SONG OF THE MEADOWLARK - Sherri Wilson Johnson - One Free Ebook

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

I want to uplift readers and share with them the wonderful goodness that God has allowed me to see. I want readers to feel hope and to know that there’s always an answer to their troubles. I also want to entertain them, make them laugh, make them think, and make them swoon.

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

The happiest day of my life has to be the day I married my sweetheart in 1988. Twenty-five years later I am still happy I did it.

I know what you mean. I’m very happy I married my husband forty-eight years ago. How has being published changed your life?

Being published has allowed me to speak to audiences (in person and through blogging/interviewing) that I never would have been able to. I’ve enjoyed meeting fellow authors, bloggers, and readers and have loved hearing their feedback on how my stories have influenced them. It’s really a dream come true.

What are you reading right now?

I am reading two books actually while editing my fourth novel. The Respect Dare (40 Days to a Deeper Connection with God and Your Husband) by Nina Roesner is a book designed to equip Christian women with the ability to practice applied respect to their marriage relationship while growing their relationship with God. I am also reading A Flight of Fancy by Laurie Alice Eakes.

What is your current work in progress?

My current fiction WIP, After the Raging Storm, is part of my New Hope Series, set in drought-stricken Georgia in 1894. Annabelle is engaged to the son of the town's copper supplier but feels uneasy about the whole thing. She's searching for the meaning of her life apart from this relationship. When she runs into an old friend and compares him to her fiancé, she begins to doubt her chosen path in life even more. As the storm rages inside her heart, a storm of a natural kind threatens to destroy her family home and the neighboring farms. What will it take to calm the raging storm inside Annabelle?

What would be your dream vacation?

I’ve never been outside of the United States and have only been to a few states, so I am sure any place other than the east coast or the Gulf would be grand. But if I could go anywhere it would definitely be Italy.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

I usually pick places that are familiar to me or places that bring me inspiration. My first novel, To Dance Once More, is set in Panama City Beach, Florida where my family frequently vacations. Song of the Meadowlark is set in South Georgia but briefly visits Florida. The currently unpublished sequel to To Dance Once More is set in Atlanta, Georgia. After the Raging Storm is set in a real town Northwest of Atlanta.

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

I’d like to spend the evening with my friend, Carrie Turansky, a fellow writer who has encouraged me so much along my journey. We’ve never met in person and I’d love to meet her.

Carrie is a dear friend of mine, too. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

Well, it’s not often that I’m not writing or reading but when I have the time, I enjoy hanging out with my friends. I love to go to amusement parks and I love to bird-watch.

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

Thickening the plot is definitely quite challenging for me. Usually I have to write the basic story and then take my time and go back through the manuscript with a fine tooth comb to add all the depth and the twists and turns. Until the main idea is out of my head and into my computer, I can’t get down to the nitty gritty.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Don’t ever give up. Keep writing and practicing. Read books on the craft and take classes if you can. Read well-written books in the genre you write. If you receive a rejection (which you probably will) pick yourself up, polish your story, and submit again. Oh, and don’t forget to pray A LOT and seek God’s will for your story.

Tell us about the featured book.

Song of the Meadowlark is a Contemporary Inspirational Romance full of hope, forgiveness, and second chances at life and love set in South Georgia on a ranch with an ornery cowboy.

When trusting others only leads to pain and rejection, and loving ends only in loss, what will it take to restore hope again? Shunned by the uncovered truth about her missing husband’s secret life, Cora Buchanan sets out on a road trip for home to mend her broken relationship with her parents. When her car breaks down, she’s stranded in a small Georgia town. While staying at the struggling Southern Hope Ranch, she meets little Susie O’Reilly, who unexpectedly fills a void in Cora’s heart. But Rex, Susie’s rugged cowboy father who lost his wife a year earlier, seems to go out of his way to either confront or avoid Cora. It doesn’t help her comfort level that the news continues to report missing and murdered women in the area. Cora has no idea just how close to home the crimes will hit … or how much the sweet sound of the meadowlark’s song at the ranch will impact her future.

Sneak peek at the first chapter! http://sherriwilsonjohnson.com/sherris-books/song-of-the-meadowlark/

I love to read cowboy stories. Please give us the first page of the book.

June — Lake Murray, South Carolina

Cora Buchanan stared out the paned window of her bedroom at Lake Murray through a mist of rain and sighed, her olive green eyes filling with salty tears. This picturesque place had become a prison to her.

Tossing her dark hair over one shoulder, she moved across the room to her bed. Lying on her stomach on her flowery comforter, she remembered how it had all happened. For the first time since then, she scanned the tattered pages of her scrapbook, memories flooding her with weariness. It had been such an innocent time.

On the next page, she saw the pictures from her twenty-first birthday party. Twenty-one had seemed so old and wise at the time, and Panama City, Florida, like the big city. She’d worked awhile in college and considered herself a perceptive woman. But her middle name should have been Naïve, since she didn’t see some people for who they really were.

Cora rolled over onto her back, propping herself up on her pillows. She raised her knees and placed the scrapbook on her legs. Her eyes found the picture of her running in the town relay race with him, and she remembered the pulled calf muscle that still hurt on cold winter days. As she turned the page, she saw her engagement pictures and the newspaper clipping from the wedding announcement. She remembered that day like yesterday, her parents’ disapproval forever seared into her mind.

She closed the scrapbook, and it fell to the floor with a thud, another chapter now over in her life. Three years had passed since Cora’s marriage to him, and she now lived, as a twenty-five-year-old woman, with her in-laws. As she sat up on the edge of her bed, she wondered where to go from here. She couldn’t wait any longer to move on.

Cora left her room and entered the earth-toned den. The Buchanans were watching “Wheel of Fortune” on the television.

“It’s been a year tonight.” Cora knew she didn’t have to explain what she meant. She plopped on the couch next to Judy. “I think it’s time I finally do something.”

“What do you plan to do?” Judy looked up from the television and patted Cora’s knee.

Cora pushed her hair behind her ears. “A good place to start would be to go home and take time to figure out what to do and how to make amends with Mom and Dad. I want them to forgive me.”

“I hope they’re ready. You could not have predicted the future,” Ben said tenderly.

“I’m tired of this wedge between us. Three years is a long time, but I’ve feared the arguments that will, without a doubt, occur.”

Judy nodded. “That’s the mature thing to do.”

“I hope so, Mom.”

With her mind made up, Cora felt a load lifted off her shoulders, like at the end of a tornado warning. Though she still hoped deep inside things would change before she left for Florida, she doubted they would.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

http://sherriwilsonjohnson.com 
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Author-Sherri-Wilson-Johnson/138396456193536 
https://twitter.com/#!/swj_thewriter 
http://nicoleodell.com/sherri-wilson-johnson-on-inspiring-purity 
http://www.habitsforahappyhome.com 
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5233294.Sherri_Wilson_Johnson 
http://sherrijinga.wordpress.com

Thank you, Sherri, for giving us a peek at your new book.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Song of the Meadowlark - paperback
Song of the Meadowlark - Kindle


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