In A Prisoner of Versailles, part two of the Darkness to Light series, we follow the story of Madeleine, forced to flee France because of her Huguenot beliefs. The "Sun King" pursues and imprisons her, however. Can the man she loves help her gain freedom? Caught in a velvet prison and with the welfare of her children at stake, Madeleine is forced to decide whether she will hold true to her faith or give in to a vain and seductive lifestyle.
Golden Keyes Parsons' vivid writing style brings the Court of King Louis XIV alive. The quick pace and well-plotted story draws the reader, and the intimate characterizations ring true. Women who enjoy historical fiction will appreciate A Prisoner of Versailles.
With an estimated million books in print, Linda Windsor is an award-winning author of sixteen secular historical and contemporary romances and thirteen romantic comedies and historical fiction for the inspirational market. Her switch to inspirational fiction in 1999 was more like Jonah going to Ninevah than a flash of enlightenment. Linda claims God pushed her, kicking and screaming all the way. In retrospect, the author can see how God prepared her for His writing in her early publishing years and then claimed not just her music but also her writing when she was ready. At that point, He brushed away all her reservations regarding inspirational fiction, and she took the leap of faith. Windsor has never looked back.
Linda’s research for the early Celtic Gleannmara series resulted in a personal mission dear to her heart: to provide Christians with an effective witness to reach their New Age and unbelieving family and friends. Her goal continues with Healer of the Scottish Brides of Alba series, which reveals early church history, much of which has been lost or neglected due to intentional and/or inadvertent error by its chroniclers. This knowledge of early church history enabled Linda to reach her daughter, who became involved in Wicca after being stalked and assaulted in college and blaming the God of her childhood faith—a witness that continues to others at medieval fair signings or wherever these books take Windsor.
Windsor is convinced that, had her daughter known the struggle and witness of the early Christians beyond the apostles’ time and before Christianity earned a black name in the Crusades and Inquisition, she could not have been swayed from her early faith. Nor would Linda herself have been lured away from her faith in Christ in college by a liberal agenda.
Linda’s testimony that Christ is her Druid (Master/Teacher) opens wary hearts wounded by harsh Christian condemnation. Through her witness, admitted Wiccans and pagans have become intrigued by the tidbits of history and tradition pointing to the how and why druids accepted Him. She not only sells these nonbelievers copies of her books, but she also outsells the occult titles surrounding her inspirational ones.
Dear Reader,
First, I’d like to thank Janalyn Voigt for inviting me to “chat” with you. It’s always a blessing to reach out to readers and a special one with regard to HEALER. It’s book one in the Brides of Alba, a series set in Arthurian Scotland that deals with the three O’Byrne brothers and how their respective loves turn their world upside down and their spirit right-side up.
In HEALER, a mother’s dying prophecy sentences her daughter Brenna to twenty years of hiding, for it says that the Gowys seed will divide the enemy O’Byrne’s house and bring about a peace beyond the wicked ken of its chief and the mother’s murderer. So one clan would kill Brenna, while her own hopes she’ll lead them in revenge against the stronger clan—certain death. But Brenna is a healer, trained by the Sisters of Avalon, not a warrior. So she lives alone, save for the company of her pet wolf Faol.
When Brenna sees a handsome stranger ambushed and left for dead, she must risk exposure to save him. As a healer and a Christian, she has no choice. And perhaps, just maybe, he is the answer to her loneliness and prayers. Loving him comes as easy as healing him. After Ronan comes to his senses, he realizes he’s in the hold of his worst enemy. Yet, Brenna’s childlike faith and gentleness speak to his wary and bitter spirit. But is love and faith enough to overcome twenty years of hatred and bring about the foretold peace? Or will the unknown enemy who left him for dead once, kill them both?
So there you have romance, adventure, a faith journey and intrigue. But there’s so much more to HEALER. In it you’ll see the story of Arthur, Merlin and Camelot like it’s never been seen before—through Celtic church traditions revealed in ancient records from Egypt and the Holy Land to Gaul and Iberia and lastly to the British Isles.
