THE OTHER NEIGHBOR - Gail Sattler - One Free Book

Bio: To sum myself up, I am a wife, mother, writer, and musician, and the order of those things will depend on what day it is. Friends tell me that I lead a busy life, and I suppose that’s probably true. Yet, even above all my music affiliations (jazz band and string orchestra), writing is my passion. I remember the first book I wrote, back in middle school – on a clackety old manual typewriter. It was uniquely based on a pre-teen girl named… Gail… and her 3 best friends, all of whom shared the same names as my own best friends. Despite dangers and unknown perils, we raced against time following cryptic clues to seek a precious treasure in a haunted mansion before the ghosts, police, and relatives of the deceased owner of the house caught and locked us in the damp, dreary cellar until we perished. I can’t remember if we found the treasure, but I have to assume we did. After all, I’m here to tell about it.

My writing has changed a lot since then (PTL!) Now I write romantic comedy, and most of the books I’ve written in the last few years are part of a series. I love to continue a story, to make a new book with the story of a minor character from a previous story.

When I’m not writing, I love to take pictures. My primary targets, I mean volunteers, are usually my family, pets, friends, and bandmates.

Welcome back, Gail. Why did you become an author?

I was working full time, evening shift while my husband worked day shift so we didn't have to put our kids in daycare. When my youngest was about two years old I was laid off, and I decided that while I was off I would catch up on a long lost enjoyment that I hadn't had time for - reading. While I was reading voraciously, I read one book that was really bad, and thought I could do better. So when the kids were napping, I got on my husband's computer and started writing. I can say I did not do better, and that first book I wrote has long since hit that great delete button in the sky. But it got me started. I joined some writing groups and learned everything about the craft, and my first published book sold on my 40th birthday. I haven't looked back since.

If you weren’t an author, what would be your dream job?

Musician. I play piano, acoustic string bass, and electric bass. I play in 3 bands, but none of them make enough money that I can't say I have any income from them, I do it for fun.

If you could have lived at another time in history, what would it be and why?

No other time in history appeals to me. The only historical book I've written was in the depression era and I definitely wouldn't want to live then. I love our modern technology and the computer age.

What place in the United States have you not visited that you would like to?

I'm Canadian, but I have traveled more in the USA than I have in Canada. One place I have not been that I would love would be Disney World in Florida. Reasons are obvious, I think. J

How about a foreign country you hope to visit?

Rather than a foreign country, both me and my husband would like to take a Mediterranean cruise and visit the ports along the ship's sailing route.

What lesson has the Lord taught you recently?

To be happy with what I've got.

A very good lesson to learn. That gives us a thankful heart toward God. Tell us about the featured book.

The Other Neighbor is based on a true story. Years ago my husband owned and ran a web design business. He got a strange phone call about one of his customers one day. We later figured out it was the FBI finding a little bit more about him, and if we were involved with him in any way (which we weren't except for designing his website). This fellow owned and operated a hydroponics store - back when marijuana was not legal anywhere. But this wasn't about the plants, it was about the fertilizer - because it could be used to make bombs. First the owner disappeared, then the business closed, owing us a lot of money in unpaid bills. Then we read in the paper that the owner had been arrested for a plot to plant and detonate a series of bombs along the Alaska Pipeline.

My husband I have joked that we hope this book helps us break even with the money we lost when his ex-customer didn't pay his bills and went bankrupt.

Back cover blurb

Cheryl Richardson doesn’t know that her landlord who owns the other half of the duplex where she lives is plotting to build a bomb—but the FBI does. In order to discover what her landlord is planning to blow up, agent Steve Gableman moves next door to get closer to Cheryl to learn what she knows, namely the target and motive, so they can stop it. But when Steve involves himself in every area of her life, including her dog, will Cheryl be the one to explode?

Please give us the first page of the book.

When he first joined the FBI, Steve Gableman had anticipated a life of action and intrigue. International espionage. Secret missions. Dangerous liaisons. But this wasn’t one of them. After the fallout from his last assignment, he’d been downgraded. Just surveillance.

Although, he couldn’t complain. It wasn’t often an agent got running water with indoor plumbing on a stakeout, much less a whole house with comfortable furniture, a full fridge, and not a rodent in sight.

An elderly lady had called the FBI’s tip line after a bomb threat at her grandson’s school, saying the teen tried his luck on the Internet to see how difficult, or easy, it would be to build a bomb. While researching, the boy read a post from Jeff Schuster, the owner of a hydroponics store, also asking questions on building a bomb and then planting one. Except, unlike the boy, Schuster’s enquiries were serious. The FBI sent a mole into Schuster’s store, confirming that Jeff Schuster was indeed collecting the components to construct a bomb.

