A SKY WITHOUT STARS - Linda S Clare - One Free Book, Plus Much More

Bio: Linda S. Clare is an award-winning coauthor of three books, including Lost Boys and the Moms Who Love Them (with Melody Carlson and Heather Kopp), Revealed: Spiritual Reality in a Makeover World, and Making Peace with a Dangerous God (with Kristen Johnson Ingram). She is also the author of The Fence My Father Built. She has taught college-level creative writing classes for seven years, and edits and mentors writers. She also is a frequent writing conference presenter and church retreat leader. She and her husband of thirty-one years have four grown children, including a set of twins. They live in Eugene, Oregon, with their five wayward cats: Oliver, Xena the Warrior Kitty, Paladine, Melchior, and Mamma Mia!

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

My motto is “Stories of Grace for the Chronically Different.” I write books about the marginalized, the disadvantaged and outsiders because I have dealt with being different all my life. As a polio survivor, I’ve had my fair share of challenges. I’m part Native American too, so American Indians’ historical struggle is one of my big interests. I also need to include my faith in my stories, but in a way that doesn’t threaten or alienate further the ones I’m writing about. I try to realistically portray people’s problems and their sometimes bumpy road to God.

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

The birth days of my four children count as joyful for me. The last two were surprise twins. I was and am happy about it, but still kind of in shock too. Never knew I was carrying twins. We had two names picked—one for a boy and one for a girl. We used them both. They are each grown with their own families now.

How has being published changed your life?

Some of my close friends have had phenomenal success in publishing (one member of my first critique group has now published more than 200 books) and for a long time I griped to God that it was never going to be my turn. But I finally piggy-backed with two of my friends on a nonfiction book and have published 5 books now. Publishing has opened up a whole world of wonderful readers to me. I never get tired of connecting with readers. Coming up with stories that offer hope and where readers can see the naked truth about life’s struggles proves to me again and again that writing them is a big part of why I’m here.

What are you reading right now?

Aside from reading works-in-progress by several of my critique partners, as well as the work of writers whom I mentor, I’m reading a memoir, Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart (Random House, 2014). It’s very witty. I also love Sarah Sundin’s historical series as well as Ann Shorey’s historical. They are both terrific writers and storytellers.

What is your current work in progress?

My latest effort is called A SYMPHONY OF MOTION. It’s about a little girl named CC who’s musically gifted but in Special Ed. She’s been so traumatized by her dad’s departure from the family that she isn’t speaking. Her mom leaves her with Aunt Bassett, a high school orchestra teacher who’s taken in a boarder, Paulo “Pops” Abruzzo, a former symphony conductor in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease. He’s bitter and has only his precious grand piano left. When CC defies his command not to play the piano, his Parkinson’s symptoms begin to disappear. Is it a true miracle or is it the power of love?

What would be your dream vacation?

My dream vacation would be to tour the British Isles. I’ve always wanted to go to the UK. My birthday is St. Patrick’s Day and I’m at least part Irish, so Ireland would be exciting to visit.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

For The Fence My Father Built, the setting was originally Arizona where I was born and raised. But the moment I saw Central Oregon—which is very similar to high desert in Northern Arizona—I reconsidered and set the book in a fictional town somewhere out near Prineville, Oregon. For A Sky without Stars, I really wanted to showcase the beautiful state of Arizona. Most think of it as a dry desert, but Arizona has seven climate zones! Parts of the story take place in the desert around 1950s Phoenix (back then it was still kind of a one-horse town) but parts also are set in Navajo country, a windswept corner of northeastern Arizona with breathtaking rock formations as well as many, many Native Americans. And sheep! Navajo country has lots of sheep.

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

I know this sounds nutty but I’d love to spend the day with former Beatle Paul McCartney, just to observe his songwriting/writing process. The creative process is fascinating to me (I hold a degree in Art and once worked as a singer) and whether it’s art, music, dance, or writing, I love the process of creating. I’m not a very good dancer, but in college I drew on my poems and wrote poems on my drawings. For me, it’s all interconnected, and I consider McCartney a master of creativity.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

In Oregon, you learn to love gardening. I’ve lived here 30 years and I’m still learning the names of plants and trees that aren’t desert plants. I mean, I know my cacti from years in the Arizona desert, but am decidedly less aware of the names of plants which thrive in a more temperate climate like Oregon. The weather is rainy and people often compare my city, Eugene, with England’s climate. Each summer my adult son and I plant a veggie garden, and I also have quite a flower habit. Like bookstores, I’m not really allowed in garden centers because I buy everything. I also love working with children. I have two little grandsons that are my joys.

I smiled at that last sentence, because James and I spent part of yesterday with our youngest great grandson. They are a joy. What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Physically, I have this crummy thing called Post-polio Syndrome which is kind of like MS or fibromyalgia. It’s caused from years of overuse and compensation for the muscles of my back, neck, and left arm that were paralyzed in the polio I contracted at age 8 ½ months. Yes, I type with one hand. Perhaps my other obstacle is that I love to write lots of different things and genres, so I’m late coming to the “branding” table. It probably holds me back from fabulous stardom, LOL!

