Dear Readers, here's another debut author. She and I also share the same agent. I'm thrilled to introduce her first book to you.
Bio: A graduate
of Taylor University
Apart from writing books, Dawn is also a first-time mom to a
precious little boy (born March 2014) and also serves with her husband in a pre-marriage
mentor program at their local church in Fort
Wayne , Indiana
Dawn is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers,
secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and associate member of
the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter.
The Everstone Chronicles is Dawn’s first series with
Whitaker House. All three books composing the series were semifinalists in
ACFW’s prestigious Genesis Writing Contest, the third book going on to become a
finalist in 2013.
Welcome, Dawn. Tell
us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
Honestly, there is a lot of me in Amaryllis Brigham. When I
started my second book in the series (before I had Joyce as my agent), it was
just for fun as well, and also to prove to myself that I could write another
character from first person POV that didn't sound just like Amaryllis. I ended
up with a character so opposite of me, it was quite interesting to write.
What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?
I’m actually quirky about 100% of the time because I have
ADD. It’s very difficult to just pick one instance. J But probably the most
important one was, while I was single and meeting friends to go camping near the
Indiana Dunes, I sabotaged my future husband’s bags and threw them in my car
telling him he should probably ride with me. He was the only guy in the group
who would never talk to me, and that drove me nuts! I quickly found out that it
was because he had a crush on me … and we began dating about a month later. J
When did you first
discover that you were a writer?
I always enjoyed writing in school, but I never ever in my
wildest dreams thought it was possible to actually be one—at least a published
writer! So I didn't write for a long time ... basically from the time I was 16
until I was 32. When my husband found out I'd always wanted to write a book, he
let me quit my job to work on my book. That was in 2010, and The
Hesitant Heiress is the book I wrote. :)
Tell us the range of
the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
I love very complex, historical romance books that keep me
guessing and in which everything adds up in the end.
How do you keep your
sanity in our run, run, run world?
Considering I just had my first baby this spring, and the
three books from my debut series are all coming out before he'll even be one
years old—it's been kind of crazy. I love being a mom though! It's being a
"mom of a newborn who writes books" that seems a bit challenging.
How do you choose
your characters’ names?
I have a list of names that I really like, ones that I've
collected over the years. I pick them up here and there and then try them out
until they fit. I’ve actually had a lot of the characters in The
Hesitant Heiress since college, because although I wasn't writing back
then, I was thinking about the book I wanted to someday write.
What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of?
Marrying the best guy I've ever met in 2005 AND finally having
my son in March 2014.
If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?
I would be a cat. I have three cats; Lilly, Pumpkin and
Clover, and I love them so much.
What is your favorite
food?
Chicken Korma (Indian curry)—I think I could eat it all day,
every day.
What is the problem
with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
I couldn't decide whether to write in first person (the way
I wanted to!) or third person (the way most people do). Finally, I decided, since
I was writing it for myself, it would be written from first person.
Tell us about the
featured book.
I wanted to write a novel reminiscent of old classical
romantic suspense novels like Jane Eyre
and Rebecca—but I also wanted to tie
in a very relevant spiritual thread. The heroine, Amaryllis Brigham, thinks she
knows what she wants—as well as how she will achieve it. But as circumstances
beyond her control keep her from her goals, she finds that accomplishing her
dreams of founding a music academy in Seattle are only secondary to finding the
peace she desperately wants pertaining to the events leading to her mother's
death eleven years before.
{The blurb from GoodReads:}
After being unjustly expelled from the Boston Conservatory
of Music, Amaryllis Brigham sees her dreams of founding a music academy
disappearing before her very eyes. Now the only way to achieve her goal comes
with high stakes for someone set on avoiding men as much as possible: marry
within the year to inherit her grandmother’s fortune. Amaryllis reluctantly
takes part in her aunt’s society, intent on getting to the west coast on her
own … and without a husband.
