Today, dear readers, I have a guest interviewer. Patricia PacJac Carroll is a writer and Christian first. She is blessed beyond her imagination and lives in DFW area of Texas. She lives with her husband, son, and 91-yr-old Father-in-law. And then there is the wonder dog, Jacs, who frequently gives her breaks in her writing day by letting her know he has got to chase that squirrel he just saw outside.
The PacJac is from her initials and her husbands. He is the wind in her sails and works so she can write.
Patricia loves freedom, adventure and the open road. Mix that with faith and romance and you have the stories she writes. She grew up watching the westerns and loves that time period.
Her first novel is Liberty Belle. You can visit her on her blog: http://patriciapacjaccarroll.blogspot.com.
She agreed to interview me for my book that releases next week.
Bio:
Award-winning author, Lena Nelson Dooley, has more than 700,000 books
in print.
Helping
other authors become published really floats her boat, with over 20 signing
their first book contract after her mentoring. Three of her books have been
awarded the Carol Award silver pins, and she has received the ACFW Mentor of
the Year award. The high point
of her day is receiving feedback from her readers, especially people whose
lives have been changed by her books.
Her
2010 release Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, won the 2011 Will
Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in publishing Western Fiction. Maggie’s Journey appeared on a reviewers
Top Ten Books of 2011 list. It also won the 2012 Selah award for Historical
Novel. Mary’s Blessing released in
May 2012. It recently appeared on a review site’s Top Five Reads in 2012 list. Catherine’s Pursuit is coming in
February 2013.
In
addition to her writing, Lena is a frequent
speaker at women’s groups, writers groups, and at both regional and national
conferences. She has spoken in six states and internationally. She is also one
of the co-hosts of the Gate Beautiful blog radio show.
Lena has an active web presence on Shoutlife, Facebook,
Twitter, Goodreads, Linkedin and with her internationally connected blog where
she interviews other authors and promotes their books.
Find
her online here:
Other blogs where
she’s a regular contributor:
http://www.bustlesandspurs.com/
Lena, what has surprised you the most about the
writing life?
I
think it’s how much marketing the author needs to do on their own. For the
first half of my writing life, that wasn’t true, but it is now.
What snacks feed your creativity?
I love dark
chocolate M&M candies. I’m getting the chocolate I love and also a crunch.
I also like animal crackers.
Do you write with music playing (if yes
what kind), TV, or quiet?
I used to write
with music playing, that fit whatever I was writing. Romantic for romantic
scenes, etc. But I hardly every write with anything playing now. Unless I’m in
the front room writing on the laptop while James watches TV. I can actually
block out the ambient noise.
How do you spark your creativity?
If my brain is
getting tired while I’m writing, I play a computer game to get it working a
different way. I like Tetris, Bejeweled, jigsaw puzzle games, and solitaire.
You are a master at researching the time
period of your books. Where do you find that information?
When I travel, I
take a lot of notes and pictures in case I might use the place for a book. For
settings where I haven’t visited, I use the Internet a lot. To learn about the
history of a product or company, I use the company’s official web site. Also, I
look for historical photos. If I don’t find many on the Internet, I look for
books of historical photos of the time period and place. That’s how I was able
to visualize Seattle, Oregon
City, Portland, and San Francisco in this series. I also
researched railroads and steamships. And the society of the time. Most all the
street names and businesses in my books were actually there. My characters and
their actual stories are all that are fiction in the books.
Many of your books are historicals. Why?
And what time period is your favorite.
Because
historicals are the proposals that the publishers have contracted. I also write
contemporary books, but the last four my agent has sold for me have been set in
the late 1800s. I do enjoy writing about that time period. I’ve had historicals
published with dates as early as 1804 and as late as 1913.
Of the triplet series – Maggie’s Journey, Mary’s Blessing, and Catherine’s Pursuit – which story did
you enjoy writing the most?
I loved writing
each story, but probably the most fun one to write was Catherine’s Pursuit.
There were more places where I could do fun things to the characters.
Maggie, Mary, and Catherine are triplets.
How are they alike and how are they different?
They were
identical triplets, so they look a lot alike. But since they were raised in
different environments, there were differences. Mary was raised on a farm, so
she has more freckles and her complexion has been affected by the sun. She has
a less-refined look than her sisters.
They have spent
most of their lives not knowing about their sisters, but they all grew up with
the feeling that something was missing from their lives, but they didn’t know
what that something could be. They looked so much alike that they could be
mistaken for their sister, and they even had some mannerisms that they shared
without ever being together. Of course, their voices also sounded almost just
alike.
Maggie and
Catherine lived in urban environments, so their backgrounds were far different from
Mary’s.
Of Maggie, Mary, or Catherine – which character
did you enjoy most?
In Catherine’s
Pursuit, which character is most like you?
That’s like
asking which of my children do I love the best. I’d have to answer that I loved
writing each of them, but in a different way. Their personalities differ quite
a bit, and I loved creating these divergent personalities.
