AND THEN BLOOMS LOVE - Sally Jo Pitts - One Free Book

Welcome, Sally. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters. 

Good question. Since I can’t separate me from me, my heroines think a lot like me. In addition, the other characters in my stories are still my perception of what I believe they would think or do. So, the answer would be “a lot.” 

 

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done? 

When I was around 12 years old, I climbed with a friend onto the base of a railroad trestle that spanned over a busy four lane highway in my hometown. We hung on for dear life when a train rumbled over. I remember doing it, but it’s the WHY that escapes me!

 

When did you first discover that you were a writer? 

I had the desire to write since I was elementary school age. I would make up plays and write out movie plots that played in my head. It was after I retired from teaching that I decided to pursue that desire in earnest.

 

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading. 

Sweet stories with happy endings! Romance, romantic suspense, mystery—especially cozies.

 

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world? 

You must have seen my to-do list for today! This question hit home. I read a devotion in the morning to start the day. I write down the night before calls and appointments I have to make and then things I would like to accomplish. As the day unfolds, it helps give me direction and focus and keeps me relatively sane.

 

How do you choose your characters’ names? 

If I hear a name that strikes me as interesting, I keep a list and draw from it. I also use my church prayer list!

 

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of? 

The first thing that pops into my head is partnering with my husband for 48 years.

 

I understand that one. James and I will celebrate our 56th anniversary in November. If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why? 

Dog. They are loving and forgiving—traits I’d love to have all the time.

 

What is your favorite food? 

Butternut squash soup. I had Wolfgang Puck’s soup at Disney World and became a fan.

 

The most delicious butternut squash soup I ever had was on a mission trip in Guatemala. I'd never eaten squash soup before that. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it? 

Expressing the senses and showing. I continue to work on it and found the little book, Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson, to be helpful.

Tell us about the featured book. 

In And Then Blooms Love, I posed the question, What if two people were married but didn’t know it? Out of that premise came this more specific question: What if a wedding florist discovers she’s married to the groom?

She is determined to forget him …

Hurt by her former fiancé Clifton Davenport, new flower shop owner Emme Matthews is working hard to establish a successful business and provide for the three-year-old child she is raising. Financial woes plague her, and she is forced to accept a floral job for a special dinner at the Davenport plantation. Not wishing to upset the event, Emme stays behind the scenes, only to learn the dinner is to announce Clifton’s engagement.

He loved her from the first day he saw her …

Plantation manager Clifton Davenport harbors deep regrets. Two rash decisions not only pushed the family business near bankruptcy but cost him his first love—the girl he knew as Mary Elaine Matthews. She has moved on and so must he. Ironically, his impending marriage to the daughter of a Brazilian oil magnate might be the salvation of the Davenport legacy and the answer to Emme’s indebtedness.

A discovery threatens to change things …

Shocking news forces Emme and Clifton to face not only their past but the love they left behind.

 

That sounds intriguing. Please give us the first page of the book.   

Could she steal ten minutes of quiet before life found her? With a devotional book squeezed under her arm and a steaming mocha latte in hand, Emme Matthews crept down the stairs of her living quarters to the flower shop below. First light was ushering a new spring morning into Hamilton Harbor, snuggled in the crook of the coastline on Florida’s Panhandle. She didn’t want to miss the show.

C-r-e-e-e-a-k

“Shh.” She lifted her foot from the squeaky step and listened. No stirrings came from three-year-old Richie’s room. The plink of water dripping in the work sink downstairs provided customary white noise. Floral fragrances sparred with the musky scents of new carpet and freshly painted walls.

Only two more steps.

But when her bare foot touched the hardwood floor at the bottom of the stairs, a warning alarm shrieked from the refrigerated floral display case. Emme jumped. Hot coffee sloshed on her hand and the devotion book skittered across the floor. She plunked the cup on the work table, ran to the sink, and shoved her hand under the faucet to let the water cool her skin. Sunlight pushed through the front display window, exposing a layer of condensation on the cooler’s glass doors.

“My flower shipment.” The words spilled from her mouth. She snatched the cooler door open. Inside, a blend of sweet odors filled her nostrils. The damp shelves and sides of the refrigerated case were barely cool to the touch. The daisies were holding up, but the daffodils had begun to nod. “Please, please, please stand tall.” No way she’d give voice to the florist’s dreaded wilt word.

Talking to plants had a therapeutic effect, and these flowers needed encouragement. “You can make it. I’ll get help as soon as I can.” She closed the door and ran shaky, damp fingers through her long hair, snagging on the tangles.

 

How can readers find you on the Internet? 

www.sallyjopitts.com

Thank you, Sally, for sharing this story with my blog readers and me. I'm so glad my copy came earlier this week. I'm eager to read it.

 

Readers, here are links to the book.

https://amzn.to/33gqmWq 

https://amzn.to/3n7GGAy

 

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