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Friday, September 16, 2016

RESCUE ME - Sandy Nadeau - One Free Book

Bio: Sandy Nadeau loves to go on adventures, photograph them and equally loves to write about them. She and her husband did a lot of four-wheeling in the back country of Colorado and shared those experiences with others by taking them up in the mountains. Her writing experience includes a community news column in a small newspaper for twelve years, magazine articles, and two novels with adventure, mystery, romance, but most importantly sharing God’s love. She is currently a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers. Married for a whopping 40 years, she and her husband are loving life as grandparents to their three grandchildren after the big move to Texas. Travel is their favorite thing to do and they don’t get to do it as often as they’d like. Adventure awaits around every corner, over every hill and mountain.

Welcome back, Sandy. Why do you write the kind of books you do?
My hubby and I love adventure. We spent thirty years living in Colorado discovering the back country and four-wheeling into areas that few people can go. We love what we can find. It was only natural for that to follow into my books. Whether a mystery or a romance, there’s always going to be adventure with my stories.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?
There’s so many. Getting married to my best friend. (We celebrate 40 years in September.) Having our daughter. Seeing her marry her best friend. Then they adopted two babies. Moving close to them all. And now she’s about to have a baby. Long awaited dreams are always happiest days. So I guess I have to also add getting a book contract, then another….I’ve had a lot of happy days and look forward to more. They are much more fun than those awful days.

How has being published changed your life?
It hasn’t too much. I’m learning more about marketing than I ever thought I would. That keeps me pretty busy now. It’s still just as hard to get a book going in my mind and down on paper. It’s fun to see reactions of people when you say you are a published author. It seems to impress people or surprise them. I’m not sure how to take that. But if they knew how hard it really is to get to this point, well….maybe they should be impressed. It’s hard work! No one is more surprised than me.

What are you reading right now?
I’m about to finish As Love Blooms by Lorna Seilstad. It’s a historical set at Como Park in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is what caught my eye. I grew up near there. I love Lorna’s books. I read a lot of genres in the Christian market.

What is your current work in progress?
Well, that’s a tricky one. I recently tried to resurrect a book I wrote many years ago, pre-published days. Once I got through rereading it, the plot was so full of holes. It’s going to take a major rewrite with a new plot that I haven’t come up with yet. So I’m moving on to another idea of a romance with the heroine doing something usually only men do for a living. I’m not giving it away yet, but it’ll be different from anything you’re thinking.

What would be your dream vacation?
Oh my. I had one once. We were invited to Grand Cayman and spent 10 days snorkeling in a semi-private reef area where the water literally was clear as glass. It was a dream. But I’ve always wanted to go to Norway and see the fjords. I have a strong family history out of Norway, so it would be fun. Anything with adventure!

I’m one-fourth Norwegian. I’d like to visit there and Sweden. How do you choose your settings for each book?
We love the state of Colorado. The mountains in particular. Like I said, we lived there for thirty years and never once took it for granted. We would pack up a cooler with snacks and sandwiches and plenty of water, and head west. We lived in the foothills so we had quick and easy access to many amazing places. I’ll probably write with that setting for a while yet. We have moved to Texas now to be near our only child’s family. Grandkids grow so fast, and we didn’t want to miss any more of it.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?
I had to think about this for a bit. Male: Mike Rowe. He cracks me up. And sings well. Female: Candace Cameron Bure. Love her Hallmark movies.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?
Grandkids! Woodworking. Gardening. Crocheting. Walking. Traveling. Photography.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
Sitting in the chair and doing it. So many things distract me. I have to really make a point of sitting down and write. Write anything! Just do it.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?
Join the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW.com). Smartest thing I ever did. Then study the craft. Learn it. Practice it. Write! Submit. Try. Pray! But just do it.

Tell us about the featured book.
“Risking her life to save him is easy. Risking her heart to give him a second chance is impossible.” Rescue Me came about from my husband’s years as a volunteer firefighter. He was also on the rescue squad becoming the Director of Emergency Services for a while. We experienced a lot of fire and rescue calls. I say we because I worked with the spouses on the auxiliary bringing them food and drink on calls. Then living in Colorado all those years, we saw and heard about a lot of things that would happen. And I have quite an imagination so I incorporated it all into the story. I’ve also dealt with a lot of loss of dear friends so giving Ronnie that fear to deal with was easy.

Steve, the hero in the book, has always loved Ronnie and wants her back in his life. But Ronnie lost her father to a fire and just won’t risk dating firefighters anymore. They find themselves taking the same class to become Emergency Medical Technicians and a relationship begins to blossom again. Ronnie has to fight her doubts and fears. Steve has his own guilt to contend with. Will they be able to love again, or will their relationship be quickly extinguished by the very thing she feared? 

Please give us the first page of the book for my readers. I’m reading the book right now and loving it.
“I can’t believe this.” Steve McNeal reached down again to try to move the rock that trapped his foot. Pain shot through his entire leg and cold dots of perspiration chilled his forehead. He rested against the granite boulder trying to ignore his throbbing ankle and to slow his heartbeat. Of course this had to happen. How could he have been so stupid as to try to scramble between the boulders alone? How many times had he scaled this boulder field? A shortcut to the trail. Brilliant idea.

