CANDY LANE CHRISTMAS - Jackie Castle - One free book and one free ebook

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

Endless possibilities with Him beside me.

Tell us a little about your family.

This year my husband Bob and I have become empty nesters and second-time grandparents. Our daughter has two children and our son just went off to West Texas A and M.

Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

Well, I write more consistently now. Every morning M-F, I sit down to write 2000-3000 words. My goal is 10,000 a week.

And my reading is the same as usual. I can go through about a book or two a week.

What are you working on right now?

The next Madison Creek novella, titled The Heart Collector, that’ll come out for Valentines. I’m also taking part in a Kindle World called First Street Church. It’s based on a little Texas town called Sweet Grove. I’ll have three books in that series and a Christmas novella.

What outside interests do you have?

Trying to grow a backyard garden. Walking my dog Banjo. Making crafts. This year, I’m making ornaments from cut branches and burning designs into the disks. They’re turning out kind of nice.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

Various ways. Madison Creek came from my trips up to Michigan where my husband’s family lives. He grew up in a small town and some of the tourist towns are simply beautiful up there.

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

Madeleine L’Engle.

I’ve read a few of her books, but Walking On Water was one that really spoke to my spirit about being a writer and what that means. She wrote from her heart and wasn’t afraid to write out of the box. I admire her a lot.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

I wish I would have known more about how to run a business. There’s so much I’ve had to learn over the past 5 years, sometimes I think my head will explode from all of it, and I’m just now starting to feel  more confident about what I’m doing.

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

That I can’t do this alone. I need Him to be my collaborator in this business, and I need to understand that it doesn’t matter how hard or long I work, my career is in His hands. So I need to trust Him in the good and bad months.

 

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

Put your career in the Lord’s hands.

Understand that the writing part is art—enjoy what you create. After that, you need to decide if you want a hobby or business because the publishing part is really hard work.

The more you write, the better you’ll get.

Tell us about the featured book.

Candy Lane Christmas is about the Sweetness of Starting Over

Candyce Barkley tosses the fake engagement ring, the last token of her sordid past, out the window onto the highway 35N. No looking back. No regrets. Today is the beginning of a new start, a second chance make something of her messed-up life. Her old hometown of Madison Creek is going to love her plans to open a Candy store. If, that is, they can overlook her history for troublemaking. If her family and townsfolk can forgive and forget, then her candy shop might stand a chance at succeeding.

Finley Quinn only has a few miles left before he reaches his stagnant life in Madison Creek. He’s fallen into a rut that he can’t seem to climb out of. A quick stop at the coffee shop results in his bumping into a flash from the past with pink hair and candy tattoos. He hadn’t seen Candy Bar Barkley since he admitted to her that he loved her. Instead of returning his feelings, she high-tailed it out of town. When they end up sharing a ride back home, he figures out that his heart hadn’t been stuck all this time, it had followed the wild girl and she still had it, whether she knew it or not. 

Please give us the first page of the book.

The glint of the morning sun caught on Candyce Barkley’s one-half carat engagement ring, casting a rainbow of sparkles on the visor. She yanked it off her finger. Jabbing the down button on the window, she hurled the offensive reminder of her sordid past out onto Highway 35N.

A gale of cool autumn wind blasted her. Her pink hair whipped around her face until she hit the up button with a satisfied nod.

For the past year Candyce had kept up the ruse that all was well, plastering on smiles as fake as the gem in that sorry ring. When she’d had the ring appraised and found it was as worthless as the sorry jerk who gave it to her, she focused on finding a way to climb out of the miry Kyle-Moore pit she’d, unfortunately, allowed herself to fall into.

“That felt so good.” A triumphant smile played across Candyce’s trembling raspberry-red lips. She’d worn the mockery for so long, she’d practically forgotten the ring was there. The only way to break free from the prison Kyle built for her had been to pretend all was well, and that she was clueless to his gambling and cheating.

“Buck up, buttercup!” She told her reflection in the rearview mirror. “Today’s a new day. A new start.” An adventure all of her own making. Nobody to manage her life. Nobody to….

How could Kyle Moore have taken so much from her without her even realizing?

No, no, no. Don’t go there! Boy, it was so easy to make those U-turns back to Pastville.

Nobody would ever be able to convince Candyce that God hadn’t heard her prayers for help and sent Debra Reynolds to find a way to fling open the doors to freedom. And a fresh start.

Debra came to their upscale Myrtle Beach restaurant hoping to convince Kyle to sign with her publishing house. But he’d set his sights on more lofty ventures. She’d been directed to not return without a contract and had stuck around long enough to find out what a total control freak Kyle could be.

She’d also seen how cruel Kyle was to those he thought were beneath him, which included Candyce, even though she was supposed to be his fiancée.

After seeing the creative desserts Candyce could make for the posh customers of their establishment, Debra returned to her publishing house with a new offer and the Escape the Madness plan was born. 

Candyce checked her travel app. Another half hour to get through Columbus, Ohio, and she’d make a quick stop for breakfast and stretch her legs. That dingy hotel where she’d caught a bit of a nap last night had given her the creeps. Don’t think about that, either. The Lucky Motel 5 was behind her. Myrtle Beach was behind her. Kyle and his lying, conniving, trickery—was behind her.

Gently slapping her cheek, she scolded herself for thinking backwards again. Instead, she forced her focus on returning to her hometown of Madison Creek, Michigan. Hopefully, they’d forgotten all about her antics way-back-when and would be thrilled to have a candy store in the tourist district. Or what would eventually be the place for vacationers to stop and spend some time. Between the start-up grant the town’s restructuring committee had awarded her and the money from her cookbook advance, she had everything needed to set up her little corner store.

So long as not too many people remembered the old Candyce Barkley, she was confident the shop would do well. At least, she hoped so.

“No, don’t start strolling through Worriesville. One step at a time. Just one at a time.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6763857.Jackie_Castle

Amazon Author pg: www.amazon.com/author/jackiecastle  

Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/JackieCastleAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jackie_Castle

Or please feel free to sign up for my newsletter. I’m always having monthly giveaways, special deals and other fun stuff going on. http://www.subscribepage.com/u4d6k0

Thanks for the interview, Lena. Appreciate you.

I’ll be giving away a print version of Candy Lane Christmas along with a special candy ornament to people living in the United States.

If you live outside of the US, let me know where you’re from in the comments, and I’ll gift one International reader an ebook copy of Candy Lane Christmas.

It’s always a pleasure to have you visit my blog, Jackie. Remember us when you plan all your marketing.

Readers, here are links to the book.

Candy Lane Christmas (A Madison Creek Town Novella) (Volume 2) - Paperback
Candy Lane Christmas (Madison Creek Town Series Novella Book 2) - Kindle

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