SMALL-TOWN DAD - Jean C Gordon - One Free Book

Welcome back, Jean. Why do you write the kind of books you do?
To make people feel good. My short contemporary Christian romances share the joys (and trials) — and God’s hand — in romantic love.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?
The day my husband proposed to me on bended knee at Letchworth State Park in Western New York.

How has being published changed your life?
I can’t say that it’s made any kind of radical change to my life. It has allowed me to meet and get to know a lot of wonderful people — readers, other authors, my agent Diana Flegal, and people in the publishing industry.

What are you reading right now?
Since the beginning of December, I’ve been reading Christmas stories and novellas.

What is your current work in progress?
I’m working on a new proposal for Love Inspired, working title Small-Town Midwife. It will be the third book in my Paradox Lake series.

Blurb: After an unforeseen tragedy, midwife Autumn Hazard feels her purpose in life has deserted her. Dr. Jonathan Mitchell Hanlon sees his new position as director of the Ticonderoga birthing center as a stepping stone to achieving his. What neither realizes is that they can’t move forward without each other.

What would be your dream vacation?
I’d like to visit both Scotland and see where my husband’s family and my mother’s family came from and the Czech Republic to see where my father’s family came from.

How do you choose your settings for each book?
I use places I’m familiar with. I have books set in Western New York, where I grew up, the Albany, NY, area where we live, and the Adirondack Mountains north of us. My “odd book out” is the one historical I’ve written, which is set in the highlands of Scotland.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?
I may be treading on thin ice choosing a political figure, but I would like to talk with Former President Jimmy Carter. Showing my age, I may be the only American voter who voted for him for a second term as President. I admire him for his Habitat for Humanity and other humanitarian work and his strong Christian beliefs, both in and out of office.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?
With my full-time day job and trying to write two books a year, I don’t have much time for reading, let alone other hobbies. I do volunteer at the Book Nook at my church and spend as much time as I can with my children and grandchildren.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
My day job and finding the time I need to write. But since I haven’t reached a point in my novel writing where I can give up my other job, I’ve had to consciously block out writing time at home and set page/word goals for myself. Deadlines set in my book contracts help. And my critique partners help keep me in line. We set goals for the next month’s meeting, and if a member doesn’t meet her goals, she has to pay a penalty to the other members who have made theirs.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?
Learn as much as you can about writing and what publishers that publish the type of book you want to write are looking for. The best way to do the latter is to read books in that genre and talk with other writers. I recommend joining a writer’s group like the American Christian Fiction Writers or/and the Romance Writers of America. Also, editors want to help you get your book published/make your book a better book. Respect what they have to say. They aren’t criticizing you or taking over your story.

I love your cover. Tell us about the featured book.
Small-Town Dad is my second Love Inspired romance. Small-town electrician Neal Hazard has declared no more babies for him. The North Country electrician wants to recapture the life he lost by choosing to raise his now-college-age daughter alone. Now it's his turn to make those dreams a reality, starting with the college education he’d wanted. But when his community college advisor turns out to be his high school prom date, he can't believe his eyes. Widowed Anne is more beautiful than he remembers, and completely wrapped up in her career. But when she suddenly becomes guardian to an orphaned toddler, it's Neal's turn to teach Anne a few things. Maybe together, they’ll learn how priorities, parenthood and love truly fit together to create a family.

Please give us the first page of the book.
His Guard unit’s tour of duty in Afghanistan had prepared Neal Hazard to face just about anything. Except, evidently, returning to the classroom after seventeen years. He looked down the hall of the main building of the Ticonderoga campus of North Country Community College and wiped his hands on his jeans. How had he ever let his daughter, Autumn, talk him into starting college?

“Hey, Dad,” Autumn called from behind him.

Just what he didn't need, more of her help.

She hurried over, followed by a young man and woman. “This is Sean and Lindsay.”

He nodded to the couple. He wanted to know Autumn’s friends, but he wanted to get this advising meeting over with.

“So, did you meet with your advisor?”

“No, I'm on my way to her office now.” He took a step toward the room.

“Have you gotten your books yet?”

