A NURSE FOR JACOB - Caryl McAdoo - One Free Book

Welcome back, Caryl.

Thank you so much for having me back, Lena! I love coming to visit with you!

You have a lot of books out now. What is your favorite setting to use in your books?

Yes, ma’am! At the end of 2020, I’ll have fifty-six titles published. Since 2015, I’ve averaged seven new titles a year. That’s a lot when you’re doing all the negotiating for covers, formatting, publishing and marketing by yourself . The only thing I have help with is, of course, the writing since Ron and I write together.

As for my favorite settings. That’s got to be Texas. Even my June 2020 release, KENTUCKY BRIDE, my heroine meets and falls for a Texas Ranger fighting for the Confederacy! I’m a true blue, loyal Texan by heart even though I was born in California.  

My Texas Romances Family Saga is set in Clarksville, seat of Red River County where we live now. This area is so ripe with history; it lent itself as a wonderful setting. And we know the land so well. That series has ten full-length novels and six Texas Companion Books of those families’ ancestors and descendants.

My characters travel and some even move to both coasts—San Francisco and New York. Some even went to Alaska, but Texas is always home.

There’s about to be five titles so far in my new Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga where each of the novels has Texas in its title. Those families came to Texas in 1840 from Tennessee. They’ve done some traveling, too.

A NURSE FOR JACOB, we randomly set in New Orleans and the Touro Infirmary or Hospital now. 

What do you look for when you’re shopping for a book to buy for yourself?

I must admit, writing seven titles a year leaves little time for reading, but God is slowing me down. He keeps having me remove things from my plate. The only blog I have left is my own at my website which I haven’t written for in a long time.

Many of my author friends send me their books for endorsements, but if the stories don’t hook me right away, I don’t finish them. When one does, I can’t put it down and get so far behind! I cannot remember the last time I went shopping for a book. I truly hate saying that.

I do understand. With my newest 3-book contract, I don’t have many other activities. Give us a little tour of the setting for this book.

The book opens when Lydia Andres, freshly graduated from the Harrows

School of Nursing, arrives at Touro Infirmary to begin her career. Ron and I have been to New Orleans once, and I don’t suppose we will ever go back. But it has been a setting where many of our characters go.

This is the first time a whole story—albeit quite short, the shortest we’ve written—is set there, but we don’t mention the seedy parts. Lydia meets her doctor and they start out being friends, going to the theatre and working together in New Orleans.

It's short because the authors who organized the collection set the lengths of the stories. When you sign up for a collection, you should adhere to the guidelines the leaders of that collection set. I prefer writing a long book.    

What other books do you have coming out soon?

On September first, I’m quite excited to release TEXAS TROUBLES, book five in the Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga I mentioned earlier and, it’s also in the third annual Thanksgiving Books and Blessings Collection which as you know, I organize each year. I was blessed for you to be a part of it the first year with ESTHER’S TEMPTATION!

TEXAS TROUBLES covers the Civil War period. What an oxymoron to call that war civil in any world. It actually opens in the summer of 1860 before the war started with a true incident of Texas history called Texas Troubles. Several towns burned on the same day: Dallas, Denton, and Pilot Point. Negro slaves were blamed and hung. Many say it was the beginning of the war.

The two young scallywag boys—if memory serves they were five and six in 1840, characters of GONE TO TEXAS, book one of the Cross Timbers series. Now they have grown into men, and they’re off to fight in the craziness—on opposite sides. It’s an epic story with two romances in its pages that is available on Pre-order nowhere:  https://www.amazon.com/Texas-Troubles-Timbers-Thanksgiving-Blessings-ebook/dp/B08DJ7YKS8
           

Please give us a glimpse inside your home.

Ron and I built a metal home on 34 acres I call The Peaceable. We still had the four grandsons when we moved in July of 2013. There’s two bedrooms and two baths downstairs and four cubicles upstairs, one for each boy. The last one left in 2017, so at age 67, we became empty nesters!

We didn’t put central heat and air in the house. So now, we only cool one room unless company comes—our bedroom. It has both our computer desks, a comfy TV watching, nap chair for Ron, a fireplace, and our queen-sized bed. This is where all the writing is done unless we’re traveling.

Here’s a photo taken from the living room door into our room. I sit at the big armoire desk in the far corner, Ron’s desk is on the wall to the right. 