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Write. Read. Lots. Your first novel will not be likely the first published. When you read about a new author hitting the big time, that writer probably has more than one early attempt at a novel sitting in a drawer. Learn everything! It does take a while to master any craft, but here’s the good news: Writing is a craft and you can learn a craft. In my mind, there are only two kinds of writing: writing that works and writing that needs work. I teach novel writing, and I offer free writing tips each week on my blog. Visit me!

Tell us about the featured book.

Can a quilt bridge the gap between two cultures?  

After her husband is killed on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Frankie Chasing Bear wants a fresh start. But in 1951, relocating through the US government’s Relocation Program didn’t just mean a new town; it meant a new way of life. Frankie quickly learns that raising her son, Harold to revere his Lakota heritage will be a challenge in the white man’s world. Searching for a way for her son to respect his ancestors but also embrace a future of opportunity, she begins a Lakota Star-pattern quilt with tribal wisdom sung, sewn, and prayed into it—something that will not let him forget where he came from.

A bed without a quilt is like a sky without stars, but neither the quilt nor her new life come easily to Frankie. Federal Agent Nick Parker, for instance, is the last man Frankie wants to trust. She’s already struggling to understand Nick’s culture; how can she embrace his Christian faith? Will Frankie learn that love is the most important ingredient for her son’s quilt—and life itself? 

Please give us the first page of the book.

PROLOGUE

Pine Ridge, South Dakota

Frankie Chasing Bear

I did not come to quilt-making easily. The urge to piece together shapes and colors wasn’t my gift. But when I was twelve, Grandmother said soon the quilt might be all that was left of what we once were. By the time your children wrap quilts around themselves, she told me, the star and all it stands for may be a dim memory, lit only by the fire of ancestors, clouded by ruddy smoke hanging in the sky.

Grandmother’s face was crisscrossed with fine lines showing off sharp cheekbones, a strong square jaw, hard work. A silvery gray braid, straight as the truth, hung down her back.

I tried to make my stitches as small and even as hers, but my childish hands proved slow and awkward. She said I only needed practice and showed me again: up, pulled through, and down.

Just before she died, Grandmother and I sat together one last time. She stopped to smooth a small wrinkle in the quilt top. “Lakota were favored among tribes,” she said. “Our people stood at the top of the hills. The buffalo and the deer bowed to our warriors, and we lived together in peace.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I love to connect! Find me in these various ways:

http://www.Lindasclare.com

http://www.facebook.com/Lindaclarebooks

Http://www.facebook.com/Askywostars

http://www.twitter.com/Lindasclare

Litfuse: http://litfusegroup.com/author/lclare

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2927983.Linda_S_Clare

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Without-Stars-Quilts-Series/dp/1426752792/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Don't miss this month's Quilts of Love book, A Star Without Stars, by Linda S. Clare. Linda is celebrating the release with a Kindle HDX giveaway and joining her fellow Quilts of Love authors, Barbara Cameron and Joyce Magnin, for a Facebook "Spring Fling" party on April 1st.

  One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• Scraps of Evidence by Barbara Cameron
• A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare
• Maybelle in Stitches by Joyce Magnin

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 1st. Winner will be announced at the "Spring Fling" Facebook Party on April 1st. RSVP today and connect with the authors from the Quilts of Love series, Barbara Cameron, Linda S. Clare, and Joyce Magnin, for an evening of book chat, quilt trivia, prizes, and an exclusive look at the next Quilts of Love book!

So grab your copies of Scraps of Evidence, A Sky Without Stars, and Maybelle in Stitches and join Barbara, Linda, and Joyce on the evening of April 1st for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the books, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by clicking JOIN at the event page. Spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway and party via FACEBOOK or TWITTER. Hope to see you on April 1st!

Thank you, Linda, 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.

A Sky Without Stars - Christianbook.com

A Sky Without Stars: Quilts of Love Series - Amazon

A Sky Without Stars: Quilts of Love Series - Kindle

Christian Book Store

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book on this blog. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

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

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com 

THE FENCE MY FATHER BUILT - Linda Clare - Free Book

Here's another of the wonderful Abingdon novels. Welcome, Linda. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

I think all writers use at least a part of themselves in understanding their characters. The biggest challenge is not to give too much of yourself away—you don’t want your character acting just as you would, because often our lives are not exciting or desperate enough to be fictional. Well, my life is sometimes desperate, but my characters don’t want to be like me.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Oh boy. I once compared my life to a pair of pantyhose that doesn’t fit right—you know when they’re too short and they inch down between your legs? Unfortunately, when I described the ill-fitting hose, I blurted out the word that rhymes with “scotch” on national Christian radio. Fortunately, the radio hosts were good sports and believed me when I said I didn’t do it on purpose.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

In first grade I rewrote the lyrics to “The Farmer in the Dell,” so that the song was about Thanksgiving. The teacher loved it, I was a seven-year old super star. I had several more inspirational teachers, plus my mom would type up my stuff and submit to places like Highlights for Children. My first sale was a poem I wrote in high school about love being like a melted popsicle. The Denver Post paid me three dollars. I was hooked.

