A FAMILIAR LOVE SONG - Arlene James - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I’m thrilled to introduce you to my long-time friend Arlene James. She lived not far from me for years, but then she moved to my home state of Arkansas. We keep in touch through the Internet now. She’s been a successful author for a long time, and you may have read some of her series. This book today is starting a new, and very different, series.

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

I find bits and pieces of myself in my characters. This one likes the same colors. That one struggles with the same habit(s). They enjoy the same pleasures or suffer from the same familial difficulties or insecurities. They struggle with the similar questions of faith that I’ve had to overcome or discover the answers to questions I’ve asked in the past. They’ve been widowed, as I have, or brokenhearted or seen their prayers answered … In some way, every character is me; and yet, no character is truly me.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

In writing, I suppose I’m doing it now, though the Chatam House series, with its triplet aunties, would have been my answer before the HOBBY RUN Variety Praise Band series.

If you’re not talking about writing, then I suppose that agreeing to marry my husband on our first date would be considered pretty quirky, but then I’d already met him in a dream. Literally.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

I think I knew I wanted to write almost as soon as I could read. I very clearly remember sitting at the dinner table when I was no older than nine and telling my dad that I wanted to write. His advice was to get to it. I was publishing by 7th grade, thanks to an English teacher who had me writing fiction pieces and, unbeknownst to me, submitted them to contests and various magazines. God bless that woman.

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

I really love anything historical because that is NOT what I write. I love westerns. I love science fiction and speculative fiction. I love nonfiction and read lots of political stuff. I read lots of Bible study material. I get lost in research sometimes. I love a good mystery, but I have to admit that I’m not big on suspense because I just don’t believe most of it can happen the way it’s written. I think that comes from being the stepdaughter of a very successful police investigator.

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

We live in a beautiful, quiet place here in NW Arkansas near our oldest son and granddaughters. Here, our closest neighbors are ½ mile away, and when we drive into town, traffic is minimal. We do have rush hour, and it does last a whole hour. Almost. I work a great deal, more than full-time, truthfully, so I don’t see my son and grandgirlies every day, but my Saturdays are given to basketball (both girls are real stand-outs) and my Sundays to church. My husband is an artist, and he has other things going on, so it’s usually just us and the dogs here. That allows me to work as much as I have to without going insane. I do have other interests. I’m the secretary of a non-profit agency in our area, and that requires a good deal of my time. We have many friends, and I love to see them, but unlike most of them, I am not retired and I don’t expect to be any time soon. Then there are my dogs. It’s good to be adored.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

My characters kind of name themselves. I’m working with one now who insists her name is Jos. That’s rather unconventional, so I had to come up with something reasonable to make that work as a sobriquet. It turns out that she’s named Jo Jessamyn, and her family shortens it to Jos. Those not close to her don’t know any better and call her “Jo,” which she hates, but then she reminds herself that her mother is called “Girly,” and no one but her father knows her mother’s real name. The characters seem to come up with their own given names, but surnames are a challenge. I often go through several before I find one that feels right and isn’t repetitive. After ninety-plus books, just not repeating myself is an issue.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

My children, hands down. I was told I’d never be able to carry a child to term, and I fought hard for the two I was able to birth, suffering numerous miscarriages along the way. Perhaps that’s why I tried to raise everyone else’s children, too. LOL. When people ask me how many children I have, I never know exactly what to tell them. Um, two for sure. Three, pretty solid. Could be four. Maybe five. I love them all. I’m proud of them all. God had blessed me, especially in my sons and with a husband who was willing to take all comers.

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

I was raised on a ranch, so I’m tempted to say a horse, but the truth is I’d probably be a dog. My two mutts are basically useless, but they love without question and spend most of their waking moments at my side. They are slavishly devoted and as happy to see me after an absence of five minutes as five days. They are so easily pleased: an occasional pat, a little rub, a slice of my apple … My husband says they are big furry doorbells because they let us know anytime anyone is on the place long before any visitor can make his or her way to the door. I can hear Silky, the 85-pounder, snoring on her bed behind my chair as I type this. When I get up and go in the other room, she will be at my heels. Her sister, Bean, will be waiting by the fire for me to sit down, then she’ll creep up into my lap, all 55 pounds of her, and lay her head on my shoulder. They are happy, utterly content. Sounds good to me.

What is your favorite food?

Only one? I suppose I have to say Italian, but I love to cook, and I can’t think of many things that I don’t like. My sons are great cooks, too, real foodies, and we’ve all been blessed to travel extensively, so we’ve gotten to eat in some great places, but we all agree that if there is one place we’d all go back to just for the food, it would be Italy.