We pretty much stay in there unless we’re eating or outside working in the yard. We eat in the dining room where I painted some fun woods with a deer, a couple of squirrels and a mama bird with a nest full of hungry mouths.

I’m trying to carve a yard out in the middle of The Peaceable’s woods. Ron wasn’t onboard at first. He liked the no-work “natural” look, but I kept working at it until finally, he agreed it was looking better and better and is helping me now.

After all, didn’t God first say to tend the garden? 
  

Is this novel part of a series or a stand-alone book?

A NURSE FOR JACOB, for me, is a standalone story. It doesn’t have any of my other books’ characters in it. Even though I love doing that. It is a part of a multi-author collection, “Nursing the Heart” in which all the stories are standalone from each other. The connection is that all the nurses have just graduated in the same class at the fictitious Harrow’s School of Nursing.

Tell us about the story.

The jacket copy goes like this: Physician heal thyself.
While physical wounds heal with time, a special balm is needed to heal those sick of soul. In the Civil War aftermath, two such people’s paths cross.

Recent graduate of the Harrow School of Nursing first class in May 1868,

Lydia Andrews arrives at the Touro Infirmary in New Orleans, hired on Clara Barton’s endorsement. There she meets Doctor Jacob Johnston, and both soon learn that love is the salve to soothe wounded souls.

Lydia had gone with her aunt and mother to get men off the battlefield near their home. They did what was needed in the field then got the men back to their house where they nursed them. One she nursed, she fell in love with, but he went back to war and was killed.

That and the joy of helping those wounded caused her to love nursing and submit to the school for admittance.

Please give us the first page of the book.

New Orleans, May 4, 1868

Lydia admired the two-story building from the corner of Gaienne and Old Levee Streets, strode up the walk, then stopped at the Infirmary’s front door and adjusted her cap. She smoothed her apron, ready to open the portal to her new life. The attendant at the admissions desk eyed her a bit too hard, then stood.

“May I help you, Miss?” The old lady’s tone implied she hated surprises and had a strong desire to know it all. Perhaps she loved order above all else.

Hopefully, a smile would soften her.

“Yes, ma’am. Might you please direct me to the matron? I’m Nurse Lydia Andrews from the Harrow School of Nursing, graduation class of 1868, reporting for duty, ma’am.” She almost started to salute, but instead, just smiled.

The woman didn’t seem amused or impressed.

“I believe the matron is expecting me, ma’am. She’s discussed me coming with Miss Clara Barton herself.”

A feminine wailing came from down the hall to the woman’s right and drowned out her response. The lady shot a furtive glance in that direction then looked back. “Uh . . .”

Another scream, that one louder than the first and even more painful sounding, caused Lydia to take a step toward the commotion.

“Ma’am? Is someone with her? Should I go see?”

The receptionist shrugged. “She’s been like that for a while now. Doctor Johnston should be here any minute. I’ve already sent word upstairs.”

“I see. Thank you.” Lydia did a quick sidestep. “I’ll just go take a peek and see if perhaps I may be of assistance.”

Another scream threatened to pierce the air asunder. She picked up her pace then burst into the exam room. The extremely pregnant woman lay on the table, her husband holding her hand. He appeared as though he might pass out any minute himself.

Lydia grabbed a stool, plopped down at the table’s foot, and threw the sheet back. The baby’s head had presented. Another contraction hit. The lady pushed, screaming again, but not as loud that time. The baby’s head didn’t move.

It took the poor woman three more contractions with Lydia helping to get the baby out. She cleaned the child’s mouth then swatted the little one’s bottom, being rewarded with a nice, healthy, albeit plenty angry, cry. As precious as anything could ever be, the newborn boy had been through quite the ordeal himself! And he wasn’t one little bit happy about it.

  

She laid him on his mama’s belly, tied off and cut the cord, then readied to receive the placenta. The afterbirth looked complete, but she saved it in case the doctor wanted to examine it. Another woman came in, took a quick look and ran out again. In mere minutes, she returned with water and towels.

It didn’t take long to realize the new mother was bleeding too much. The baby’s head had torn open a six-inch gash in the birth canal.  Lydia’s eyes searched those of the woman.

“Where’s Doctor James?”

The other lady, maybe twice her age, only shrugged. “I’m sorry, I have no idea. Two hours ago, he was in surgery. Two gamblers got into it, and he was working on the loser. Haven’t seen him since then.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I wouldn’t imagine that would be any hill for a stepper! I’m all over the internet! I have author’s pages at Amazon, Simon and Schuster, BookBub, All Author, Book Gorilla, and Southern Writers Magazine! Plus, I participate in all the social media sites! Here are those links and others!