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

A sickly child, I read classics such as Alice in Wonderland and the Oz books. Later I tried to fix my life by reading nonfiction. These days I read a lot of memoir, a lot of Oprah Book Club-type fiction. I’m just starting to read Christian fiction. And I can’t get enough Young Adult fiction.

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

I was so determined to get a book out there that I finagled my way into coauthoring Lost Boys and the Moms Who Love Them (Waterbrook, 2002) with Melody Carlson and Heather Kopp. Then I did two more nonfiction titles with Kristen Johnson Ingram: Revealed: Spirituality in a Makeover World (Revell 2003) and Making Peace with a Dangerous God (Revell 2005). I’ve contributed to many short story and essay collections such as Chicken Soup and Cup of Comfort. I’ve also written two more novels still looking for a home, a memoir of my experiences in a 1960s era Shriner’s Hospital, and two nonfiction books on Christian Living.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

You think I’m sane? What a quaint idea. Actually, I’m a driven writer, so staying really busy is my idea of a good time. I also garden (great place to solve plot problems), play with my five cats and stay connected to God, Who saves me from the world and myself.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

One way I name characters is to read the obituaries. Sounds morbid, but I’ve come up with some good ones. I’ve also used newspaper ads, names of old classmates, and some of my four adult children’s odd-named friends. For instance, Aunt Lutie came from a magazine article about Hopi Indians that I saw in an old Arizona Highways.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

It’s close, but I’d have to say raising my four kids—I have a set of “surprise” twins who followed on the heels of my first two boys. I’m still getting over that one. Other than Mommying, I’m proud that I have been able to write about God in my life, despite the fact that people told me again and again that I’d be a great “ABA” secular novelist. God won and I’m glad.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

I confess I’m nuts about cats. I have five of them presently. In the wild they’re meateaters, so I’d have to figure out a way not to kill anything.

What is your favorite food?

I’m a desert rat from Arizona, and I love good Mexican food—Sonoran style.

What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Did I mention the four kids? When I began to learn to write, I ran a full-time in-home daycare. Every afternoon, during rest time, I put my Selectric typewriter on the stovetop and typed standing up—easier to check on the kiddoes. You could say I wrote from Home on the Range. From the beginning, I wanted to write full-time, but like most writers, I had to earn money other ways. I no longer do daycare, but I teach, mentor and edit other writers.

What advice would you give to an author just starting out?

First, read a copy of Marge Piercy’s poem, “For the Young Who Want To,” and then decide if you are willing to be the laughing stock of your family (who think your writing is a cute hobby, like knitting) while you are learning to write. If the answer is yes, then write, write, write. Spend ten thousand hours or write a million words. Get busy. And read, read, read. You might start out with, ahem, my book, The Fence My Father Built.

Tell us about the featured book?

The Fence My Father Built stems from my lifelong and burning need to reunite with my biological father, who left my life when I was three or four. In my story, librarian Muri Pond has the same desire, but when she finally locates her father, Joseph Pond, he’s just died. She inherits his remote property in central Oregon’s high desert, along with a troublesome neighbor and her father’s legacy—a fence built out of old oven doors. Along with Aunt Lutie and the Red Rock Tabernacle Ladies, Muri must rediscover the faith her alcoholic Native-American dad somehow never abandoned.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Joseph’s Journal

June, 1977

Sprawled across the bed, you slept face-down, wearing that red cowboy shirt and the velvet skirt you love. I stood by and watched your breathing. Your hair, so straight and black, reminded me of my people, our people, and I wondered what you dreamed. Years ago, the Nez Perce surrendered to broken treaties, broken dreams. I’m sorry, daughter, but I’m surrendering, too.

You’re only three, Muri, but you learn fast. In this Oregon desert, the sun beats down hot, and today our tan faces shone with sweat. We walked across the sagebrush and you held the corn snake we found. You held it gently, without fear. I felt proud as I ever have.

After sunset, we sat on the hill and looked up at the stars. When you got cold I draped my old coat around you and told you all about angels. On the way home, you didn’t ask for your mother, not once. It’s wrong, I know, but I was pleased.

I had big plans to be your daddy. I was going to read to you every day, teach you the names of all the Civil War battles. I’d teach you how to fish. You’d learn how to listen to the wind and how to skip a stone. Most of all, I’d teach you how to pray.

None of that will happen now.

After your mom called, I broke down and cried and I couldn’t stop. I’ve lost. Your mother doesn’t know our ways but she has the white man’s courts on her side. They call it full custody. I cry because I won’t see you on your first day of school or when you get your driver’s license.

I'm intrigued. How can readers find you on the Internet?

You can catch up with me on my blog, godsonggrace.blogspot or on Facebook.

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

Readers, here's a link where you can order the book. If you use this link, you'll be supporting this blog.

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


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

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

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

http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/