Readers, Brandilyn Collins is one of my favorite authors of suspense novels and a dear friend.
Welcome back,
Brandilyn. I know you indie-published this book. Tell us how that came about.
Last year I decided to do something totally different. As a
traditionally published author of over 25 books, I’d never self-published. But
I wanted to give it a try in order to make extra income and test the waters of
self-publishing. I chose to write a Southern contemporary, something completely
outside my Seatbelt Suspense® brand. I’d written in this genre before, in the
early days of my career (the Bradleyville series) and have missed it during the
past 10 years of writing only suspense. The editor at my publishing house gave
me clearance to self-publish this book. Being under contract, I viewed the
folks at my publishing house and myself as part of a team. I did not want to
upset the good working relationship of that team. If my editor had said no, I
would not have proceeded at that time.
One of the great things about self publishing is the ability
to set my own price for the book. The paperback is at $9.88, and the ebook at
$2.99—much more affordable for readers.
How did you come up
with the idea for this story?
Years ago I had sold the idea for the Dearing Family series
to my publisher at the time, Zondervan. Then we decided I should write suspense
full time, so I pushed the series aside. Now, with self publishing, I had the
opportunity to resurrect it, even as I was still writing contracted suspense
(for a different publisher). Seemed like a great opportunity to me! The idea of
featuring a crazy Southern family at their family reunions came from the
reunions of my own family. In the back of That Dog Won’t Hunt, there’s a fun
list of factoids regarding characters and events in the story—which actually
came from my family and which are total fiction.
That Dog Won’t Hunt is full of humor. But a funny story in
itself isn’t enough for me. I like to tackle a difficult issue in the midst of
the humor. For—isn’t life like that? Multi-faceted. Complex. That
Dog Won’t Hunt takes a look at how a shy young woman with an abused
background—with all the baggage that entails—would fit into the loving, loud
family of the man she wants to marry.
If you were planning
a party with Christian authors of contemporary fiction, what six people would
you invite and why?
Oh, my goodness, I have to limit it to six? There are so
many incredible people writing Christian fiction. But here’s a try: Lisa
Samson, Ted Dekker, Brad Whittington, Randy Singer, Robert Whitlow, and Sharon
Ewell Foster. All of these are great, fun people, and I chose them because I
rarely get to see them. Other wonderful authors I get to see every year at this
place or that.
Now let’s do that for
a party for Christian authors of historical fiction, what six people would you
invite and why?
Stephanie Whitson, Lori Copeland, Tessa Afshar, Tracie
Peterson, Jane Kirkpatrick, and Donna Fletcher Crow—for the same reasons. I
don’t get the opportunity to see these great people very often.
Many times, people
(and other authors) think you have it made with so many books published. What
is your most difficult problem with writing at this time in your career?
The writing itself.
It is, and always has been, hard for me. I groan and moan with every
book (just ask my patient husband). With every novel I write, while I’m in the
midst of it, I think it’s terrible, boring, and my readers will hate it. Which
makes the process all the harder. Sigh.
I totally understand
that feeling. Please tell us about the featured book.
Here’s the back cover copy:
Meet the Dearings, a crazy, loving, boisterous family in
small-town Mississippi.
There’s mom and dad, three daughters and their families, and the
youngest—twenty-five-year-old Ben. Oh, and the family dog, a Yorkie who thinks
she’s royalty.
“This one’s perfect,” Ben says about his new fiancée,
Christina, when he brings her home for a family reunion. Ben is just sure
everyone will love Christina, and she’ll fit right in.
He always did tend to wear rose-colored glasses.
Christina loves Ben but secretly fears their relationship
will never work. They’ve only known each other ten weeks. She hasn’t told him
about her horrific past as an only child—the beatings, the neglect, and verbal
abuse. Christina doesn’t know how to trust or be honest about her feelings.
Being thrust into the middle of a tight-knit family like the Dearings is sure
to send her over the edge.
With poignancy and humor, That Dog Won’t Hunt explores
the complexities of relationships and the inner strength needed to overcome a
difficult childhood. The Dearings are no perfect family, but they know how to
love—if only Christina will accept it.
Everyone needs to
read this book, because we all have something in our pasts that’s hard to
overcome and share. Please give us the first page.
Have mercy, a smell like this in the house could cost Ben
his new fiancée. And he and Christina were likely to pull up any minute.