Author Pages:

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Caryl-McAdoo/e/B00E963CFG

BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caryl-mcadoo?follow=true  

Simon & Schuster - http://tinyurl.com/S-SCarylsPage

BookGorilla - http://www.bookgorilla.com/author/B00E963CFG/caryl-mcadoo
Southern Writers Magazine - http://authors.southernwritersmagazine.com/caryl-mcadoo.html

Sweet Americana Sweethearts – http://bit.ly/2q0tcfFbit.ly     

Website: http://www.CarylMcAdoo.com    

Newsletter: http://carylmcadoo.com/sign-up-to-the-caryler/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1hQx6UZbWi3OYwmKKxh6Q  

                            (Hear Caryl sing her New Songs!)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarylMcAdoo.author

Blogs: 
The Word & the Music http://carylmcadoo.com/blog/

GoodReads:  http://tinyurl.com/GoodReadsCaryl

Google+: http://tinyurl.com/CarylsGooglePlus

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-mcadoo-00562323

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CarylMcAdoo

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/CarylMcAdoo

Puzzle: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=01cec718487b

Thank you again for inviting me, Lena! Blessings to you and James!

And thank you, Caryl, for sharing this new book with us. I know my blog readers are as anxious as I am to find out what happens next.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

https://amzn.to/3fbguA5

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (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.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

TEXAS MY TEXAS - Caryl McAdoo - One Free Book

Welcome back, Caryl. You have a lot of books out now. What is your favorite setting to use in your books?
Texas and its history, but to spice up settings for my readers, my Texicans do travel in some of my stories! They’ve been to California and New York City, New Orleans, and Alaska to name a few!

I love writing about

What do you look for when you’re shopping for a book to buy for yourself?
Historical Christian Romance, and I love family sagas and series best!

Give us a little tour of the setting for this book.

TEXAS MY TEXAS is book two in the Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga series. In book one, four families came from Tennessee to Texas. This book is set in 1841, the next year, and is all about them digging in and getting fields ready to plant and building their animal population (milk cow, chickens, hogs, etc.)

The area is actually what is now Irving, Texas, on Delaware Creek and the Trinity River bottomlands. That’s where Ron and I grew up, met, married, and reared all our children. We were residents there fifty-plus years, but it didn’t become Irving until the early 1900s, so we don’t call it Irving in the book, of course.

What other books do you have coming out soon?

This month I released BIPARTISAN LOVE set in the Texas Hill Country in 1968 (the year I married). It’s a follow-up to SON OF PROMISE, both companion books to my Texas Romance Family Saga series. This month, JEWEL’S GOLD debuted. It’s book four in the Gold Diggers Collection, and a companion book as well to the Texas Romance Family Saga as it features the daughter of a child born in book four of that series.

And my final release this year is in September TEXAS TEARS, book three in the Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga, following TEXAS MY TEXAS. It’s also a part of the Thanksgiving Books and Blessings Collection! It’s set in 1845 when the Republic of Texas voted to enter the Union.  

Please give us a glimpse inside your home.

We live deep in the woods about five miles south of Clarksville, Texas, seat of Red River County, on thirty-four acres. The front 12 is a farm field we lease. I call it The Peaceable. We built the house in 2012-2013 and moved in July 2013. It’s a steel house, even the studs in the walls are steel. Our property is surrounded by a little over 600 acres Ron’s brother owns, so all the grandsugars come during hunting season, and there’s a five acre lake, too, stocked ten years ago with Florida bass! I LOVE the woods, the country, and the small town life.  

Inside the house, since it’s just Ron and me now (as of January 2017, we’ve become empty-nesters after rearing four grandsons after our own four), we live mostly in one room—our master bedroom and office. SO much cheaper to only cool or heat the one room. I’m back up in the corner on the far side of the bed, and he’s at the desk to the right. We love Love, LOVE being together all the time!

Is this novel part of a series or a stand-alone book?

All my books are stand-alone and can be enjoyed as such. However. I LOVE revisiting characters with new stories, so TEXAS MY TEXAS is a part of the Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga series. Two of the daughters in book one have romances in this title! And you see all the folks you’ve already met again.

Tell us about the story.