Tell us about Catherine’s Pursuit.
The book releases on February 5th, but is available for pre-order, both print edition and ebook edition, on websites. Here’s the back
cover copy:
"A heartwarming tale filled with history,
adventure, faith, and love." --Lisa Wingate, bestselling and award-winning
author of Dandelion
Summer and Firefly Island
The search for her sisters will
become a spiritual journey for the entire family.
Raised by her father, Catherine
McKenna has never lacked for anything, surrounded by people to take care of her
every need. On her eighteenth birthday she discovers that not only did her
mother die when she was born, but she has two identical sisters. Although her
father vowed not to look for his daughters, Catherine made no such promise.
Setting out on her own with one clue and her maid in tow, she's determined to
find her sisters.
Collin Elliott has seen better days. After
losing his ship to a violent and unexpected storm, he is trying to
recover--physically and emotionally. When Angus McKenna sends him to find,
follow, and protect his daughter, he wants nothing more than to finish his task
and return home. Can he help her find her sisters?
And will the discoveries they make along the way
teach them both what's most important in life?
Here's an excerpt:
September 19, 1885
San Francisco, California
Catherine
Lenora McKenna could hardly believe the long-awaited day was here. Her
eighteenth birthday.
Now she was
an adult, and her father would have to stop hovering over her as if she were a
fragile china doll in one of his stores. She would be free. Holding her hands
above her head like the ballerina in the music box on her bureau, she whirled
in a circle that lifted the hem of her blue taffeta skirt to a scandalous
height. That didn’t matter, because no one was here to catch a glimpse of her
ankles anyway. Not even her personal maid, Julie, who had gone downstairs to
grab Catherine a more substantial breakfast from the kitchen before she fainted
dead away.
Aunt
Kirstin wanted Catherine to eat very light before her party tonight, where a
sumptuous banquet would precede the ball. There would be presents to open as
well. Catherine hoped her father planned a spectacular gift for her birthday
... maybe to send her on a tour of the Continent. Of course, Aunt Kirstin would
probably accompany her, but at least she would be able to see more of the world
for herself, not just read about it.
Europe should be beautiful in the autumn, or in any
season of the year. Since both of her parents were born in Scotland, she wanted to visit there as well as London ... Paris ... Rome. She had read every
book and magazine she could get her hands on, so she knew so much about Europe. A thrill of anticipation shot through her whole
body. Visions of crossing London Bridge, strolling along Avenue des Champs
Elysees, or touring the Colosseum danced through her head.
Pictures she’d enjoyed studying with their Holmes stereopticon. She wondered if
Father would accompany her or if he would allow Aunt Kirstin to be her only escort
... besides a few servants, of course.
“Where is
Julie with my food?” Catherine huffed out an exasperated breath. “Am I going to
have to go to the kitchen myself?”
She thrust
open the door and hurried down the hallway, the sound of her footsteps lost in
the thick cushioning of the carpet. At the top of the front stairs, she stopped
to see if she could figure out where her aunt Kirstin was before she sneaked
down the backstairs.
Peering
over the balcony railing, she caught a glimpse of her aunt’s face through the
partially opened door to the library. Her brows were knit together into a frown
as she stared at someone in the room with her. Catherine had never seen such a
fierce expression on her aunt’s face.
Father’s
voice was muffled as he said something to his sister-in-law. What is he doing home at this time of
morning? Catherine wished she could tell what they were talking about. She
had never heard her father use that tone with anyone, especially not Aunt
Kirstin. As if he were angry or terribly upset.
Catherine
leaned farther over but kept a firm grip on the railing so she wouldn’t tumble
down. A drop like that onto a marble floor could be deadly.
Aunt
Kirstin gripped each hand into a fist and planted them on her hips. “Just when
are you going to tell her?”
Come to
think of it, her aunt was using a harsher tone than Catherine had ever heard
her use.
Father
didn’t answer.
Catherine
quickly crept down the stairs being careful not to place her foot on the second
step from the foyer, which would squeak and reveal her presence. At the bottom,
she straightened and checked her reflection in the gilt-framed, oval mirror
beside the front door. When she found everything satisfactory, she tiptoed
toward the library.
“I don’t
know.” Her father’s words stopped her in her tracks.
What did he
not know?
“Angus.”
Aunt Kirstin’s voice was firm and insistent. “She deserves to know the truth.
And now she’s old enough to understand.”
Catherine
didn’t hesitate to enter her favorite room in the house. She pushed the door
farther open, and both her aunt and her father turned startled eyes toward her.
The two looked as if they had been caught in an act of mischief.
“Tell me
what? What will I understand?” Her questions hovered in the air, quivering
like hummingbirds without a way to
escape the net of tension that bound the three of them together.
Thank you, Patty, for helping me introduce my new book.
Readers, here is a link to the book where you can order both print and ebook editions. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Catherine's Pursuit (McKenna's Daughters)
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.
If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, 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
