Small-Town Midwife Interview

How exciting to have  Autumn, the heroine from Small-Town Midwife written by Jean C. Gordon  a March 2014 release from Love Inspired Romance .

1.  Autumn, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
Probably, my job. I’m a certified nurse midwife with an Adirondack Mountain practice that primarily does home births.

2.  What do you do for fun?
I like to hang out with friends and family. What can I say? I’m easily entertained.

3.  What do you put off doing because you dread it?

Taking on new obstetric patients. I had a birth that had complications—really not my fault—but now the mother can’t have more children. They’re friends of mine who wanted a large family. I no longer have the confidence I should to catch babies.

4.  What are you afraid of most in life?

Right now, being in a position of having to deliver a baby before I come to peace with my fears.

5.  What is the most important thing to you?

A combination of things: my family, my community, and proving good prenatal and maternal care to Paradox Lake.

6.  Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?

I do read. I recently read and d Jennifer Worth’s trilogy Call the Midwife, Shadows of the Workhouse and Farewell to the East End.

7.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

My inclination to be a perfectionist. If I could lose some of that, I could come to better grips with my fear of catching babies.

8.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

No pets.

9. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

I’d like to go back to the 1920s and travel into the hills of Kentucky with the midwives of the Frontier Nursing Service to compare their experiences providing care to mothers and children in that rural area with mine here in Paradox Lake in the Adirondack Mountains.

FEATURED BOOK:SMALL-TOWN MIDWIFE BY JEAN C. GORDON

Unexpected Arrival 

Autumn Hazard loves being a midwife. But a tragic loss has her doubting the path she's chosen. And her new boss isn't helping. She's worked with Dr. Jonathan Hanlon before, and he's just as handsome and seemingly perfect as ever. His presence could mean trouble for the clinic—and her sensible heart. Jon remembers Autumn, too. She's still beautiful, smart and oblivious to him. Maybe that's for the best—he's leaving the small town as soon as his training's done. Besides, he has secrets of his own, and he can't risk Autumn getting close enough to uncover them. Yet despite all their reservations, working beside each other doesn't feel like work at all…it feels like home.

Good Thing Friday

Thursday Sisterhood with Janet Lee Barton

                                         

What Is Your Favorite Beverage: Tea

What Is Your Favorite Food: Mexican

What Is Your Favorite Thing to do During Free Time:   I love to spend time with family and cook for them 

Who Has Been the Most Influential Person in Your Life:   Oh, my, this is not easy as there have been many—my parents, my fifth grade teacher, my husband and my daughter who have all ben very influential in my life. Some of them are not on this earth anymore. But I’d have to say, first and foremost, it would be our Lord and Savior who has influenced my life the most.

First Book You Fell in Love With:   Betsy Was a Junior by Maud Hart Lovelace—after that I had to read all the “Betsy” Books.  I think my love of series began through reading those stories

A Book You Wish You’d Written: Gone With The Wind

First Book Published: Family Circle

Most Recent Book: A Place of Refuge

Out Next: A Home for Her Heart

How Many Have You Written: 22 novels-counting the one coming out in September-- and 5 novellas. I’m working on book 23 now. 

What Do You Know Now That You Wish You’d Known Then:  How to keep the joy of writing that I had with my first book. 

What is Your Favorite Bible Story:  There are so many, but I’ve always loved  the story of Ruth

What is Your Favorite Bible Verse: Oh wow, I have many favorites, but John 3:16 and John 14:2 are two of them. Have you noticed I have a hard time choosing just one of anything.? :)

What is Your Favorite Hymn: Night, With Ebon Pinion   It always makes me think of what Jesus did for us, gave up for us. 

What is an Ongoing Prayer Request You Have: To live each day as God would have me do

Fashionista Alert!

Christine Johnson here wondering if there are any fashion-lovers on board. Whenever I go into a store, I'm drawn to the dresses, even though I have few places to wear one. As a result, my closet is bursting with pretty frocks that see daylight once or twice a year.

When I was a teenager, none of the clothes on the racks excited me. After all, it was the 70s, an era not known for its glamorous dresses. Since I didn't see what I liked, I sketched the sort of gowns I considered beautiful and embarked on a self-taught journey to learn to sew.

