Welcome, Laurie Alice. Tell us about your
salvation experience.
My salvation experience is nothing dramatic. I was
eleven-years-old and wearing a red twill cotton dress to church that Sunday
morning. It was my favorite dress. We had a special guest speaker. I don’t
remember what he said, and, though I’d been hearing the gospel in my church for
a couple of years, something clicked in my head, and I answered the call to go
to the altar and make a commitment to Christ. Sadly, about ten years later, I
fell away for many years, and I never forgot that commitment, and the Lord drew
me back to Him.
I think that most of
us, who accepted the Lord as our Savior as a young child, had a falling away
time. I did, too. But praise the Lord, He never falls away from us and He never
lets us go. Now you’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four
other authors. Who would they be and why?
This is difficult to answer, since I don’t want to hurt
anyone’s feelings out of all my writing buddies, and, in no particular order,
I’ll have to say:
Gina Welborn because she’s good at nailing the heart of a
story, and in all her chatter, gets one’s own brain power working.
Patty Smith Hall because she understands romance plots like
nobody else I know.
Marylu Tyndall because she has this way of keeping me
spiritually grounded.
Louise Gouge because… Well, she was the first published
author to actually believe I had enough going in the writing thing that she
thought I, of all people, could help her, of all people. Ha! And she’s just
been my friend for going on a lot of years now.
My true retreat would have the rest of my writing prayer
partners at it, too. They know who they are.
That question often
opens my readers to even more authors that they haven’t read. Do you have a
speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.
Yes, I do have a speaking ministry. Although I do speak to
writers organizations and to library groups about writing, my true ministry is
discussing the true meaning of faith and other inspirational subjects to
everywhere from women’s groups, to homeschool groups.
What is the most
embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?
You know, I hate being embarrassed to a nearly pathological
point, so work hard to avoid such situations. This possibly dates back to when
I was in college and said something about the poor quality of a fellow
students’ reading. I didn’t know she was standing right behind me.
What else could I do but apologize and tell her I am a twit
and rude and remind myself to be careful what I say of others.
People are always
telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you,
too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?
Most people say they’d write a book if they had the time. I
explain that writing is a commitment, and if they really want to write that
book, they will make the time—give up a couple of favorite TV shows or their
lunch hour, or get up earlier in the morning… The only way to get a book
written is to sit in that chair and write it. I also tell them that if they are
serious, they might want to join a writers organization to learn a few things
about the craft and the business. Nowadays, with popping a book onto Amazon so
relatively easy, people don’t realize that they still need to know the writing
business to go anywhere.
Tell us about the
featured book.
Choices of the Heart is the third book in The Midwives series,
which began with Lady in the Mist,
and then went on to Heart’s Safe Passage.
Esther Cherrett is the daughter of Tabitha and Dominick from
Lady in the Mist. The year is 1842,
and Esther, who has the feminine version of her fathers stunning looks, and her
mother’s gift for helping the sick and distressed, has a tragic experience that
sends her running for the hills—literally. She is determined to leave her
family behind so the scandal will die down, and she can maybe forget one day.
But she finds herself in the middle of a family feud in western Virginia , courted by two
young men on either side of the conflict, and her past has caught up with her.
Please give us the
first page of the book.
Esther Cherrett removed the sketchbook from her satchel and
lifted it to the highest shelf in the armoire. She didn't need pictures of men
whose form existed simply in her imagination's portrayals, in colored
chalks—not where she was going. And drawings of her family would only make her
sad. Make her feel guilty.
She didn't need the satchel either. Its packets of herbs,
rolls of bandages, and canvas apron for protecting her dresses during a
lying-in would be of as little use in her new position as were the drawings.
She started to hoist it up to the shelf too, but her arms shook as though the black
leather bag weighed a hundred pounds instead of ten, and she let it drop.
It landed on the blue floral rug with a thud. The latch
sprang open and poked up like an accusing finger. You shouldn't be doing this,
it seemed to say in the voice of Letty O'Tool, the eldest congregant in the
church. You aren't answering to your calling.
Esther snapped the latch back into place, then popped it
open again, retrieved the sketchbook from its shelf, and shoved it amongst the
instruments of the profession she had determined to leave behind in Seabourne.
Leave behind with the scorn and ridicule she’d faced over the past four months.
Sounds intriguing. How
can readers find you on the Internet?
http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com/blog
where I am running an awesome contest right now.
http://www.facebook.com/laurie.eakes?ref=tn_tnmnThank you, Laurie Alice. I'm always anxious to read the final book in a series.
Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Choices of the Heart: A Novel (The Midwives)
- paperbackChoices of the Heart (The Midwives Book #3): A Novel
- KindleLeave 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