Autumn’s voice took on the oh-so-patient tone he’d often used with her when she was small. “You know NCCC has a virtual bookstore. You could order them online and have the books shipped to the house. I could stop by later and help you.”

“I don't even have my schedule finalized yet. But I'm sure I can handle it.” I handled the transport of supplies for hundreds of troops. I can order a few books online.

This sounds like a really fun book to read. How can readers find you on the Internet?
You can keep in touch with me at www.Facebook.com/JeanCGordon.Author, https://twitter.com/JeanCGordon or www.JeanCGordon.com.

Thank you, Jean, for sharing this book with us.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
Small-Town Dad (Love Inspired)


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.

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SMALL-TOWN SWEETHEARTS - Jean C Gordon - Free Book

Welcome, Jean. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Sometimes too much, but my critique partners are quick to point out when that happens.

I love those critique partners who can keep me on the right track. What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?
I had to consult my family on this one. They said people are always surprised at my love of rollercoasters. The bigger the better and if they go out over water, perfect! Normally, I’m pretty wimpy about heights and anything that goes fast.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?
It seems like I’ve always been a writer. I was on the high school newspaper staff and had an essay on my family’s Christmas traditions published in the Buffalo Evening News when I was a senior. From THE high school paper, I moved on to my college newspaper (I was a journalism major), followed short stints at the Batavia (NY) Daily News and the Montebello (CA) News, and then to my current job with a financial publisher in Albany, NY.

My first published piece was in the college literary magazine. Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
I primarily read romance. Historicals are my favorite. But I also like women’s fiction and nonromance historical novels.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?
I’m not sure I do. Sunday church service and coffee hour afterwards really help me unwind before the next week starts. We regularly sing a hymn I particularly like, ‘Come and Find the Quiet Center.’

How do you choose your characters’ names?
Sometimes I name characters after people I know. Other times, the characters come to me with their own names.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Publishing my books.

What is your favorite food?

Ice cream, just about any flavor but coffee. My second favorite food is broccoli.

Broccoli and ice cream. That would make a good character trait for in a novel. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
Time and giving my novel writing the priority it should have are my biggest roadblocks. I put in about nine hours a weekday at my day job. Since that’s not something I can change right now, I’ve been working on prioritizing the rest of my time and tasks.

Tell us about the featured book.

I got a germ of an idea for Small-Town Sweethearts when a family member told me she liked her new church because the members were more standoffish and private. From that germ, the story evolved:

With the help of God and the love of Drew Stacey, a down-sized Wall Street analyst turned church camp manager, NYC assistant art director and former town misfit Emily, ne Jinx, Hazard finds the thing she wants most in the place she least wants to be — Paradox Lake. Through having to be responsible for her niece, interaction with the towns’ people, and falling in love with Drew, she learns the meaning of Christian fellowship.

Like all of my books, Small-Town Sweethearts is set in my native Update New York.

Please give us the first page of the book.

The thrumming in her head started at the Essex County line and crescendoed into a pounding by the time she’d reached Route 74. She wiped one hand, then the other on her jeans and gripped the steering wheel of her rented SUV. She was in control. She was Emily Hazard, assistant art director at an award-winning New York City advertising agency. Not Emily Hazard, the klutz-queen jinx-deluxe of Schroon Lake Central High School.

She drove through Hazardtown, the four corners community in New York’s Adirondack Mountains that her ancestors had settled two centuries ago. Little remained to show the once-bustling logging town it had once been. A new name on the diner told her it had changed ownership again. The gas station convenience store proclaimed “Souvenirs Here” in a big red, white, and blue roadside sign. Kitty corner, the Community Church sat as it had for the past one hundred and fifty years with its double entry doors that had originally separated the women parishioners from the men. As a teen, Emily had made a point of entering through the “men’s” door. The new-ish brick volunteer fire department building occupied the fourth corner. Ironically, the old clapboard hall had burned down when she was in college.

How can readers find you on the Internet?
Look for me on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/JeanCGordon.Author. I also tweet, @JeanCGordon. And my website is www.JeanCGordon.com.

Thank you for stopping by today, Jean.

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

Small-Town Sweethearts (Love Inspired)


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