The effort ended badly after one skirt, one jumper and a couple blouses. I still dream of the perfect dress, though now it's for the heroines in my books. In my upcoming series, The Dressmaker's Daughters, the heroines take over the family dressmaking business. It's a dream come true!

Fashion is one reason why I love writing historical fiction. Some eras have stunning gowns. Renaissance, Georgian, Victorian...I love them all. When I watch period movies, I drool over the outfits. Eliza Doolittle's suit in the scene when she leaves Professor Higgin's townhouse in My Fair Lady is still a favorite.

Do any of you sew? What's your favorite dress from the movies? Do you wish you could hop back in time just long enough to try on a gown of any particular era?

Christine Johnson
Groom by Design - Coming July 2014, Book 1 of The Dressmaker's Daughters series
http://christineelizabethjohnson.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChristineJohnsonAuthor

Interview for A Ranch to Call Home

How exciting to have Captain Brenda Kaye the heroine from A Ranch to Call Home written by Leann Harris, a March 2014 release from Love Inspired Romance .

1. Captain Kaye, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

    It’s ex-captain, since I resigned my commission the first of this year. One of the most interesting things about me was when I was in the army, I was part of an all-female team. We met with the Iraqi women, seeing what their needs were and tried to address them.

2. What do you do for fun?

    Fun?  It’s been a while since I’ve done anything for fun.  I worked hard to recover from the wounds I received when Iraq.  Fun?  Every place I was stationed, I found a stable and rode.  Since I grew up on a Texas ranch, riding is the way I relax.

3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?

     I put off facing the memories of my parents’ and grandmother’s deaths. They were killed by a drunk driver on New Year’s Eve coming home from church.  That’s the reason I joined the army the day after I graduated from high school.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?

    Again dealing with those memories.  I ran.  How could God allow those wonderful people to die when the drunk driver lived?  I’m also wrestling with the memories of the Iraqi women who were meeting with me when the suicide bomber walked into the restaurant and blew himself up.  I was the only survivor.

5. What is the most important thing to you?

     I want to help other soldiers deal with flash backs and guilt of living when so many died.  I know how they feel.  Maybe helping others will help me.

6. Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?

     I love reading.  If I can get my hands on a book, I read it.  I grew up reading Zane Grey.

7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

    To have courage to face the hurts in my life. If I faced those wounds, I wouldn’t have married my ex.  He wasn’t the answer to my turmoil, but only added to my problems. I ended up being a meal ticket for him.

8.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

    My horse wouldn’t be considered a pet.  Midnight is a friend and an outstanding counselor.  She’s a great listener and makes me think.

9. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

    I would like to go to 1066 and talk to King Harold Godwin of England who first defeated the Vikings at Stamford Bridge, and then turned around and fought The Duke of Normandy at the battle of Hastings and lost.  What was it in the battle that changed and allowed William to win?  The soldier in me is interested in the tactics.

FEATURED BOOK: A Ranch to Call Home by Leann Harris

A Cowboy's Promise 

The thrill of the rodeo is gone for cowboy Caleb Jensen. Nowadays, he helps out at a Texas ranch, keeping bad memories locked away. Then the ranch owner's granddaughter unexpectedly returns home—with a request he can't accept. Former army captain Brenda Kaye is organizing a charity rodeo, and she needs Caleb to get back in the saddle. She's determined to save her family's ranch, even if it means working with the smart-aleck cowboy—and uncovering the mysteries that lie in their pasts. Brenda's used to the dangers of war, but if she trusts Caleb, could the next casualty be her heart? 

Rodeo Heroes: Only love can tame these cowboys 

Good Thing Friday

Thursday Sisterhood with Carolyne Aarsen

Family Status:_______Happily married__________________ 

What Is Your Favorite Beverage: ____Earl Grey Steamer___________________

What Is Your Favorite Food: ___Greek yogurt with Granola and Blackberries - that makes me sound like I always make healthy food choices, which isn't always true, but I do love the stuff.