You’ll see that there was more than one Arthur. More than one Merlin as well. Arthur was a title meaning Bear of Britain and given to a war leader or king of kings. In Ireland and Alba/Scotland it equaled high king; in Wales Pendragon; and in Latin dux bellorum or duke of war. Merlin was also a title meaning advisor to the king. That there were more than one explains how Arthur and Merlin would have had to have lived over a hundred years to account for all the deeds (and conflicting personalities) ascribed to them. Further affirming this is a late sixth century taboo making it punishable by death to call an arthur or merlin—any official of any importance, including leaders in the church—by their given names.
That said, the arthur and merlin in HEALER are actually historically documented figures, Arthur being the first arthur with the given name and title. He is the son of Aedan, High King of Scotland and known by some as uther (meaning the terrible) and Ygerna/Ygraine, a descendant of Joseph of Arimathea’s daughter Anna.
You may also note in HEALER the remnants of Judaism still prevalent in their observation of faith and in the Grail Church. This highest order of the Celtic Church tries to protect ancient holy bloodlines—that of King David, preserved through the marriage of Zedediah’s daughter to the High King of Ireland in the 6th century B.C. and that of Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus’ family and close friends, who, according to tradition, established the first church in Britain. It has accomplished this for five centuries by matchmaking and grooming the offspring to become kings, warriors and queens dedicated to spreading and preserving Christianity through war and marriage. According to scholar Norma Lorre Goodrich, Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere and most of the Arthurian romance characters are the result of such efforts. For those interested, you’ll find an extensive bibliography and notes in the back of HEALER for the traditions and history in the background/setting.
As interesting as the above is, that and five bucks might get you a cup of fancy coffee. But what I do hope you’ll take away from HEALER besides a page-turning romantic adventure and intrigue, are two things. First, the wonderful witness of our early Christian forefathers. I’m talking about the church history after the Bible ends and before the church earned the black marks of the Crusades and the Inquisition. I’m talking about how the early Christians tamed barbarian Europe when Rome’s sword could not.
This witness is as effective today with New Age believers as it was then. I know, because it helped me to win my daughter back to Christ after she was stalked and assaulted in college, blamed God, and became involved in Wicca or white witchcraft.
The other thing I hope readers will take away is a better understanding of dark age magic. Magic was mostly knowledge, not wand-waving. There was nature magic, which was proto-science. Herbology for instance was the forerunner of medicine. Understanding the properties of God’s creation and how to use them was magic. Someone who was charismatic and persuasive or could paint pictures with words were considered to possess magic. How this knowledge/gift was used—its fruit—and to whom the glory was given (God or taking credit oneself) separated good from the bad.
Then there was dark magic, which was, simply put, bad. It often involved necromancy, or summoning spirits.
I know I’ve taken more time than I should on things woven in and around the story, but my hope with HEALER is to inspire and educate, as well as entertain. As Christians facing New Age concepts and the risk of our loved ones and children being seduced by them, it’s imperative that we understand them, both what we have in common with them and what separates us. It’s the only way we can effectively witness as our forefathers did in the first centuries of Christianity.
This is my passion. To help anyone who has nonbelievers, especially those involved in New Age philosophies or practices, to reach out to them in love, not judgment, and with history and science that underscores the veracity of the Scriptures that these loved ones have dismissed as nothing more than fable.
If I knew back in college, what I know now of the things above, I would never had been lured away from my faith by academics that taught me Jesus was nothing more than a small town prophet and the Bible nothing more than a book of morality tales.
So please, check these things out for yourselves. My resources are listed in the back of the book. And stop by my website at www.LindaWindsor.com to see HEALER’s book trailer. It’s just incredible! Plus, I have a first chapter posted and am running contests for signed copies. I’d love to hear from you.
Congratulations to Martha A., who won a free copy of Gunsmith's Gallantry by Susan Page Davis. Thanks to all who stopped by Book Readers Central. Check back soon for more great interviews, book reviews and giveaway drawings.
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The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire recounts the last days of the Empire established under Maximilian von Hapsburg. It is a historical novel based on fact, though embellished with the author's interpretation of events. C. M. Mayo shifts perspective throught a whole cast of characters, although seldom from the perspective of the young Prince.