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

Hm, my problem has always been that I have more ideas than I can get to; not enough hours in the day or days in the week. Too often, what publishers think the reading public wants is not what I want to write. Publishers are always looking for the next big thing, then they all jump on the bandwagon and beat the horse to death. When something catches the public’s interest, they try to replicate it a billion times over, all the while waiting for the next big thing to break out. They do this without realizing that their attempts to replicate PAST success actually prevents––or, at the very least, slows down––their discovery of that next big break out book/genre/subgenre.

I actually had an editor say to me that I should just do what everyone else was doing. When I replied that I wanted to do something different, something unique, she replied, “Well, yeah, that, too.”

Fortunately, we no longer have to depend on standard publishers to get our work out in front of the public. I’m a writer, not a promoter or a formatter or an artist or an editor (although I’ve done some of that). I write. That’s what I’m called to do; that’s what I want to do. So we incorporated a company, SillyPa Publishing, and have struck out on our on into self-publishing. One of my sons is an artist; he’s handling book covers, promotional videos and websites. One of my sons is a salesman/vendor; he’s handling coding, formatting, distribution and promotions. My agent, who worked extensively in television and radio production, is editing for me. We will see what God does.

This is not the first time I’ve had to reinvent myself to continue publishing, which is not to say that I am abandoning traditional publishing. I’m putting together a new series for Love Inspired now. But I’m excited about where God is taking me with this new venture. He’s never failed me. I often fail Him, despite my best efforts, but He has never failed me.

I so agree with you about all of your last answer. Tell us about the featured book.

A FAMILIAR LOVE SONG is the first book in the HOBBY RUN Variety Praise Band series. Ten musicians meet at a battle of the bands contest and gravitate together because of their Christian faith. They play different types of music and are of all ages from 20 to 60-plus. Only two of them are professionals, but they put together a unique sound that impresses the contest producer, Maggs Marko, and she offers them a steady gig at her alcohol-free venue, The Milking Barn, which is, yes, a converted milking barn.

Maggs has more on her mind than twice monthly band performances, however. The oldest member of HOBBY RUN is the man she left 25 years earlier. It was one of the biggest mistakes of her life. She walked out on their marriage and would give anything to change that, but she has terrible secrets. They’ve both become Christians, and Wyatt cannot deny that he’s still in love with Maggs, but forgiving her will take a superhuman kind of love and more faith than he’s sure he has. Along the way he learns not only Maggs’s secrets but a great deal about himself and his best friend, Drew. Is Maggs just a familiar old love song that he can’t get out of his head, though, or is she God’s will for the remainder of his life?

One of the most exciting things about this new series is that a good friend of mine, award-winning gospel music writer Joyce Powell, has agreed to write original music for our promotional videos. We’ll be laying down tracts for that soon––just as soon as the snow melts on the roads here.

I’m excited about this venture for you. Please give us the first page of the book.

Wyatt Ogilvie. In the flesh. The silver hair shocked her more than the few extra pounds or the scruffy beard. Though no longer dark, his hair remained thick and full, the hairline receding just a bit. His features had thickened slightly, but she’d have known him anywhere. Actually, he looked good, better than she’d have expected after all these years.

Had it really been nearly a quarter of a century since she’d packed her car and driven away from him? Not only had that been another decade, it had been another life, even another state. She’d been stunned to see his name on the list of entrants here in Fayetteville, Arkansas, so she’d taken her time looking him up. Three days into the competition, he and his partner were still here, and she couldn’t resist the temptation to seek him out any longer.

Would he recognize her? For some time now, she’d been bleaching her light brown hair blond in order to hide the gray that had begun to infiltrate her long locks. She wasn’t ready for that, though the delicate lines around her dark eyes proclaimed the years even without the gray. Lightening up on the eye shadow had helped, but she didn’t kid herself. She hadn’t spotted sixty on the horizon yet, but fifty was looking smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror.

She calculated Wyatt’s age. Sixty? Sixty-one? Man, he looked good for the big six-oh. She shook her head. Wasn’t fair. Men aged so much better than women. He could still play that guitar, too.

Watching his fingers pick those guitar strings, she tried not to let his husky, raspy voice pluck her heartstrings. His voiced used to be mellow, velvet––she still remembered the sound of it in the dark––and slurred when he was drunk or thunderous when raised in anger. He sounded raspy now but still retained enough elasticity to cover nearly two full octaves, and he’d lost none of the expressiveness that had made him one of the finest lead singers she’d ever heard.