However, so far they hadn’t uncovered his target or his timeline.

When the FBI began their surveillance of Schuster’s home, they’d observed a group of four men who visited him at least three times a week, using different cars on rotation. They came and went quietly, returned a few days later in a different car, and the cycle repeated.

Schuster’s cohorts were quite an eclectic group. A couple of them had prison records, and only one had a real job. Steve’s team had a number of good leads, and they were following them.

Then there was Schuster’s neighbor, Cheryl Richardson, in the other half of Schuster’s duplex. Every second day, Schuster quietly knocked on her door and gave her a bag of unknown contents from his store. She always accepted it then quickly went back inside.

It had taken a month, but Steve finally managed to discover the contents of the bags.

Tomatoes. Grown in his hydroponics store to demonstrate his equipment.

She wasn’t helping Schuster make a bomb. She was making salad. His surveillance of her showed that other than accepting the unknown bags from Schuster, she led a clean and relatively boring life. She was a florist. She went to church faithfully. The highlight of her week was taking her small, fluffy dog to the library.

Tonight, here he sat, alone in a dark house, documenting the cleanest suspect he’d ever had the misfortune to be assigned. His report concluded that Cheryl Anne Richardson had no part in the operation. He could now re-join his team to research the real suspect.

He checked the monitors one more time. He'd planted two surveillance cameras to watch her, both planted in his own yard, so he had visual, but not audio. The camera in the front caught both Cheryl and Schuster's front doors in front of the duplex, allowing both Steve and his team, depending on who was on duty to watch, to capture images of who came and went. The second was mounted on a tree in his back yard, for now aimed both rear patio doors which exited to the shared porch. Cheryl Richardson had gone back in the house, and the pattern of lights turning off showed that she’d gone to bed.

He would complete his report in the morning.

His head had barely touched the pillow when his monitor beeped. Steve grumbled and trudged to his display to see what she was doing. The panel indicated movement, so he flipped on the view screen. The sliding door to the back yard was open. Cheryl stood in the gap, bundled in her housecoat. He turned the camera remotely, to watch the same thing that he did every night at this same time. Her fuzzy little dog made his way to a tree in the middle of the back yard, did his business, and hobbled back into the house.

Steve nearly groaned. The most exciting thing the woman had done in twenty-four hours was let the dog out.

When the door closed, he reached to aim the camera back at the house, and then he'd turn off the monitor. His finger had begun its downward path to press the button when the light on the motion detector flashed again. He froze. He couldn’t see what, but something in the yard had moved, and it wasn’t her dog.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website – http://www.gailsattler.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/gail.sattler.3

Facebook author page - https://www.facebook.com/Gail-Sattler-author-568988573496833/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Amazon.com - just type my name - Gail Sattler - for a list of all my books

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

Readers, here are links to the book.

The Other Neighbor

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

THE PATH TO PINEY MEADOWS - Gail Sattler - One Free Book

Welcome back, Gail. I loved book one in this series. How did you come up with the idea for this story?

This is something different than I’ve done before. Often I’ve taken a minor character from a previous book and built a story around them, but this time, I took the last scene from The Narrow Path – the first book in my Mennonite series – and rewrote it from the new character’s perspective, and then built the story around why he was there in the first place.

I did something like that in my McKenna’s Daughters series. I rewrote the prologue from book one from the perspective of a different character who was impacted by the event. 

If you were planning a party with Christian authors of contemporary fiction, what six people would you invite and why?

I’d invite those in my critique group who write contemporary. We’ve shared so much over the last few years it would just be natural because we’ve walked the road together.

Now let’s do that for a party for Christian authors of historical fiction, what six people would you invite and why?

I’d invite those in my critique group who write historical, of course. There isn’t six, so I’d invite those from my Bloomfield group who also write historical.

Many times, people (and other authors) think you have it made with so many books published. What is your most difficult problem with writing at this time in your career?

Time. I have a full time day job. Income from the books for the average mid-list author doesn’t come close to being able to pay the mortgage, car payments, and all other living expenses. It’s a challenge to live a busy life and still have the brainpower to write when the day is done and other responsibilities are met.

Tell us about the featured book.

This is the 2nd book in my contemporary Mennonite series. Unlike the Amish, the Old Order Mennonite group I’ve focused on lives a more contemporary life and doesn’t separate themselves as much from the outside world. They do, however, still keep themselves relatively separate to keep out the evils of the world around them. In continuing with the theme of the first book, in this one my hero comes into the Old Order Mennonite community from the outside world and makes his home there, facing challenges of the present, and his past as he tries to fit in. Coming from the other side of the fence, the heroine in this book wants to leave the Old Order Mennonite community, and needs the hero’s help to prepare herself. So she helps him prepare to stay, he helps her to prepare to leave; as they fall in love can there be a middle ground?

