FOREVER AND A DAY - Therese Stenzel - 3 Free Ebooks

Welcome back to my blog, Therese. How wonderful that you're giving away three copies of this ebook here at Christmas. What are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about?

I like to write about the spiritual journey I’m on now, so it comes across “fresh” and not as if I’m trying to preach a lesson.

What other books of yours are coming out soon?

The third book in the British Missive series, The Bride of Thistleloch Castle comes out Nov 1

If you could spend an evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why?

I would like to spend an evening with Beth Moore. She writes amazing bible studies and walks with the Lord so closely I’m jealous.

James and I were in the studio audience when Beth and her husband were interviewed by James Robison. We really enjoyed it. What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

I would love to meet Corrie Ten Boom. When I was 12, I saw the movie about her life, The Hiding Place—set in WWII about how her family hid Jews in their home in Amsterdam, and read the book by the same name about 12 times. That story of selflessness gave me such a heart for the Lord.

How can you encourage authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?

Try e-publishing. If your work is good, you will do very well. If your book doesn’t sell, you’ll know that you don’t have the craft of writing down well enough, and then you’ll know it wasn’t just the editors.

Tell us about the featured book.

In a world where position and rank are everything, can two souls stand firm in their desires and their faith?

In the courts of King Louis XVIth and Marie Antoinette, a storm is brewing that will overthrow a monarchy. Caught up in the maelstrom is a young peasant girl, who becomes a pawn in a hopeless attempt to quell the peasant rebellion. But the cost to her is greater than she could ever imagine.
 
Aimee Fremont is forced to leave her family to live as a Princess Claire, the adopted daughter of France to appease the growing unrest among the peasants. Unfortunately pretending to be raised as a royal requires that she accept a betrothal to an English duke. Now living in the Queen’s House (Buckingham Palace) and dreading the day of her marriage, she clashes with the duke’s secretary, the one man who could reveal her true identity. But when his life is at stake, can she learn to wait the Lord to give her the desires of her heart.

Please give us the first page of the book.

I can do this…

Aimee Fremont scurried into place, wishing a pox on her unforgiving corset. Two footmen opened the high double doors, leading into King Louis and Queen Marie’s Grand Appartement du Roi at the palace of Versailles. She ceased tugging on the flounce at her waist, attempted to take in a breath, and hiccupped.

Not now. Pressing her lips together, she willed them to absorb the sound. She braced herself for another performance as Princess Claire, the adopted daughter of France, as she had come to be known.

She moved into the gilded chamber, the courtiers whispers echoing around her. Their attentions bore down on her like the light from the corpulent chandeliers adorning the painted ceiling. She swallowed back another hiccup with a small jolt to her shoulders.

Richly colored Persian carpets gave way to hand-polished wood floors as she stepped past window-sized portraits of frightful-looking deceased members of the French royal family. With each movement she took, her silk dress, the color of a fading sun, rustled and the heavy jewels clutching her neck bobbed. Not paste this time, but real gems.

Her pin-pricked fingers hidden beneath silky white gloves itched to secure the diamond and jade tiara that gripped her elaborate coiffure. This was by far the grandest she’d ever been displayed. It did not bode well.

A hiccup burst from her lips. Despite the burning of her cheeks, she kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, as her shoes tapped on the parquet floor. A dozen or so courtiers receded in her procession. Typically, the sovereigns only called for her when they needed their former peasant girl, dressed up like a stuffed pig, albeit minus the apple, to appease the masses, thus showing their subjects evidence of their great benevolence.

But this regal gathering was considered a private audience, which could only mean she’d done something wrong. But why had her guardians commanded that she be out-fitted in such a grand fashion to be chastised? She forced another hiccup to die in her throat.

No matter the reason, these royal summons never failed to bring a plunging wave of dread. Her neck aching, she tugged on the rope of jade balls that hung like heavy fetters, and suddenly with a snap, the string broke. With a gasp, Aimee watched as the asparagus-colored balls fell to the floor and scattered in all directions, resembling frightened mice. A few attendants tittered behind their hands.