People still stopped to listen. His audience presently consisted mostly of other performers. They lined the canvas-covered hay bales stacked to create sound-containing walls in the sprawling labyrinth of corridors, alleys, dressing rooms and rehearsal areas behind five main stages erected in an octagonal shape across 100 acres of open field at the county fairgrounds. Topped with treated plywood, the enclosure became a watertight city of sorts, complete with electricity, wi-fi, and air units strategically placed. The crowds of paying fans sat or stood on the bare ground in front of each stage, no matter the weather, but the performers and their equipment were protected. Fortunately, because most of the competition took place in the evenings, Arkansas summers boasted far cooler nights than days, and so far nary a rain cloud had darkened the horizon.

Wyatt finished the song, and a young stagehand hurried forward, clipboard in hand, to announce the lineup.

“In ten, Wranglers on Stage One, Unit Nine on Stage Two, Young Rockers on Stage Three, Big Bass on Stage Four, Folk-a-Billy on Stage Five. Let’s move it, people.”

As the college-aged functionary called off the secondary lineup, Wyatt turned to put away his guitar. Maggs laid aside her own clipboard and made her way through the milling throng in the backstage alley at the Second Annual Battle of the Bands. She hitched her thumbs in the belt loops of her spangled jeans and came to a stop behind him.

Striving for a playful tone, she said, “I told you smoking would ruin your voice.”

He neither turned nor paused in what he was doing. “I stopped smoking eighteen years ago, Maggs,” he replied quietly.

So he had seen and recognized her. She wondered if he’d have sought her out on his own, if he’d have spoken at all if she hadn’t pressed the issue. Probably not. Struggling not to feel disappointed, she put on a smile.

Arlene, I can hardly wait until my copy of the book gets here. I’m anxious to read it. How can my readers find you on the Internet?

Arlene James Facebook page

www.arlenejames.com

deararlenejames@gmail.com

www.chatamhouseseries.com

and soon: www.hobbyrunbooks.com

Thank you, Arlene, for sharing some of your life and this new book with us.

Readers, leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (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 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

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BABY MAKES A MATCH - Arlene James - Free Book

So glad go have my friend Arlene James with us today. Welcome, Arlene. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Every author writes from self-knowledge. It’s inescapable. I am a pragmatic personality, so I hate things that don’t make sense. Consequently, the motivations and habits of my characters must be entirely reasonable or I just don’t like them and have trouble working with them. Hence, my main characters must have believable reasons for their behavior.

In real life, some people are simply not made like that. My mom was one of those folks whose reactions could come out of the blue without rhyme or reason. It took careful dissection for her to understand her own motivations, and often those motivations were just not reasonable to me. Frankly, I have to rely on my knowledge of her to write realistic characters with such personality traits. Even then, however, I’m fully aware that I am depending upon my own experience to design and communicate such a character. So, even those characters that are not a lot like me are predicated on my own self-knowledge.

I believe the same is true for every author.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Well, I agreed to marry my husband on our first date. It was totally out of character for me, but the circumstances were quite unusual. I was a young widow with a very small son. I was very angry with God after my first husband’s death, and it took a long time for me to reach the point where I could see that anger as sin and confess it. Soon after, I realized that my life wasn’t all that tragic. We were military, so I had no financial problems and all the support anyone could need. Then I had an unusual dream. I described it, for the most part, in my novella, DREAMING OF A FAMILY, in the book, A MOTHER’S GIFT. Shortly thereafter, I walked into a friend’s house and literally found the man in my dream sitting at her kitchen table. Scared the fool out of me. I saw him twice more after that. On the third occasion, we actually went out, at which point he announced that we should be getting married—and I agreed! That was the day after Christmas. Our respective families, including his cousin (my friend in whose home I met him), understandably went nuts, so we waited until mid April in order to let them calm down. That was more than thirty-four years ago now, and I still adore this man. No one who knows either of us can believe we came together in such a way, but there you have it.

My story is not the same, but James and I married 3 months and 3 days after our first blind date. And that was almost 46 years ago. When did you first discover that you were a writer?

