DOWN SQUASH BLOSSOM ROAD - Janet Chester Bly - One Free Book

Welcome back, Janet. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

One of the toughest challenges we face on this earth is doing relationships. Whether fiction or nonfiction, my books deal with the tough stuff of figuring out how to get along with others. Also, Bly Books fiction evolves around the historical and contemporary lifestyles of western culture.

We’ve always lived in and traveled the many highways and dirt road trails of the western states. This was my late husband Stephen Bly’s passion and I caught it from him. He knew the history of the Old West and could recall most every detail he ever studied or learned. In keeping with the western theme brand, but staying in a more familiar and doable zone for me, my mystery fiction stories happen in a contemporary western setting. The most recent solo series, The Trails of Reba Cahill, takes place the summer of 1991.

Most all my nonfiction books go back to the theme of tackling relationships, whether devotionals or family topics or themes such as The Heart of a Runaway.

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

Maybe it was the day Stephen received nine book contracts from Crossway Books on the very same day … six of them for the Nathan T. Riggins Series (8-12 yrs old) and three for the first of the Stuart Brannon Series (which eventually became a total of seven). We made a habit of eating a steak dinner at our favorite restaurant whenever we got a contract. We weren’t quite sure how to properly celebrate such an incredible multiple bonanza. So we included all the members of our family in the outing—three sons and their wives and the grandkids. A sweet memory! Also, that day plunged us into fulltime writing.

How has being published changed your life?

Being published confirmed my God-given task in how I could communicate God’s truth—through the written page. I knew where to invest my time, strength, and gifts to learning how to improve the messages He created me to share. Also, I’ve gained so many friendships that otherwise would not have been possible—readers, other writers, as well as various folks in the publishing field.

If I had never been published, I would presume writing wasn’t for me. I’d have pursued other avenues of ministry. Now that I’m in my senior years, I still plug away with stories and projects and keep chasing the sparks of ideas that might work in print.

What are you reading right now?

A variety of books that make an intriguing combination. 1) The Revelation Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Prophetic Book of the End of Times, by Dr. Henry M. Morris, founder of the Institute of Creation Research. 2) I’m re-reading Heaven by Randy Alcorn. 3) The last three novels I just finished were very different, but kept my interest and impressed me with the likeable characters, settings, and writing style: From Russia With Love, The Heirs of Anton, Book 1, by Susan May Warren; A Stillness of Chimes by Meg Moseley; and Silenced, Alaskan Courage Series, Book 4, by Dani Pettrey—loved the uniqueness of the rock climbing skills of the main character in this one.

What is your current work in progress?

Now that Down Squash Blossom Road, Book 2 of the Trails of Reba Cahill Series has been launched, I hope to re-release about nine more of our out-of-print children’s books, including The Crystal Blake Adventure Series (9-12 yrs old). Then sometime next Spring, I’ll be adapting several former devotional books into a revision entitled Grace Spilling Over/True Stories of God’s Tender Mercies.

As soon as I’ve completed these projects, I’ll begin Book 3 of The Trails of Reba Cahill with the working title: Beneath a Camperdown Elm. Most of the research has been done for this conclusion of Reba Cahill’s story and a number of scenes have already been rumbling around in my mind. In one way, it’s hard to wait to get started with the next book in the series. In another, I truly need the break from the tyranny of that consuming pace and pursue some semblance of a social life. With the other writing projects, I can have a more relaxed schedule.

What would be your dream vacation?

My late husband and I traveled so many places. We visited every state in the U.S., including Hawaii, traveled across Canada, and all over Europe. We enjoyed all those sights and adventures so much. However, our favorite trips happened in his pickup when we had a general direction in mind, but no appointments or definite destination. We pulled off every side road and into any town that got our attention. So much of our creative writing ideas were generated during those long hours of sightseeing. Just thinking about it makes me miss again my travel buddy. Hard to imagine a dream vacation without him.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

First of all, it has to be in one of the western states. That narrows it down a bit.