Aimee snuck a glance at Queen Marie. Even a fair distance away, the queen’s lips looked thin and white. I can do this… Aimee gulped in air, forcing her terrified thoughts to slow down. At least the hiccups had stopped. She had to act as a princess.

Majestic. Poised. Regal.

I can hardly wait to read this one. How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.theresestenzel.com

Thank you, Therese, for sharing this ebook with us. I know how much research you do to make your stories authentic.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
Forever and a Day (British Missives Series)


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

BLUE AFRICA - Therese Stenzel - Three Free Books

Welcome back, Therese. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

What a great question! He told me to e-publish my rejected manuscripts so I see a lot of books on Amazon lol! Also, I’ve been asking Him what is beyond being published? How can I fit more ministry into a writing career? I see having books published as means to an end, so I am looking for Him to open doors for me to minister somehow some way. I don’t have an answer yet, but I am excited for His direction.

Tell us a little about your family.

I have been married for 21 years to my best friend, Neal. I have three kids Jonathan 17, Benjamin 16, Olivia 12. With my son being a senior I’m seeing the end of three kids at home sniff, sniff, but I know that God always has plans to give me a “future and a hope” for each season.

Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

I can’t read a book without correcting a writers mistakes—such an annoying habit I’ve picked up! I appreciate good writing and can “see” when an author has spent time honing their craft.

What are you working on right now?

I am working on book three in the British Missives series titled, The Bride of Thistleloch Castle, set in Scotland. It’s about an English girl whose father loses her hand in game of cards to a Scottish man…

What outside interests do you have?

Reading, of course. Right now I’m reading the British classic Birdsong. I love to read old, obscure British books, and classic authors like Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters—sigh I was born in the wrong country and in the wrong era lol! I also watch and collect British period movies

How do you choose your settings for each book?

The settings just come to me. I believe it is the Holy Spirit who gives me the books, so I’ll get a character, and a setting stuck in my head and then little by little a story will unfold. Then I start writing to see where it will go. I never know the ending when I begin.

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

Jane Austen. First of all, I could listen to a British person speaking all day, and someone who lived years ago would have that accent, and would use delightful words you only hear in period movies. I also think she had a wicked sense of humor so she’s probably a lot of fun.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

That it is more of a spiritual journey than a physical one. That God’s plans are higher, better, and sometimes include curves like a two year hiatus from writing because of back pain, a plunge into the fun and fascinating world of indie publishing—not what I would have planned, but He is in control J

Four of the people I’ve mentored have chosen to Indie publish. What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

That food is my idol—oops that’s a lesson for another blog.  He is teaching me that trusting Him is like walking out onto an old rope and wooden bridge that looks like I might fall thru the slats at any minute, but He is telling me it’s going to be ok and to trust Him. And though I’ve walked with him for 37 years, I still don’t fully understand what it means to trust Him.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

This scripture says it best; Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that your will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Col 3:23-24 NIV

Tell us about the featured book.

Blue Africa is a historical romance set in British East Africa, 1897. Miss Cassandra Littlemen is determined to become England’s first female entomologist, but the English scientific community and her father do not approve of female scientists. Intent on fulfilling her lifelong dream of capturing rare butterflies, she sneaks onto a royally-sponsored African expedition posing as her brother. Expecting to find the doddering Mr. John Keep in charge, she is dismayed to discover his bachelor son, Sir William Keep, in his place. Can her disguise fool this exceptional scientist? William Keep is hiding a secret—Queen Victoria has recently arranged a betrothal between her granddaughter and the newly knighted William, sending him to Africa on a scientific expedition to prove his worth to the royal family. Sir William is anxious to achieve great findings like his famous father. But he must get this headstrong Miss Littlemen back to England before the Queen finds out. But can he do it before he loses his heart?

 Please give us the first page of the book.

British East Africa, (Kenya) July 1895

Cassandra Littlemen paused on the dock and surveyed the bustling, African port. She squinted through the bright July sunshine and the cool blue water around her. With no binding corset, no stiff crinoline to bind her, her white shirt, and tweed trousers felt blissfully airy. She shifted her masculine boots and closed her eyes. The warmth of the sultry sun consumed her. A swell of joy rose in her throat.

After ten days of travel, Africa at last.

