Showing posts with label Love by Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love by Design. Show all posts

Saturday, May 9, 2015

FEATURED BOOK AND INTERVIEW: Love By Design by Christine Johnson



Romance Takes Flight 

Jen Fox won't let anyone stand in her way of joining the first flight expedition to the North Pole. Even if the person trying to take her seat is the dashing world-famous stunt pilot Dan Wagner. Being on that flight crew would fulfill her father's last wish for her. And Dan should know better than to unseat the dressmaker's determined daughter. 

When Dan arrives in Michigan, he's intrigued by the offer to fly over the North Pole. He needs the money, even if it means taking the spot from the driven—and attractive—Miss Fox. Yet their strictly business relationship hits turbulence when they realize they both wish for something more personal… 

The Dressmaker's Daughters: Pursuing their dreams a stitch at a time 


Interview
How exciting to have here with us today Jen Fox, the heroine from Love by Design written by Christine Johnson, a May 2015 release from Love Inspired Historical Romance .

1.  Jen, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
            I’m going to fly an airplane, like my friend, Darcy Hunter, and then I'm joining the expedition to be the first to fly over the North Pole. Can you imagine what it will look like from high above? And then when we get back, the reporters will clamor for our story. Our photograph be in every newspaper around the world.

2.  What do you do for fun?
            I like the moving picture shows, especially the ones with daring adventurers. If I lived near a big airfield, I'd go to air shows to see famous aviators like Daring Dan Wagner do the loop-the-loop and other death-defying tricks. I heard you can actually meet the aviators. If I saw Daring Dan in person, I'd ask him to show me how he does the tricks. Maybe he'd even take me up in his airplane. Just the two of us. That would be incredible.   

3.  What do you put off doing because you dread it?
            Any sort of social function. Church is fine, of course, but parties or dances mean getting dressed up and putting on manners, and I just hate it. My hair sticks out every which way, and I never seem to say or do the right thing. So I make excuses. Now that Daddy's gone, I just can't muster any enthusiasm for events like that. How can people be so happy when everything is changed?

4.  What are you afraid of most in life?
Losing another person I love. It was horrible losing Daddy. Sometimes I don't think I can get out of bed in the morning. I do, because that's what everyone expects me to do, but it's difficult. I know people lose loved ones all the time, and Daddy had been sick a long time, but nothing prepares you to say goodbye to someone who is a huge part of every day.

5.  What do you want out of life?
             I want to fulfill the dream that Daddy and I shared—to fly. And not just to fly, but to set a record. Then I can tell the world about him. Everyone will know how important he was. That's what setting the North Pole record would do.  

6.  What is the most important thing to you?
            Family. The best times of life were when we were all together. I wish it was still like that, but everything is changed. Now Daddy is gone, my two older sisters are married, and my baby sister is getting married later this year. Our family will never be the same.  

7.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
            I wish I understood mathematics better. That's the part of the aviation examination that gives me fits. I have one more chance to pass the test. If you know some method for understanding mathematics, please tell me now.  

8.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
            No. We've never had a pet. That's probably for the best. Mother says I'm so distracted that I would forget to feed it.

9. Can you tell us a little interesting tidbit about the time period you live in?

            The best part of 1925 is how technology is advancing so quickly. Motor cars and airplanes and telephones and phonographs. They say radio is the next big invention. Yet some people are afraid of trying the new technology. For instance, I've been following the story of a diphtheria epidemic in northern Alaska. They have a serum to treat the children down in Anchorage, but there's no way to get it to the sick children because of the cold and the snow. If you ask me, they should fly it there in an airplane, but the last I heard, they're planning to use dogsleds, of all things. How primitive!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

I Wish I'd Known That! by Christine Johnson

You’ve been there. That Monday morning quarterback feeling. Hindsight is bliss. If only I’d known…

  • If only I’d known that grizzly bears find hiking trails just as convenient as hikers do.
  • If only I’d known that the incoming tide brings in the big critters (as in Sharks) to feed.
  • If only I’d known that publication means hard-and-fast deadlines and spending as much time on non-writing activities as on writing.




The first two turned out all right. It’s never fun to come face-to-face with a grizzly, but luckily he preferred berries to hikers that day. The last one I thought I knew, but it was more like the “yeah, I know, mom” sort of knowing that doesn’t really have a clue. When seasoned authors told me to enjoy my time before getting published, I more or less gave them that “oh sure, easy for you to say” look. After all, they were published! The be all and end all of my 15-year quest. They must be exaggerating. Yep, those sage souls are laughing their socks off right now.

Love by Design




The heroes and heroines of our books often have an “if only I’d known that” moment. For Jen Fox in my current Love Inspired Historical release, Love by Design, a career choice doesn’t turn out quite the way she expected.







Love's Rescue




The heroine in my June release with Revell, Love’s Rescue, might have wished she’d known a little more about ships than she thought she did.




Your turn! What do you wish you’d known earlier?  



Christine Johnson
Love by Design – LIH, May 2015
Love’s Rescue – Revell, June 2015

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Choices, Choices by Christine Johnson

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…" Robert Frost wrote one of my favorite poems, The Road Not Taken, describing the choices and decisions we must make on life's journey.

paths


Do you remember that key moment when you faced a huge decision that you felt sure would change the rest of your life? Many years ago as a college student who desperately wanted to write stories, I faced the choice of pursuing that dream or opting for the sure-thing in a business career. Since I had almost no money in the bank, the dream seemed beyond reach.

typewriter


In my upcoming May release, Love by Design, Jen Fox faces a choice between her dream of joining the expedition aiming to be the first to fly over the North Pole or a solid career in nursing. She has no savings, and flying cost a lot of money. Moreover, she could sign up for a hospital nursing program that cost nothing beyond her clothing and a few supplies. The choice seems obvious.

plane


Since I'm currently writing for Love Inspired Historical, you might assume I chose to follow my dream, and you'd be partially right. I did finish a bachelor's degree in English. However, I took that degree into librarianship for many years, setting aside my dream. It was never forgotten, though, and the Lord blessed me by bringing it to fruition at just the right time.

Which path did you choose?

Love by Design


Christine Johnson
Love by Design (Dressmaker's Daughters #3, LIH, May 2015)
Love's Rescue (Keys of Promise #1, Revell, June 2015)

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