Despite her own misgivings, she soon finds herself falling in love with the most unlikely of men, Nathan Everstone, whose father not only had a part in her expulsion, but whose ominous presence has haunted her dreams for a decade since her mother’s tragic death. Nathan turns out to be much more than he seems and everything she never knew she wanted. But just as everything Amaryllis has recently hoped for comes to fruition, it all falls apart when she finds that the real culprit who has been managing her life isn't who she thought at all.
Despite her own misgivings, she soon finds herself falling in love with the most unlikely of men, Nathan Everstone, whose father not only had a part in her expulsion, but whose ominous presence has haunted her dreams for a decade since her mother’s tragic death. Nathan turns out to be much more than he seems and everything she never knew she wanted. But just as everything Amaryllis has recently hoped for comes to fruition, it all falls apart when she finds that the real culprit who has been managing her life isn't who she thought at all.
Please give us the
first page of the book.
February 16, 1890
“Miss Brigham, may I have a word with you?” Professor
Silvious strolled down the aisle toward the stage of The Boston Conservatory of
Music’s auditorium.
I’d just finished playing Chopin’s Raindrop, a favorite of
mine. I’d long been in the habit of taking every chance I could get to play the
grand piano at the center of the stage in the auditorium, but I never could rid
myself of the nerves that doing so created in the pit of my stomach.
“Yes, sir.”
Professor Silvious always had a frown on his face, ever
since the moment I’d met him over three years before, so it didn’t surprise me
to see it there now.
He stopped short, evidently deciding that the central aisle
of the empty auditorium was as good a place as any to tell me what was on his
mind.
“Miss Brigham, I received a letter today concerning you.”
The tone of his voice was sharp, as if I’d somehow offended him by forcing him
to receive said letter. He stood stoically, both hands behind his back, as I
walked the remainder of the way to stand before him.
“Was it from my Aunt Claudine?” I could not imagine who else
would have bothered. She was the only one who wrote me anymore, the only person
who seemed to care I even existed. My cousin Lawry had been a faithful
correspondent for a few years, but after his graduation from Dartmouth , his letters had stopped.
“No, it was not from your Aunt Claudine. If you indeed have
an Aunt Claudine, that is.”
“Claudine Aberna—”
“Yes, I know who Claudine Abernathy is, Miss Brigham—it’s
her connection to you I highly doubt. And the letters you say you’ve received
from her while she’s been conveniently out of the country these last three
years.”
“I have every one of them, if you’d like to see them.” I’d
saved them all, rolled up and tied together with a black ribbon, hidden in my
hollowed-out version of Great Expectations.
“This letter is the only one I need to see, Miss Brigham.
And from what it tells me, you are not the kind of young woman we at The Boston
Conservatory wish to be affiliated with…no matter your talent.”
I swallowed hard. “Whoever sent the letter is obviously
lying.” It was unheard of to speak back to a professor in such a manner, but
who else would defend me if I did not defend myself? There was no one.
“There’s no contest when it comes to my judging the truth of
this letter. You are a young woman with an unknown past, no relatives, and now
a very trustworthy account from Bram Everstone against you.”
It took only a moment to understand what was happening. The
professor would, because of some slanderous letter, believe the worst of me.
Me—Amaryllis Brigham, whose most fervent desire was to be
good.
“I am the epitome of self-control and perseverance,
Professor Silvious. There can be no truth—”
“So says you. But we know absolutely nothing of your life
before the age of fourteen. You seem to have appeared out of the woodwork,
which is where you will return. We cannot have someone of your ilk
contaminating the good standing of our institution.”
“You mean—”
“I mean, Miss Brigham, from this moment on, consider
yourself expelled from The Boston Conservatory without references.”
“But I—”
“It matters very little what you think or what you say. The
decision is final.”
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
Facebook: facebook.com/DawnCrandallWritesFirst
Book Review Blog: APassionforPages.blogspot.com
GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/dawn_crandall
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/dawnwritesfirst
Twitter: @dawnwritesfirstThank you, Dawn, for sharing your debut novel with us.
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Hesitant Heiress - Christianbook.com
Hesitant Heiress (The Everstone Chronicles)
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