COLLISION OF THE HEART - Laurie Alice Eakes - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I’ve known Laurie Alice for a long time. Several years ago, she, Lisa Harris, and I wrote a three book series for Heartsong Presents that later was published in a single volume under the title Wild Prairie Roses, which is now out of print.

Welcome back, Laurie Alice. Since you’re being published regularly, what new avenues will your future books take?      

I think my books will take the same avenue of a blend of American and English-set historicals, as well as some contemporary romantic suspense. All that should change is a constant improvement in my storytelling ability.

What conferences will you be attending this year? Will you be a speaker at any of them?

I have attended two conferences this year—Romance Writers of America and The Beau Monde conference, both of which were in San Diego, California. I was a speaker at The Beau Monde conference.

If you were in charge of planning the panel discussion at a writing conference, what topic would the panel cover, and who would you ask to be on the panel, and why?    

The topic nearest and dearest to people’s hearts is what is the future of publishing in these ever-changing times where self-publishing is no longer looked down upon. People on the panel would likely include my agent, Natasha Kern, someone from Amazon Publishing, someone from Gilead Publishing—the new kids on the block—someone from one of the older publishers like Bethany for a Christian panel or Harper Collins for a secular one, and an author published in both traditional and self-publishing means and successful at both.

That should be very interesting. How important is it to you to be active in writing organizations?          

I think this is highly important. We need to connect with colleagues to keep up on trends in the industry, know what is going on with publishers, editors, and agents, and give and receive feedback on our work.

Where in the community or your church do you volunteer?     

Due to the fact that I am unable to drive and live in a city with terrible public transportation, I no longer volunteer my time in my community.

Who are the five people who have made the most impact on your life, and how?       

Other than my mother, father, and husband, finding others who have made the most impact is difficult to whittle down to just two more. The thing is, those people keep changing. The impact my life for a while and then circumstances change and the impact comes from another source. I might have to say Lee Tobin McClain, though, as she suggested I apply to the Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University, where I obtained my master’s degree. There I learned how to turn an idea into a novel publishers wanted to buy. So that leaves just one more we shall call Person at Large.

If you could write the inscription on your tombstone, what would it be?         

All that comes to mind are rather smart-alice words like: She has now joined the history she loved to study.

I like that. Tell us about the featured book.         

Collision of the Heart is a second chance at love story of two people who allow ambition and selfishness to interfere with the longings of their hearts for one another. The year is 1856 and Mia Roper is on her way back to Hillsdale, Michigan, to write an article about the women attending the second college in the country to allow women to gain an education alongside men, the same education. She left a year and a half earlier to take a job in journalism after obtaining her own degree. She thought Ayden would go with her, but he stayed behind to take a teaching position at the college. She hopes to avoid him on her visit, but the train on which she is arriving wrecks on the outskirts of town and launches her right back into Ayden’s life.

The train wreck is real. In 1856, two trains heading on opposite directions on the same track collided during a snowstorm outside Hillsdale, Michigan. Passengers were stranded in the town, and the townspeople came together to take care of them, providing food, shelter, and clothing.

This book was previous published by Love Inspired Heartsong, but I have rewritten it, adding several thousand words I had to cut for the Heartsong version, and re-edited by Amazon Publishing’s fabulous editorial team. And the cover is positively stunning.

This book is available in five formats: Kindle, Paperback, Audio CD, MP3CD, and audible.com download. The reader is Angela Dawe, who is also from Michigan and an experienced narrator.

I agree. I absolutely love the cover. Please share the first page with us.           

Hillsdale, Michigan

February 8, 1856

Near Midnight

In ten minutes, the westbound train would reach the town Euphemia Roper once vowed to never set foot in again.

Hillsdale, Michigan, was the town Euphemia—Mia to her friends—had called home longer than anywhere else in her twenty-six years and the town she had left with a broken heart. Only opportunity knocking too loudly to be ignored had drawn her back. For a week, she would research the story that would establish her as a professional lady of letters, while she avoided encounters with Ayden Benaiah Goswell.

She twisted in her train seat and rubbed frost from a patch of glass with her gloved fingers. The action accomplished little beyond making her hand damp through the knitted wool. The lights of Osseo had already dimmed beyond a veil of falling snow. The train gathered speed.

So did Euphemia’s heart.

Muscles twitching in her legs, Euphemia tucked her handbag under one arm and her writing portfolio under the other. Rustling pages, snapping locks, and a child asking if they were there yet rose like a wave before a high wind. Euphemia rose to get up the aisle and near the door before the train stopped so she could be one of the first passengers to disembark. Others preceded her, including a child barely old enough to walk. He paused to grasp the side of her seat.

“Are you lost?” Euphemia leaned toward the boy. Someone should be frantically searching for the little one.

Wow! This book sounds so interesting. Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

You can read excerpts from my books on my web site:

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com

On my author page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurieAliceEakes/

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@LaurieAEakes

And I have a Pinterest account, but am just building it.

You can also find all my books in all their versions on http://www.amazon.com

Thank you, Laurie Alice, for sharing this book with us. I know my readers are as eager to read it as I am.

Comment started questions: Have you read any of Laurie Alice's books. If so, which one is your favorite? Have you experienced a train wreck.

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