This book opens a different view of what was happening in Mexico during and after America's Civil War. Even in Mexico, the empire appeared in different lights. Some people welcomed the French and others resented their occupation.
I recommend The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire to anyone curious about the history of Mexico. It is full of wonderful informaion about a vanished or little-known culture that we don't hear a lot about.
What does it mean to belong? Judith Miller explores this question in a story set in the Amana Colonies of 1877. Two very different girls find themselves thrown together. Level-headed Johanna takes rebellious newcomer Berta under her wing and teaches her to embrace life in Amana. This task proves difficult. Each girl grapples with family problems, potential betrayal and life-changing decisions. Will Johanna and Berta surrender their pains and dreams to God and find the courage to truly live?
Compelling characters and believable situations coupled with skilled writing make SOMEWHERE TO BELONG an important book. I recommend it to women who enjoy stories about cloistered communities and for those who enjoy historical fiction. I also approve this book for teens because of its take on honesty, family bonding and social responsibility.
Susan Page Davis is the author of thirty novels. She and her husband Jim, an editor, live in western Kentucky with the two youngest of their six children. She enjoys reading, travel, needlework, and genealogy. She has homeschooled all her children and is the grandmother of six.
Hi, I’m Susan Page Davis, and I’m happy to be here. I just moved from Maine (where I was born and lived more than 50 years) to western Kentucky, so I’m still amid piles of boxes and culture shock. But so far, I love my new home!
I’ve lived both east and west of the Mississippi, having married a man from Oregon. Jim and I have six children and six grandchildren. The Lord has blessed me with thirty published novels.
My new book is Gunsmith’s Gallantry, book 2 in The Ladies’ Shooting Club series. I loved writing this story about Hiram Dooley, the shy gunsmith (brother to Gert, the heroine of the first book, The Sheriff’s Surrender).
Hiram is a quiet man whose wife died ten years ago. He’s happy to be left alone to do his solitary work. There is one woman in town he admires greatly, but she’s a savvy, beautiful businesswoman who probably would never think twice about the likes of him. Still, he gets all mushy inside whenever he enters her store.
Hiram’s life is disrupted when his sister-in-law, Rose, arrives in town (that’s Fergus, Idaho, a small mountain town you won’t find on any map). Rose has the notion that since they are both widowed, Hiram should marry her. That’s the last thing he wants to do.
Meanwhile, schoolmarm Isabel is shocked when an uncle she never knew existed shows up at her door. Later that night, she sees her father digging a mysterious hole behind their barn, and the uncle is nowhere to be seen. She confides in Libby, the woman Hiram adores.
Soon Hiram finds himself up to his ears in woman problems—and that’s not even counting his sister and her slow-moving beau. Hiram steps up to help his friend Ethan, the sheriff, and shocks the town by clocking a rowdy cowboy. It seems Hiram’s quiet life has become tumult.
Writing this series was an adventure. Stepping into an 1880s mountain town was hard work and tremendous fun. I was able to visit my daughter in Idaho and make an exploratory trip with her. We visited the ghost town at Silver City and other historic places in southwest Idaho.
The research continued as I worked my way through the series. I wanted to put a player piano in the Nugget saloon in the first book, and to my disappointment learned my story was a few years too early for that. Who’d have thought it? Seems every saloon in every western movie has a player piano! But in checking out facts like that, I learned new things that led to other interesting details in my books.
An important part of each book in the series is the Ladies’ Shooting Club of Fergus. Each woman uses the gun she has available. They meet to practice, and Hiram’s sister teaches them to use their weapons safely and effectively. In the first book, this nearly caused a riot among the town’s men. In The Gunsmith’s Gallantry, the club helps rescue one of its beloved members.
This series is about the community of women, their support for each other, and their faith journey. It’s also about adventure and old-fashioned Wild West action.
