KNIGHT IN SHINING APRON - Carole Brown - One Free Book

Bio: Besides being an active participant of many writing groups, Carole enjoys mentoring beginning writers. She loves to weave suspense, tough topics, romance, and whimsy into her books, and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas. She and her husband reside in southeast Ohio but have ministered and counseled nationally and internationally. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons?

Welcome back, Carole. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

• Yes, and I thank God for his blessings on my books! Several things come to mind.
• Since writing my debut novel (The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman), I’ve had lots of requests for a second, sequel book. I’m actively researching and plotting, and hope to begin that in the near future.
• Once I’ve released three books in each of my mystery series (The Denton and Alex Davies series and the Appleton, WV Romantic Mystery series), I want to intensify my marketing with these. Three books in each won’t finish the series, but it’s a good start for a hopefully successful marketing plan.
• I’m hoping to release the second book in my WWII Spies series: A Flute in the Willows, this year. After that I’ll push for the third book, which will be the final book in this group—unless!—I do a  novella as a fun creation on one other character. We’ll see about that. J
• I always have plenty of other ideas, including a light romantic suspense set in the mid 1800s, a hitman book and an early 1900s—both stand alone, serious books that deal with tough topics.
• Good times ahead!

Tell us a little about your family.

Hubby and I just celebrated our 40th (can it be!!!) anniversary. We’ve had such wonderful experiences, plenty of problems, of course, but we’re still in love and expect to be till we cross into heaven. We’ve traveled through most of the United States, ministering, visiting many memorable sites, and making friends as we go.

We had two sons that traveled with us while young. I taught them to read before they began formal schooling, and we home schooled them as we traveled. Both now, as grownups, live fairly close, and times spent with them are highlights hubby and I cherish.

As an added bonus, and one of our greatest blessings, we have three grand boys that are the light of our eyes. Planning activities and adventures with them are prized and memorable hours.

We’re celebrating the birthday of our 9-years-old great grandson tonight. Great fun! Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

It certainly has. The busier I get with my writing career, the less I find time to read as I used to. I’ve had to learn to be choosier, and, of course, with requests for reviews and endorsements, I get to discover and enjoy newer authors I might never have known.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on the second book in my WWII Spies Romantic Suspense series, called A Flute in the Willows, featuring the second red-headed daughter of the Rayner Family. She’s rebellious and talented, and in the first book eloped with Jerry Patterson. Now she and Jerry have to face some hard trials to waken them to God’s mercy and work together to stop a certain spy who’s out to destroy them both.

What outside interests do you have?

• I’ve just recently in the last few months picked up scrapbooking and enjoy any time I can find to create memories of my three grand boys.
• I love my flower beds and garden pond.
• I get an extra bit of fun each year I write and we present our annual Christmas play and program. It’s still “writing,” but in a different way, and a fun time for me.
• Traveling is still special times, whether it’s just hubby and me, or we take family along the journey with us. 

How do you choose your settings for each book?

• I like to choose places I’m acquainted with or places I’d love to visit. Since we’ve visited West Virginia many times, and it suited my Redemption of Caralynne Hayman plot and my Appleton, WV Romantic Mystery series setting, I used that state.
• In my Denton and Alex Denton series, the couple travel in their RV so they end up in various states, but so far, it’s been places or states we’ve visited or acquainted with in some measure.
• I lived and worked in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a young person, and the city proved a good choice for my WWII Spies series.
• Other books, I might choose settings that are new to me, with solid reason why I do so, knowing I’ll want lots of research for that setting. 

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

Besides our Lord? Probably any of our past authors. Louis Lamour (tremendous researcher), Jane Austen (love her stories), Grace Livingston Hill (yeah, she’s one of the authors who got me started on reading books for adults), and many, many more.

I used to have a large collection of Grace Livingston Hill books, but gave them to a young reader, who was an advanced reader. What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

One thing I wish I’d done was begin earlier. Life was busy for me, and I realize that all things work as God wants if you’re following his will, but I do wish I could have begun seriously writing a little earlier.

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

Actually, it’s been an ongoing lesson for a little over a year now. With five deaths in less than six months within our families, and two of them tragic, unnecessary ones, it was a haunting, depressing time. But God gave me strength and the encouragement I needed to become stronger in my faith and a lesson in trusting him—not just in a few things, but in all things, those we understand and especially those we don’t.

That’s a hard lesson. What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

That depends (to me) on what each person defines as successful, but I would suggest these:

• Be true to the writing journey God has for you.
• Work hard, and with that I mean, write a lot, market a lot, and be kind to other authors. Kindness will produce its own rewards within your writing life.
• Never, never quit. You won’t know how far you can go or how successful you will be . . . If you quit! 

Tell us about the featured book.

Here’s the blurb:

Starli Cameron gave up her career plans to be a concert pianist to marry the man of her dreams. He turned out to be a nightmare. When he dies in a car accident, Starli takes the insurance money and builds a successful and upscale restaurant: Apple Blossoms in rural West Virginia.  Threats from someone determined to ruin her life and the suspicious romantic advances from her new chef force Starli to search her heart and finally turn to God for real healing.

Sir Joel Peterman-Blair, top notch chef from England, is roped by his uncle, into filling in as head Chef at Apple Blossoms. Joel, with his sanguine-personality, has always laughed and flirted his way through life. But now, confronted with and attracted to the most beautiful woman he’s ever met, Joel has to prove his sincerity and depth of character to his icy-cold employer. Can his love for God and for this woman reach out far enough to rescue her from her own mistrust and bitterness? Will he learn that life is not all play?

And can they both work together to find the source of threats that seem to be coming from Starli’s past?

Please give us the first page of the book.

Starli Cameron slashed off the last name on her list, the last possible candidate.

It’d been a long day, in spite of loving her work, so saying that was saying the impossible—for her—because she'd never said it before.

She had to admit, she was picky when it came to her beloved restaurant, Apple Blossoms. Anything and anyone to do with it came with high scrutiny from her. She wanted the best and only that for her business.

That last chef applicant, with his incessant sniffing, had driven her crazy. And what about the pompous one who’d strutted into her office with his fake Italian accent itemizing his demands. She'd not had a chance to say a word about her requirements. Good thing too. His dismissal had been fast—although she hoped, politely done.

She ripped the paper from the tablet, crumpled it, and tossed her pencil to the tabletop just as the loud pounding began.

Hurrying to the front door, hoping it would be one of her best friends—Toni or Caroline—so she could let off some steam, she flipped on the porch light and peeked through the peephole.

An eye glared at her, and she jumped back, heart beating like a woodpecker determined to get at the insects behind the tree bark.

Roland Stratton.

He can’t see me.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Personal blog: http://sunnebnkwrtr.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaroleBrown.author

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Brown/e/B00EZV4RFY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1427898838&sr=8-1

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/browncarole212

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sunnywrtr/boards/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5237997-carole-brown

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/carole-brown-79b6951a?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Google+:    https://plus.google.com/u/0/113068871986311965415/posts

Word Sharpeners: https://wordsharpeners.wordpress.com/

Stitches in Time:  http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Carole, for sharing this book with us. I'm eager to read it.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Knight in Shining Apron (An Appleton, WV Romantic Mystery) (Volume 2) - paperback
Knight in Shining Apron (An Appleton, WV Romantic Mystery Book 2) - Kindle

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