WHISPERING HOPE - Peggy Blann Phifer - One Free Book

BIO: Author Peggy Blann Phifer, a retired executive assistant after twenty-one years in the Electrical Wholesale Industry, lives in the ‘boonies’ of NW Wisconsin. A late bloomer, Peg didn’t start taking writing seriously until age fifty.

Her debut novel, To See the Sun, a contemporary romantic suspense, released in January 2012. A second novel, Somehow, Christmas Will Come, contemporary women’s fiction with a touch of romance and mystery, released in November 2014, revised and re-released in late 2015. A new work titled Whispering Hope, an historical romantic suspense, set during the years of Prohibition, released in early May, 2018. Her work has also appeared in numerous anthologies over the past five years.

Peg is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. When she’s not writing, Peg enjoys reading, blogging, and sharing her home with her daughter, son-in-law, and a Border Collie mix dog named Rocky.

Welcome back, Peg. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I mostly write what I like to read, which is Romantic Suspense, something gripping and gritty, without the nasty graphic stuff the world seems to expect. Although I love reading political thrillers, I’d never attempt to write one.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

I have to say the day I met my second husband. After some tumultuous years gone before, he became my rock, my best friend. He was called Home six years ago after 26 years of marriage. Too soon. I still miss him more than I can say.

How has being published changed your life?

Immeasurably. The marketing and self-promotion is hard. I’ve never been one to ‘put myself out there’ and I find that the most difficult part. Getting on blogs like yours really helps, and I’ve been fortunate there. I need more sales and reviews, of course, so there’s that. But I’m getting there.

What are you reading right now?

The Widow’s Plight by Mary Davis. Great read so far.

What is your current work in progress?

I am under contract with Forget Me Not Romances for a series of contemporary novellas called Sweetwater River – which I classify as women’s fiction.

What would be your dream vacation?

Oh, my … that’s a hard one to answer. I think, at the top of the list, would be to go to Scotland, England, and Ireland … back to my ancestor’s roots, so to speak. Next on the list would be to visit the Holy Land, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

Mostly places I’m familiar with. My first two books are set in Las Vegas, where I lived for 33 years. My current release, though historical, is set in NW Wisconsin, where I now live. However, my novella series is a bit of a departure, being set in North Central Arkansas. Go figure.

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

Up until a few months ago, I would have said Billy Graham. But I think right now I’d love to spend an evening with author James Scott Bell. I love his writing, and his sense of humor. What fun that would be. I actually met him in person back in 2004 at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference in Estes Park, Colorado. He’s a delightful person.

Yes, he is, and I love his books. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I love handcrafts of all kinds, needlepoint, and crochet, although arthritic fingers (and poor vision) have made it too difficult for me these days.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Procrastination! Self-discipline. My two big bugaboos. Overcoming it? Practice more BICHOK … Behind in Chair, Hands on Keyboard.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

If you’re truly bitten by the writing bug, if you feel “called” to write, don’t delay. If you’ve got a story to tell, just start writing. You have permission to write a terrible first rough draft. Just get those words down.

Tell us about the featured book.

Back cover blurb: 1930 Chicago is no place for a Wisconsin country girl.

Virginia Hopewell visits her cousin in Chicago and gets caught up in a deadly gangster shooting at a speakeasy, barely escaping with her life.  After learning of the tragic death of her father, brother, and sister-in-law, Ginny returns to Wisconsin and convinces her mother to reopen the resort her father had closed after losing everything in the stock market crash in 1929.

Ransom Blake, an agent with the Chicago Bureau of Prohibition, had been at the same speakeasy acting on a tip about the shooting. Rance is charged with finding the gangster responsible. He and his team are sent to Wisconsin where the man was reported being seen, and to investigate how illegal liquor from Canada is making its way to Chicago.

With the opening of Whispering Hope Resort, Rance registers as a guest and comes face to face with the lovely redhead he’d briefly encountered at the speakeasy during the shooting.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Virginia Hopewell’s head pounded as she pressed against the wall inside the Blue Rooster. The floor vibrated beneath her feet as bodies bounced in rhythm to the small band’s jazzy rendition of “Button Up Your Overcoat.”

Good choice. Ginny shivered as a blast of cold air accompanied another couple entering the already overcrowded Chicago speakeasy. The music and laughter all but drowned out the voice of the wraith with kohl-lined eyes and red painted lips behind the microphone.

Ginny closed her eyes as the pressure in her head increased. Why had she allowed her cousin to talk her into this? The city lifestyle was no place for a country girl.

But she knew why. One simply didn’t say “no” to Susan Duquesne. Besides, after a week in Chicago at Susan’s invitation, it had sounded like fun to spend a night out on the town before she had to head back to the dismal situation at home. So much had changed after that horrible October day last year.

She watched the young singer struggling through the last few bars, barely keeping up with the band. As the song ended, the poor thing cast fearful eyes at the scowling, burly man behind the bar. A stab of sympathy gripped Ginny. It had not been a good performance. Would the girl lose her job?

A tipsy young man with Brilliantined hair lurched into Ginny. She staggered backward as he drunkenly flung his arm over her shoulder. “Hey, doll, where ya been all my life?” He hiccupped. “Don’cha know I’m a sucker for redheads?”

Repelled by the slurred words and alcohol-laden breath, she shoved at him and twisted her body away. Unbalanced, he crashed into the wall and collapsed in a heap at her feet.

Her hands shook as she glanced around, but no one seemed to notice—or care—what happened. She stepped around the prone form and tugged the fluffy boa across the front of her borrowed dress in a futile attempt at modesty. The ridiculous mass of white feathers accomplished nothing except to make her sneeze. The low neckline of the shimmering emerald-green dress left her feeling exposed, naked ... and completely out of place.

Being jostled by dancing, smoking merrymakers, pawed by an inebriated youth who had no business being here, and abandoned by her cousin, who was nowhere to be seen, did not define Ginny’s idea of a good time. Even her blind-date escort, Sam—or was it Stan?—had disappeared. Ooh, cousin, just wait till I get my hands on you!

Intent on finding Susan, Ginny edged her way through the crowd. An abrupt silence descended. Music and laughter ceased. Her gaze flew across the room to the entrance, where a group of men in black suits and overcoats entered the speakeasy.

A thick blue haze from countless cigars and cigarettes swirled overhead like an undulating web, disturbed by the inrush of cold air from the opened door. The men moved further into the barroom, forming a circle around a short, heavyset man with a stubby cigar clenched between his teeth.

“Is that Capone?” a man murmured behind Ginny.

“Nah, Big Al is still in the pen in Penn-sylvania.” Several low, nervous chuckles acknowledged the pun.

Not amused, Ginny’s nerves tightened. If it wasn’t Al Capone, who was it?

I’m eager to read the rest. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Blog/website: http://whispersinpurple.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pegphifer

Twitter: www.twitter.com/pegphifer @pegphifer

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/pegphifer

Google+: http://plus.google.com/+AuthorPeggyBlannPhifer/posts

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/pbphifer

Email: pbphifer@centurylink.net

Buy links for Whispering Hope -

Paperback: https://amzn.to/2s1OMiI

Kindle eBook: https://amzn.to/2safmqy

Thank you, Peggy, for sharing this new book with me and my readers. I know most of them will be as eager as I am to read it.

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