Welcome, Paulette. Tell
us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
I do use my personal experiences in life to write from. When
I’m writing a nonfiction book, I reflect on my own life’s journey and how it can
relate to the subject matter and when I wrote my inspirational novel, I
incorporated some of my personality in to one of the characters.
What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?
The quirkiest thing I’ve ever done was walked into work with
two different color shoes on. Funny how getting dress with not a lot of light
makes black and blue look identical.
When did you first
discover that you were a writer?
I was in my early forties when the Lord first spoke to my
heart about writing. That was a few years ago and six books later.
Tell us the range of
the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
I enjoy reading Christian fiction, inspirational fiction,
nonfiction, and contemporary fiction.
How do you keep your sanity
in our run, run, run world?
Pray, pray, pray. LOL. That’s a loaded question. But
truthfully it’s with prayer and being organized. There are times when I feel
overwhelmed by the pull to do everything else but it’s in those moments that I
take a step back and tell myself to relax because God is in control.
How do you choose
your characters’ names?
Secret Places Revealed is my first full novel. So with his
particular book, I wanted to use a man’s name that was strong Aaron, and the
female character Simone, I wanted her name to show her true gentle spirit.
What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of?
I believe the accomplishment that I am most proud of is the
fact that I’ve enrolled in school to obtain a BA in Business Management.
If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?
If I were an animal, I believe I would be a horse. Horses
are resilient, beautiful, and can run in the wild.
What is your favorite
food?
My favorite food would be seafood. That would include crab,
shrimp, and lobster.
What is the problem
with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
My greatest roadblock was keeping focused and not allowing
distractions to pull me way from writing.
Tell us about the
featured book.
My featured book Secret Places Revealed is an
inspirational romance novel. The hero and heroine have come out of
relationships that have hurt them tremendously and are not looking for love.
But are trying to put pieces of their lives back together. But fate and divine
providence have other plans for them.
The blurb:
A broken man, a woman
on the run, a love that won’t be denied.
Single—and very content—real estate developer Aaron Blackman
is determined not to become involved in another relationship. He’s experienced
enough drama to last a lifetime. The only thing garnering his attention now is
his growing business. And he plans to keep it that way. Then Simone Herron
waltzes into his life, beautiful and confident. Fighting to keep his promise to
himself—to remain single—he soon discovers that when it comes to love, some
promises must be broken.
After losing her fiancé in an untimely death, Simone Herron
relocates. She desperately needs to put the past behind her and start a new
chapter in her life. While love is the farthest thing from her mind, she
experiences an attraction to the handsome Aaron Blackman that frightens her.
She's built a wall around her heart, but can she find the strength and courage
she needs to welcome love again? To do so, she must conquer her fears and allow
God to put all of her broken pieces back together.
Please give us the
first page of the book.
Simone Herron wanted to escape from the pain, and from life.
At this time of the year, she always felt utterly lonely. It was like being in
the middle of the ocean surrounded by only the waves. This was year number two
without Joshua. Simone had family and friends, but it wasn’t the same.
As if she weren’t already miserable, the holiday season had
arrived, with all of its cheery fanfare. She wished she could skip over
November and December and head straight into January.
Pensive, Simone stared out her Fifth Avenue office window in the center
of Manhattan , New York —the city that never slept. She
could imagine that below her hordes of people bustled to and fro, arms laden
with shopping bags, and tourists gawked at the beautiful and spectacular views
from The Empire State Building to Times Square .
Who wouldn’t love it? But her heart was no longer enraptured by its beauty; the
Big Apple wasn’t the same anymore.
Simone turned away from the window. Even the busyness of the
city and all it had to offer could no longer mask her restlessness. Something
was missing. Could a move be the answer? A new locale would distract her and
keep her mind off her personal life.
Sitting in the leather chair at her desk, she mindlessly
shuffled the papers. When had her life fallen into this monotonous rut? For the
past couple of years, she’d spent her Thanksgivings serving dinner at
Shepherd’s Gate, a women’s shelter. Christmas was spent singing carols with her
church at Faith Bible Center .
She enjoyed those things, but she wanted more.
Maybe her boredom stemmed from the fact she’d buried her
fiancé a few months before their marriage. But that was two years ago. She should
have been enjoying life, but Joshua was gone and she was alive and still trying
to remember how to put one foot in front of the other.