You can purchase this book through retail stores, Christian Book Distributors, or Amazon.com
My future books will include the third in this series—The Blacksmith’s Bravery, coming your way in December; a 1915 historical suspense novel called The Crimson Cipher—releasing July 1; and a novella in the collection Christmas Mail Order Brides, coming in September. My story is called “Mrs. Mayberry Meets Her Match.” Visit me at my personal website: http://www.susanpagedavis.com/
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Congratulations to JudyLynn who won a free copy of Stephen Bly's "Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon." Thanks to everyone who visited Book Readers Central and to those who entered the book giveaway drawing.
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Bryce McPherson kidnaps Akira McKenzie on her wedding day to keep a promise made to his dying father.The fact that the McKenzie and the McPherson clans are sworn enemies won't save Akira from marrying the McPherson Chiefton. But can such a marriage bring peace, especially when a series of murders seems to indicate otherwise? And can Bryce and Akira find love in the midst of hatred?
With fine prose and deft skill, Jennifer Hudson Taylor takes us to the highlands of Scotland at a time when men lived and died by the sword. But the struggles woven into this book's plot are not of the flesh alone. Akira needs to make peace with both her earthly and heavenly fathers, and Bryce must learn to trust an enemy. But a greater threat waits in the shadows...
I recommend Highland Blessings for readers who enjoy historical fiction and historical romance.
~ Review by Janalyn Voigt
* A complimentary copy of this book was provided to me by the author for purposes of review.
Stephen Bly resides in Winchester, Idaho at 4,000 ft. elev., on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. He's been married 47 years to fellow writer, Janet Chester Bly, and they've co-authored 18 books.
Stephen is father of 3 sons: Russell, Michael, & Aaron. The family includes daughters-in-law, Lois, Michelle & Rina Joye, plus grandkids: Zachary, Miranda (& husband Chris), and Keaton.
As a third-generation westerner, Steve spent 30 years working family ranches and farms in central California.
When he's not writing Steve collects and restores antique Winchesters; studies histories of the Old West; and does construction on Broken Arrow Crossing (a false front western village next to his home). He also plays a par game of golf. Recent books by Stephen Bly include: Creede of Old Montana (2009), The Land Tamers (re-issued 2009), One Step Over The Border, Center Street/Hachette; The Horse Dreams Series—Memories of a Dirt Road Town, The Mustang Breaker, and Wish I’d Known You Tears Ago (B&H); Paperback Writer (B&H); and Fortunes of the Black Hills Series (B&H Publishers).
Noteworthy Facts about Stephen Bly
* Author and co-author of 102 fiction and nonfiction books, including historical and contemporary westerns. * Christy Award winner, Westerns, 2002, The Long Trail Home
* Christy Award finalist, Westerns, 2003 * Mayor of Winchester, Idaho, pop. 308 (1999-2007) * Pastor of Winchester Community Church * Speaker for men’s and writers’ groups, USA and Canada * Roving editor, "Big Show Journal" * Mentor, Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild * Represented by agent Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary * Fresno State University, CA, Philosophy, summa cum laude * M. Div., Fuller Theological Seminary, CA, 1974
Interview with Stephen Bly
• How would you describe your new release?
It’s the closest to memoir that I’ve attempted in a novel. In 1954, I was 10-years-old and spent many hours playing cribbage and listening to narratives of the ‘old days’ from my grandpa.
A 10-year-old boy. Six old cowboys. A ’49 Plymouth with open trunk. And a damsel in distress. All the fixings for adventure in 1954 Albuquerque. Maybe you weren’t born 100 years too late.
The permanent residents of the old hotel: 5 old cowboys, 70s to 90s. Every week these five, plus a young boy’s (“Little Brother”) grandfather, play cribbage in the lobby. But that’s not the real focus. Their chief pleasure centers on tales of their riding and roping days. And every story mostly true. Those who paid attention, heard their hearts too.
The cowboys in my story retire in Albuquerque, not Santa Fe, because even in 1954 the latter was becoming the artsy, celebrity spot it is today. These guys needed a cheap hotel and city amenities. So, Albuquerque suited them fine. Before there were retirement communities and senior citizen housing, some elderly lived in old downtown hotels. Well past their prime to attract overnight guests, they catered to senior citizens who scraped by on something fairly new in the fifties: Social Security.
The eldest was born during the Civil War. All of them cowboyed from the late 1880s until the 1940s. They tell first-hand stories of what the West was truly like.
Cowboy For A Rainy Afternoon reminisces about real cowboy lives, much the same as Andy Adams’ book, The Log of a Cowboy, written in the early 1900s. Author’s suggestion: this book is best read aloud, as though around a campfire, by someone with a grasp of the rhythm of the language.
On one rainy afternoon, Little Brother sits with his red straw cowboy hat, cap gun, and leather bullet belt with silver-painted wooden bullets, to listen to cowboy tales, romps through past escapades. The old men delighted in their youthful, captive audience. Meanwhile, a drama unfolds, a story brews in the lobby that propels them all into one last cowboy stand.
(Click the link at the bottom of this post to read an excerpt from Chapter One of Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon.)
• What message do you hope it conveys?
The heritage of courage against evil that one generation can pass on to another.
• What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
The definite sense throughout the process that I was right there in the lobby of that hotel and later riding in the ’49 Plymouth with all the characters. I was that young boy and re-living parts of my youth through him.
• What did you dislike most about writing this book?
Not being able to sit down and write it all in one full sweep. I hated having to write in-between other projects.
• What inspired you to become a writer?
It’s all my wife’s fault. She got me into it. After going to a couple writer’s conferences, she asked permission to submit some articles and short stories she edited out of my sermons. . .and took a book proposal from a study I’d done for college students to Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference. All of them were accepted. After I got the first checks I said, “Hey, I think I’ll do my own writing.”
So, it was my wife’s insistence that I had something to say to folks beyond my local congregation.
• Tell us about your writing process.
Step One – research, including on-site exploration.
Step Two – Build a bio on each main character.
Step Three – Sit in front of a blank computer screen and add step one and step two, then record what happens. No plotting needed.
• What are you working on now?
September 1st is deadline for my WIP, which has the working title, “Throw Away Heart.” Most of the story happens on a train ride from Omaha to Sacramento in the 1880s. The title sounds more like a romance, which it is, but the editor wants a more western sounding name for their base of Bly fans. So, I’ll brainstorm that while I finish the project.
• What books do you enjoy reading?
In fiction--from Owen Wister to John Steinbeck, Elmer Kelton to William Saroyan, Luke Short to Fyodor Dostoevsky. And, of course, Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey. In nonfiction, I’m meditating again on J. I. Packer’s Knowing God. And I devour most any history book, my favorite subject.
• Where can readers buy your book?
Order Cowboy For A Rainy Afternoon through http://www.amazon.com/ or http://www.blybooks.com/ or through your local bookstore (via Ingram Distributors). Ask for it at your local library too.
Click here to read an excerpt from Chapter One of Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon.
Book Giveaway Drawing: Leave a comment to this post for a chance to win a free copy of Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon. Be sure and include a way to contact you or your entry will be ineligible. Entries accepted until midnight, Pacific Coast Time/US. The winner will be announced Friday on this blog. Click the link in the side bar to read detailed book giveaway drawing rules.
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Kimberli Renee' Campbell won a free copy of White Roses by Shannon Taylor Vannatter. To claim your prize, please contact me at janalynvoigt(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks to all who visited Book Readers Central. Please consider following this blog's feed or signing up for email delivery of posts. We have more great interviews, book giveaway drawings and book reviews on their way!
In a time when women are expected to be married and having children, Elvira Kilmer is single and alone. Living on the less-than-generous mercy of a cousin, she is sent out to clean house for a widower and his sons. Jackson Smith is angry and bitter about the way his life has turned out. Loving one woman and marrying another only to be betrayed, he no longer trusts women but understands his children need a mother. He decides that someone as unattractive as Elvira will do just fine.
The characters are not only believable; they make you feel for them. You care about how Jackson treats Ellie, and you wonder why he is so angry. The plot keeps you tuned in and makes this book hard to put down. The dialogue flowed naturally and helped develop plot and character traits. Both characters started with a basic knowledge of faith and God, with Ellie coming to a stronger faith before Jackson.
~ Reviewed by Robin Armijo
* A complimentary copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher for purposes of review.