It had been hard enough for Ruth Dearing to keep the place
straightened with three daughters—two of them with husbands and kids—already
home for the family summer reunion. Noise and purses and sunglasses and toys
everywhere. Ruth lived for her family to come home. But today things had to
look just so. Wasn’t every time that Ben, their youngest, brought home a young
woman he said he was going to marry. A “quiet” gal, he’d told Ruth and Sy.
“Kinda reserved.”
In other words, everything the Dearing family was not. To
put it mildly.
Ho boy.
Christina could easily be overwhelmed at this gathering, but
no one else in the family seemed the least bit worried. Least of all Ben. But
Ruth had been young once, and yes—shy. Even though she and Syton had been in
love since high school, Ruth remembered all too well that nerve-wracking first
meeting with his parents. Sy’s family had a lot more money than her own, and
his parents seemed so intimidating. Still, she’d only had to meet the two of
them. Imagine being shoved into this family. Ruth had already warned her
daughters to be mindful of Christina’s shyness. And she’d flown about the house
today, trying to make everything look perfect.
Now this horrible stench.
Nose wrinkled, Ruth strode to the doorway leading to the
house’s west wing, which contained the grandkids’ play room. “Pogey, get in here
and put these shoes on! They’re stinkin’ the kitchen to high heaven!”
At Ruth’s feet, Lady Penelope, her and Sy’s finicky Yorkie,
whined. Poor Penny lay on the floor with her paws practically over her nose.
Ruth picked her up.
“How do y’all stand that smell?” Ruth turned and frowned at
her three daughters playing an animated game of cards in the adjoining family
room.
Sarah, Pogey’s mother, sighed. “I’m used to it. Kid’s got
the smelliest feet this side of the Mississippi.”
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
My website:
(This website is being completely redone in a few weeks.) Here, people can read
the opening chapters of all my books.
Facebook:
On my author page every day I post Today’s Word—an unusual word and its
definition—and ask for a creative sentence. I also post a Creative Captioneers
funny picture daily, for which readers enjoy writing creative captions. And I
like to post about writing and life in general. We have fun on my Facebook
page.
Buy That Dog Won’t Hunt:
Barnes
& Noble
\
Welcome back,
Brandilyn. I know you indie-published this book. Tell us how that came about.
Last year I decided to do something totally different. As a
traditionally published author of over 25 books, I’d never self-published. But
I wanted to give it a try in order to make extra income and test the waters of
self-publishing. I chose to write a Southern contemporary, something completely
outside my Seatbelt Suspense® brand. I’d written in this genre before, in the
early days of my career (the Bradleyville series) and have missed it during the
past 10 years of writing only suspense. The editor at my publishing house gave
me clearance to self-publish this book. Being under contract, I viewed the
folks at my publishing house and myself as part of a team. I did not want to
upset the good working relationship of that team. If my editor had said no, I
would not have proceeded at that time.
One of the great things about self publishing is the ability
to set my own price for the book. The paperback is at $9.88, and the ebook at
$2.99—much more affordable for readers.
How did you come up
with the idea for this story?
Years ago I had sold the idea for the Dearing Family series
to my publisher at the time, Zondervan. Then we decided I should write suspense
full time, so I pushed the series aside. Now, with self publishing, I had the
opportunity to resurrect it, even as I was still writing contracted suspense
(for a different publisher). Seemed like a great opportunity to me! The idea of
featuring a crazy Southern family at their family reunions came from the
reunions of my own family. In the back of That Dog Won’t Hunt, there’s a fun
list of factoids regarding characters and events in the story—which actually
came from my family and which are total fiction.
That Dog Won’t Hunt is full of humor. But a funny story in
itself isn’t enough for me. I like to tackle a difficult issue in the midst of
the humor. For—isn’t life like that? Multi-faceted. Complex. That
Dog Won’t Hunt takes a look at how a shy young woman with an abused
background—with all the baggage that entails—would fit into the loving, loud
family of the man she wants to marry.
If you were planning
a party with Christian authors of contemporary fiction, what six people would
you invite and why?
Oh, my goodness, I have to limit it to six? There are so
many incredible people writing Christian fiction. But here’s a try: Lisa
Samson, Ted Dekker, Brad Whittington, Randy Singer, Robert Whitlow, and Sharon
Ewell Foster. All of these are great, fun people, and I chose them because I
rarely get to see them. Other wonderful authors I get to see every year at this
place or that.