It’s a story that deals with devastating depression, true unconditional love, and choosing to have a fulfilled life with blessings and joy. Trials and tribulations do come, but it’s clear they can all be overcome when walking with the Creator of all things! It’s a story that once again proves, Love never fails!

Please give us the first page of the book.

March 8th, 1841

Between the Delaware Creek and Trinity River—what would become Dallas County

Gabrielle stood over the little cradle rocker her pap had made, touched her baby boy’s nose, then glanced over at Izzy’s son. She hated the resemblance of the two infants and that he’d come out with such pale skin.

Were the others thinking of him as high yeller like she was? So far, no one had spoken it if they were.

“Thank you.” She looked at her father’s new bride. “I won’t be long, Mam.”

Liberty rocked forward, set her Bible on her lap, and smiled. “Take your time, sweetheart. These two are high and dry with full bellies. Don’t you love how much they sleep?”

“Yes, ma’am. I truly do.”

Without more jawing, Gabrielle grabbed her bucket yoke and strolled out of the barn. She loved the building her daddy built—well, they all helped, but he designed it and was the one who knew how.

It made her so proud.

What the next joint effort would be had become a point of contention. Everyone couldn’t agree on what or when.

But did it really matter? Hopefully, she’d not be around to know or care. If it weren’t for her son . . . If only she had miscarried like Alicia, she and her son could both be in Heaven.

At the pool, formed when the men had dammed up the creek, she set the yoke down, knelt, then pressed her forehead to the bank’s soft earth.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Links : 
Author Pages:

     Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Caryl-McAdoo/e/B00E963CFG

     BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caryl-mcadoo?follow=true   

Website: http://www.CarylMcAdoo.com    

Newsletter: http://carylmcadoo.com/sign-up-to-the-caryler/
Influencers’ Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/Carylers/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1hQx6UZbWi3OYwmKKxh6Q  

                            (Hear Caryl sing her New Songs!)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarylMcAdoo.author

GoodReads:  http://tinyurl.com/GoodReadsCaryl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-mcadoo-00562323

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CarylMcAdoo

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/CarylMcAdoo

Thank you, Carol, for sharing this book with my blog readers and me. I’m eager to read it.

Readers, here are links to the book.

Texas My Texas (Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga)  - Paperback
Texas My Texas (Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga Book 2) - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (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.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

JOHN DAVID'S CALLING - Caryl McAdoo - One Free Book

Dear Readers, today we’re welcoming back one of my favorite Texan Christian authors with book one of a new series. Be sure and express your welcome.

Carol, do you have a favorite genre to write? If so, what is it?

I do, and I’d say it is historical romance because of the gentility of the romance back then. Young girls dressed very modestly and were chaperoned when beaus came to call. And the young men always went through the father to date the daughter. Folks were more neighborly then, and parents didn’t have to worry about the safety of their children in the community.

Although, Biblical fiction runs a close second!

If you didn’t live in the part of the country where you do, where would you live?

Oh, what a good question as I’ve ever only lived in Texas and never even thought about living outside her borders. I guess I can say if I didn’t live in Northeast Texas, I’d live in the Texas Hill Country. Hope that’ll work because I just don’t want to live much farther away!

The Lord moved us from the DFW Metroplex where we’d lived fifty-plus years in Irving to Clarksville, seat of Red River County (about 3 hours north and east) We live on thirty-four acres in a house we built in 2013. I call it The Peaceable. My husband’s brother has six hundred acres on three sides of our place, so we have lots of room to play!

What foreign country would you like to visit and why?

This is the easiest question ever. I have always longed to go to Israel and would go in a minute, at the drop of a hat! Why, because it is my heart’s desire to walk where my Savior walked, pray at Gethsemane, and lose myself in Jerusalem! When I imagine myself there, the minute I get off the plane I go to the ground, prone, and worship. But since I’m 69 now, and cannot get off the ground by myself . . . I probably shouldn’t try that. First chance I got though . . . I kiss the ground!

At 76, I totally understand that not getting off the ground, or floor, by myself. Describe what you think would be the most romantic vacation you could take.

Ron and I went to San Antonio for our belated honeymoon. I’d love going back there again with him. Otherwise, the only other place I even want to go is Israel.