Second, it has to be somewhere I’ve spent some time or will be headed to. The beginning scenes in Wind in the Wires, Book 1, Trails of Reba Cahill, happen in a fictional town in north-central Idaho, high on the mountain top Camas Prairie, just like the one I live in. So, the setting’s one I experience every day. No one can tell me I didn’t get it right.

But then one of the characters, an elderly man named Seth Stroud, insists on taking a long journey in a Model T to Goldfield, Nevada. My heroine Reba Cahill is nudged to go with him. That required more work. I had to take the same trek myself. Much of that research I could also use in another road trip, for Down Squash Blossom Road, Book 2 in the series.

The two cozy mystery fiction series co-authored with Stephen were placed in towns we visited and enjoyed. Fox Island, Washington; Jerome, Arizona; and Columbia Falls, Montana, were all part of the Hidden West Series, contemporary mysteries. We set the historical Carson City Chronicles in a Nevada town near Lake Tahoe, a wonderful place to vacation while doing research.

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

Whoever is reading this blog right now. Would love to sit with you, listen to your stories, and empathize with your troubles. I’d like to find out who you are, what you’ve done, and what you still want to do. I love meeting new people and finding out interesting things about them. There are always pleasant surprises. And who knows? You might be the inspiration for a character in a novel sometime.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I used to have all sorts of hobbies, such as making wreaths, pottery, and embroidery. But all of those fell to the wayside when I started writing. Besides, I overdid it on all those activities. I made so many items for friends and family and myself, yet wasn’t interested in traveling to fairs and bazaars to sell them. There was no point in continuing.

Any extra time these days is given to library board (as president) and church board (as clerk) and ministering with the church worship team and choir (as director).  

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

Readers have told me that I tend to have too many people and names in my stories and sometimes they get lost. I have tried to correct that by cutting the number of characters, such as totally deleting lesser important ones or combining some of them. I also added a Character Names List to the newest novel just released, Down Squash Blossom Road. I am hoping that will help!

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Today is so different. Anyone can publish a book about anything, anytime. That’s the benefit and also the bane. If you want to become a good writer and find a sizeable reader base, steady yourself to be able to take critique. Develop a team that will provide helpful, honest feedback and who understands your genre and writing style. That may take some time and testing. Determine to improve your skills with each project and welcome evaluation.

If you’re not under contract with a mainline publisher who has their own editor, I recommend you hire at least one pro. Trading editing favors with other writers can also be very helpful.

Stephen and I had a rule that either of us could edit the other with any amount of red marks we felt were warranted. However, the creator of the project had the last say on what stayed and what got deleted. We learned from each other that way over the years. We each had a different approach and gifts that complemented the team effort.

Tell us about the featured book.

Cowgirl Reba Cahill’s schedule is full. Save the family ranch. Free her mom from a mental institute. Solve a murder and kidnapping. Evade a stalker. Can she also squeeze in romance? 

Reba tried to focus on ranch duties, to help out her widowed grandmother. But a crippled Champ Runcie returns to Road’s End, Idaho in a wheelchair and seeks revenge for the accident that put him there. He blames Reba’s horse. Meanwhile, a letter from her estranged mom forces her and Grandma Pearl back on the road: I can leave now. Come get me. Love, Mom 

When they arrive in Reno, her mother issues a demand and refuses to return to Idaho. They head west instead. In California, Reba’s friend Ginny’s marriage is on the rocks. The family business is threatened. And squabbles turn deadly.

Reba digs deep for stamina to forge a relationship with her mom and escape a crazed man’s obsession. She also faces an uncertain future as a trainer offers her another horse … and maybe more.

Please give us the first page of the book.

July 4, 1991, Road’s End, Idaho

The dark speck in the sky seemed to float toward them, then swooshed at a fast clip. Or so it seemed to the Welcome Home party of several hundred Road’s End residents scattered along the field behind the Grange Hall.

“Here he comes!” Six-year-old Kaitlyn Runcie clutched handpicked bunches of Syringa and Indian Paintbrush for her great-grandpa flying in the sky. Three-year-old brother William crowded beside her on a child-sized tractor.