What Is Your Favorite Thing to do During Free Time: ______Watch Netflix and knit/make cards/read/exercise - I don't like to do any one thing - I like to mix it up

Who Has Been the Most Influential Person in Your Life: ______My husband - he's been an example and an inspiration__________

First Book You Fell in Love With: ________Little Women________________________

A Book You Wish You’d Written: __________The Moonflower Vine, still one of the best books I've ever read_______________________

First Book Published: __Homecoming______________________________

Most Recent Book: ________A Father's Promise______________________________

Out Next: _______________A Father in the Making_____________________________

How Many Have You Written: ______________47______________________ 

What Do You Know Now That You Wish You’d Known Then: ____Take care of your body, exercise, be faithful with the time given and don't fritter it away watching dog videos on you-tube___

What is Your Favorite Bible Story: __________Joseph - I love the whole rising-above-adversity parts._______________________

What is Your Favorite Hymn: ____Oh Lord of Hosts How Lovely - based on Psalm 84 - I am drawn to the yearning in the song and the plaintive tune______________ 

What is an Ongoing Prayer Request You Have: ________For contentment in my life both for myself and my family_______________

Do you know what a Pick-up rider is? by Leann Harris

Caleb working on the ranch.

A Ranch to Call Home is out this month.  I've written about my heroine ex-captain Brenda Kaye in other blog posts (LI site) and how she showed up in another book wanting her own book.  Well, once I had such a strong heroine, it was awhile before I knew how the hero in her story was.  My hubby and I still get a traditional newspaper and there in the Metro section, I found my hero, Caleb Jensen.  The newspaper story talked about a man who worked strictly as a pick-up rider.  He's the only cowboy guaranteed a pay-check, and my hero needed a consistent pay-check to help support his younger brother.

Caleb is one of those men who you can count on, unflappable, but all the ladies around the rodeo circuit knew if you wanted a forever after guy, don't waste your time on Caleb Jensen.  Once I started asking Caleb questions about his past, what I learned nearly brought me to tears.  He was, an emancipated minor, who cared for his younger brother.  When Caleb sees Kaye, he knows she's a fellow survivor and he allows himself to dream of things he never thought possible.  So, not only did I have a heroine who barged into a book, with me knowing her entire past, I had a hero who wasn't will to part with his secrets.  They're a great match.

Stop. Look. Listen. Write.

Pamela Tracy here, and today, I'm reporting the news.

"Don't be above bending down to investigate an old rusty tin can," says Mary, a California woman who along with her husband found a stash of gold coins (possibly worth ten million) buried on her property just last week.

Hmmm.

Sounds like a suspense novel to me.  

Perhaps you've read the story. 

gold coins found

When I was in college, I was in love with a cowboy named Greg.  I write cowboys, and I actually dated one.  (I let him get away.  I wasn't not really bright when I was in college).  Here's the true test.  Cowboys never wear shorts.  Yup, it's true.  Think of all the cowboy covers you've seen.  Never will you see hat, boots,  and SHORTS.  Greg, to my knowledge, didn't own a pair of shorts.

One of my memories of Greg is of driving home from Six Flags over Texas (I lived in Abilene, back then, so yes, land of the Cowboys.  Hey, they even named their football team right.)  We were on a dirt road and it was about two in the morning (I'm tired, tired, tired, and want to go home).  Greg sees a brown grocery back on the side of the road.  Clearly there's something in it.

"I need to look," he says.

"No," says I.  (Keep in mind, I wasn't a writer back then, just a lowly college student)

"It could be money," he says.

"Not a chance," says I.  

I'm a different woman now.  And, see, the thing about being a writer is, that brown grocery bag can be anything I want.

Right now, I'm writing a suspense.  If there were to be a brown bag found, Native American artifacts would be in it.

What are you writing?  And, should a brown paper bag be found in the next chapter, what could you put in it?

Pamela Tracy is the author of twenty-six books.  Her next release What Janie Saw is a May 2014 Harlequin Heartwarming.  It contains no brown grocery bags, and no brown grocery bags were harmed in the writing of the book.

Stories, Stories Everywhere

by Jean C. