BENEATH THE BENDING SKIES - Jane Kirkpatrick - One Free Book

Bio: Jane Kirkpatrick is the New York Times and CBA bestselling and award-winning author of 40 books, including The Healing of Natalie Curtis, Something Worth Doing, One More River to Cross, Everything She Didn’t Say, All Together in One Place, A Light in the Wilderness, The Memory Weaver, This Road We Traveled, and A Sweetness to the Soul, which won the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Center. Her works have won the WILLA Literary Award, the Carol Award for Historical Fiction, and the 2016 Will Rogers Gold Medallion Award. Jane divides her time between Central Oregon and California with her husband, Jerry, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Caesar.

About the story: Mollie Sheehan had spent much of her life striving to be a dutiful daughter, even when doing so led to her own heartbreak. But when romance blooms between her and Peter Ronan, Mollie finally allows herself to hope for a brighter future—until her father moves her to California to ensure the breakup.

Yet, time and circumstances work to reconnect her with her former fiancé. Together they weather the challenges of marriage and settlement until Peter assumes the position of a lifetime—Indian Agent among the Flathead People. Mollie’s language skills, her desire to make everyone feel welcome, and her overarching sense of justice lead her to stand beside her husband and the People during the turbulent Nez Perce War and beyond.

Beneath the Bending Skies is a sweeping story of hospitality, destiny, and the bonds of family.

Welcome back, Jane. Your novel is based upon true events that occurred in the life of Mollie Sheehan Ronan. How did you first learn about Mollie and what compelled you to write a fictional account of her story? About ten years ago, I read Mollie’s memoir called Girl from the Gulches. It was such a sweeping story of the West and the strains of family bonds, yet with a happy ending. I never forgot her story. It kept niggling me while I worked on other novels, but it seemed the right time to write about goodness and family and happily ever after. And there was that magnificent Montana landscape to draw us all in!

Beneath the Bending Skies is a story that encompasses hospitality, destiny, and the bonds of family. Can you please expound about how these themes play out in your novel? Those themes are all wrapped up with Mollie’s desire to honor her deceased mom, please her father, and yet follow her own faith and heart. When she falls in love with her father’s “former” best friend, he moves his entire family to San Juan Capistrano where Mollie attends a convent school. And while she was told to never have contact with Peter Ronan, the priests of Helena, Montana, and the sisters in Los Angeles, California, nurture the longings of these two. When Mollie decides to marry without her father’s blessing, she nevertheless spends her days as a young wife, mother, and eventually works beside her husband on the Flathead Nation, but always seeks to bring her father back into the family fold. The tragic Nez Perce War crystallizes the role of family and the necessity of widening the scope of what family means.

What lessons do you hope readers gain from reading Beneath the Bending Skies? To truly honor our father and mother, we must also honor ourselves. And that family comes in many shapes and sizes as Mollie discovered as a stepchild, half sister, wife, and mother, and the member of a family of Native peoples who welcomed her into their midst. The importance of listening to that inner voice—that’s what I hope readers take away.

Mollie’s husband, Peter, becomes the Indian agent appointed by the Secretary of the Interior for the Flathead Reservation. What did this role entail? Think mayor or governor. He was responsible for working with the various tribes, resolving issues between non-Indian ranchers, acting as judge in judicial matters, advocating with the federal government for food, blankets, bullets for hunting, and other necessities for welfare of the Indian people whose lives were changing. The Agency employed dozens of people—physicians, blacksmiths, teachers, carpenters, lumbermen, etc.—and Peter had to manage finances and the needs of a small town too.

How did Mollie’s language skills and her gift of hospitality aid her husband’s position on the reservation? Because it was a well-organized agency, dozens of dignitaries from the federal government, priests, journalists, and tribal people dropped in and stayed. Mollie became the organizer of meals and hospitality, working beside her husband to make visitors and employees welcome—especially those of the reservation whom they were there to serve.

What type of research was required to write about the Ronans’ lives among the Flathead? Mollie’s memoir was a terrific source book. And Peter’s reports for several of the years of his time at the agency, his letters, etc. were published by the Montana Historical Society. They offered insights into the struggles Peter had and the joys too. Not being familiar with the history of Montana, I read dozens of books on mining and the Age of Vigilantes and the politics of the region, how women helped their husbands or fathers earn a living in a settlement time. Records about the Nez Perce War were also helpful. I also looked to my own mental health background to focus on family stresses and my seventeen years working on a reservation in Oregon with friends who brought authenticity—I hope—to this story.

The Ronans became embroiled in the Nez Perce War in 1877. What was the one life-changing event that took place during that time? I actually think there were a couple of events. One was Peter’s ability to keep the tribes he worked with agreeing not to join the Nez Perce renegade Chief Joseph, even though they had familial ties to him. Later, Peter worked to allow the defeated chief to return to his own country and even invited him to join the Jocko Agency he managed. But for Mollie, it was not only the commitment of the tribes to her family’s personal safety during this troubled time but also that she encountered a father who sought his daughter who had been taken hostage. He’d become wounded himself. Mollie’s care for this wounded father helped her see the importance of doing what one can for others, and the importance of family, and renewed her desire to heal the wound with her own father. That decision changed all their lives.

You refer to your novel as the “sandwich generation of the 1800s.” What do you mean by this statement? Mollie felt the responsibility of her father and stepmother while she had her own family with needs. She was the “meat” in that sandwich between generations. A great many women today struggle with those same challenges. I thought it of interest that some circumstances cross generations and decades. I hope how Mollie dealt with it might offer inspiration for women today.

What do you love most about writing historical novels? I love exploring how women of the past dealt with the challenges of family, finding meaningful work, growing in their faith, managing life. That these women really lived adds inspiration, I think, if I’ve told their stories well.  I also think that stories set in another time allow readers to imagine themselves. Stories are like maps. They help us figure out where we’re going but also help reduce the fear and anxiety of the unknown. Writing such stories helps me reduce those fears and anxieties too.

How can readers connect with you? My website is jkbooks.com. Many readers sign up there for my Story Sparks monthly newsletter of news and inspiration. You can find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Thank you, Jane, for sharing Beneath the Bending Skies with my blog readers and me. I love your books.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Bending-Skies-Jane-Kirkpatrick/dp/0800736125/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1668703435&sr=1-1 

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 2 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

ALL SHE LEFT BEHIND - Jane Kirkpatrick - One Free Book

 Bio: Jane Kirkpatrick is the New York Times and CBA bestselling author of more than thirty books, including A Light in the Wilderness, The Memory Weaver, This Road We Traveled, and A Sweetness to the Soul, which won the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Center. Her works have been finalists for the Christy Award, Spur Award, Oregon Book Award, and Reader’s Choice awards, and have won the WILLA Literary Award, USABestBooks, the Carol Award for Historical Fiction, and the 2016 Will Rogers Medallion Award. Jane lives in Central Oregon with her husband, Jerry. Learn more at www.jkbooks.com .

Based on true events, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick uses engaging storytelling to relay the intriguing account of Jennie Pickett, a young woman who dreams of practicing medicine in Oregon. Already well-versed in the natural healing properties of herbs and oils, Jennie longs to become a doctor but the Oregon frontier of the 1870s doesn’t approve of women attending medical school.

To support herself and her son, Jennie cares for an elderly woman using skills she has developed on her own. When her patient dies, Jennie discovers that her heart has become entangled with the woman’s widowed husband, a man many years her senior. Their unlikely romance may lead her to her ultimate goal—but the road will be winding and the way forward will not always be clear. Will Jennie find shelter in life’s storms? Will she discover where healing truly lives?

Jane Kirkpatrick invites readers to leave behind their preconceived notions about love and life as they, along with Jennie, discover that dreams may be deferred—but they never really die.

Welcome back, Jane. I love your headshot. Tell us a little about All She Left Behind.

It’s a book I’ve been thinking about for twenty years. Jennie is so little known, in part because her husband was so prominent, but she made a difference in her own right. She wanted to be a doctor but it was a long journey of overcoming challenges before she hung out her shingle, working with women and children.

Why did you decide to write about the life of Jennie Pickett?

When I learned that she was one of the first women to graduate from a medical college in Oregon I was intrigued. As I explored more, I realized she attended college after she was the mother of three children! This was highly unusual for a woman, let alone a wife and mother. I wondered how that dream was nurtured through the years and how she overcame the barriers.

You generally write stories about strong women of the West. Why and when did you decide to start writing about these women?

Way back in 1995! I always loved biographies but there weren’t many written about women. Then I learned about this fascinating woman who lived and worked with an Indian tribe that I also lived and worked with. I couldn’t find information about her—only her husband, brother, and father, and if she had sons, I know I’d have learned of them too. But women’s history is often lost. Because I couldn’t find letters or journals or newspaper accounts, I thought of her life as “reflected” in the life of the men who surrounded her. I interviewed descendants of both the tribe and her and began to piece together a remarkable life. I knew I’d need fiction to discover who she really was—and who so many women were whose history must be as Virginia Woolf said: “both invented and made up.” It turns out these lost women were both strong and courageous in their ordinary days and are inspirational for our lives today.

What was the most interesting thing you learned while researching Jennie Pickett’s life?

The degree to which alcohol use and abuse damaged the lives of settlers, and how women and children were especially negatively affected. I also found it interesting that medical students usually “read” with a physician for a year or more before attempting to enroll in medical school, which was usually two years long followed by a year of surgery study, usually back east. Becoming a pastor—which Jennie’s husband was—took six or seven years, but perhaps work with the soul is more complicated than work with the body. At least Jennie thought so.

What lesson(s) do you hope readers will take away from reading your book?

That some things are worth doing regardless of how they turn out. And also that even though we may not heal the troubles in our own family, that should not deter us from following God’s call in our lives to work to heal the lives of others.

In what way would you say your faith is worked into the book?

As a former mental health professional whose family struggled with substance abuse and other family challenges, I often thought I “should” be able to fix things; after all, I’m trained! But my faith tells me that I can only do what I’m called to do, and God provides the healing. I think Jennie came to understand that as well. A second insight came with the realization that Jennie didn’t practice very long, but that does not negate the power of the influence she had in part because she listened to that call and followed it. In my own life, I took a risk because I thought God was asking me to do something that didn’t seem realistic. And my life changed forever because I trusted. It was stepping out onto a cloud of faith believing I wouldn’t fall through. Jennie’s journey reminds me of that faith.

What are you working on next?

It’s the story of yet another fascinating woman, Carrie Strahorn. She came from a wealthy family and married a printer who then took her from Illinois to the wilds of the West. Together they traveled fifteen thousand miles by stage on behalf of the railroad to identify potential town sites and promote land buying to populate those seemingly remote places. She wrote a memoir, and it was the happy-happy presentation of those adventures that intrigued me because there must have been some rough times. I’ve ridden in a stage and it is not pleasant! So, what was really going on between the lines? That’s my working title: Between the Lines. I wanted to explore their relationship and what eventually was the triumph of her life.

How can readers connect with you?

Visit me at www.jkbooks.com and contact me there. Also, please sign up for my monthly e-newsletter, called Story Sparks, which contains words of encouragement. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter, though I confess I’m more active on the former than the latter. I also lead retreats, speak at various events around the country, and would love to meet readers face-to-face. My schedule will tell people where I’ll be next, and that’s at the website jkbooks.com. Thank you so much for your interest!

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

Readers, here are links to the book. 
All She Left Behind - Christianbook.com
All She Left Behind - Amazon paperback
All She Left Behind - Kindle
All She Left Behind - Amazon Audiobook

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 MEMORY WEAVER - Jane Kirkapatrick - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I first heard of Jane Kirkpatrick when a book club at our church read one of her books at least ten years ago. Her historical novels are amazing. Actually, at that time we shared the same agent, but I didn't find out until much later. I've gotten to know her ponline through that agency connection.

Bio: Jane Kirkpatrick is the New York Times and CBA bestselling author of more than twenty-five books, including A Light in the Wilderness and A Sweetness to the Soul, which won the coveted Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Center. Her works have been finalists for the Christy Award, Spur Award, Oregon Book Award, and Reader’s Choice awards, and have won the WILLA Literary Award and Carol Award for Historical Fiction. Many of her titles have been Book of the Month and Literary Guild selections. You can also read her work in more than fifty publications, including Decision, Private Pilot, and Daily Guideposts. Jane lives in Central Oregon with her husband, Jerry. Learn more at www.jkbooks.com.

Welcome back, Jane. How did you decide to write this particular story?

The unanswered question always brings me in! Eliza Warren’s memoir noting her mother’s death, a space in the text, and then the very next sentence being “In 1854 I married Andrew Warren” intrigued me. What might have gone inside that space that she didn’t want to talk about? Added to that question was hearing of and later reading about her father’s crying through town, “My daughter is dead!” following the marriage. What was that about? There had also never been an exploration of Eliza the child as an interpreter during the Whitman tragedy. I wanted to study that as well.

How did you decide to tell one woman’s story through diaries and letters and the other as a first person?

I wanted the two stories to be distinct in the readers’ minds, and I didn’t really want to rewrite all of the stories about the Spaldings as missionaries. After all, there are many volumes of works written about them. I wanted to consider what the mother might have experienced following the tragedy and her own survival, and especially about her husband’s insistence that their daughter attend the murder trial. Speculation also exists about Henry’s state of mind after the tragedy, and I wanted to show his wife’s faithfulness but also some of what may have been worries about his volatile behavior. I thought the diary format could serve as a border to that story. I really wanted this to be more of the daughter’s story, so I felt having her tell it and not be aware of her mother’s perspective until later added interest. Plus, I think the daughter did have a hard life, carried great wounds, and was both stoic and stumbling. I hoped that the first-person format with a wider narrative could soften her and help the reader see the scared ten-year-old child within some of the more controlling actions of her later life.

As you noted, many people have chosen to write about this family. How did you know where your story was going to go, and how is it different?

I don’t always know. I start writing before I think I should or I’d just keep researching! There are no novels to my knowledge based on the daughter’s life, and the mother is only a minor character in some fiction written about that time period. So the daughter was the focal point for me. A novel allows us to speculate about the why and about how one felt regarding an incident. Biography or nonfiction allows us to explore what and when but must hesitate about exploring people’s feelings. Novels are meant to move us, to bring emotion to the surface, and to help us see our lives in new ways. To paraphrase French writer Marcel Proust, “The real journey of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes.” I wanted to show Eliza’s journey toward seeing with new eyes.

You wrote about the bond between people who have survived a tragedy as Eliza and Nancy Osborne did in this story. Have you experienced anything like that?

Several years ago my husband and I flew in our small plane with two friends, Ken and Nancy Tedder. She was seven and a half months pregnant with their first child at the time. We hit a clear-air wind shear and crashed, missing three houses, power lines, and trees, and hitting the ground 450 feet from the end of the runway. My husband and I had many broken bones while the Tedders fortunately did not. Nancy went into labor, but it was stopped. We all dealt with the trauma of the crash and what happened afterward. In this case, the happy ending is that Nancy delivered a full-term baby six weeks later and still has no memory of the accident. Guilt, worry, and wishing we had done something different all visited my life. But since then, our lives have been forever intertwined with the best of threads. They are as family, and one of the greatest joys of my life was the morning Ken called to say Nancy had delivered a healthy baby girl named Lisa. That call helped rewrite that story of disaster. So yes, we survived a terrible accident, and the relationship with that family will forever be richly distinct.

Thank you, Jane, for sharing this new book with us. I'm eager to read it, and I know my readers are, too.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
The Memory Weaver - Christianbook.com
The Memory Weaver: A Novel - Amazon
The Memory Weaver: A 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 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

WHERE LILACS STILL BLOOM - Jane Kirkpatrick - Free Book

Welcome, Jane. Tell us about your salvation experience.

I was five years old and we'd just gotten television. I watched a program called "Crossroads" about the spiritual choices each character had to make. At the end, the announcer did an alter call of sorts and invited people to invite Jesus into their lives. I did that. My parents were out in the barn working; I remember the young man in the story who prayed the same prayer. He was a Native American and I've always had a heart for Indian people. Later in my life I spent 17 years working on an Indian reservation thinking often of that story all those years before. In my later life I strayed and it was in 1982 when I returned to the faith and was baptized in a little church in Bend, Oregon, where we now live.

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

1) Anita Hampton Wright because she writes so beautifully about the soul and helps writers get inside their own soul.

2) Pastor Frederick Buechner because everything of his I read, fiction or nonfiction, his sermons as well, are written with unique and loving metaphors while exploring the challenges of everyday life that reveal God's presence in our lives.

3) Laurie R. King. She'd bring her love of history, fiction, and her Jewish experiences to the retreat. I heard her speak at the Festival of Faith and Writing a few years back and decided then that she would be a gem to spend time with.

4) Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, whose essays never fail to move me and require that I think and consider how I've come to believe what I do and how my beliefs are expressed in the wider world.

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

I do! I mostly speak about the power of story in our lives and the importance of each person's story, the changing stories, hardiness stories, wilderness stories and how God works in our lives through stories to move us closer to him. I speak at women's retreats, as a fundraising keynoter, serve on panels and twice keynoted at the European Council of International Schools in both France and Italy speaking to teachers from around Europe. Some years ago I wrote a personal mission statement that includes "to encourage and promote through speaking and writing the power of story to Divinely heal and transform" My educational background is in mental health and I believe that writing and speaking are extensions of the healing work I've done all my life.

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

I spoke in Edmonton, Alberta Canada a few years ago at a Christian Writer's conference and had used the restroom before my presentation. I wore something with a bit of a "tail." I came out, sat down and after a short time realized I was getting very wet sitting there...so when I stood, it was pretty clear I was VERY wet on my bottom but there was nothing I could do but walk forward with my wet "tail." I often ask groups what experience it is they want to have by coming to a conference and then outline several of the barriers we put up to keep from having that experience. One is to let little things get in the way of being inspired such as the chairs being too hard or someone wearing perfume we don't like. I then said I hoped they wouldn't expect me to be inspirational because I had a wet bottom! People laughed and I turned it into an example of how we often keep ourselves from having the experiences we say we want to have because of silly things like being embarrassed by letting the tail of a wrap be wet in front of tons of people. They laughed and hopefully I went on to say something they could take home with them to encourage their days.

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?

I'd tell them to absolutely do it! That they will discover things about themselves they otherwise would never know. They'll also be in the 1% of people who say they want to write a book who actually do! And to begin, I'd encourage them to read, read, read; take some writing classes and then begin trusting that they are not alone in the telling of their story. God is with them.

Tell us about the featured book.

Where Lilacs Still Bloom is the story of a very persevering German immigrant housewife who taught herself how to hybridize first apples (so she could have easier and bigger ones to peel for the pies she liked to make for her family) and then lilacs. She had a dream to one day develop a creamy white lilac with 12 petals. She also endured many losses in her life and the flowers brought her healing. She was very generous, often giving away her new cultivars she developed (over 250 new varieties are attributed to her). Her generosity also helped her heal the losses. Her story is so inspirational I just didn't want it to be lost.

Please give us the first page of the book.

1948

It's the lilacs I'm worried over. My Favorite and Delia and City of Kalama, and so many more; my as yet unnamed double creamy white with its many petals are especially vulnerable. I can't find the seeds I set aside for it, lost in the rush to move us out of the rivers' way, get us above Woodland's low lands now under water. So much water from the double deluge of the Columbia and the Lewis. Oh how those rivers can rise in the night, breaching dikes we mere mortals put up hoping to stem the rush of what is as natural as air: water seeping, rising, pushing, re-shaping all within its path.

             I watch as all the shaping of my eighty-five years washes away.

            My only surviving daughter puts her arm around my shoulder, pulls me to her. Her house is down there, too, water rising in her basement. We can't see it from this bluff.

            "It'll be all right, Grandma. We're all safe. You can decide later about what to do about your flowers," my grandson Roland tells me.

            "I know it," I said. "All we can do now is watch the rivers and pray no one dies."

            How I wish Frank stood beside me. We'd stake each other up as we did through years weathering what arrived. I could begin again with him at my side. But now uncertainty curls against my old spine and I wonder if my lilacs have bloomed their last time.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

http://janeswordsofencouragement.blogspot.com/

http://www.jkbooks.com

www.facebook.com/Theauthorjanekirkpatrick

www.twitter.com/janekirkpatrick

www.pinterest.com/janekirkpatrick

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jkbooks

http://www.youtube.com/user/JKBooks

http://www.scribd.com/jane_kirkpatrick

Thank you, Jane, for the interesting interview.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

Where Lilacs Still Bloom: A Novel - paperback
Where Lilacs Still Bloom: A 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

LOG CABIN CHRISTMAS - Jane Kirkpatrick, Liz Tolzma, Michelle Ule, Debra Ullrick, Erica Vetch - 4 Free Books

I'm really thrilled to be featuring the authors of this novella collection. It contains nine novellas set during American Pioneer Christmases. We have five of them here today.

Welcome, Jane. How did your story for the collection come about?

While working on a history book about a Christian community of the 19th century (to accompany a three book novel series) I read a copy of a quilt historian journal.  It told the story of a signature quilt with all the blocks done by different women for a single man.  That gave me the idea for The Courting Quilt.

What are you reading right now?

I'm reading Sandra Byrd's To Die For, set in 16th century. I'm also reading a biography of Dorthea Dix.

What other books have you had published?

I'm the author eighteen novels (my first contemporary comes out next month!) and three non-fiction titles. This is my first venture into the novella realm and I'll be joining three other others next year for the Midwife's Legacy, also with Barbour.

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

For me it was writing within that 20,000 word limit since a couple of my novels are tomes of 130,000 words -- back when those big books were acceptable. Because we could each write in the setting we wished with the thread between us being the log cabin, we were pretty independent. With the Midwife novella collection, we needed to tie the pieces together more and that was fun and challenging too.

How did collaborating with this team impact you? 

I'd never written what I would call a sweet romance before so discovering how others have done that was a good impact. I read the other authors works (not their contributions to this piece) so I could get a feel for their voice. It was very enriching.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

They just came to me! Mary Bishop and Richard Taylor are the primaries.

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

That our initial reactions to people and events are not always the best judge.  And I hope it's a light story that helps people see that even in the worst of times, there can be a silver lining stitched by the hand of God.

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers?

If so, why?  Yes. Mostly to keep up with the business of writing, the marketplace, be exposed to writers at various stages of their career and to help cheer people on (and maybe have a little cheer myself!)

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

Write the best story you can and always have a "story" about the story because people often remember you as the storyteller as much as they will your story.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet? 

My website is http://www.jkbooks.com  where you can visit my blog www.janeswordsofencouragement.blogspot.com  or my dog's blog www.bodaciousbothedog.blogspot.com  who has more followers than I do I think!  I'm also on facebook https://www.facebook.com/theauthorjanekirkpatrick

Now we'll talk with Liz Tolsma. Welcome, Liz. How did your story for the collection come about?

I actually did the research for the story years ago when we were on vacation. As we were in the logging museum, the story came to me. I wrote the first three chapters and it sat in my desk until the call came for a Christmas novella centered around a log cabin. God’s timing is perfect.

What are you reading right now?

Right now I’m reading several different books by different publishers as I prepare to pitch two projects at the ACFW conference in September. I’m looking forward to reading Sarah Sundin’s WWII novel Blue Skies Tomorrow.

What other books have you had published?

I have two short stories, "A Mother’s Love" and "As American As They Come" in the collection Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families.

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

The word count limit. I struggled so hard with this, but it helped make the story tighter and better in the end.

How did collaborating with this team impact you?

I’m so privileged to be part of a book with these wonderful authors and humbled that I was chosen to participate with them.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

My neighbor named her daughter Adelaide and I loved the old-fashioned sound of it. Adie is one of my daughter’s friends at school. Noah, also, sounded old-fashioned and yet was a name I loved.

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

I want them to come away with the peace and comfort that God is covering us under his wings. There we can take refuge from all the world’s storms.

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers? If so, why?

Yes, I’m a member and have been for many years. My mentor Andrea Boeshaar encouraged me to join when it was still American Christian Romance Writers. I’ve never regretted it. This book wouldn’t have been possible if I weren’t a member.

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

Never give up. It took seven years from the time I wrote the first words of this book until it was published. You never know when or where your story will fit.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

They can find me at www.liztolsma.com and I’d love to have them join me at www.liztolsma.blogspot.com. I’m also on Facebook and on Twitter.

Michelle Ule has joined us. Welcome, Michelle. How did your story for the collection come about? 

My agent, Janet Grant of Books & Such, heard about the collection and suggested I come up with a story idea. I have a log cabin story from my family history that fit the bill and I wrote two chapters and a synopsis the day I got the invitation. It was a joy to fashion a story about people in my past whom I admired.

What are you reading right now?

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain (I wrote my senior thesis at UCLA on Ernest Hemingway)

What other books have you had published?

None!  This is the first one. For an interesting perspective on my reaction to seeing my name on a book, see my blog here: 

http://michelleule.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/the-humility-of-a-published-book.

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

Knowing the stories written by my co-writers. That was not a problem with this collection, but on two others I've "auditioned" for, it was complicated meshing our story lines together.

How did collaborating with this team impact you? 

It's been fun to share the joy and the honor of publishing with such fine writers.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Most came from my family history, the others were chosen based on popular names in 1836 Texas.

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

It's important to "do the right thing," particularly to forgive, when loved ones are involved.

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers? If so, why? 

Yes. I've been a member four or five years; for the networking opportunities, to enter the Genesis contest (finalist last year) and to keep track of events in the changing world of Christian fiction.

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

Write out of your heart and emotions. 

Where can my readers find you on the Internet? 

http:michelleule.wordpress.com 

Now we're welcoming Debra Ullrick. How did your story for the collection come about?

My fabulous agent Tamela Hancock Murray contacted me, telling me that Barbour was looking for log cabin novellas. Since I actually lived in an old homestead, stayed in many historical log cabins, and had access to several log cabins and their history, I thought it would be fun. Toss in my Germans from Russia heritage and A Grand County Christmas was born.

What are you reading right now?

A Prairie Christmas Collection

What other books have you had published?

Besides my novella in A Log Cabin Christmas, The Bride Wore Coveralls, Déjà vu Bride, Dixie Hearts, The Unexpected Bride, The Unlikely Wife, and Christmas Belles of Georgia.

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

None of these were hard at all. However, if I had to say something, maybe it was keeping the details straight. In Christmas Belles of Georgia, the heroines are identical quads, so we had to make sure we had the same height, eye color, and the letter from the lawyer had to say the same thing and have the same dates. But, Jeanie Smith Cash, whose idea this was, made it easy by supplying all of us with that information. Thank you, Jeanie!

How did collaborating with this team impact you?

We didn’t really collaborate on A Log Cabin Christmas because they were all individual stories.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

By looking online. I looked around until their names clicked with me.

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

That we need to trust God no matter how dire our circumstances look. Sometimes the biggest blessings come from our biggest trials.

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers?

If so, why? Yes. Because it’s a wonderful group of Christian writers, and I’ve made some fabulous friends because of it. Plus, I sold my first book at an ACRW conference. (That’s what the ACFWwas called back then. Those initials stand for… American Christian Romance Writers)

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

If you find someone who understands your voice and your style, who doesn’t try to change them, hang on to them, they are worth their weight in gold.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

On my website at www.debraullrick.com or Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Shoutlife.

The last author joining us is Erica Vetsch. Glad to have you, Erica.  How did your story for the collection come about?

The first story I pitched for this collection didn’t make the cut because it was too similar to the story Margaret Brownley had pitched. Thankfully, Becky Germany asked me to submit another story idea, and this novella popped into my head. I’m so glad it did, as I really love the characters and storyline for Christmas Service.

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading Anne Mateer’s debut novel Wings of a Dream. It’s excellent!

What other books have you had published?

I’ve had eight Heartsongs, a 3-in-1 collection of Heartsongs called Idaho Brides, this Christmas novella, as well as my debut trade-length novel also releasing this month titled A Bride’s Portrait of Dodge City, Kansas.

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

The tight word count. I always have to watch my story lengths.

How did collaborating with this team impact you?

I’m really honored to be a part of this group of novelists. Such stellar writers. I’ve really enjoyed reading everyone’s stories. There’s really a great mix of settings, ethnicities, and writing styles. Though we worked autonomously on our stories, it was really great knowing I was going to be part of such a wonderful group of writers.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

 My heroine is named after my pastor’s daughter, Elizabeth Sorensen, and my hero, Todd Rambek, is named after a family I met a few years ago from Norway. The Rambeks were staying in Rochester for a year on a work project.

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

A fun read that puts them in the mood for Christmas, and that they will be reminded what true service in the Church is all about.

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers? If so, why?

Yes, ma’am, I am a member, because of all the benefits I receive and the wonderful fellowship. I’ve made so many friends in the writing business through ACFW.

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

I’ve received a lot of very good advice. For today, since I’m working on this particular thing in the story I’m writing now, I’ll say no conflict, no story. You have to have conflict, or your story is boring.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

On my blog at www.onthewritepath.blogspot.com/

On twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/EricaVetsch

On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Erica-Vetsch/168952446490736

Thank you, Jane, Liz, Michelle, Debra, and Erica for the fun interview.

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

A Log Cabin Christmas: 9 Historical Romances during American Pioneer Christmases


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THE DAUGHTER'S WALK - Jane Kirkpatrick - Free Book

Welcome back, Jane. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

It’s a little scary in a blessing sort of way. I have a new nomination for the Oregon Book Awards, and a wonderful review of my latest on the Pioneer Woman blog, a Publisher’s Weekly short feature and a contemporary book coming out this fall in addition to a novella and my latest, A Daughter’s Walk. Some years ago a woman suggested that as my career moved forward I’d need a prayer team. So I have five special women who pray for me and my work, that it will reach the hands (or ears!) of those who would find healing and hope inside the stories. So that’s what I see on the horizon: good support, hopefully great stories to tell, and gratitude for what has already transpired.

Tell us a little about your family.

I’ve been married to Jerry for almost 35 years. He’s 16 years older than I am and often as...persevering as I am. We have great fun together and he is the love of my life. He had three children from a previous marriage so I have two living step children, Katy in Florida and Matt who lives near our ranch in Oregon. Between them we have five grandchildren and one great. My only brother lives in Red Wing, Minnesota, with his family and we talk every week. He and his wife have kept us connected and I feel like his two sons are my grandkids in a way, too. My sister passed away 12 years ago and her two sons also have kids though one lives in Florida and the other in Oregon and we’ve been privileged to be a part of their lives. And of course we have two dogs who are part of the family…Caesar a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Bodacious Bo who is a wire-haired pointing griffon. Bo has his own blog http://www.bodaciousbothedog.blogspot.com/  and he has more followers than I do!

Has your writing changed your reading habits?

If so, how? I read more eclectically and not just historical novels that I write. I love mysteries and I read a lot of nonfiction, biographies especially. I tend to read fiction just before I go to bed so it takes me along time to finish a book I think! Daytime reading is devoted to research reading. I also read more books about “how to write” even now feeling like there is always more to learn. I’m also more likely to ask as I’ve finished a book that has moved me “How did the author do that?” Whereas before I began writing I’d read just for the joy and not ask that question.

What are you working on right now?

I have a couple of projects. My next novel with a working title of The Lilac Lady is about a woman who taught herself horticulture and managed to hybridize nearly 250 new varities of lilacs but that’s only part of her story. You’ll have to wait for the rest of it. I’m finishing final edits for my contemporary book about a writer who mistakes fame for fulfillment and I have a novella as part of A Log Cabin Christmas coming out this fall that is in edits. And then I’m also working on a Midwife novella along with three other authors. That’s a new challenge for me and so far it’s been fun! It’ll be out in 2012.

What outside interests do you have?

I love music and theater though we’ve lived far away from access to both for 26 years. We recently moved from our remote ranch to a more suburban area and I’m looking forward to attending concerts and stage performances. It’s another art form, another story-telling. I also have a passion for Native American issues after working on a reservation in mental health for 17 years. I hope to re-involve myself with those tribes now that I’m living more closely.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

The characters choose most of the settings since most of my novels are based on the lives of actual people. But my contemporary is set in the Midwest where I grew up and the novella is set in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. I’ve never lived there but the history is wonderful and the landscape and sense of place is one of the four elements that I think are woven into the fabric of story the other three being spirituality, relationships and a character’s work.

The book I'm writing right now is set in and around Oregon City in Oregon in 1885. I've been doing a lot of research on that area. If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?

Jane Adams. She developed the concept of social work, reaching out to those in need and helping them discover their true potential. I think that’s important work and I’d love to hear what she thinks about how her work brought about a profession and what she thinks is still important work to be done.

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

I wish I’d known the three questions I now ask myself before I start writing: what’s my intention; what’s my attitude; and what’s my purpose in writing this story. And then I wish I’d understood that God is in control of what happens after the story is finished.

It took me a while to understand about God's control over every book I write as well. What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

The importance of provision, that God provides every aspect of our lives whether it’s story ideas or that missing word or the impact the story might have on a reader. I also believe he is teaching me to trust more, to relax better and to play harder.

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

Take time each day before writing to have a time of prayer and identify areas of gratitude; answer those three questions I mentioned above and get them down to one sentence each to attach to their computers while they write; and make a commitment to write and then keep that commitment.

Tell us about the featured book?

The Daughter’s Walk is set in 1896 and is the story of an actual walk made by a mother and daughter who walked from Spokane, WA to NYC within 7 months hoping to win $10,000 from the fashion industry. The money would save the family farm. When I read about the actual walk, I was struck by a side note that said when they returned, the 18-year-old daughter, Clara, changed her last name and separated herself from the family for more than 20 years. I wanted to know how that walk touched their lives, what happened that caused the schism and what kind of reconciliation did they have. So it’s a story of family hopes and disappointments and how we often walk the same path as our parents even when we set out to do something very different.

Sounds intriguing. Please give us the first page of the book.

Prologue

Mica Creek, Washington State, March 1901

Go back! Just go back!” The woman glared at the dog, who stopped, his tail down, ears tipped forward in confusion.

“You can’t come with me,” she said. “I’m not part of this family anymore.” Her voice cracked at the truth that now defined her life. Heavy, wet snow fell on the solemn pair. The dog failed to obey. Even in this she was powerless. She looked at the window, hoping her mother or sister might wave. No one. She returned to the dog.

“Go back. Please.” She pointed, her voice breaking. “Go, Sailor. Go home.” The dog curled his bushy tail between his legs and then turned, walking toward the farmhouse now shrouded in snow. He looked back once, but she pointed and he continued back to the family as she’d ordered.

The woman bit her lip to avoid crying, then stuffed the packet close to her chest to keep the papers dry. She pulled her fur coat around her. Maybe she shouldn’t have worn it; maybe her success offended them and that’s why they’d refused.

The wind shifted, drove pelting snow into her face. She’d forgotten her umbrella at the house. It mattered little; she’d left so much more behind. She trudged toward the railroad tracks, taking her first steps into exile.

Decision

My name is Clara Estby, and for my own good, my mother whisked me away. Well, for the good of our family too, she insisted. Trying to stop her proved useless, because when an idea formed in her Norwegian head, she was like a rock crib anchoring a fence: strong and sturdy and unmovable once it’s set. I tried to tell her, I did. We all did. But in the end, we succumbed to her will and I suppose to her hopefulness, never dreaming it would lead where it did. I certainly never imagined I’d walk a path so distant from the place where I began.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, telling stories out of sequence, something a steady and careful woman like me should never do.

It began on an April morning in 1896, inside our Mica Creek farmhouse at the edge of the rolling Palouse Hills of eastern Washington State, when my mother informed me that we would be walking from Spokane to New York City. Walking, mind you, when there were perfectly good trains a person could take. Walking—nearly four thousand miles to earn ten thousand dollars that would save our farm from foreclosure. Also to prove that a woman had stamina. Also to wear the new reform dress and show the freedom such garments offered busy, active, sturdy women.

Freedom. The only merit I saw in the shorter skirts and absence of corsets was that we could run faster from people chasing us for being foolish enough to embark on such a trek across the country, two women, alone.

We were also making this journey to keep me “from making a terrible mistake,” Mama told me. I was eighteen years old and able to make my own decisions, or so I thought. But not this one.

Mama stood stiff as a wagon tongue, her back to my father and me, drinking a cup of coffee that steamed the window. I could see my brother Olaf outside, moving the sheep to another field with the help of Sailor, our dog, dots of white like swirling cotton fluffs bounding over an ocean of green. Such a bucolic scene about to reveal hidden rocks beneath it.

“We are going to walk to New York City, Clara, you and I.”

“What?” I’d entered the kitchen, home for a weekend from my work as a domestic in Spokane. My mother had walked four hundred miles a few years earlier to visit her parents in a time of trial. We’d all missed her, and no one liked taking over her many duties that kept the family going. But walk to New York City?

“Why would we walk, and why are we going at all?” I had plans for the year ahead, and I figured it would take us a year to make such a trek.

My father grunted. “She listens to no one, your mother, when ideas she gets into her head.”

“Mama, you haven’t thought this through,” I said.

My mother turned to face us, her blue eyes intense. “It’s not possible to work out every detail in life, but one has to be bold. Did we know you’d find work in Spokane when we left Minnesota? No. Did we think we’d ever own our own farm? No. These are good things that happened because we took a chance and God allowed it.”

Since I'm part Norwegian and I love the premise and opening, I must read this book. How can readers find you on the Internet?

I’m on facebook www.facebook.com/theauthorjanekirkpatrick.
My website is http://www.jkbooks.com/ where you’ll also find links to my blog http://www.janeswordsofencouragment.blogspot.com/;

People can also sign up for my Story Sparks newsletter there that comes out once a month and features books I’ve read and loved as well as news about my writing life. I’m on Twitter and have a connection to Randomhouse.com and WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers and of course my dog Bodacious Bo has that blog!
 
Thank you, Jane, for sharing this interesting information with us. I'm sure the readers will want to get ahold of your book right away.
 
Readers, here's a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.



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.)

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Jane Kirkpatrick - A FLICKERING LIGHT - Free Book

I'm happy to welcome Jane back to the blog. Jane, why do you write the kind of books you do?

A few years ago I took some time and worked out my philosophy of writing and it goes something like this. I want to be able to “Inspire and promote, through speaking and writing, the power of story to Divinely heal and transform.” I believe sincerely that God speaks to us through stories. Aside from that, the stories come to me and I try to listen to them. I write historical novels in part because I think much of women’s history is lost, and I think there is spiritual value in exploring ordinary lives and being informed about the way that faith was expressed in ordinary days. I’ve written non-fiction books as well, in part because of my mental health background and a wish to offer healing words inspired by God’s grace whether a memoir, a book for grief, or a book of history and legacy. But overall, I believe that story is a powerful influence in our lives: stories we tell ourselves affect us and our lives are the stories other people read first.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

I really had to think about this one! There’ve been many. But I have to say the day I got to help deliver a baby. I was the birthing coach for a woman I worked with on an Indian reservation. I’d had the courage to ask her if I could be her coach when I overheard her tell the nurse that she didn’t have a partner she could count on; so I was it! And the day the baby came was truly one of the happiest in my life. I got to cut the cord, a privilege usually reserved for the father in Indian country. She’s going to be thirteen this year! A teenager! I felt so fortunate. I have no children of my own though I’m blessed with step-children so being a part of this moment of life was truly an amazing experience.

How has being published changed your life?

Big time, though for 17 years I continued to work in my day job first as a mental health director of a clinic and then as a consultant to people on an Indian reservation. So I commuted a little over two hours to work but I stayed on the reservation two nights a week. Those nights I got up really early 4:00 AM and wrote before going to work. It energized me for my social work day. Seven years ago I was able to quit my job there and write full time. I teach classes, lead women’s retreats and am often asked to be an inspirational speaker for businesses, at universities, charitable groups; and I continue to write. We also have a ranch so we have to work travel around seasons sometimes. I’ve met tons more people than I ever did before I published! And I’ve been privileged to receive some of the most amazing letters from people saying how much the words have helped them in their lives. My spiritual life has also grown as a writer though that began before I was actually published. Writing is a leap of faith, every time we sit down to do it!

What are you reading right now?

A bunch of things. With my husband morning and evening, I’m reading Ann Spangler’s book The Tender Words of God. I also read a piece from Frederick Buechner’s Listening to My Life each day. A Perfect Red a book about dyes and the history of the world’s desire to find the perfect red. The Song Weaver by B.J. Hoff…I’m way behind in her books, I know! The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama because I think there’s value in knowing how our President sees the world. I just finished reading Loving Frank (about Frank Lloyd Wright because the period is the same as my current novel) and The Geography of Love by Glenda Burgess because I love reading memoir. I’ll read a few pages at night before zoning out so it takes me awhile to finish a book.

What is your current work in progress?

The working title is An Absence So Great. It’s the second book in my Portrait of a Heart series based on my grandmother who was a photographer at the turn of the century in Minnesota. She made some poor choices in the first book, and she’s moved to Milwaukee to help a widow run her photographic studio. Photographers at that time often became ill from mercury poisonings from the developing chemicals and she was trained not only to do the photographic work but to run studios while the owner recovered from his illness. She did that in several cities over her lifetime until she married.

What would be your dream vacation?

I get one every now and then: It’s being on a houseboat moored to one spot with tons of books to read, a little music now and then, good food, and my husband and friends. A second would be to travel to places I’ve never been but again with people I enjoy spending time with and being able to be casual and bring the dog along. He’s a wire-haired pointing griffon.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

My stories tend to be character driven and most are based on the lives of real people. Marie Dorion, an Iowa Indian woman who traveled with 60 men, her husband, and two little boys with the Astor Expedition in 1811, began her life in the Wisconsin area. A Name of Her Own, the first in the series about her, I began in St. Louis as that’s where the expedition gathered to leave. I knew that Sacagawea was in St. Louis at that time and there was evidence the women knew each other, a fact that worked into the story later. I started A Clearing in the Wild in Bethel, Missouri, as that’s where Emma Giesy was living at the time. The second book begins in Western Washington and the third in Oregon. It’s nice when the setting is the west because I like to go to the places more than once while I’m writing.

Basically, the settings grow from the characters. I’m also interested in how the landscape affected the characters. I see my writing weaving threads of landscape, relationship, faith, and work around the spine of character and history. My newly released novel A Flickering Light, is about my grandmother, an early photographer in Minnesota in 1907.

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

Frederick Buechner. Because he’s a fine writer of both fiction and nonfiction, he’s a brilliant scholar and theologian who continues to explore his faith, continues to find new things within scripture and can convey those insights in ways that touch people deeply. I can’t read his Listening to my Life without being overcome with emotion because he has such a way of tearing away the fabric of façade and cutting to one’s heart.


What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

The other day someone asked me that and I have to say I was really stumped because reading is my number one hobby. I used to do needlework, embroidery, but don’t much now. I guess I’d say walking with my dog, working with him so he won’t be “ruined” as the dog training people say. I have my pilot’s license but since we don’t have a plane anymore I haven’t flown much but I used to enjoy learning how!

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Silencing the voices sitting behind me saying that what I’ve written or am writing is drivel, is worthless, won’t matter to anyone, isn’t faithful, doesn’t ring true, you name it. I have a whole list of harpy comments as I call them. I actually developed a workshop about the seven stories that hold us hostage and how we can transform them. Most of my internal comments fall into seven categories and I have phrases I’ve developed for each one, to change the story.

My biggest harpy buster is a little note I have at the top of my computer that I can read when I feel scared, unworthy, guilty, angry, anxious, perfectionistic, or have hurt feelings. It reads: “You don’t have time for that.” That helps me remind myself that it isn’t my job to write the great American novel or to get Oprah to know my name. It’s my job to show up, to assume the position of a writer and to tell the stories I’ve been given the best way I know how and to trust that I’m not alone in the telling.

Excellent advice. What advice would you give to a beginning author?

To listen to their heart. To set aside time every day or a particular schedule, each weekend for four hours, or whatever fits into their lives, and to not wait for inspiration. I’d encourage them to make a commitment, to set a goal. As the lyric poet Goethe noted that what people don’t realize is “once you make a commitment to something, then Providence moves.”

Tell us about the featured book.

A Flickering Light is about my grandmother who was a photographer in Winona, MN at the turn of the century. At fifteen she began being trained by her mentor, a man 26 years her senior. She was a natural from what I could learn; but she also made some unwise decisions as she began to fall in love with this very married man.

In part it’s an exploration of temptation but also a tendency I’ve seen in very capable and competent people at times, that they do things to sabotage their gifts. It’s caused me to do some real thinking about my own mistakes, even the actions I take in my writing that might very well be shooting myself in my foot and asking myself why I do that and how far that takes me from my relationship with God. It’s a more emotional story than what I’ve written before, or maybe it’s because it is my own grandmother, but I’ve really been thinking of her a great deal and wish she was alive to ask her questions. I’m having to speculate about the answers but that’s what fiction is all about, right?

There’s a video trailer promoting it on Godtube, Shoutlife, Amazon, and my website and some other sites as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm81HyoX_K0&feature=channel_page

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=44ed1f4e66a8a12f8bdb

http://www.shoutlife.com/profile_view.cfm?uid=136956&view_mode=video&folder_id=1551&vid_id=2574

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My web address if http://www.jkbooks.com/.

My blog is http://www.janekirkpatrick.blogspot.com/. It’s called The Harvest of Starvation Lane. I’m on Facebook and shoutlife as well. For those interested, I write Words of Encouragement each month on my website that are essays about writing and life. I’d love to hear from any of your readers.

Thanks so much for letting me share my thoughts! Happy writing! Jane

Thank you, Jane, for spending this time with us.

Readers, here's a link where you can order A Flickering Light.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. The only notification you'll receive is the winner announcement post on this blog. Be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won.

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