The sound of Swahili, smooth like a river, rang directly behind her. She clutched her bulky satchel and spun around.

“Jambo.” A dark-skinned man greeted her with a bow. “I am Nolo, Mr. Keep’s servant, and you are...” he paused and raised an eyebrow, “...Sir Edmond Littlemen?”

Cassandra forced her hand to remain steady as she handed the man her documents. Two weeks aboard the steamer from France had given her time to practice being a male, but would he see through her disguise? She had determined not to lie about her identity, but rather to allow others to make their own scientific deductions regarding her masculine appearance. “My father couldn’t come. I’m...the other Littlemen.”

Nolo stood slightly taller than she, dressed in a white sari and red turban. The wise expression on his dark face reminded her of a strict nanny. His bony features betrayed no age as he scanned her papers. “Ah, you are Benjamin Littlemen.”

A flood of mortifying heat flooded her cheeks. This is for you, Benjamin. The vision of her younger brother, convalescing in the south of France rose in her mind. Tears burned in her exhausted eyes.

You must go Cassandra, for us, for all that we had planned. You will go to British East Africa and write to me every glorious detail of the butterflies of Africa.

A man shouted behind her. She whirled around, and searched the length of the pier. In the glow of the late afternoon sun, the dinghy that had brought her ashore pulled away.

 “Plum pudding. My things.” She darted toward the end of the dock. “Wait!”

“Ngoja!” Nolo shouted behind her.

She ran down the long wharf. “There are important boxes on that boat.”

As she reached the edge, her boots skittered to a stop. The rickety pier wobbled. She gasped as the wooden slats near her feet separated and fell with a plop into the murky inlet.

Flee.

Pedaling backwards, she waved her arms to maintain balance. But the faster she retreated, the faster the sound of splashing wood rang around her.

Someone grabbed her belt and yanked her back toward a patch of dirt in front of the dock.

“Please, Mr. Littlemen. All will be well.” Nolo released his grip.

Now on land, she bent over, rested her hands on her knees, to catch her breath. “My things...”

“The boatmen always carry people separately from their luggage. Your effects will be delivered to the camp by morning.”

She straightened her posture. “I apologize for my—” An abrupt creak shot through the air.

She stared open-mouthed as the pier tilted to one side, and slid, with a deafening crunch, into the inlet.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.theresetenzel.com

Thank you, Therese, for sharing this book with us today.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
Blue Africa (British Missives- a three book series of adventure and romance on British lands)


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

CHRISTMAS MAIL-ORDER BRIDES - Susan Page Davis, Vickie McDonough, Therese Stenzel, Carrie Turansky - 3 Free Books

Since my Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, is a mail-order bride story, I've been looking forward to featuring this novella team. Welcome, Susan, Vickie, Therese, and Carrie. I'm going to interview you one at a time starting with Susan.

How did your story for the collection come about?

I think Vickie came up with this one, so I’ll let her or one of the others answer this.

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

Traditionally, we’ve had a large, extended-family get-together, first at my parents’ and later at one of my sisters’ houses or my house. Now we’ve moved a long distance from my siblings. Our parents are both gone, so I’m not sure what we’ll do this year. Probably start our own traditions.

Which is your favorite holiday, Thanksgiving or Christmas?

Christmas. I love the nativity story and all of the buildup, and also the contemplation and loving gestures that come out of that.

How do you celebrate Christmas?

This year we will probably gather as many of our children and grandchildren as can come to our house. We do gifts under the tree and stockings. I hope we’ll be involved in some church programs and outreach. It’s also a time to make contact with old friends.

Tell us about your family.

Jim and I have six children and six grandchildren. Three of our children are married, and they are far flung. The two youngest are teens living at home, and the other single gal lives and works in another state.

What is your current Work In Progress?

I am finishing up Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island, set in 1860, for Summerside Press. It’s a romance set against the royal tour of Prince Albert Edward, who was Queen Victoria’s son and later became King Edward VII. His visit to Prince Edward Island stirred up things among the islanders, you can be sure.

How can my readers find you on the Internet?

Visit my Web site at: http://www.susanpagedavis.com/


Thanks, Susan. Now we'll talk to Vickie. How did your story for the collection come about?

