FORSAKING ALL OTHERS - Allison Pittman - Free Book

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

I love the act of creating a sort of alternate reality—creating characters who are allowed to live outside of the normal, kind of hum-drum lives most of us live. I like exploding the ordinary bits of a life, taking just a short section of time—a week, a few months, a few years—and exploring the impact.

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

This is going to sound so cheesy, but it was one perfect day at DisneyWorld with my family. Everybody was getting along, it wasn’t too hot, the lines weren’t too long—it was a trip we’d been planning for a couple of years, and it was absolutely perfect.

How has being published changed your life?

For one thing, I quit my full-time teaching job, which has made me so much more available as a wife and mother. That’s the best! Another change is simple the number of people in my life—at all levels. I’ve actually always been not exactly shy, but reserved—perfectly happy with either my own company, or a carefully chosen small circle of friends. Now, I’ve met so many people—some actually in person! It’s an odd thing to me that strangers would want to know me, know about me. I’ve learned to be a lot more open.

What are you reading right now?

On my e-reader, I’m reading The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein. In the car (I’m in a season of road-trips) I’m listening to The Murderer’s Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers. My next book-book is Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes Waters. Next up is World War Z, a zombie-apocalypse novel, and Five Women, a 1960’s Rona Jaffe classic. I have a wide range of interests…

What is your current work in progress?

I’m working on the first in a three-book series set in the 1920’s—all three about young women who, in the course of their life, in some way encounter the first mega-church-building female evangelist Aimee Semple McPhereson.

Can't wait to read those stories. We must have them on the blog. What would be your dream vacation?

Seriously…I’m such a simple girl. It would be a full week at Disney World, three days alone with hubby, then fly the kids in. I know there’s an entire actual world out there, so I guess my second choice would be Ireland.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

I usually start with a character…then that character’s story…then I have to figure out what would be the most logical place for it to happen. Sometimes, though, the setting is, well, set. Like, I couldn’t write about the early Mormon church without going to Salt Lake City, Utah. And, in my novel The Bridegrooms, I was entranced with the Cleveland Spiders baseball team that simply fell out of history, so I had to go to Cleveland. So, really, sometimes I don’t feel like I have a huge range of options for setting…And when I can’t make something work, I’ll just create a little village on my own! 

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

That’s hard, because too often people are nothing like what you think they would be. But, assuming it’s with my husband’s blessing, I would love to have dinner with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. I just think he’s hilarious, and brilliant.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

This is where I have to confess to watching a lot of TV. Like, a lot. But, quality stuff, with the occasional foray into “America’s Next Top Model.” I lack even the tiniest chromosome for crafts, and so far time and money have been total travel restrictions. But, I am a roller-coaster junkie, so we do that a lot as a family.

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

Procrastination, insane optimism, the lure of the new idea, the overestimation of my abilities, the hours in a day—wait, just one? It’s always poor planning, meaning, poor scheduling of my time, and poorly sticking to the schedule I set for myself. I’ve yet to overcome it, but I’m quick to recognize God’s grace as He throws me a rope every time a deadline comes around the corner!

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Get a degree in marketing. J Seriously, writing a book is such a small percentage of living the career of a writer. On the writing side, though, I’d say to study, really study, the craft, with the attitude that you have a lot to learn, because we ALL do!

Tell us about the featured book.

Forsaking All Others is the highly-anticipated (and I have the emails to prove it) sequel to For Time and Eternity. Camilla Fox, the heroine in both books, is a woman caught up in the early Mormon church through her whirl-wind marriage to the handsome Nathan Fox. In the first book, we see Nathan bring a second wife into their home, and Camilla’s determination to free herself from that church’s grip. She only begins her journey in the final chapters of For Time and Eternity. In Forsaking All Others, we see her bring it to completion, though not exactly in the way that she envisioned.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is www.allisonpittman.com, and I also have an author page on facebook.


Thank you, Allison, for sharing with us today.