Please give us the first page of the book.

The Path to Piney Meadows

By Gail Sattler

Chapter 1

Chad Jones stared into the bottom of his empty mug. Above him, peals of drunken laughter echoed down from the office Christmas party of the business on the floor above him, in progress since noon.

While Chad sat alone, on Christmas Eve, working. Without coffee. But he could smell the dregs from what was left in the bottom of the pot, empty for hours, since everyone else had gone home.

Chad glanced around his private office, not much bigger than a closet. He had barely enough square footage for his desk and chair, one filing cabinet, and a chair for one guest.

Not that he had many guests. It was too embarrassing. The building looked passable from the outside, but there was a reason the rent was cheaper than other buildings in the same area.

Gary, however, had spared no expense at renovating his own office, which was nearly the size of Chad’s living room.

Upstairs, someone turned up the volume of Jingle Bell Rock.

Chad gritted his teeth, then tilted his head up. “I hate Jingle Bell Rock!” he called up, even though they couldn’t hear him. “Can’t you pick something else?”

With every thump of the bass, the tape dispenser on Chad’s desk vibrated.

He stared at the pile of paper Gary had plunked on his desk before he’d walked out. Gary had left early to be with his family. Chad didn’t have anywhere to go, and Gary knew it, but that wasn’t the point.

After all this time, he could finally admit that his boss had no intention of making him a partner. Everything had been a ploy to get more work out of him. The only thing that would shake greedy Gary into really making him partner was if Gary actually had to do all his own work.

           

Chad peeled off a sticky note and started writing.

I quit!

Chad

I can’t wait until my copy comes. How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website at www.gailsattler.com

Thank you for sharing this new book with us.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
The Path to Piney Meadows - Christianbook.com
The Path to Piney Meadows - Amazon.com
The Path to Piney Meadows - Kindle

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 Google +, Feedblitz, Facebook, 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

WHEN PIGS AND PARROTS FLY - Gail Sattler - One Free Ebook

My good friend, Gail Sattler, is back with a book in the Bloomfield Series. Welcome, Gail. Tell us about your salvation experience.

I didn’t have a specific experience. I was born and raised going to church, then fell away when I was about 16. After I got married my husband and I returned to church, and one day it just clicked.

You’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?

I can’t answer that for only four, but I did have an immediate answer. I’d have the other 9 people in my critique group. It’s a fantastic and diverse group of people writing at different genres and levels – a group that most people would say shouldn’t work, but it does, both on a professional and personal level.

Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

I don’t have a specific speaking ministry, but I’m feeling poked to start. I’ve taught a few classes at the ACFW conferences, and I’ve keynoted for an OCW conference. I’m starting to make enquiries to teach and/or keynote at other conferences. I’ve got excellent reviews from those, so I feel led that this is the time for me to move forward with that, much in the same way I felt led to start writing. And when God speaks, we have to listen. J

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?

I can’t say the most embarrassing, I have a list or could write a book on that. One year, upon returning from an ACFW conference, I had a list of 10 very embarrassing things that happened, in the space of 5 days. Whatever it is I do, the only way I can handle it is to laugh, learn, and move on. Or maybe, write a book about it.

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?

Don’t quit your day job. Writing a book harder than it looks. The first thing I say is that the easier a book is to read, the harder it was to write. My advice is to start writing something, then attend a few classes or workshops and a writing group, and see where it goes.

Tell us about the featured book.

My featured book just out is the next book in the Bloomfield Series, called When Pigs And Parrots Fly. The Bloomfield series is being compared to Mitford, and is about a group of quirky but loveable characters who all belong to the Bloomfield garden club, but once membership is established, similarity ends. While they love to garden, gardening is a minor point in the series – it is more about the foibles and relationships of the growing amount of members.

It’s always fun reading a series because the characters I’ve come to know and love keep reappearing, and it’s fun to see what they’re up to next.

Please give us the first page of the book.

When Pigs (and Parrots) Fly

by Gail Sattler

CHAPTER 1

            “I’m not so sure of this.” Josh Tavendish ran his fingers down the conglomeration of colored shapes. “Do you really think it’s going to work?”

            Beside him, Sarah stood reading the now-empty box. He figured that being a veterinarian, she would be the one who would know what would attract, and keep, a parrot’s attention.

            “It has to,” she mumbled. “Quite frankly, I don’t know why they’re insisting on this. Half the children are terrified of Murray.”

            Josh nodded. “Not to mention a lot of adults aren’t too comfortable with him, either. Andy isn’t sure it’s going to work, but he couldn’t say no. You know how he feels about expanding the burn unit for the hospital. For that, he’s willing to give anything a try. If including Murray in the fundraiser raises more funds, then Andy will do it.” Although, Andy wasn’t the only one who had doubts if the whole thing was going to work. Not only did Murray not have the most friendly disposition, neither did Andy.

            A few years ago Andy, ever the responsible fire chief, had dressed up as Santa for another hospital fundraiser. Even though he hadn’t been the cheeriest Santa on record, the event had been a success, and therefore sealed Andy’s fate. For this season’s hospital fundraiser, the theme was swashbucklers. With Andy’s disposition, Josh could well imagine Andy as a swarthy pirate.

            But Josh couldn’t imagine Murray, Andy’s cranky parrot, behaving himself in a crowd. He especially couldn’t imagine the bird posing for photographs.

            He poked at the red plastic square and watched it swing. “Do you really think this is going to make Murray behave? What’s it supposed to do, hypnotize him?”

            Sarah tapped the blue circle. “They didn’t teach us much about parrots in veterinary college, but I do know they’re smarter than people think. The most important thing I learned about parrots is that a bored parrot is an unhappy parrot. Andy needs to keep Murray distracted, so this thing just might work.”

            Josh turned his head to look over his shoulder. For the first time since he opened his pet supply store four years ago, people were waiting in line outside. He wished it had something to do with the ad he’d taken out in the Bloomfield Gazette, or the small poster he’d put up at Sarah’s veterinary clinic, but he knew it wasn’t so. Nor did it matter what new pet toys he had on sale.

            The people outside crowding the sidewalk weren’t coming to check out his new stock.

            Like a twisted Groundhog Day, everyone was here to see how Murray reacted to the new parrot toy.

            This was worse than reality television. And it was happening in his store.

            The buzz of conversation outside increased.

            He didn’t know the last time Bloomfield had seen so much action. There would be no middle ground for what happened today. It would either go really good, or really, really bad, and he didn’t have a good feeling about it.

Gail, I know my readers will love this book. How can they find you on the Internet?

I can be found at my website at www.gailsattler.com - I also have a blog there, everyone is invited to leave a comment.

I’m also on my jazz band’s website at www.goldenearsjazzband.com Please come for a visit. J

Thank you, for the interesting interview and fun peek into your book.

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

When Pigs and Parrots Fly


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 Google +, 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

TAKE THE TROPHY AND RUN - Gail Sattler - One Free Book

Readers, Gail is one of my long-time writing friends, having shared the same publisher for our early years. We really connected on many levels. Welcome, Gail. I love your new head shot. It displays your personality.

What are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about?

Right now I’m working on themes of trust. I feel trust is the foundation to any relationship with people and with our Savior.

What other books of yours are coming out soon?

In February 2012, the 2^nd book of the Bloomfield series – called When Pigs And Parrots Fly. It’s a fun story meant to make the reader smile. After that, my second book in my Mennonite series, called The Path To Piney Meadows, which is about Chad, who appeared in the last chapter of The Narrow Path.

If you could spend an evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why?

With my friend and fellow writer, Lena Nelson Dooley. Ms. Dooley is a warm and fun person, always uplifting and has a great sense of humor. Never lacking for conversation, and has a quick wit. I know you are blushing as you read this, but you asked and so I answered.

Thank you, Gail. I miss being with you, too. We have a lot of fun together. What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

Mark Twain. Because he was a writing genius and made his own path.

How can you encourage authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?

Rejections happen, they are as much a part of the business of writing as submitting. It means you are trying, and if you keep trying, you keep moving forward, and that’s what we all have to do in this business. 99.9% of writers, even published writers, will get rejections. Welcome to the club.

The publishers shows the feel of the story in this cover. Tell us about the featured book.

As mentioned above, this is 2^nd book in the new Bloomfield series, which revolves around the lives of the quirky members of the Bloomfield Garden Club. It’s a fun book to read, and it’s my first e-book only. It’s available in POD, but it’s being released as an e-book only.

(Readers, that means it won't be in bookstores. However, it is available online in both paperback and ebook editions.)

I had the privilege of reading this book for endorsement. It’s a fun read. But please give us the first page of the book for my blog readers.

When Pigs (and Parrots) Fly

by Gail Sattler

CHAPTER 1

               “I’m not so sure of this.” Josh Tavendish ran his fingers down the conglomeration of colored shapes. “Do you really think it’s going to work?”

               Beside him, Sarah stood reading the now-empty box. He figured that being a veterinarian, she would be the one who would know what would attract, and keep, a parrot’s attention.

               “It has to,” she mumbled. “Quite frankly, I don’t know why they’re insisting on this. Half the children are terrified of Murray.”