I recall vividly sitting at the kitchen table in our small ranch house in Oklahoma with my younger brother and sister and our father when he asked each of us what we wanted to do with our lives. My sister talked about being a barber on a cruise ship, of all things, so she could see the world. She’s now a nurse and, like me, has traveled extensively. My brother intended to be an engineer. He is a very accomplished builder. I stated flatly that I wanted to write books. Since I had been very ill for a long time with rheumatic fever, I was very well read and had just finished John Bunyan’s PILGRIM’S PROGRESS, which I found fascinating, and a collection of O. Henry short stories, which inspired me to write my own short story. I knew right away that the short story format was much less interesting to me than the novel format, hence I would be a novelist. I was nine years old. A teacher later entered the short story in a contest, and it won first place, but it was my father’s attitude that convinced me I could write if I chose to do so. A self-educated and self-made man, he never blinked an eye at any of the ambitions of his children. He believed that anything we wanted badly enough to work hard at, we could achieve. My husband is of the same mind, and the two of them convinced me to work toward publication.

He sounds a lot like my own father. Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I read so widely and so eclectically that it would be easier to tell you what I don’t like, which is anything that is nonsensical. I was forced to read ALICE IN WONDERLAND as a child, and it remains my least favorite story to date simply because I couldn’t find a reason for any of it. I prefer a good mystery to a suspense novel, love anything historical, provided it’s accurate, and enjoy a good fantasy––when it’s rooted in truth. I love a good western. I also enjoy nonfiction and have read a lot of scholarly work on Scripture, which I find fascinating, but I find lots of subjects fascinating. I’m looking at a huge tome on HERBS AND SPICES right now, and another on Native American heritage. One of my all-time favorite books is WESTERING MAN, The Life of Joseph Walker, Master of the Frontier, by Bil Gilbert. I named my youngest son Joseph because of that book. Contemporary Romance is often difficult for me to read because that is what I write, so it feels like work rather than pleasure.

What other books have you written, whether published or not?

I’ve written 75 novels and have sold nearly seven million books in total, all contemporary romances. For several years now, I’ve concentrated in inspirational contemporary romance published by Love Inspired from Steeple Hill Books. I’m currently enjoying a series called Chatam House, which revolves around three sisters, triplets in their seventies, and their large antebellum mansion. Devout Christians, they have developed the habit of offering sanctuary to those whom God brings to their doorstep, for one reason or another. A surprising number of romantic matches have been the result of that largesse, often involving their own family members, as they have a number of siblings and many nieces and nephews. The first two books in that series have already been published, ANNA MEETS HER MATCH, and A MATCH MADE IN TEXAS. The third, BABY MAKES A MATCH, will be out in mid August to early September.

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

My family, friends and church keep me grounded and help me properly order my priorities.

I’m not cut out to simply sit in a pew, and my grandfather, a very godly man, taught me that the only way to serve God is to serve people, so I’ve always chosen to attend service-oriented churches and find some way to be an active part of ministry. The outcome, I leave entirely to God. It’s up to us to serve, period, and not worry about outcomes.

My husband, sons, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren always have first claim on my time, frankly, and we work hard to stay close though we live far apart. However, I have friends who are really “chosen family,” and they are as dear to me as anyone, no matter how far apart we may be. (The “daughter of my heart” lives in England!)

These things bless my life and feed my writing.

As for my sanity, I really don’t much care how anyone else views me or what anyone else has or accomplishes. I don’t have to keep up with the Joneses or envy anyone, and I truly believe, as my Dad would say, that most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be, whatever the challenges. This world is not heaven, so I don’t expect things to run smoothly all the time or labor under the lie that God will always answer my prayers as I think He ought to or hope He will. I enjoy and admire people who are as honest with themselves as everyone else and tend to avoid those who feel phony to me.

Frankly, I do not know how non-Christians cope or understand how Christians can fail to do so. I’ve been told by non-believers that my Christianity is a crutch. Okay. Doesn’t make Christ less real or God less powerful. And it beats to pieces other crutches, like drugs, alcohol, sexual promiscuity, money…

How do you choose your characters’ names?

My books tend to be very much character-driven. I usually get at least one of the characters before I get the premise of any particular story. My characters tend to be so strong that they kind of choose their own names, so if an editor vociferously objects to a character’s name (and they occasionally do), I basically have to jettison the character––and often the story––and move on. I do have a book with baby names and look at several on-line sites that list names, but as I get to know my characters, their names just come with that knowledge.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

My family. My marriage is a blessing that truly humbles me. My sons are wonderful men, whose company I enjoy immensely. My daughter-in-law is brilliant and a great wife and mom. My granddaughters are amazing and such fun. Those we’ve brought into our family are interesting, honest, lovable blessings, who enrich all of our lives. We don’t all agree on everything and lead very different lives, but we love and enjoy and value each other. Such relationships take time and effort, but my husband and I covenanted long ago to make such a family our mutual priority. I’m not ashamed to say that I think we’ve done very well, but it’s always a work in progress.