Readers, here's a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.  Forsaking All Others (Sister Wife)


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FOR TIME AND ETERNITY - Allison Pittman - Free Book

I'm glad to have Allison on my blog. I spent almost a week with her and more than a dozen published authors earlier in the year. What fun! Welcome, Allison. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Not much, actually. When I’m creating my characters, I have a chance to create people who are stronger, wiser, nicer, and smarter than I am. Why would I make readers suffer through stories about people who make the same mistakes over and over and over again? Seriously, though, I tend to pop up in some of the more satellite characters, and not often in a flattering light!


What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

I once managed to slam my own head in a car door. Not so much quirky as painful, I guess.

I once was resting my foot on the frame of a car with the door open when someone slammed the door. Very painful, too. When did you first discover that you were a writer?

When I was very young—like, before kindergarten—I would get disgruntled at some perceived wrong that had been done to me and would decide to run away. I couldn’t write yet, so I would dictate my “I am running away from home because…” note to my mother. I could have created my own scribbles, but I knew that wasn’t “real” writing, and I wouldn’t settle for less. I’d place the note on my bed, pack my underwear in my Barbie suitcase and walk down to the corner and wait until dinner-time.

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

It’s a fairly limited range: I like good books. I need rich detail and sophisticated writing to keep me engaged, so that could be historical, fantasy, suspense, literary, YA… I am not one of those who feels compelled to finish a book once I start. My life is littered with unfinished books. A story gets about 72 pages of grace before I’ll set it aside. Part of that is because I am such a slow reader—it can take me forever to finish a book I love. I mean, I’ve been reading Run by Anne Patchett for over 2 years. I love the writing, but the story’s kind of ‘meh? So, no rush to finish. On the other hand, I read A Reliable Wife in two days.

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

Who says I do? Seriously, though, my saving factor here is my ability to decide that some things just do not matter. Like housework and laundry. If I have a chapter to write, I can sit in the middle of the messiest house you can imagine and write, write, write. Most important, though, I find pockets of time to simply STOP. I’ll go out and get a coffee with my husband, or watch YouTube videos with my sons, or pray. Just be still.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Sometimes I look for some symbolic meaning. In For Time and Eternity, Nathan’s last name is “Fox,” chosen very purposefully because he’s kind of a trickster, but I really have no method to naming Camilla other than the fact that I wanted three syllables. Because it’s a first-person narrative, I gave myself the luxury of a complicated name. Other than that, I scroll through my facebook friends (yes, really), pull up old high school friends, browse through census records for the story’s time period, or just start saying name after name out loud until something “clicks.”

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Every day I wake up living in the middle of a successful, vibrant marriage to a wonderful godly man, knowing just down the hall are three beautiful, smart, talented, respectful, godly sons. What more could this life ever give me?

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

I would be my dog, Stella. She lounges around all day, eats whatever and whenever she wants, gets to go out and walk every day (unless it’s too hot or too rainy). Wait, maybe I am Stella…

What is your favorite food?

Honestly? McDonald’s Big Mac. But, I swore off of them this year. So, second favorite is a really good BLT.

What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

For me, it was the idea of promoting a book once it was published. I chalk this problem up to a mixture of fear, humility, and laziness. It’s still very hard for me to say to someone, “You should read my book.” I guess I’ve never been much of a risk-taker, but God knows this about me, and in His amazing grace, He’s allowed my career to flourish despite my shortcomings. Not that things have been handed to me—I’ve had to step up to the plate, but He’s allowed me to go great distances with relatively short steps.

Tell us about the featured book.

For Time and Eternity takes place in the early days of the LDS church. It tells the story of a young girl, Camilla Deardon, who, despite her parents’ warning, falls in love and runs off with Nathan Fox, a handsome, charming young Mormon. She joins him on his journey to the Utah territory where they build a loving home together until the death of her infant son brings into focus some of the false teachings she’s been exposed to. Her grief frees her to question the Mormon doctrine, and rediscover her relationship with Jesus Christ.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

They can go to my website, http://www.allisonpittman.com/. Or, my blog, apittman-crossroads.blogspot.com . And, of course, on facebook: Allison Pittman Author Page.

Thank you for stopping by, Allison. I can hardly wait to read your book.

Readers, here's a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.














Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)


Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

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 6 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment. Here’s a link.

http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/