As the helicopter droned closer, Reba Cahill followed the gradual, graceful descent with a mix of trepidation and curiosity. Her head throbbed and her stomach cramped. Soon they would greet Champ Runcie for the first time since his tragic fall over a cliff in the Nevada desert, while riding Reba’s favorite black horse Johnny Poe, and despite a protest and warning. This grand appearance of the city’s leading citizen incited excitement and angst for them all amidst the July 4th city-wide celebrations.

He was supposed to arrive in time to be Grand Marshal in the Main Street parade, same as the past nine years. But when word arrived of a delay, Grandson Tim Runcie and wife Sue Anne took the honors on his behalf, riding and waving with their children in Champ’s 1957 white Cadillac. The Mathwig triplets who owned the Road’s End Hotel rode horseback behind them on their proudest possessions, sidesaddles with plush red seats. Afterward, parade participants mulled around to wait for the mayor’s homecoming, including rodeo royalty and high school band members.

The woman who raised Reba clutched the arm of old friend and temporary fill-in Cahill Ranch foreman, Vincent Quaid. “Can you imagine? Paralyzed from the waist down.” Grandma Pearl whispered the diagnosis everyone now knew.

Download Now! 5 Free Chapters of Down Squash Blossom Road, Book 2!

Click here: http://www.blybooks.com/books/squash-blossom/

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Receive 5 free chapters Wind in the Wires, Book 1!

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How can readers find you on the Internet?

Website: www.BlyBooks.com

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Thank you, Janet, 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.
Down Squash Blossom Road (Trails of Reba Cahill) (Volume 2) - Paperback
Down Squash Blossom Road (Trails of Reba Cahill Book 2) - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book--print book in US and PDF ebook file if winner is not in US. 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.

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WIND IN THE WIRES - Janet Chester Bly - One Free Book

Welcome back, Janet. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

The theme of all our fiction is to prepare the hearts of readers to receive God’s truth. But whether fiction or nonfiction, Bly books deal with relationship issues and encouraging readers to trust God more deeply in the tough hassles of life. Writing westerns was my late hubby Stephen’s genre. That grew out of his love of Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey fiction, his lifestyle growing up on a farm and later working on a ranch, and his knowledge gained of historical details of the era.

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

The day in February 2006 when Stephen and I celebrated my birthday in Paris at the Eiffel Tower and it was gently snowing. So fun. And romantic. I’d love to have that event to live over again.

How has being published changed your life?

Being published confirmed for me my God-given task, my main ministry. I know where to invest my time, strength, and gifts. Also, this has been an avenue for gaining so many acquaintances and friendships that never otherwise would have been possible. I’m thinking of readers and other writers, as well as various folks in the publishing field.

What are you reading right now?

I have started re-reading all of my Anne Perry mystery novels. The Thomas Pitt and William Monk Series were some of her Victorian mysteries. I also have appreciated her World War II Series. She intrigued me so much as a writer that I did some research, was privileged to make personal contact with her via mail, and wrote an article on her work and her life. During the process I discovered a shocking truth about her personally. If you’re interested, you can find it out here: http://www.blybooks.com/2015/02/anne-perry-mysteries/

What is your current work in progress?

I am working on three different projects in succession this Spring.

a.) Stephen’s first published book was entitled Radical Discipleship. With a bit of edit and adaptation, it is being re-released as 9 different eBooklets in The Following Jesus Series. Find the first two, The Way-Paver Society and The Pallet Carriers Union here: http://www.blybooks.com/ebooks-estories/

b.) Most of our novel series for kids are out of print. I am re-releasing them one at a time, starting with a fiction for boys 8-14 years old, The Nathan T. Riggins Series. Check out what’s available so far here: http://www.blybooks.com/genre/books-for-kids/.

c.) I’m aiming by the first of May to begin working on Book 2 of the Trails of Reba Cahill Series. Hope to have that book ready in the Fall.

What would be your dream vacation?