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

A horse. I grew up on a ranch. My dad trained horses. I can’t think of any animal that has contributed more to the formation of societies and civilizations. They’re strong, beautiful and trainable and they can be very loyal. Plus, they give great pleasure but require some “knowing.” In particular, I’d be a big, fast, blood bay with black stockings and sleek lines.

What is your favorite food?

One of my great besetting sins is that I love to cook and to eat, but if I must choose just one, then it will have to be chocolate, particularly the Belgian chocolate that my husband routinely brings home from his business trips to Brussels and its environs.

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

I don’t do trends well. I’m just contrary that way. Whatever TV programs are most popular, I avoid just on principle. If it appeals to everyone else, then it doesn’t usually appeal to me. I’m just not a very good follower or even a good joiner for the sake of being part of the crowd. In other words, I suppose I’m too independent to fit well into “the market,” whatever that may be at any given time, so I have to create my own niche, my own “market,” if you will. I firmly believe that the only way to do that is to write good, honest books, which sometimes makes my editor want to yank out her hair, I’m sure. She and the marketing department want hooks and buzz words, but I can’t write to those things. Instead, I have to pull them out of what I do write, and that is sometimes a lengthy process, which tends to make editors and marketers quite nervous. It’s always a tightrope walk with me, writing what I need and want to write and meeting their expectations in the process. Thankfully, God has blessed me with good sales, so the publisher continues to put up with me!

What advice would you give to an author just starting out?

It is as important to understand what you instinctively do well as what you need to work on. What you do well is due to your particular talent, which is where you will find your writing “voice.” Learn what it is that you have a particular talent for and cultivate it.

That said, the rules of English grammar are important tools. You can bend, even break, the rules for the sake of effect, but you have to know them and how to properly use them first. No substitute for them exists!

The other important fact that unpublished authors need to know is this: Selling a first book is a matter of getting the right manuscript in the right hands at the right time. Period. Until that happens, you will remain unpublished, no matter how well honed your craft is. My best solution for that? Prayer. Lots of it. Of course, to be most efficacious, prayer requires truly yielding to God’s will, in one’s writing as well as everything else. How anyone else manages it, I have no idea.

Tell us about the featured book.

BABY MAKES A MATCH is a marriage-of-convenience book, which is not particularly easy to pull off in a contemporary setting, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much!

After simply doing a good deed by offering an obviously pregnant woman a much-needed ride, rodeo cowboy Chandler Chatam is continually mistaken for the father of that expected baby. For a Christian man with plenty of problems and a retired minister for a father who always seems to expect the worst of this particular son, it’s a very embarrassing and vexing situation. For Bethany Willows, who is pregnant and, through no fault of her own, unmarried, it’s worse, especially as she dares not explain her situation. When Chandler discovers the truth about her, the only solution for either of them seems to be marriage. Neither of them really expects a marriage of such “inconvenience,” if you will, to be the solution to all their problems, and it isn’t…unless, of course, it’s all part of God’s plan.

I love it already. Please give us the first page of the book.

Baby Makes a Match
By Arlene James

Chapter One

“Six hundred dollars?” Bethany gaped at the mechanic. The man was unknown to her, just the first possible help that she had found along the road to Dallas after steam had started pouring out from under the hood of her pathetic little heap. “You’ve got to be kidding. The car wasn’t worth six hundred bucks when I started out in it!”

The hulking fellow wiped grease from his hands with a grimy red cloth. “Can’t argue with that,” he agreed, eyeing the offending vehicle.

“Look, I’m not even going as far as Dallas,” she pleaded, clutching the thin cotton skirt of her empire-style, ankle-length, blue-and-white flowered sundress, inadvertently pulling the fabric taut across her distended belly. Her slenderness made her look farther along in her pregnancy than she actually was, but she didn’t think about that now. “Isn’t there something you can do to get me to Buffalo Creek?”

He scratched his bald head. “Tell you what, I’ll give you three hundred cash for it as is. Maybe I can part it out, get my money back that way.”

“Three hundred?” Bethany repeated in dismay.

Making three hundred dollars beat shelling out six hundred that she did not even have, but how was she to make to Buffalo Creek if she sold her car? The baby moved, producing an odd fluttering sensation inside her abdomen, as if to say she might as well get on with it.

Now I'm really hooked. How can readers find you on the Internet?

Websites: http://www.arlenejames.com/
http://www.chatamhouseseries.com/
Facebook: Arlene James
Amazon.com
eHarlequin.com

Thank you, Arlene, for the interesting peek into your life.

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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.

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