If I’m remembering right, I had a novella from a prior collection that had been rejected. I really felt was a good story and I wanted give it a second chance. I also had an idea about a mail-order brides novella collection and started recruiting a team. I’m delighted that three of my friends decided to join me in this collection.

My story idea was originally for a Shotgun Wedding proposal, but it was rejected since all of Barbour’s novella collections must center around Christmas now. I reworked my story to make it fit. Here’s a blurb about my novella:

THE PRODIGAL GROOM by Vickie McDonough

Jolie Addams is 18 and must leave the orphanage she grew up in. The headmaster has arranged for her to work for a lecherous benefactor. Frantic, she decides to become a mail-order bride to escape what she fears would be a dreadful existence. But on the way to Nevada, her stage is robbed. She and a wounded passenger are stranded. They are rescued the next day, but Jolie’s intended refuses to marry her after she spent the night alone with Clay Jackson. She and Clay are forced to marry at the end of a shotgun. Is it possible a relationship can blossom and love can grow from such an awful beginning?

I was one of the people in that shotgun wedding proposal. I guess I should get my story back out. How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

We always invite in a turkey to dinner. Now, I’m not confessing if that’s a bird or one of my boys. :-) I cook my actual turkey—not my kids—in one of those oven bags, and it’s fast and simple. The turkey comes out perfect each time. With luck, all four of our boys will be home, my oldest brings his wife and daughter. My mom is usually there, and sometimes my mother-in-law and my husband’s brother. My husband Robert gives a special blessing and then we have a great time around the table and usually go around and tell what we’ve been thankful for over the past year. It’s a special time since it’s hard to get our four boys together now that they’re grown. Afterwards, we clean up and collapse on the couch for a while and talk (the men usually sleep) and later, the guys usually gather around the table for a game of Shanghai Rummy. It was my dad’s favorite card game, and it’s almost like a tribute to him when the kids play. And I can tell you, having a four-year-old again sure makes the holidays more fun.

Yeah, my great grandson just turned three, so he's a lot of fun at holidays. Which is your favorite holiday, Thanksgiving or Christmas?

I really dread all the shopping involved with Christmas, but it’s still my favorite holiday. I enjoy all the lights decorating houses and the Christmas songs on the radio and TV, especially the Christ-centered ones. Every year I have a wrap-a-thon. The past few years since I’ve been busy with writing deadlines, I’ve recruited my husband and boys to help. They even wrap their own presents sometimes and don’t even know it because I’ve put them in generic boxes. :-) Sure saves me a lot of time. I know Christmas has become very commercialized, but the truth is, it’s the celebration of Christ’s birth. Without Him we wouldn’t have Christmas. We wouldn’t have salvation.

On a side note, I’m on a personal campaign to change the abbreviation of X-mas to t-mas (looks better when hand-written). I know there are times you need to abbreviate the word “Christmas” but I refuse to do so by X-ing out Christ. So I use a small “t” which resembles a cross instead. I hope y’all will join me in putting Christ back in Christmas.

How do you celebrate Christmas?

Christmas is a time of family for us. I like giving lots of presents when I can, granted these include necessaries like socks and undies. We use a very pretty artificial tree so that we can have our house decorated for a long while. We normally set up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and I spend that week getting the other decorations out. We no longer fill the kids’ stocking but we still hang them on the mantel. I have all kinds of snowmen decorations and ones of Baby Jesus, and the whole nativity scene. We go to church and sometimes visit other churches that are having special concerts or Christmas plays and enjoy the lovely Christmas songs which remind us of the importance of Christ’s birth.

Tell us about your family.

Boys R Us – That was my tagline a number of years. My husband, Robert, and I will have been married 35 years in October. We have four sons ranging in age from 32 to 19. Our oldest son, Brian, is married to Meridith, and they have the world’s most precocious four-year-old daughter, Hailey. Next comes Adam, who is a computer geek, then Eric, who is a licensed masseuse and a soldier in the National Guard. Prayers are appreciated for him as he leaves in October for his third tour of duty. He’ll be working in a post office in Egypt as part of the National Peacekeeping Force. Last comes Sean, our youngest. He’s a math lover and is preparing to start his second year of college where he’s studying to be an electrical engineer. It’s been fun learning about personality types as I learn more about writing. Two of my sons are super strong Alpha males and two are Betas. The two Alphas tend to hang together more with each other as do my two Betas. Kind of fun to watch all their interactions and different personality quirks. Now that I’m learning body language, it’s even more interesting. :-)

That's another perk of being an author. What is your current Work In Progress?

