Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My passion is to encourage readers to find freedom through surrender. I realize it has to start with me, so I invite everyone to join me as I surrender “the good, the bad, and—maybe one day—the chocolate.” I enjoy writing contemporary romances that feature Upstate NY settings and surrender issues. Of course, chocolate is mentioned, too.
I now live in NE Ohio but spent most of my life in Upstate NY. I’m married with two children, and I’m also a step-mom to two adult children and a son-in-law who live in Wisconsin.
Entrusted is Book One in the Adirondack Surrender romance series. It’s available now through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and cbd.com. The Love Boat Bachelor is a collaborative effort with the authors from Write Integrity Press, and I wrote one of the chapters.
Available for pre-order is A Walk in the Valley, an infertility devotional I wrote with five other authors. This will be available April 28th.
Coming soon are books two and three in the Adirondack romances: Entangled and Engaged.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My work with The Love Boat Bachelor was inspired by author Jerusha Agen. She was part of the 2014 bestseller, A Dozen Apologies and wondered what would happen if we took one of the heroes from last year’s book and made him the central character on a cruise ship. Each of us wrote a port-of-call and a heroine for Brent Teague and readers chose the one they wanted to see Brent have a happy ending with.
As far as my own contemporary romance, Entrusted, years ago I visited the real village of Speculator in the Upstate NY Adirondack Mountains. As I walked around I thought about different characters who would make up a village similar to Speculator. I added a heroine to my imagination, wondering what would it be like if she came from the city and was determined to belong, but not everyone wanted her there? I kept plotting it out and by 2010, I used it as the plot for my NaNoWriMo challenge and kept working on it.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it’s unusual but I enjoy listening to music as I write. I also like having a candle going in the scent that most reminds me of the setting I’m writing.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Karen Kingsbury, Susan May Warren, Rachel Hauck, Kristin Billerbeck.
What are you working on now?
Book two in the Adirondack series, Entangled. This will be Carla Rowling’s story, the single mom and sheriff who is transitioning to full time cosmetology student. She’s been given the gift of a lifetime and she doesn’t feel worthy. She regrets her past choices so much she’s bent on destroying her future with truck driver Will Marshall.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I love how all of us at WIP work together with Tracy. We truly are a family and I don’t think I’ve really seen that with any publisher. We’re for each other, and not just one author. We work daily on ways to promote our work.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day, even if it’s just for twenty minutes. Read everything you can in the genre you enjoy and plan to write in. I started out submitting to the weekly challenges at FaithWriters.com, I highly recommend that. I continue to use Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck’s book, From the Inside Out as a way to plot and flesh out my story. Most of all, I have a team that prays for me. Each November I pray about who to ask and they consider praying for my writing on a year-to-year basis. On a monthly basis I share my writing updates and requests on a deeper level than if I were on Facebook and put on my update that I needed prayer. I am indebted to that team. I wouldn’t be published without their prayers laying the groundwork.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
My mentor heard from her pastor that we should all have “the skin of a rhino and the heart of the dove.” That has carried me through fears of rejection and what others might think, and helped me when I received my first (but I’m sure not last) less than wonderful review.
What are you reading now?
Miracle at the Higher Grounds Cafe by Max Lucado and How to Catch a Prince by Rachel Hauck.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I will finish the Adirondack series and would like to continue writing surrender fiction using new Upstate NY settings. Right now I have a novella for Julie Arduini newsletter subscribers that features the Finger Lakes region.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My Bible, Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge and What a Girl Wants by Kristin Billerbeck.
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