Donn Taylor is a novelist and poet who holds a PhD in Renaissance literature and has spent more than 20 years teaching college literature. His fiction includes a light-hearted mystery, Rhapsody in Red, and a suspense novel, The Lazarus File. His poetry has appeared in "Christianity and Literature," "The Lamp-Post" (Journal of the California C. S. Lewis Society), and other journals, as well as general audience publications such as the "Presbyterian Record" (Canada). His poetry collection Dust and Diamond: Poems of Earth and Beyond was published in 2008. He has also published essays on writing, literary criticism, ethical issues, and U. S. foreign policy. In a prior incarnation, he served in two wars with the U. S. Army.
Interview with Donn Taylor
BRC: How would you describe your book?
Rhapsody in Red is a light-hearted mystery set on a college campus. The hero (if you can call him that) is a reclusive history professor with musical hallucinations. He describes it as living in one movie that’s been mismatched with the music score from another. The heroine is a headstrong professor of comparative religions, determined to succeed with no help from anyone. When they stumble onto the body of a murdered colleague, police try to pin the murder on them. Though they’re completely ill-matched and incompatible, they’re forced to work together to prove their innocence by finding the real murderer. That requires them to prevail against the police, the murderer, organized crime, and (worse yet) an unsympathetic college administration. It’s kind of tough on them. But for the reader, there’s good fun in awkward character conflicts and a background of sometimes-weird campus life.
BRC: What message do you hope it conveys?
First of all, I don’t think fiction should be written to prove a point. If that’s the objective, we should write nonfiction and build our case through presentation of evidence and reasoned argument. Fiction proves nothing: it can only illustrate. That said, there are some realistic themes in Rhapsody. The college does accurately portray denominational colleges’ customary conflicts---commercialism vs. academic standards, education vs. indoctrination, and secularism vs. religious orientation. Mainly, though, there’s a straightforward treatment of the problem of evil, with Christianity as the only adequate explanation of it. That recognition forms the turning point for one of the characters. I don’t think the book contains any further message—except possibly the inadvisability of always saying what you think. That’s what keeps the hero in trouble: he says openly what others on the faculty are thinking but don’t dare say.
BRC: What did you enjoy most about writing the book?
Two things: First, the mild satire of college life, especially the ridiculous thing called political correctness. Then the humor of the continuing conflicts between the hero and heroine, especially the chapter in which a suspect tries to bribe the hero with a kiss. He gets lipstick on his teeth, and that gets him in trouble with the heroine, who thinks he’s been playing around while she took dangerous risks in their investigation. They have an angry encounter with a lot of wordplay: “She burns incense.” “In what sense was she burning?” Etc.
BRC: What did you dislike most about writing the book?
I can’t say that I really disliked anything about it, but I hated the necessity of discarding several good comic scenes in order to keep the plot moving. They’re still in the computer, though, so I may be able to resurrect or modify them for another book.
BRC: What inspired you to become a writer?
I don’t know if you can call it inspiration, but the drive to write seems to be part of my genetic code. I was raised in a home that thought literature was important. When my brother and I were in grammar school, my father read us large chunks of the Mark Twain canon. I began writing music at age fourteen. Two years later I entered college as a music major, studied piano with an instructor on leave from Cincinnati Conservatory, and played some of my compositions in her recitals. But at age eighteen I got interested in poetry---the Romantic poets, of course---and began writing poetry and some very bad short stories. Since then, writing is just something I have to do, though there have been long periods when job and family requirements pushed it far into the background.
BRC: Tell us about your writing process.
For poetry, I block out an entire morning. I begin with a main idea as I would for writing a paragraph. Then I try to come up with interesting images and figures of speech to present it. Sometimes I only get a few good lines in an entire session. Most poems take several days to get into an acceptable first draft. Some remain in fragments for months until I find a way to put them together. No poem comes out of the study until I think it’s as good as I can get it. (What’s that TV commercial---sell no wine before its time? Fiction is different. I start with characters and a premise, then several turning points, and a climax. After that it’s a seat-of-the-pants process of seeing how the characters’ work their way through conflicts into the climax. I do a lot of revision as the novel develops.
BRC: What are you working on now?
I’ve completed a sequel to Rhapsody in Red and started a sequel to the sequel. I’m also planning a thriller, different in tone and character, about the international black market in weapons. In between times, I’m teaching poetry writing at various writers’ conferences, most recently Blue Ridge, with the Texas Christian Writers Conference in Houston coming up in August. In that teaching, I’m advocating a return to good-quality poetry that ordinary readers can understand---the situation that existed in the days of Robert Frost and Edwin Arlington Robinson.
BRC: What books do you enjoy reading?
Classics, of course: Dante’s The Divine Comedy; Milton’s Paradise Lost; most of John Donne, George Herbert, and Tennyson; some of Browning, Robinson, and Frost. In commercial fiction: the classic Western writer Ernest Haycox; the early thrillers of Gavin Lyall, especially The Wrong Side of the Sky; and I’m beginning to work through the Jack Higgins canon. In CBA fiction, I enjoyed Cathy Elliott’s A Vase of Mistaken Identity¬---delightful wordplay throughout, and Ann Shorey’s excellent historical, The Edge of Light. In nonfiction: anything by the economist and Hoover Institute scholar Thomas Sowell. I’m currently reading Newt Gingrich’s To Save America, a superb analysis of the current scene.
BRC: Where can readers buy your book?
I’m not sure which bookstores have it on the shelves, but it can be ordered through any of them or from Amazon.com.
Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife/writer. When not writing, she runs circles in the care and feeding of her husband Grant, their eight-year-old son, and their church congregation. Home is a central Arkansas zoo with two charcoal gray cats, a chocolate lab, a dragonfish, and three dachshunds in weenie dog heaven. If given the chance to clean house or write, she’d rather write. Her goal is to hire Alice from the Brady Bunch.
Her series with Heartsong Presents launched in May with White Roses. White Doves follows in October, and White Pearls in January. Each book ships to a 10,000 member bookclub, then to stores six months later. All three books are set in Romance and Rose Bud, Arkansas. Brides and lovebirds take advantage of the re-mailing program to have wedding invitations and Valentines cards mailed from Romance with a unique postmark. Romance also hosts several annual weddings with Valentine’s Day the most popular date.
Interview
How would you describe your book? White Roses is a contemporary romance between two Christians who have had a rough few years and are clinging onto their fears instead of trusting God with their futures.
What message do you hope it conveys?
That life isn't perfect, but God will see you through it. And that love doesn't conquer all, God does.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I really enjoyed grounding the book into a real setting. Romance and Rose Bud are both real Arkansas towns with rich local flavor.
What did you dislike most about writing this book?
The black moment. I hate making my characters hurt.
What inspired you to become a writer?
I couldn't find any clean romances at the library, so I decided to write the kind of book I'd like to read. Inspirational romance was just beginning when I started out and I didn't know the genre existed. The more I wrote, the more my characters prayed and I realized that I couldn't leave God out of the story. I was so relieved to realize there was a market for what I was writing.
Tell us about your writing process.
I get the story on the page as fast as I can. Each day, I re-read what I wrote the day before to get me back into the story, but I don't do much editing until the first draft is finished. Then I send it to my poor critque partners. By the time I finish, I've gone through at least five drafts.
What are you working on now?
I just turned in the third book in the Romance series and I pitched a rodeo series to my editor. For now, I'm enjoying the summer with my son.
What books do you enjoy reading?
Inspirational romance is my favorite read. I like knowing there will be a happily-ever-after. Occasionally, I delve into Inspirational romantic suspense. It keys me up and since I usually read to relax, I have to be in the right mood for suspense.
Where can readers find you online?
Website: shannonvannatter.com. My new blog, The Inkslinger, features true love stories, inspirational author’s real-life romances, insight into the love lives of their fictional characters, book excerpts, romantic destinations, and weekly book giveaways at http://www.shannonvannatter.com/blog.
Book Giveaway Drawing: Comment on this post for a chance to win a free copy of White Roses. Entries accepted until Wednesday, July 7th at midnight, Pacific Time (US). The winner will be announced on this blog on Friday, July 9th. Full giveaway drawing rules are in the sidebar of this blog.
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