 I’m finishing up that last book in my Texas Boardinghouse Brides series. It’s called Finally A Bride. For those who are following the series, this book will be about Jack, grown up. She still gets into trouble but a trouble of a different sort. Also, there a couple of folks who return to Lookout and cause all kinds of problems.

Second Chance Brides, book two in this series, releases September 1st. I know there are some people eager to read it and see what happens to the mail-order brides leftover from the Bride contest in book one.

Yes, we have Second Chance Brides scheduled on this blog. I can hardly wait to read it. How can my readers find you on the Internet?

http://www.vickiemcdonough.com/  (my webpage)
http://www.bustlesandspurs.com/  (I’m a monthly contributor here)
I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, Good Reads, and LinkedIn

Thanks so much for inviting us to visit your blog, Lena!

My pleasure, Vickie. Now we're going to talk to Therese. How did your story for the collection come about?

I read a lot of stories of mail-order brides in the old west. The reality of two strangers marrying was amazing, and I wondered about the secrets they brought into the marriage.

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

We go out to eat. Cooking all day in the kitchen while everyone else is relaxing and enjoying their “holiday” is no fun for me.

Which is your favorite holiday, Thanksgiving or Christmas?

Christmas.

How do you celebrate Christmas?

I love to decorate for the holidays. I love to do Christmas cards. I love to buy gifts. I do cook for Christmas :-)

Tell us about your family.

I’m married to Neal and I have three kids, Jonathan, Benjamin, and Olivia.

What is your current Work In Progress?

A Regency historical set in a tiny hamlet in England.

You always did like to write Regencies, didn't you? How can my readers find you on the Internet?

http://www.theresestenzel.com/

Now we'll visit with Carrie. How did your story for the collection come about?

I believe Vickie McDonough and Susan Page Davis came up with the idea of mail-order brides traveling out west on the Transcontinental Railroad to meet their future husbands. We all did some research and chose a different state for our setting that was on the path of the railroad in the 1880’s. As we brainstormed and shared ideas, the stories developed and came together.

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. We celebrate with a special meal at our home and include as many family members as we can round up. I order a turkey from a local grower and prepare some other traditional dishes such as green beans with almonds, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, and pumpkin cheesecake squares. One fun tradition we enjoy is making seven-layer salad that is decorated on top with a unique design each year. We use red, green, and yellow pepper cut up like mosaics pieces to create the design. Sometimes the pattern relates to an event that year or is just an artistic design.

Which is your favorite holiday, Thanksgiving or Christmas?

Christmas is also very special at our house. Our church holds a Christmas Eve candlelight service and then has a very festive buffet afterward. This is a special time with many friends and family returning home and sharing in the celebration.

How do you celebrate Christmas?

We enjoy that time with our church family on Christmas Eve, then we are up early on Christmas morning to open stockings and have a special breakfast that always includes my homemade cinnamon rolls. We open gifts after that, call all our family members who live in other states, and then have dinner with some dear family friends. Often we will watch a holiday movie or play games together in the evening. Scrabble is one of our favorites.

I'd love to come for the cinnamon rolls and Scrabble. Tell us about your family.

I am blessed with a wonderful family. Scott and I have been married for over thirty years. We have five young adult children. The oldest two are married. My oldest son and his wife have three children ages 6, 4, and 5 months, and they are a delight! All our kids were homeschooled for a number of years, and we also spent a year in Kenya as missionaries. Those two things had a big impact on our family. My oldest son and his wife are in ministry in Kauai, and my oldest daughter and her husband work in Africa at a small mission hospital. Our younger son is in the Marines, and our two youngest daughters work full-time and live at home.

What is your current Work In Progress?