               Josh nodded. “Not to mention a lot of adults aren’t too comfortable with him, either. Andy isn’t sure it’s going to work, but he couldn’t say no. You know how he feels about expanding the burn unit for the hospital. For that, he’s willing to give anything a try. If including Murray in the fundraiser raises more funds, then Andy will do it.” Although, Andy wasn’t the only one who had doubts if the whole thing was going to work. Not only did Murray not have the most friendly disposition, neither did Andy.

               A few years ago Andy, ever the responsible fire chief, had dressed up as Santa for another hospital fundraiser. Even though he hadn’t been the cheeriest Santa on record, the event had been a success, and therefore sealed Andy’s fate. For this season’s hospital fundraiser, the theme was swashbucklers. With Andy’s disposition, Josh could well imagine Andy as a swarthy pirate.

               But Josh couldn’t imagine Murray, Andy’s cranky parrot, behaving himself in a crowd. He especially couldn’t imagine the bird posing for photographs.

               He poked at the red plastic square and watched it swing. “Do you really think this is going to make Murray behave? What’s it supposed to do, hypnotize him?”

               Sarah tapped the blue circle. “They didn’t teach us much about parrots in veterinary college, but I do know they’re smarter than people think. The most important thing I learned about parrots is that a bored parrot is an unhappy parrot. Andy needs to keep Murray distracted, so this thing just might work.”

               Josh turned his head to look over his shoulder. For the first time since he opened his pet supply store four years ago, people were waiting in line outside. He wished it had something to do with the ad he’d taken out in the Bloomfield Gazette, or the small poster he’d put up at Sarah’s veterinary clinic, but he knew it wasn’t so. Nor did it matter what new pet toys he had on sale.

               The people outside crowding the sidewalk weren’t coming to check out his new stock.

               Like a twisted Groundhog Day, everyone was here to see how Murray reacted to the new parrot toy.

               This was worse than reality television. And it was happening in his store.

               The buzz of conversation outside increased.

               He didn’t know the last time Bloomfield had seen so much action. There would be no middle ground for what happened today. It would either go really good, or really, really bad, and he didn’t have a good feeling about it.

               In his experience, Andy was only slightly friendlier than Murray, with emphasis on the slightly. The specific reason Andy agreed and would tolerate today’s side-show was because allowing people to watch Murray’s reaction to the new toy created hype, and the hype drew people’s attention to the fundraiser. Over Andy’s years with the fire department, Andy had seen too many injuries, so having the hospital well staffed with up-to-date equipment in good repair was very important to him, which was why he’d agreed to participate.

               Josh checked his watch. “I have to go open the door. Andy will be here in five minutes.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website at www.gailsattler.com

Thank you, Gail, for sharing this book with us today. 

Readers, Gail lives in Canada, and I wish I could visit her there. Here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Take the Trophy and Run: A Bloomfield Novel - paperback
Take the Trophy and Run: A Bloomfield Novel - Kindle


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

SEATTLE CINDERELLA - Gail Sattler - Free Book

Welcome back, Gail. I haven't had you on the blog for quite awhile. I love your new picture. What are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about?

I like to write about forgiveness and living a good Christian life and being an example to those around us.

What other books of yours are coming out soon?

My current release is Seattle Cinderella, just out March 1^st 2012, and I’ll say more about that later.

In November 2012, my first book in the Bloomfield series will be released, which is a series I’m in with a number of other authors.

And I want to feature the Bloomfield series on my blog. If you could spend an evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why?

I think I answered this question ten times and deleted everything before I made up my mind. Strangely, my first thoughts weren’t other authors – I know how most authors live, haha. My next thoughts were people I would interview about their jobs and life experiences, but doing research on careers wouldn’t be a way to spend an entire evening. So my choice would be Rebecca St James, a Christian entertainer and musician, I could see chatting for a while with the usual questions, then spending the rest of the evening playing music together and having fun.

I’d like to be a fly on the wall on that evening. What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

My husband’s grandmother, on his mother’s side. I never met her, she died a couple of years before we met. From the things she said, and the legacy in her family she left behind, she was a warm and wonderful person, and I have always wished I could have met her.

How can you encourage authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?

Rejections happen, and they happen to published authors just the same as they do to unpublished. Don’t take it personally, because while some people think it’s their blood on paper, it’s not. It’s just words, and it’s just business. But it’s your passion, and if you keep at it, and never stop that learning curve, it will happen. I barely passed grade 12 English, I don’t have any post-secondary education except for music, and I’ve had over 30 royalty/advance published novels. Don’t quit! Ever!

Tell us about the featured book?