For decades, I’ve had a yearning to go to Australia. I know. I will only see it from afar. Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

Hmm, I don’t know. Most of my characters live in Texas. They come from New York, and one daughter moved there. Another daughter ran away to San Francisco, so some of the family is there now, and in JEWEL’S GOLD—my new release next month—my heroine goes to Alaska! My Biblical fiction have all been set in Israel . . . and of course in UNIQUELY COMMON and REMI (my April and May releases this year) they travel from New York to Saint Joseph, Missouri, and then on the Oregon/California Trail! I haven’t thought about any other place . . .   

What is the main theme of this novel?

The theme of JOHN DAVID’S CALLING is following the Lord wherever He may lead you. It’s about praying and researching and finding your own way along His chosen path for you. David had two grandfathers who loved the Lord, hearts, souls, and minds, yet were so different.

The one who reared him, John Harris, went to Church of Christ every time the doors opened and followed its strict doctrines, believing whoever wasn’t a member in his church would be going to hell. These days most aren’t so staunch. The other grandfather, Nathaniel Nightingale, preached in tents most his ministry before settling in a Holiness Church.

But God doesn’t have grandchildren, and David needed to decide for himself how he would worship God. Each of us must do the same.

He elects to attend Oral Roberts University and is soon called to the mission field.

Tell us about the story.

JOHN DAVID’S CALLING is Book One in the Revivalist Trilogy. Being a romance, David’s one desire beyond pleasing God is to make Hannah Claire his own. But like me, she never wanted to move far away from her parents and hometown. Back when we were still in our teens, I made Ron promise not to carry me way off!

It looks like, though the two have loved each other since they were children, the mission field call will keep them apart.

Book Two HANNAH CLAIRE’S WILDERNESS released in March and Book Three in the trilogy, KING DAVID’S TABERNACLE will launch in 2020.

Please give us the first page of the book.

The book opens with a scene between David and his favorite cousin.

He'd about made up his mind; been thinking on it a while though he hadn't asked anyone's counsel. David eased the truck to a stop right at the edge of Aunt Iva's property then faced his cousin. Good as any to try it out on.

“Sonny, my man, I've made up my mind. Want you to be the first to know.”

“Hey! What are we talking? You finally given up grape for Coca-Cola? Because I know you ain't decided to enlist.”

His favorite cousin could always put things in perspective. He grinned. “Nah, nothing as dramatic as that. I've decided to change my name. I'm going to court and make it official. But from now on, I'm John David Nightingale.”

“Oh man! You can't do that. Everyone will think you’re copying John David Crow! Plus, why whip up all the tongue waggers? Reminding everyone about your mama and daddy can't be any good for her.”

“I know, but—”

“Hey, she ain't going to like it any more than Uncle John. What? You wanting to give them all a good reason to call you a bast—”

“Don't you dare, Sonny Harris.” David held up a warning finger then waved him off. Of all people!

“Just like you said. I know who my father is, and it's for sure I don't want to carry Harry Prescott's name. I like John David way more than David John. Sounds better; don't you think?”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Links : 
Author Pages:

     Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Caryl-McAdoo/e/B00E963CFG

     BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caryl-mcadoo?follow=true   

     Simon & Schuster - http://tinyurl.com/S-SCarylsPage

     BookGorilla - http://www.bookgorilla.com/author/B00E963CFG/caryl-mcadoo
     Southern Writers Magazine - http://authors.southernwritersmagazine.com/caryl-mcadoo.html

     Sweet Americana Sweethearts - bit.ly/2q0tcfFbit.ly 

Website: http://www.CarylMcAdoo.com    

                         (All First Chapters offered here)

Newsletter: http://carylmcadoo.com/sign-up-to-the-caryler/
Influencers’ Group:   https://www.facebook.com/groups/Carylers/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1hQx6UZbWi3OYwmKKxh6Q  

                            (Hear Caryl sing her New Songs!)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarylMcAdoo.author

Blogs:
    The Word & the Music http://carylmcadoo.com/blog/

    HeartWings (Devotional) - http://www.HeartWingsBlog.com

    Sweet Americana Sweethearts (Historical) -

                 http://www.SweetAmericanaSweethearts.blogspot.com

GoodReads:  http://tinyurl.com/GoodReadsCaryl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-mcadoo-00562323

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CarylMcAdoo

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/CarylMcAdoo

Thank you, Caryl, for sharing this new series with us. I’m eager to read it.

Readers, here is a link to the book.

John David's Calling (The Revivalist Book 1)

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (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.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

I AM MY BELOVED - Caryl McAdoo - One Free Book

Dear Readers, we’ve had several of Caryl’s books on the blog. I love her American historical novels. This is the first biblical novel of hers that I’ve featured.