People told her time would heal her wounds and it would get
easier day by day. And they were right—some days. People also told her never to
question God, but those who knew her were aware that that was like asking an
artist not to paint. There were days on which she felt she’d moved on, but
others when the feelings in her heart and her dreams of him were as real as the
love they’d once shared.
She couldn’t understand why God had taken the only man she’d
ever truly loved. Joshua had been her soulmate, her friend, the love of her
life, her future children’s father. The more she got to know him, the more she
realized that meeting him had been something divine. He’d felt the same way.
There was an undeniable connection between them the first
time their eyes met on their college campus in Manhattan . She wondered what their children
might have looked like. Would they have had his dark eyes and curly black hair,
or maybe brown eyes like hers?
The idea of not having a family hurt her to the core. Her
parents were married for decades before her father suddenly died from a heart
attack. They cherished one another and that’s what she wanted for herself. For
now, her dream of falling in love and having a family was tucked away somewhere
in the back of her mind, preserved in the faint hope of a second chance.
Simone wasn’t sure she believed there was such a thing as
getting back to a normal life. She accepted what life had dealt her and was
allowing her circumstances to bring her to a place of surrender. She learned to
accept that when life brought pain, God would give her the strength to go
through it.
Simone became teary-eyed as questions swirled around in her
head. Why, with all of her great accomplishments—she was a paralegal for a
prestigious law firm, Armstrong and Armstrong; she worked with some of the most
gifted and intelligent lawyers in the city—did she
How can readers find you on the Internet?
Readers can connect with me on the following social media
networks.
Website www.pauletteharper.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pauletteharper
Amazon: http://amzn.com/e/B004FEJKCQ
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pauletteharper1/?hl=enBuy links for the book:
Paperback - https://amzn.com/0989969150
Ebook - http://a.co/7DiBAAd
Thank you, Paulette, for sharing this new book with us. I'm sure my readers will be as interested in reading it as I am.
Comment conversation starter questions: Have you ever had a secret that affected all of your life? Have you had a revelation from someone else that shocked and affected you?
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.)
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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.
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14 comments:
Thanks Lena for having me on your blog. I hope your visitors enjoy learning about Secret Places Revealed and want to grab a copy or put in on their TBR list. I welcome their comments.
It's on my tbr list. I like exploring new authors. I'm excited!
So Paulette, have you had a revelation from someone else that shocked and affected you? I know I have. In 2001 when I happily sang my solo on that lovely Good Friday before my pastor preached then sat down. After the service, one of the other pastor's came up to me and asked me when would I start preaching. After looking behind me to see if he was talking to someone else, I told him that singing is what I did. And he replied that passing on God's messages was what he did.
I'd love to hear if a revelation of some kind had something to do with your current book?
So Paulette, have you had a revelation from someone else that shocked and affected you? I know I have. In 2001 when I happily sang my solo on that lovely Good Friday before my pastor preached then sat down. After the service, one of the other pastor's came up to me and asked me when would I start preaching. After looking behind me to see if he was talking to someone else, I told him that singing is what I did. And he replied that passing on God's messages was what he did.
I'd love to hear if a revelation of some kind had something to do with your current book?
I'm from Hazel Crest il. Can't wait to read this book
Thanks ladies for stopping by and adding SPR to your TBR list. Your comments are appreciated.
Hi Dee,
I had a desire to write a fiction book while writing my non fiction. I actually had another fiction book that I was trying to clean up to publish but it needed more work than I anticipated so Secret Places Revealed came into play. Writing fiction is a whole different mindset than nonfiction. I enjoy writing both and we shall see which direction the Lord will have me to go.
Thanks for hanging out with me today.
Nicole,
I'm glad you are open to new authors. Thank you
Enter me in your awesome giveaway!!
Conway SC.
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for stopping by.
Thank you for sharing Paulette's interview and first page.
Blessings!
Connie from KY
cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com
would love to win. Angela in KY
Thanks Mary, Angela and Connie for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed a sneak peak of Secret Places Revealed.
After reading the first page, I was hooked. The book sounds amazing. Please enter me in your drawing. Thank you.
Brenda in VA
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