I am currently working on a proposal for HER HEART’S SONG, the first in a new series for Steeple Hill Love Inspired. It is about a young woman who dreams of playing her flute in a symphony orchestra, but her plans are on hold while she helps her widowed grandmother manage her Christian bookstore. Then a charming photographer comes into her life, and she must decide if she will cling to her old dream or embrace a new one with him.

Sounds like a book I'd want to read. Let me know when you have a pub date. How can my readers find you on the Internet?

Please stop by my website: http://www.carrieturansky.com/ . I have info on all my books including my newest Love Inspired novel SEEKING HIS LOVE, which comes out 9/28/10. You’ll also find some fun photos, recipes, help for aspiring authors, reviews, and other interviews.

Thanks, Lena!!
Carrie

And special thanks to all of you for stopping by the blog.

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

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

Another Christmas Book - A BRIDE BY CHRISTMAS - Free Book

It's hard to get a whole team together for an interview. Today, we only have three of the authors, but I knew you'd want to learn about this wonderful book. The authors are:

Vickie McDonough

Therese Stenzel

Linda Goodnight

. . .and Kelly Eileen Hake, who couldn't be here.

How did your story for the collection come about?

Vickie -- I wanted to help a friend who wasn’t published in fiction to propose a Christmas collection. I recruited two other authors and we started brainstorming ideas. We came up with A Bride by Christmas, which is a collection of four novellas about four people who must marry by Christmas or something bad will happen.

Therese --Vickie McDonough had done some Christmas novellas for Barbour before and they sold really well so she encouraged us to do a Christmas story.

Linda -- Brides, Christmas, and prairies are very popular topics with Christian readers, so as a group, we started tossing other thoughts around to incorporate all those hooks. (Vickie McDonough came up with the original idea about characters who must, for some reason, wed before Christmas ) The concept for The Cossack Bride just popped into my head. Most of my story ideas are this way. Other than saying they are gifts from the Lord, they just come to me.

What are you reading right now?

Vickie --I’m reading Family of the Heart by Dororthy Clark. It’s a Love Inspired Historical.

Therese--MaryLu Tyndall’s The Falcon and the Sparrow.

Linda -- While at RWA I picked up a number of books I wouldn’t normally buy, and I’m glad I did! At the moment, I’m reading Last Dance at the Jitterbug Lounge by Pamela Morsi, a single title with parallel story lines, one in first person and the other in third person, about a couple who’ve drifted apart that go to visit the husband’s "cracker" family back in Oklahoma when the grandfather he barely knows has a stroke. It’s full of heart-tugging surprises, and I’m really liking it. A few days ago I finished Jillian Hart’s Love Inspired Historical High Country Bride, a lovely, gentle, lyrical read. It’s the first in the new LI historical line that I’ve picked up and if it’s an indicator of how good the line will be, I’m very excited about it!

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

Vickie —You can visit my website(www.vickiemcdonough.com ) for a complete list, but here are some of them. I have several books I’ve written that haven’t been published, but here’s a list of the published ones:
Oklahoma Brides - An Oklahoma historical trilogy which comes out in October
Spinning Out of Control – an Heartsong Presents novel that appeared in Virginia Brides
Wild At Heart – Book One in a North Dakota historical series comes out this fall
Anthology collections:
The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner
Kiss the (Cook) Bride
Lone Star Christmas
Brides O’ the Emerald Isle
A Stitch in Time

Therese -- I have written many historical novels set in England/Scotland as yet unpublished and have just sent a contemporary (with an English heroine of course) to an editor at Barbour—my fingers are crossed!

Linda --I have written more than 25 books, so I won’t list all of them here! But they include the multi-award winning Brothers’ Bond series, A SEASON FOR GRACE, which won ACFW BOTY last year, the RITA award winning A TOUCH OF GRACE, and THE HEART OF GRACE which won RT Reviewers’ Choice and is a finalist for ACFW BOTY. These are all Love Inspireds but I also write for Harlequin Romance. Please check my website www.lindagoodnight.com for a complete listing of all my books.

In addition to the Bride by Christmas collection, my newest Love Inspired, A TIME TO HEAL released in September in which a burned-out physician returns to her home town to rethink her future and encounters the high school sweetheart with whom she shares a painful secret. I hope the secret will surprise you.


What is the hardest thing about writing a part of a novella collection?

Vickie --Some novella collections are very closely related—same town, same family, etc. It’s a challenge to have characters in my story who appeared in stories written by other authors and to keep those characters true to their personality. Also, it can be challenging making sure I’ve portrayed the town or ranch setting the same as the other authors have done.

Therese -- Having other author’s opinions weigh so much.

Linda -- I really don’t find anything difficult about it, especially when the other authors are as delightful to work with as these were.

How did collaborating with this team impact you?

Vickie --This team was especially fun because I worked with three other authors that I know. Also, it is Therese Stenzel’s first fiction sale. It was fun seeing her work through her first novella and then to be able to celebrate her first sale.

Therese --Linda Goodnight took me under her teaching wing and really worked with me—I am forever grateful. And working with three very talented, award winning, creative authors made me very humble!

Linda -- The fact that I genuinely like and admire the other women in this collection made it special. And I was absolutely thrilled to be part of introducing a promising new writer, Therese Stenzel, to readers.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Vickie -- It varies. For first names, I tend to use names I especially like. I try to find one that suits the character I’m writing. For last names, I usually determine the character’s heritage and find a surname that fits.

Therese -- They just come to me, so I would say the Holy Spirit names them.

Linda -- As a team we had decided to make each heroine a specific ethnicity and to include Christmas traditions native to her country of origin. I had chosen Ukrainian because I have some experiences with Ukrainian people and customs. From there I searched for a name that could easily be understood by Americans while still conveying the eastern European flavor. So I came up with Anastasia Federov, called Anna. She’s a feisty little Cossack with a singing voice that curdles milk. :-) I hope you like her as much as I do.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

Vickie -- I want my readers to be able to get into my books, to relax, and have a fun time reading while also being inspired in their faith. I want to take them away from their problems or family for a while and let them delve into a fictional world.

Therese -- The concept that God knows where you are and the flavor of the soup you’re in! He cares about the details of our lives.

Linda -- My books are written primarily to entertain in a wholesome, positive manner, but it’s always lovely to me when the story touches a deeper cord within the reader. Emotional healing and learning to trust in the Lord are such common themes for me and both are present in this story.

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers? If so, why?

Vickie --Yes. I first joined ACFW when I was a newbie writer. I’d heard about the group at the first writers’ conference I attended, and it sounded like something that I needed. I’ve been a member for seven years now, and it was the best investment I have ever made in my writing. I do not believe I’d be published—or even writing now—if not for ACFW.

Therese -- Yes, I have learned so much from the members. I’m always amazed when a multi-pubbed author whose writing I admire takes the time to answer a question I post to the loop.

Linda -- Yes. I thought it would be a good place to network with other writers who are also Christians and to keep abreast of the Christian market.

What is the best piece of advice you received as an author?

Vickie -- I think something Chip MacGregor shared at the ACFW conference a few years ago really inspired me. He said every writer needs a Paul, a Barnabus, and a Timothy in his life. This is a reference to three men from the Bible. What Chip went on to say is that every writer needs someone who is further along than them to help them with their writing. You also need peers who are at a similar level and who understand the isolation and rejection that writers face. Lastly, you need to be giving of your time and helping writers who aren’t as far along as you.

Therese -- Vickie McDonough has been a writing mentor and a friend and God has used her so many times to speak into my writing life. She encouraged me to get connected to other authors because that is how you’ll get published—and she was right!

Linda -- Don’t stress yourself trying to follow some other writer’s process. When I first began to attend conferences and workshops I tried all the techniques I heard about and drove myself crazy doing highlighters, index cards, outlines, etc. Finally, a wise, wise woman told me that no two writers work the same way, to take the good from each class I attended and then figure out what worked best for me. There is no ‘right’ way to plot or not plot or otherwise write a book. Whew! What a relief!

Vickie, Therese, and Linda, thank you for spending this time with us. I know the readers will love your stories as well as the one written by Kelly.

Readers, you know how much I love Christmas stories, and many of you have told me the same thing. So leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of A Bride by Christmas.