Welcome back, Caryl. How did this book come about?

Reading the story about when King David was dying, the young Shunammite damsel they brought to keep him warm, he married yet it says he never “knew” his last queen. Also, I loved that Abishag cherished him. David has long been my favorite Bible hero as I felt a kinship in my love of praise and singing new songs. She just stuck out—you know how the Holy Spirit does that.

Then I read how Adonijah wanted to marry her after his death, and Solomon killed him for it. What happened to her intrigued me. Plus, I’d always loved the love speech in the Song of Solomon . . . written in his later years. He speaks of a Shulamite, and in researching Jewish material, found agreement that Abishag was Solomon’s Shulamite.

Tell us about the book’s cover and what makes it unique.

For one, the model on the front is perfect for a beautiful young Shulamite. I’d wanted the purple of royalty to be prominent, and the gold accent was a natural choice. I wanted Israel to be in the background scene, and it’s there, but gets pretty covered up.

Please explain and differentiate between what’s fact and fiction in the book.

When I write Biblical fiction, I never, ever change God’s story. I often use other scriptures found in the Bible –not always in the story—to draw some conclusions. That Abishag IS the Shulamite in Song of Solomon, there is no proof. It was gratifying to find that Jewish historians also saw Abishag as the Shunamite.

She’s only mentioned in five verses found in I Kings’ first and second chapters. So the majority of the story is conjecture based on what we know of Jewish ways and her story that IS revealed in the Bible . . . that was not changed, only embellished for the story’s sake. I love Biblical fiction as long as God’s story isn’t changed.

How much research did you have to do for this book?

A lot! Mostly from the Word itself, for instance Rehoboam’s part, the actual building of the temple, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. In Song of Solomon, he calls her his sister which is covered by her relationship with Bathsheba in I AM My Beloved.

What are some of the most interesting things you found about this subject that you weren’t able to use in the story?

Can’t think of anything we didn’t use. I wonder about the title. If it throws people that there’s no possessive “s” on Beloved. I wanted the title to say that God—the Great I AM—is my Beloved.

What inspired and surprised you while you were writing the book?

Finding the Shulamite versus Shunamite was the big inspiration. And it surprised me to discover in Ecclesiastes that Solomon wrote it in his later years.

What do you hope the reader takes away from the story?

A deeper love of the Lord and understanding that it is possible to live a life without the things hoped for and it still be a fulfilled, wonderful life when the choice is made to accept His plan. I pray my readers will experience the kind of praise and worship Abishag did.

When writing this book, sitting at the computer, typing, I often just stopped and worshipped, weeping at His goodness, grace, and mercy. For me, Abishag’s story proved very impactful.

What is the next project you’re working on?

I’m working now on TEXAS TEARS, book three in the Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga and my contribution to this year’s Thanksgiving Books and Blessings Collection coming out in early September.

As far as Biblical fiction, I’m planning on a multi-author Kings and Prophets Collection to launch in early 2020. My book will be on Jeremiah.

What do you do when you have to get away from the story for a while?

Every day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Ron and I play a game of Quirkle while we’re having dinner. We play bridge twice a week, every Tuesday evening in a club and every Friday night, a couple comes over to our house for dinner and bridge, and then there’s a 3rd Thursday once-a-month club.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Abishag held the cups level and took small ladylike steps, careful not to slosh. She grinned then placed the wine—except water really, her mother wouldn't allow her real wine—on the stone table.

“The bread isn't quite ready, but almost. Can you stay longer?”

He shook his head. “No, my dear. Regrettably not.”

Leaning in close, he whispered in her ear, stood, then vanished just as he had come. She waited a thumb’s worth of the sundial, emptied both cups, then took them back inside, her parched throat revived.

“Sweetheart, there you are. The bread is ready. Would you want two loafs? Or will you share?” Her mother gave her ‘the look.’ That one that told it all. She never believed her when he came.

All the time, Mother kept talking with Father in hushed tones about her make-believe friend. But she hadn't made him up at all. Namrel was real.

“He whispered in my ear just now. Right before he vanished. He couldn't stay.”

           

“I see.” Her mother wiped her hands on her apron then knelt down. “What did he tell you?”

           

“That I will lie with kings but be mother of none.” Abishag smiled then continued in a breathy whisper. “He said my beauty will only be exceeded by my purity.”