Now let’s do that for
a party for Christian authors of historical fiction, what six people would you
invite and why?
Stephanie Whitson, Lori Copeland, Tessa Afshar, Tracie
Peterson, Jane Kirkpatrick, and Donna Fletcher Crow—for the same reasons. I
don’t get the opportunity to see these great people very often.
Many times, people
(and other authors) think you have it made with so many books published. What
is your most difficult problem with writing at this time in your career?
The writing itself.
It is, and always has been, hard for me. I groan and moan with every
book (just ask my patient husband). With every novel I write, while I’m in the
midst of it, I think it’s terrible, boring, and my readers will hate it. Which
makes the process all the harder. Sigh.
I totally understand
that feeling. Please tell us about the featured book.
Here’s the back cover copy:
Meet the Dearings, a crazy, loving, boisterous family in
small-town Mississippi.
There’s mom and dad, three daughters and their families, and the
youngest—twenty-five-year-old Ben. Oh, and the family dog, a Yorkie who thinks
she’s royalty.
“This one’s perfect,” Ben says about his new fiancée,
Christina, when he brings her home for a family reunion. Ben is just sure
everyone will love Christina, and she’ll fit right in.
He always did tend to wear rose-colored glasses.
Christina loves Ben but secretly fears their relationship
will never work. They’ve only known each other ten weeks. She hasn’t told him
about her horrific past as an only child—the beatings, the neglect, and verbal
abuse. Christina doesn’t know how to trust or be honest about her feelings.
Being thrust into the middle of a tight-knit family like the Dearings is sure
to send her over the edge.
With poignancy and humor, That Dog Won’t Hunt explores
the complexities of relationships and the inner strength needed to overcome a
difficult childhood. The Dearings are no perfect family, but they know how to
love—if only Christina will accept it.
Everyone needs to
read this book, because we all have something in our pasts that’s hard to
overcome and share. Please give us the first page.
Have mercy, a smell like this in the house could cost Ben
his new fiancée. And he and Christina were likely to pull up any minute.
It had been hard enough for Ruth Dearing to keep the place
straightened with three daughters—two of them with husbands and kids—already
home for the family summer reunion. Noise and purses and sunglasses and toys
everywhere. Ruth lived for her family to come home. But today things had to
look just so. Wasn’t every time that Ben, their youngest, brought home a young
woman he said he was going to marry. A “quiet” gal, he’d told Ruth and Sy.
“Kinda reserved.”
In other words, everything the Dearing family was not. To
put it mildly.
Ho boy.
Christina could easily be overwhelmed at this gathering, but
no one else in the family seemed the least bit worried. Least of all Ben. But
Ruth had been young once, and yes—shy. Even though she and Syton had been in
love since high school, Ruth remembered all too well that nerve-wracking first
meeting with his parents. Sy’s family had a lot more money than her own, and
his parents seemed so intimidating. Still, she’d only had to meet the two of
them. Imagine being shoved into this family. Ruth had already warned her
daughters to be mindful of Christina’s shyness. And she’d flown about the house
today, trying to make everything look perfect.
Now this horrible stench.
Nose wrinkled, Ruth strode to the doorway leading to the
house’s west wing, which contained the grandkids’ play room. “Pogey, get in here
and put these shoes on! They’re stinkin’ the kitchen to high heaven!”
At Ruth’s feet, Lady Penelope, her and Sy’s finicky Yorkie,
whined. Poor Penny lay on the floor with her paws practically over her nose.
Ruth picked her up.
“How do y’all stand that smell?” Ruth turned and frowned at
her three daughters playing an animated game of cards in the adjoining family
room.
Sarah, Pogey’s mother, sighed. “I’m used to it. Kid’s got
the smelliest feet this side of the Mississippi.”
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
My website:
(This website is being completely redone in a few weeks.) Here, people can read
the opening chapters of all my books.
Facebook:
On my author page every day I post Today’s Word—an unusual word and its
definition—and ask for a creative sentence. I also post a Creative Captioneers
funny picture daily, for which readers enjoy writing creative captions. And I
like to post about writing and life in general. We have fun on my Facebook
page.
Buy That Dog Won’t Hunt:
Barnes
& Noble
Thank you, Brandilyn, for sharing this new book with us today.
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