entirely way too much fun!!
ReplyDeleteKristen in OK
kam110476 at gmail dot com
Hi Kristen, thanks for sharing. I hope you get to experience both Finland and Helsinki Sunrise soon. And now I'm just praying for snow, because at the moment at my daughter-in-law's parent's house, there's no snow, and the lake's are still water (ie. no Avanto...hole in the ice). Hence, we are heading for Lapland first when we arrive on 18th Dec, mostly because the Northern Lights are apparently strongest then, but also to give it time to snow in Lehtimaki :) Have a wonderful Christmas.
ReplyDeleteLove trying new authors!Shelia from MS
ReplyDeleteShelia, hope you get to read Helsinki Sunrise. It's equally exciting for authors to find new readers :)
ReplyDeleteWould love to read this book. I am always looking for new authors.
ReplyDeleteBeth Gillihan, Montana
Helsinki Sunrise is an unusual title and sounds like a great read. I also think chocolate is a food group-love it. Sm. CA. wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteBeth, thanks for reading the blogpost. I hope you get to read Helsinki Sunrise some time.
ReplyDeleteSM, thanks for stopping by. All the best for the drawing.
ReplyDelete