These days a Reading Retreat sounds wonderful with nothing on the agenda except to read and look at beautiful scenery. In fact, have such a vacay scheduled sometime the next month in northern Idaho with a friend. Other vacations I love are anywhere I can include research for a story idea in the mix.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

First of all, they have to be in one of the western states. That narrows it down a bit. Second, it has to be somewhere I/we spent some time or will be headed to. On location research is important. The beginning scenes in Wind in the Wires happen in a fictional town just like the one I live in, so that makes it so much easier. But then one of the characters insists on taking a long journey in a Model T to Goldfield, Nevada. That required a lot more work. Gets me out of the house on the road. Delightful part of my job.

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

Whoever is reading this blog right now. Would love to sit with you and listen to your stories, and empathize with your troubles. I’d like to find out who you are and what you’ve done and what your plans are for the future. I love meeting new people and finding out interesting things about them. There are always pleasant surprises. And who knows? You could be the inspiration for a character in a novel sometime.

Good answer, Janet. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I used to have all sorts of hobbies, such as making wreaths, pottery, and embroidery. But all of those fell to the wayside when I started writing. Besides, I overdid it on all those activities. I made so many for friends and family and myself, there was no point in continuing.

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

My husband was my partner and helpmeet in everything. We were so prolific because we had learned how to work together, support each other, and divided up all our various duties. As a widow, my main obstacle is the stuff of everyday life. I have to do it all myself now. There are so many details I once shared or didn’t have to do at all that now require my full attention. It’s unrelenting and saps my creative energy at times. One way I overcome being overwhelmed by it all is to remind myself it will never be completely finished. I will leave this world with undone tasks. Stephen did. So will I. That relieves the pressure that somehow I’m supposed to get everything done right now. I focus on one thing at a time. Also, I have found a tremendous power in taking time at the end of the day to enjoy and appreciate each project that does get done. I thank God for all He helped me do. That helps me cope and enjoy a sense of accomplishment.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Pray through every step of the process of your journey. Make the writing from the very start about your relationship with God. Keep Him front and center. Also, when life happens, don’t consider it as intrusions on your writing. Realize that nothing is ever wasted. The good and the bad, the joys and the ugly, they’re all grist for what you’ll communicate to your world of readers.

Tell us about the featured book.

A cowgirl searches for love and family. An old man seeks justice for two cold case murders. Their

journey together exposes lies and betrayal. Will the truth be too hard for either to bear?

    

It’s 1991. Reba Cahill loves ranching with Grandma Pearl in north central Idaho. But there’s a lot of work and only two of them. Reba wants a husband to come alongside. But she finds few prospects in the small town of Road’s End (pop. 400).   

Reba is also missing something else: her mother. Deserted by her at three years old and never knowing her dad, she feels a sense of longing and loss. And bitterness. 

When elderly, quirky Road’s End citizen Maidie Fortress dies, she’s given an expensive piece of jewelry that turns Reba’s world upside down. She’s led down unexpected paths and toward unsuspected admirers. Will the facts also ruin all hope for romance?                  

Please give us the first page of the book.

May 1991, Road’s End, Idaho

She must find the runaway heifer. And get to Maidie’s funeral on time.

Reba Mae Cahill urged her black quarter horse to trudge through the spring green, muddy terrain. Recent rains and snowmelt gummed the pine-dotted, wild flower sprayed, high mountain prairie. Puddles and small ponds, tall grass and shadows made search tedious.

Johnny Poe stalled.

“Come on, boy, Don said he saw her near here. Got to find that cow before Champ Runcie does. And return home quick.”

They rode the moss-covered wood post and barbed wire fence line as she checked the steel stays. A strong whoosh of wind made a ringing sound in the wires. She scanned the long length of Runcie Ranch fencing. Her glance caught at a break in the fence next to stacked tires filled with large rocks supposed to hold the fence in place. Certainly enough space for a moon-eyed, red bovine stray to escape. She peered closer and spied a cut at all five lines, now splayed on the ground.

Why would anyone do that?

How can readers find you on the Internet?

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Sign up for Almost Monthly Newsletter:

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Thank you, Janet, for sharing this new western with us.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
Wind in the Wires: A Trails of Reba Cahill Novel

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