Bio: Carrie
Fancett Pagels, Ph.D. “Hearts Overcoming Through Time,” is an award-winning
Christian historical romance author. In 2015, Carrie’s novel Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter will
release with Pelican Book Group. Carrie’s Amazon Christian Historical Romance
#1 bestselling novella, The Fruitcake Challenge, released
September, 2014. Her short story, “Snowed In,” appears in Guidepost Books’ A Christmas Cup of Cheer (2013). She’s
the Amazon best-selling and top-rated author of Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance (2013). Her short
story, “The Quilting Contest,” appears in Family Fiction’s The Story 2014 anthology. Carrie received Honorable Mention for the
2014 Maggie Awards for Excellence for her unpublished novel Grand Exposé. Former psychologist (25
years) and mother of two.
Welcome back, Carrie.
Why do you write the kind of books you do?
For Christ. My message is because of Him. My tagline is
“Hearts Overcoming Through Time” and intrinsic in that is—with God’s help. I write Christian historical romances because
that is what I like to read, too.
Besides when you came
to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?
Giving birth to my first child, my daughter, Cassandra Rose,
in 1989. God showed me how love can just keep growing in your heart, more than
I ever thought possible.
How has being
published changed your life?
I think the main thing it does is give some credibility to
my writing. There are so many amazing writers out there. Many of whom aren’t
yet published. People don’t take your writing as seriously until you have
something out in print.
What are you reading
right now?
I’m finishing a two-part Christmas novella by Angela
Breidenbach and Valerie Comer, entitled The
Snowflake Tiara. http://www.amazon.com/Snowflake-Tiara-Angela-Breidenbach-ebook/dp/B00N70PXZW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1418773274&sr=1-1&keywords=breidenbach
I featured that book
on my blog. I loved it. What is your current work in progress?
The Lumberjack’s Ball
is the sequel to The Fruitcake Challenge. One of my heroine’s (Josephine
Christy) brothers wants to be a master cabinet maker and furniture designer. He
takes a side job from his lumberjacking to create stunning built-in cabinetry
at a local mercantile. And the store owner’s daughter catches his eye! I also
have a book due out in 2015 from Pelican Book Group that you’ve previously
critiqued a section of, Lena . It is currently
entitled Saving the Marquise’s
Granddaughter, so I’ll have edits due this winter.
What would be your
dream vacation?
I’d love to stay on Mackinac Island
for the entire season, staying in a gorgeous Victorian up on the bluffs.
How do you choose
your settings for each book?
Usually it is someplace I love. With Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter, however, I set it in France , Germany ,
and Philadelphia
because of the history behind the story. So the second part of my answer is the
history of the story does determine where I normally will set it as I’m often
inspired by real life stories.
If you could spend an
evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?
Joyce Meyer. I’d love to “pick her brain” and hear about her
vision for her ministry into the future. She’s been an inspiration to me.
My husband and I love
to listen to Joyce. We also have read several of her books. We’ve seen her in
person when we were in the studio audience for James Robison’s show when she
was there. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?
Beadwork and travel, as my health permits for both. And of
course snuggling with my 12-year-old son!
What is your most
difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
I have multiple forms of arthritis. But I’ve found that when
God wants me to be writing then He makes a way for me to do so. I believe I’m
firmly in His will that way.
What advice would you
give to a beginning author?
Don’t skip learning the craft. I’ve seen too many who have.
Read, read, read all the comparable authors in your genre. Like Lena and I were told some eight years ago or so, blog. It
has many benefits.
Your advice is very
good. Tell us about the featured book.
Here’s the blurb:
The Fruitcake
Challenge
When new lumberjack, Tom Jeffries, tells the camp cook, Jo
Christy, that he’ll marry her if she can make a fruitcake, “as good as the one
my mother makes,” she rises to the occasion. After all, he’s the handsomest,
smartest, and strongest axman her camp-boss father has ever had in his camp—and
the cockiest. And she intends to bring this lumberjack down a notch or three by
refusing his proposal. The fruitcake wars are on! All the shanty boys and Jo’s
cooking helpers chip in with their recipes but Jo finds she’ll have to enlist
more help—and begins corresponding with Tom’s mother.
Step back in time to 1890, in beautiful Northern
Michigan , near the sapphire straits of Mackinac, when the white
pines were “white gold” and lumber camps were a way of life. Jo is ready to
find another life outside of the camps and plans that don’t include any shanty
boys. But will a lumberjack keep her in the very place she’s sworn to leave?
Please give us the
first page of the book.
Prologue
Near Mackinaw City , Michigan
Vast evergreens crowded the roadway on both sides of the
wagon, towering over a hundred feet to the sky, almost obscuring the sunlight.
Every time the dray hit a bump in the mucky road, Tom Jeffries grasped his
crate of books in one arm and his boxy leather suitcase in the other. After the
last spine-jolting rut had been crossed, he pulled out his father’s gold pocket
watch.
Shouldn’t be too much longer now.
He swatted at the mosquitoes that swarmed the deep woods. No
wonder the men at the mercantile had laughed when Tom had asked about purchasing
arm garters to go with his new work shirts. He’d need to leave his shirt
sleeves unrolled, even for summer, to keep the pests off him. Even that wasn’t
working now, though. Tom draped his Hudson Bay blanket around his shoulders and
pulled it up over his neck and then squashed his felt slouch hat down further
to cover his forehead.
The vehicle slowed. Sitting in the bed of the flat dray, Tom
swiveled so he could see the reason for their halt.
The drayman turned to him, as did his son beside him.
“Here’s yer camp.”
Nothing but woods surrounded them. Tom hesitated. He wasn’t
about to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere.
The barrel-chested man pointed straight ahead. “That there’s
Boss Christy’s office and the cook shack is beyond.”
Tom hopped down, but left his belongings on the wagon bed.
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
Twitter https://twitter.com/cfpagels
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/carriefpagels/
Website: carriefancettpagels.com
The Fruitcake Challenge (2014) on
Amazon and on Barnes
and Noble
Return
to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance, Helping Hands Press (2013)
Giveaway:
A copy of the book–choice of paperback or ebook (Kindle or Nook) Carrie, thank you for sharing it and some of your life with us today.
Readers, this would be a good book for all of you who get a Kindle or a Nook for Christmas.
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