THE WEDDING CHAPEL - Rachel Hauck - One Free Book

Welcome back, Rachel. How did this book come about?
My husband and I were on vacation in Tennessee, and I drove past a wedding chapel high on a hill, among the trees and shade. As I past, the thought hit me, The Wedding Chapel. I had no story really but by the afternoon my publishing team were on board and loving the concept.

Please explain and differentiate between what’s fact and fiction in the book.
The book is 99.5% fiction. But I used historical events as a backdrop for my characters. For example, the characters Peg and Colette were shipped out of London as girls during World War II. It’s true children were sent to the countryside, but the events my characters experienced are all fictional.

Some of the television and radio shows, and Hollywood folks, I mention are real.

The historical hero, Jimmy, uses lumber and stone for the chapel that he gathered from Nashville after the war. I got that idea from reading about reconstruction in Nashville in the late ’40s.

How much research did you have to do for this book?
Research is ongoing for me as I write. I look up the smallest details if I feel the story needs it.

For The Wedding Chapel, I interviewed a man who actually built a chapel outside of Nashville. He really helped me conceptualize the building process and how to make the chapel part of Jimmy’s journey. I also researched wartime London, when and how they sent the children out of the city.

I delved into radio and television programming history, soap operas, and life in middle Tennessee during the late ’40s. I also interviewed a professional photographer and read about being an ad man on Madison Avenue.  

I’m like you. I research both before I start writing the story and while I’m writing. I want every detail I add to be as authentic as possible. What are some of the most interesting things you found about this subject that you weren’t able to use in the story?
I didn’t really have any extra facts for this particular book. When I was working on my last series of royal books, I had a lot of unused facts and tidbits.

What inspired and surprised you while you were writing the book?
I loved the late ’40s, early ’50s time line, as well looking at the start of television soap operas.

It’s an interesting time in our history. So much of the world was changing, and it’s interesting to see the contrast between then and now.

The character, Jimmy, surprised me. I really fell in love with him while telling his story.

I was born in 1942, so that time period was my growing-up years. What do you hope the reader takes away from the story?
Besides an enjoyable and entertaining read, I hope readers sense God’s love for them and the hope of His plans. He never gives up on us!

What is the next project you’re working on?
I just a finished story about a hundred and twenty year old wedding shop called The Wedding Shop. (I’m clever with titles, eh?) This story takes a look at the women who owned the shop, their romantic journeys, the surprises they discover along the way, and how the shop brought the women of the town together.  It’s set in the same fictional town as The Wedding Chapel, Heart’s Bend, Tennessee.

I’m eager to read that book as well. What do you do when you have to get away from the story for a while?
Read, walk my dog, exercise, watch a rerun of a show I enjoy, play the piano and pray.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Jimmy

Heart’s Bend, Tennessee July 1948

Jimmy’s journey began with a photograph. One of two girls standing next to a slender bride gripping a weak cluster of flowers, the shade of a stone chapel falling over their faces.

“My cousins.” Clem’s heavy exhale pushed him down to the family’s brand-new sofa. “From England.”

“All of them?” Jimmy remained planted in the same spot he’d been standing when Clem passed over the picture. In a warm swath of afternoon sunlight falling through the square front window.

“Nooo, golly geez, just the two flower girls, or bridesmaids, whatever you call them. They’re coming to live with us.” Clem whistled low and slumped down against the couch cushions, his dark hair buzzed in a close crew cut. “If all three of them came to live with us, I’d have to move out. And you know Mama wouldn’t cotton to losing her baby boy.”

Jimmy’s eyes watered. Dang. He was too old for tears. He cleared his throat, then said, “She’d hunt you down.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Visit me at www.rachelhauck.com.

www.Twitter.com/rachelhauck

www.Facebook.com/rachelhauck

Thank you for sharing this new book with us. I love hosting you on my blog.

Dear Readers, on January 21, I will also host Rachel on the Blogtalk radio show I co-host, Along Came a Writer. Announcements about the show will be on Facebook that week along with a link to where you can listen. We do take questions from listeners.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

The Wedding Chapel - Christianbook.com
The Wedding Chapel - Amazon
The Wedding Chapel - Kindle

The book is also available as an audiobook.

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