Seattle Cinderella is a novella anthology in which I wrote all four novellas. The first one is the obvious tale of a contemporary Cinderella named Cindy. I needed to pick a job or career in which Cindy got good and dirty, just like the Cinderella of old, so this Cindy, being independent, owns and operates a brake and muffler shop. Instead of being bossed around by her two evil step-sisters, this Cindy is the boss, except due to conditions and codicils, she is trapped and at their mercy, as well as at the mercy of her horrid step-mother. Then along comes Prince Charming, but this Cindy isn’t anxious to ride off into the sunset – she has a business and responsibilities. I won’t tell any more.

The next two novellas are about her two step-sisters who have reformed and know they have done wrong. They try to make things better, and move forward in their lives, but they, too, have their own struggles and battles to win.

The last novella is about the Fairy Godmother. Of course, in a Christian book, I couldn’t have a fairy, so instead of being the Fairy Godmother, she is Farrah the godmother. She’s happy that Cindy has found her happily ever after, and she also must move forward in her own life, even if she feels that the good ol’ happily-ever-after ending isn’t for her. But of course, we all know it is, she just has to accept God’s gift, and it’s hers.

Please give us the first page of the book.

The first page is the copyright page, and I doubt that is what you want, so… here you are.

Chapter 1

Luke Princeton pushed open the door to the muffler shop and walked inside.

Ignoring the sign above the door to the shop saying customers weren’t allowed in the work area, he forced a smile at the young woman seated at the desk in the corner of the small service office. “Mind if I go in? I need to talk to the boss.”

She jerked her head toward the shop window, where three people, all wearing their standard blue coveralls, stood together under a car raised on a hydraulic hoist. One of them pointed upward, the others nodded. “You know the drill,” she mumbled, not missing a keystroke.

Indeed he did. He also knew which one of the three he wanted—the one who was six inches shorter than the other two.

He stepped into the shop, stopping with his toes on the yellow line. “Hey! Cindy!” he called out quickly, before they fired up the welding torches and no one could hear him.

All three of them raised their welding masks and turned toward him.

Cindy laid her torch down, pulled off her safety gloves, stuffed them in her pockets, and walked toward him. “What can I do for you, Luke?”

“You can join me for lunch.” He gave her his best and, he hoped, most charming smile.

She didn’t smile back. Instead she lowered her head and wiped her hands down the legs of her coveralls. “No, seriously.”

He was completely serious—as serious as he’d been the last dozen times he’d asked.

I’m going to like this book. How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website – www.gailsattler.com

Or I also set up a small site just for this book, and it will always have additions as time goes on – www.seattlecinderella.com

Thank you, Gail, for the interesting peek into your life and book.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Seattle Cinderella (Romancing America) - paperback
Seattle Cinderella - Kindle


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

THE NARROW PATH - Gail Sattler - Free Book

I love having my friend Gail Sattler on the blog, and we're introducing her first long novel. Welcome, Gail, I love your photo. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?


I’m not really sure. I’m moving toward opening myself up more for engagements as a motivational speaker, so I’d like to see if that’s a door that God is going to open for me.

Tell us a little about your family.

My family life is not the average “Leave it to Beaver” family. My husband works between home and his office, he owns and operates a web design company, and that’s always a challenge, and never a 9-to-5 job. My sons are getting older and moving into young adulthood, and it leaves me with mixed feelings to watch them drive away in their own cars. What happened to the days of walking them to school and always knowing where they were?

That's a real adjustment, for sure. Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

Yes, most definitely. I’m much more picky with reading where I consider an established author has become sloppy with the guidelines I try to use to keep raising the bar in my own writing. I also am much more pressed for time than I used to be. Once I started a book, I would finish it. Now, if it doesn’t hook me or if the writing is too flawed, I’ll not finish it. I don’t know if writing has spoiled me as a reader, or if it’s made my reading more enjoyable, because I’ll only read the good stuff. :-)

What are you working on right now?

Believe it or not, I’m co-writing a supernatural thriller with my husband. Angels and demons and all that stuff, with the final scene to be a battle of the supernatural powers at the gateway of a portal to Hell. Curious? Haha.

Sounds as if I would like reading it. What outside interests do you have?

Of course I’m a dog lover, I have 2 dogs, but I the biggest interest I have is music. I play electric jazz bass for a local jazz band, and this past fall I bought myself a double bass and joined my local concert band. I’m still playing bass for the worship team at my church. I don’t have time to play much piano anymore. One day, it is my dream to learn to play the violin.

A lofty goal. How do you choose your settings for each book?

Clinically. I first think of a plotline and my major characters, then I pick the setting that would work best for the plot. Sometimes it’s a place I’ve been, sometimes it’s not. But if it’s not, I find someone who lives there or who has lived there before I start writing about it.