Bracing both arms against the cold, rough granite on either side of him, he pushed with his free leg against a flatter area of one boulder, trying to get some relief from the pressure on his trapped foot. No doubt about it. This was a definite problem.

Steve scanned the sloping hillside that held the trail, which wound around the boulders that now held him hostage. The view was limited from his position, but at least he’d made his way down facing forward so he could look out instead of at the rock behind him.

Unbelievable. Ten feet from the ground, the trail right there, freedom so close and yet absolutely unattainable. Ow! He had to get his foot out. Or quit moving.

How could there be no one on the trail today? He twisted his upper body to look up at the boulders. “Anybody up there?” He quickly straightened. Ouch, OK that hurts. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone for the tenth time. Still no bars. What did he expect? Suddenly he’d have signal?

Cell towers were not a popular thing among the dwellers of the foothills southwest of Denver.

“Lord, a little help here?”

“Hey, Mister.”

It might as well have been a voice from heaven. Relief let some of the tension out of his shoulders. He strained to see the face that peered over the edge of the rocks above.

“What’cha doin’ down there?”

“Hey kid, I’m uh…stuck. Can you go get some help?” Steve’s arm slid against the granite and a little skin peeled off as he tried to look up at the boy. More pain burned a path through his leg, and he gritted his teeth to keep from moaning. His forehead tightly furrowed. He didn’t want to look like a sissy in front of the kid.

“Who are you talking to?” A female voice asked.

“There’s a guy down there.”

“Oh, my. Are you OK?”

Seriously? Do I look OK? “No ma’am. I appear to be trapped by a rock. Can you get a call out for help?” Steve couldn’t see much of her between his position and only her eyes peeking over the edge.

How can readers find you on the Internet?
@sandynadeauCO 

Here are buy links for Rescue Me.



Thank you so much for having me on your blog. Blessings to you and your readers!

-Sandy

Sandy, it's a pleasure hosting you on my blog. I know my readers will love the book. I'm enjoying the story even more, because I've been to Summit County, Colorado, and loved it. I was the speaker for a women's retreat for a Breckenridge church, but we were in Silverthorne for the retreat. Then during the next winter, I was a counselor for our church's youth retreat, so I could see it in winter.

Comments conversation starter questions: Have you ever been to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado? Would you like to go?

Readers, leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (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:

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:13 AM

    angela in ky would like to win

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  2. Anonymous8:32 AM

    Marcia in Texas.
    The book sounds riveting and full of love and mystery.

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  3. No. I haven't seen the Rockies and I would love to visit them and also the Grand Canyon. Thanks for sharing.
    Connie from KY
    cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com

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  4. Hello Angela, Marcia (is this the one I know?), and Connie. Good luck to you all. It has a lot of adventure. And a sweet story of love. Connie, you should try to see the Rockies sometime. It's amazing.

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  5. The Rockies are absolutely breath taking! We had a house in southern Colorado for a number of years and I never got tired of looking at those mountains.

    Melanie Backus, TX

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  6. You had me on tender hooks, so pleased someone showed up. What a great beginning.

    Mary P

    QLD AUSTRALIA

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  7. This certainly sounds like a fun read. I'd love to delve into Sandy's book and "loose myselft" in Colorado for awhile.

    Hopeing this is not an ebook.

    Vera in North Carolina where EMT's have lots of work with our ocean coastline and ancient Smoky Mountains.

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  8. I'm hooked! I'm wanting to know how the rescue goes..
    Dee from Nebr.

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  9. Sounds like a good read. north platte nebraska.

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  10. Melanie, was it in West Cliffe by chance? Amazing area down there.
    Thanks Mary, glad you like the beginning and I bet you'll love the whole thing with a lot more rescues.
    Vera, folks have been saying they felt like they were actually IN Colorado as they read, so I think you'll enjoy it. And if the winner is in the states, they get a softcover copy.
    Deanna, it's a fun rescue. But more dangerous ones follow.
    Kim, thanks for entering.

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    Replies
    1. Sandy, our place was in Silverton. Oh those mountains...majestic, awe inspiring, amazing!

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    2. Sandy, our place was in Silverton. Oh those mountains...majestic, awe inspiring, amazing!

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  11. Interesting interview and the book sounds so intriguing. I've been to Colorado several times, and I actually live in a beautiful mountain valley in the western part of the Rocky Mountains in northern Utah. I love these mountains. The Grand Tetons by Jackson Hole, Wyoming are part of the Rockies, and they are spectacular. I never tire of visiting there. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of the book.
    Winnie T in Utah

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  12. Brenda Arrington4:26 PM

    Can't wait to read this. I haven't been to Colorado but would love to go. Reading about it is second best. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of "Rescue Me."
    Brenda in VA

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  13. Sharon Richmond Bryant7:50 PM

    Enter me!!
    Conway SC.

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  14. Winnie, there's nothing like mountain life is there. I agree. Jackson Hole is spectacular.
    Brenda, you need to head to CO. It's so amazing. I love to share about it in my books.
    Good luck Sharon.
    Melanie, OH I love Silverton too. Cold there in winter. lol

    Good luck to you all. Thanks for reading the interview.

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  15. Looking forward to reading this would love to win.

    Lourdes, Long Island, NY

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  16. I would love to read this. My daughter is going to college in Colorado.
    BJM in Upstate SC

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