Bio: South Carolina author, Louise M.
Gouge, writes contemporary and historical romance fiction, winning the
prestigious IRCA in 2006 and placing as a finalist in 2011, 2015, 2016, and
2017. She was also a finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Carol
Awards in 2005, 2007, and 2008, and placed in the Laurel Wreath contest in
2012. Most recently, she was a finalist in the 2023 Selah Awards and is a
current finalist for the 2024 Selah Awards. A former college English and humanities
professor, Louise is a member of the Christian PEN and has been copyediting for
well-known authors for fifteen years. Married for fifty-four happy years to her husband, David, Louise
is now widowed and spends her days researching and writing her next novel.
Welcome
back to my bog, Louise. Since you’re being
published regularly, what new avenues will your future books take? After
publishing about thirty historical Christian romances with various publishers,
I am now moving into contemporary Christian romance. My current release,
Safe
Haven Ranch, is contemporary.
What
conferences will you be attending this year? Will you be a speaker at any of
them? Although I loved to attend conferences in the past, I’m not able to
travel anymore. I would be delighted if a conference were held within driving
distance of my new home in Columbia, South Carolina.
I
understand that. I’m not traveling anymore either. If you were in charge of
planning the panel discussion at a writing conference, what topic would the
panel cover, and who would you ask to be on the panel, and why? Because I
have a copyediting business in addition to my writing, I would plan a panel
discussion about the importance of writers honing their grammar, punctuation,
and usage skills. I would invite Kathy Ide and Jeanne Marie Leach to be on the
panel. Kathy began the Christian PEN, of which I am a member, and she has
written numerous books to help authors write well. Jeanne Marie wrote Christian
romance novels before discovering her special gift for editing, which she now
does full time. Both of these women have a lot to offer both new and
experienced authors.
How
important is it to you to be active in writing organizations? I love being
a part of ACFW. In fact, I think my membership number is something like 90 or
190, so I’ve been around since close to the beginning. I am published because
of connections I made through ACFW. I’m also a member of FHLCW, and the same
goes for this group. I love the online fellowship in both groups and continue
to learn from my fellow authors.
My
ACFW membership number is 45. Where in the community or your church do you
volunteer? Physical limitations prevent me from volunteering other than
online prayer ministries.
I’m
a part of the prayer ministry at my church, too. Who are the five people who
have made the most impact on your life, and how? My maternal grandmother
often quoted scripture to me and helped ground my faith when I was quite small.
My late husband was a constant source of encouragement to me in my writing, and
I miss his input in my stories. My oldest daughter became a widow shortly after
her second child was born, and her courage and resilience have been an example
to me. My mother was a wonderful mom to her four children, and I tried to model
my own mothering after hers. My father’s patriotism and courage in fighting in
both world wars makes me proud to be an American.
I
became a widow last October after 59 years with my husband. If you could write
the inscription on your tombstone, what would it be? Jesus paid it all. All
to Him I owe.
Please
tell us about the featured book. As mentioned before,
Safe
Haven Ranch is my first contemporary for Love Inspired. A special note
about this book is that it’s a sequel to my historical series,
Finding Her
Frontier Family and
Finding Her Frontier Home. It was so much fun to
write about later generations of the fictional Mattson family of ranchers in
New Mexico.
Here’s the
back cover copy:
Can two
little children help turn a feud into a family? It should be easy for
widow Olivia Ortiz to despise Will Mattson, the man keeping her from buying the
ranchland she needs for herself and her daughter, Emily. But when Emily becomes
instant friends with Will’s nephew, Jemmy, Olivia and Will find themselves
growing closer as well. And as Olivia’s feelings for the handsome cowboy shift,
competing for the property could be the start of something more…
Please
share the first page with us.
Outside Riverton, New Mexico
“You what?”
Olivia Ortiz stared at
her elderly neighbor, barely sparing a glance at his too-handsome companion. “But,
Albert, you promised to sell your land to me.” She was standing in her own
driveway, hands fisted at her waist in a defensive posture.
“I know, I know.”
Albert Winslow shrugged his bony shoulders and gave her an apologetic smile. “But
wait ’til you hear what he has planned, and I think you’ll like it. Will, how
about you tell Miss Olivia what you have planned.” As usual, the almost
ninety-year-old gentleman repeated himself. He looked up at his much taller
companion. “I think she’ll like it.”
“Um…” The younger man,
who fit the very definition of a tall, dark and handsome cowboy—with curly
black hair thrown in for good measure—grinned, and his blue eyes sparkled in
the sunlight, causing a silly hiccup in Olivia’s chest. “Don’t you think you
should introduce us first?”
“Oh.” Albert blinked
and looked from him to Olivia and back again. “Sure thing. Miss Olivia, this is
Will Mattson. Known this boy all his life. He’s the grandson of my old friend
Andy Mattson, Lord rest his soul. Will, this is Olivia Ortiz. She and her
father own this property.” He waved a hand around to include the fifteen acres
that comprised her land, just over a quarter the size of his own fifty acres.
Centered by matching pink adobe houses, the two properties were separated by a
four-foot fieldstone fence, with a single flimsy, never-locked, much-used gate
between them.
Will reached out a
hand. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.” He gave her a wide smile, revealing perfect
white teeth set off by his perfectly tanned complexion, which caused another
hiccup near her heart.
What was wrong with
her? She wasn’t about to let herself fall for this man…or any man. No one could ever replace
Sancho. Still, she briefly shook his hand as his name registered in her brain.
“Mattson? Are you…?”
Annoyance replaced the shock that Albert’s devastating news had delivered.
“Yes, ma’am.” There
went that cowboy “ma’am” thing again, punctuated by a boyish shuffling of his
western boots on the dusty ground. “Can’t escape it around here.”
“Well, if you’re a
Mattson, why do you need this small property to add to the…what is it? Eight or
ten thousand acres your family owns?” She didn’t mean to sound so
confrontational, but Albert had just crashed her desperately held dreams, so
her social filters were crashing, too. “You plan to buy the whole county?”
Where
can my readers find you on the Internet?
Web site at https://louisemgougeauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LouiseMGougeAuthor
Follow me on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/louise-m-gouge
Thank you, Louise, for sharing this
new book with my blog readers and me. You know how much I love your books.
Readers,
here’s a link to the book.
Safe
Haven Ranch
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