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

Edgar Allan Poe. That man knew how to wrap up all the details together for the final scene.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

Outlining.

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

Perseverance and not letting distraction get the best of me.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

Read with a critical eye, pay attention to the “guidelines”, and never stop striving to learn more about the craft. I don’t think I need to elaborate on any of those things.

Tell us about the featured book?

The Narrow Path is about two Mennonite people. The heroine is from a big city and lives a busy and active modern life. She enjoys a fast pace and loves the technology. The hero is from a small town and lives in a sheltered and traditional community. His lifestyle only incorporates as much from technology and the world around him as he has to in order to survive in the world and not live in a horse-and-buggy commune. The story revolves around the culture class while they work together as best they can to put together a Christmas musical/drama to draw in the people of the communities around them.

Please give us the first page of the book.

I can do better. I can give you the cover and the first three chapters in a PDF flip book. It’s awesome! Here’s a link.

http://issuu.com/abingdonpress/docs/the_narrow_path

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I’m really easy to find.
http://www.gailsattler.com/
http://www.mennoniteromancenovel.com/
http://www.gailsattler.blogspot.com/
http://www.goldenearsjazzband.com/

Thank you, Gail, for spending this time with us.
 
Readers, here's a link to the book. When you use this link to order the book, you'll help support this blog.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book.


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

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 6 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

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

http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/

'Tis the Season - Another Christmas Collection

Today, we're talking to the authors of A Big Apple Christmas.

Lynette Sowell

Carrie Turansky

Gail Sattler

Vasthi Reyes Acosta

Some of these authors have already visit on this blog, and we welcome them back. And you'll enjoy getting to know the others.

How did your story for the collection come about?

Lynette: I have always enjoyed novellas, and I really wanted to write a Christmas story. One of the most sparkling, beautiful, and romantic places at Christmas is New York City. A few years ago one November, I watched on TV when the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree arrived in New York. They usually tell where the tree comes from. That year, the 75-foot spruce in Rockefeller Center came from a widower in New England. The network showed the family’s pictures through the years, the yard, and their tree. And that’s when my idea began. What if a widow ends up having her tree selected for Rockefeller Center? And what if her daughter’s former college roommate lives and works in Manhattan, and the two women cook up an early Christmas gift to send Mom to the Big Apple? The story snowballed for me from there.

Carrie: My novella, Moonlight & Mistletoe, features a professional organizer who likes to control everything in her life. I wanted to contrast her with someone who seemed to be her opposite, so I chose to make the hero a carefree children’s poet. Thinking about their differences and their underlying similarities helped me develop the story. I live only about an hour from New York City, and I thought that would be a fascinating setting.

Gail: Actually the group had already thought of it before I joined, and then we brainstormed for individual story ideas.

Vasthi: Growing up in New York City, as a small Puerto Rican girl, I loved the fact that Christmas didn’t end Christmas day. I still had El Dia de los Reyes (Epiphany or Three Kings Day) to look forward to. We received gifts on that day as well. The night before Epiphany, tradition dictates that water and grass be left out to assist the wise men and their camels on their trip to worship the new born king. In return the three kings left a small gift. Curiously, I never worried about how they reached a fifth floor apartment. Santa Claus made it up there, why couldn’t they.

In addition, I have a collection of three kings’ figurines that is rivaled only by a good friend’s collection which fills a whole room. But not to fear, I’ll catch up. Anyway, when I think of Christmas in New York City, I think of Three King’s day and the story emerged from there.

What are you reading right now?

Lynette: Glory Be! by the Benreys; The Measure of a Lady by Deanne Gist; Death Benefits by Hannah Alexander.

Carrie: I am reading Siri Mitchell’s Moon over Tokoyo and loving it. I just finished Linda Windsor’s Wedding Bell Blues and enjoyed that too.

Gail: A manual on playing upright bass. (For those of you who don't know, Gail's a musician as well as an author.)

Vasthi: I’m always reading more than one book at a time.
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez, a young adult novel that describes the fight for freedom from the dictatorship of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic.
Writing to Change the World by Mary Pipher.
The Restorer by Sharon Hinck. Loving it!

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

Lynette: This is my fourth novella for Barbour. Right now I’m working on my second cozy mystery due out next fall for Heartsong Presents: Mysteries, titled The Wiles of Watermelon. The first cozy mystery in my series, A Suspicion of Strawberries, releases in spring 2008. (I have no idea where the fruit theme has come from.)

Carrie: My published books include novellas in Wedded Bliss and Kiss the Bride for Barbour. I also wrote Along Came Love for Steeple Hill Love Inspired. I have four other completed books and one other novella that are unpublished.

Gail: Some Heartsong Presents, some Love Inspired books, other novella anthologies, and a few non fiction projects.