Her friend telling her the future, she liked, but not what he said about never being a mother. She wanted real babies, not her rag dolls. That's what one did, grew, got married, and had babies. That part troubled her.

           

Her mother's eyes opened so wide the white showed all around her dark circles in the middle. “Abishag! Where have you heard such a thing? Little girls know not of such things.”

           

“I told you, Mama. My friend told me.”

 “And again, who is this friend? What is his name? Have you asked him as I instructed?”

“Yes, Mama. He says his name is unimportant. My guardian angel sent from Heaven.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Author Pages:

     Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Caryl-McAdoo/e/B00E963CFG

     BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caryl-mcadoo?follow=true  

Website: http://www.CarylMcAdoo.com    

Newsletter: http://carylmcadoo.com/sign-up-to-the-caryler/

Influencers’ Group:  
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1hQx6UZbWi3OYwmKKxh6Q  

                            (Hear Caryl sing her New Songs!)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarylMcAdoo.author

Blogs:
    The Word & the Music http://carylmcadoo.com/blog/

    HeartWings (Devotional) - http://www.HeartWingsBlog.com

    Sweet Americana Sweethearts (Historical) -

                 http://www.SweetAmericanaSweethearts.blogspot.com

GoodReads:  http://tinyurl.com/GoodReadsCaryl

Google+: http://tinyurl.com/CarylsGooglePlus

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-mcadoo-00562323

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CarylMcAdoo

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/CarylMcAdoo

Thank you, Caryl, for sharing this book with my blog readers and me. I know they will want to read it as much as I did.

Readers, here are links to the book.

I AM My Beloved - Paperback
I AM My Beloved - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (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.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

GONE TO TEXAS - Caryl McAdoo - One Free Book

Dear Readers, this blog and the next 8 will feature each of the books in this new collection. 

Bio: Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory which is what she lives to do, and her novels’ rankings by Christian readers attests to the Father’s favor and blessings. With thirty-six titles, she loves writing almost as much as singing the new songs He gives her—look on YouTube to hear a few. She and her high school sweetheart celebrated fifty years of marriage in June; they share four children and eighteen grandsugars. Ron and Caryl live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door.

Welcome back, Caryl. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
I write a WHOLE LOT of myself into my heroines. Since my husband Ron and I write together (even though only my name is on the books—that was a NY agent and Simon and Schuster editor thing), it’s like most the time, I’m the heroine and he’s the hero. The other day I was writing along and actually used his name! The female character was saying something like “And you full well know it, hero . . . except I typed in “And you full well know it, Ron McAdoo!” I started cackling at the computer and he said, “What are you laughing about?” 

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Quirky, huh? I’m going to have to think on this . . .

When did you first discover that you were a writer?
I wrote an essay in the 7th grade about being an intergalactically famous author, rocketing from planet to planet to sign books! It was a 1962 assignment about what I’d be doing in the year 2000. The space program let me down. What can I say?

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

I love reading historical Christian romance, but when writing three to five or six books a year—which I’ve done the last several years, releasing 27 since fall, 2014—it’s just hard to read any at all.

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

Oh, this is an easy question. Giving all my burdens to my Heavenly Father, trusting Him with everything, and clinging to Him. I daily walk in peace with no fear or worries because I know how much He loves me and that He’s always thinking of me! (That’s a line from one of the new songs He gave me. I sing them on YouTube)

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Isn’t that just one of the most fun things we get to do? Ron and I just kick them around until we find the one we both like! After thirty-seven titles, it isn’t always that easy, but eventually we get the job done! I had a herd of eighty dwarf Nigerian goats (I milked them—only twelve or thirteen at a time) and named everyone and knew each by name. I believe names are VERY important, and help “make” the character who they are. Ron and I had a stable and some of our boarders brought in horses named Buck! WHO names a horse that? And this one escape artist we had . . . her name was Gypsy! My name means Joyful Song. Seems appropriate to me.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

 Rearing four grandsons. When we were fifty-two, it was us or strangers when CPS got involved, so we took in six, four, and three-year-old, and a newborn (straight to us from the birth hospital). We thought it would be a good, temporary thing, motivating the parents to clean up and make better life choices to get their children back, but they saw the boys had a good, loving, stable home and became the frequent visitors with gifts in hand for their sons instead. We had them fourteen years. The oldest is a senior at Texas A and M who graduates in December.