Vasthi: I’ve written two books of a three book series titled, Mangoes and Apple Pie, a contemporary adaptation of the Book of Ruth with Latino characters. It is not published, yet.

What is the hardest thing about writing a part of a novella collection?

Lynette: Sometimes when you’re starting, you’re not exactly sure how the package as a whole is going to come across to readers. Since our characters don’t even know or meet each other, we didn’t have the issue of continuity as in family or generational novellas—except we did have to keep track of the weather.

Carrie: The most challenging part is coming up with the ideas at first, especially if the stories are tied closely together. Allowing the other authors to help you brainstorm is great, but it takes time and patience to work it all out when you have different ideas.

Gail: Writing short. You still have to come up with a whole story, and get it out in only half the word count.

Vasthi: This was my first experience and the hardest thing was cutting out parts of the story that I really liked but weren’t necessary.

How did collaborating with this team impact you?

Lynette: I was happy to learn that according to Vasthi, I “got” New York right. I haven’t been there in about 18 years, but I loved the colors and variety of the city and its people. I enjoyed seeing how each of us brought a different perspective—Gail with her tourist, running away for the holidays; Carrie with her pair of city residents getting to know each other; Vasthi and her vivid Latina heroine; and my Gwynn and Theo, and older couple enjoying the season and falling in love.

Carrie: I enjoyed working with this team. Each author has strengths, and they shared those as we critiqued our stories for each other. Being able to ask Vasthi questions about New York was a great help too.

Gail: It was fun, and I feel I made some new friends.

Vasthi: Tremendously! I learned so much from my collaborators. I appreciated their honest critique and am a better writer because of it. A true blessing!

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Lynette: Sometimes, they just pop into my head. I’d heard the name Gwynn before, and it seemed to fit my mature heroine. Since she is from New Hampshire, I chose a French Canadian surname. Theophilus Stellakis seemed to fit a crusty Greek professor who walks to the university and picks up his paper at the newsstand every day. Of course Gwynn shortens it to Theo, much to his chagrin. Makes him feel young again.

Carrie: I look through a book of baby names, or I check on-line lists of popular names for the year my character was born.

Gail: The first names just come to me. Then I look in the big phone book to get ideas for last names.

Vasthi: I play with different names in my head until I find the one that feels right. Sometimes I’ll start a story with one name, knowing it’s not exactly the right one. When I find the right name I just replace it.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

Lynette: In this story, I wanted to capture the warmth of New York. Yes, it’s possible for a city to have a warm spot. Also, Gwynn had a very full life in New Hampshire. But her trip to New York allowed her to spread her wings and care for herself. Sometimes we women don’t do that enough.

Carrie: I hope Moonlight and Mistletoe will carry readers away for a few hours of relaxation and enjoyment. But I also hope they will be touched by my characters’ struggles and learn more about the issue of control and how faith can help us overcome our fears.

Gail: That God can and does work all things work together for good.

Vasthi: That trusting in God isn’t always easy but definitely best. And I wanted them to have a taste of what Christmas is like in a Latino home.

Why are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers?

Lynette: It’s THE organization to belong to if you’re serious about fiction writing. I can’t begin to say how much I’ve had the opportunity to learn over the years, and all the mentors who’ve come across my path.

Carrie: I love ACFW! It is a great group of aspiring and published authors who are seeking to grow and serve the Lord with their gifts. I have learned a tremendous amount from being a member. There is so much encouragement and practical help in this group.

Gail: It’s a great group of writers whenever I need another writer to bounce ideas off, or just to talk about nothing to do with writing, and everything in between.

Vasthi: I met Carrie Turansky at the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writer’s Conference and she encouraged me to join this fabulous group of writers. I am so glad I did! ACFW has been a lifeline of resources, support, teaching and fun.

What is the best piece of advice you received as an author?

Lynette: Keep reading. Keep writing. Keep learning.

Carrie: There is always more you can learn and ways you can grow and improve your writing. It is a never-ending journey.

I want to invite everyone to stop by my website, where you can read the first chapter of Moonlight & Mistletoe,” http://www.carrieturansky.com/ Just click on the cover of the book on the home page and it will take you to the Big Apple Christmas page.

Thanks, Lena. We appreciate you!

Gail: I’ve received lots of great advice, actually. The one that comes to me now is that a person’s ability to become a good writer greatly depends on one’s ability to glue one’s butt to one’s chair.

Vasthi: Write, write, write. The more you write the better you get.

Thank you, Ladies, for spending this time with us. I've really enjoyed it.

Now Readers, if you'd like a chance to win a free copy of this book, leave a comment. There will be 4 free books with this interview. Someone will win them. It might as well be you.