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

I’ve always said if I wasn’t a human, I’d want to be a bird. I love flying high and singing.

What is your favorite food?

Tacos! When I get to Heaven, I fully expect I’ll have a taco tree in my front yard. I’ll give you an invitation now to come by anytime and have one with me. My mansion is the one with the oversized emerald door.

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

Figuring out Point of View! It seemed so hard, but I believe is the difference between a great writer and a mediocre one. POV is why my readers tell me they feel as though they are right there with my characters and feel like my people are real friends. One told me she caught herself praying for one of my characters! What a GREAT compliment!

Tell us about the featured book.

GONE TO TEXAS is a very special story in my humble opinion! It’s not only Book One in the awesome Thanksgiving Books and Blessings Collection—which I am SO EXCITED about—but it’s also Book One in my all-new Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga. Three families—close knit by blood and friendship—choose to leave Tennessee and sojourn to the new Republic of Texas, putting everything they own on the line. But Texas was handing out headrights in 1840— free land for settlers! One other fractured family joins them before they leave, so seventeen souls embark on the journey fraught with hardship, danger, and loss.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Dickson County, ten miles south of Charlotte, Tennessee

August 1st, 1840

Alisha's father shook the reins over the mule's back. “Hey, now.” Like the good boys they were, the matched pair leaned into their collars. Trace chains jangled, and leather creaked as the wagon's wheels turned. “Watch your brother, sweetheart!” Her mother turned and looked back over her shoulder. “And help Esther with the little ones.”

For what? The tenth time she'd told her that morning?

“Yes, ma'am. I will!” She gave her an exaggerated wave from the porch. Mercy, after seventeen years, she'd think her ma could trust her to be responsible and remember what she'd asked of her. Watching until the rig crossed the creek, she looked toward the sky and sighed. “Oh Lord, what am I going to do?”

The sound of the big hammer banging on the anvil pulled her eyes to the shop shed. Flynn raised the sledge again then brought it down with another boom. “Please, Father God, let us stay. Don't take him away.”

A tug on her shirt pulled her around.

“Lesha, I'm powerful hungry.”

“Mercy, boy! You just had eggs and cornbread. Did you drink all your milk?”

“Yep.” Her brother wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“Does it break your jaw to say ma'am, Aaron Edmond Van Zandt?”

The six-year-old grinned. “Nope.”

“You better watch it.”

“Yes, maaa'am.” He puffed his chest up, sucked in his poor starving tummy, and grinned even bigger. “Can I eat Arlee's cornbread slab with some honey?”

“No, sir, you certainly may not. You know the rules. If she doesn't clean her plate this meal, she can the next.”

“But she hates cornpone, and I love it! And I'm powerful hungry.” His brows furrowed. He crossed his arms over his chest and stomped his foot. The porch's floorboards rattled.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Author Pages:

     Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Caryl-McAdoo/e/B00E963CFG

     BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/caryl-mcadoo

     Simon & Schuster - http://tinyurl.com/S-SCarylsPage

     BookGorilla - http://www.bookgorilla.com/author/B00E963CFG/caryl-mcadoo
     Southern Writers Magazine - http://authors.southernwritersmagazine.com/caryl-mcadoo.html

     Sweet Americana Sweethearts - bit.ly/2q0tcfFbit.ly 

Website: http://www.CarylMcAdoo.com  (All First Chapters offered here)

Newsletter: http://carylmcadoo.com/sign-up-to-the-caryler/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1hQx6UZbWi3OYwmKKxh6Q  

                            (Hear Caryl sing her New Songs!)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarylMcAdoo.author

Blogs:  

    The Word & the Music http://carylmcadoo.com/blog/

    HeartWings (Devotional) - http://www.HeartWingsBlog.com

    Sweet Americana Sweethearts (Historical) -  

             http://www.SweetAmericanaSweethearts.blogspot.com

GoodReads:  http://tinyurl.com/GoodReadsCaryl

Google+: http://tinyurl.com/CarylsGooglePlus

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-mcadoo-00562323

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CarylMcAdoo

 Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/CarylMcAdoo

 Puzzle: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=3c14f1bbad62

Thank you, Caryl, for sharing this new book with me and my blog readers. I’m eager to read it.

Readers, here are links to the book.

Gone to Texas: Cross Timbers Romance Family Saga, book one (Thanksgiving Books & Blessings Collection One 1)

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (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.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com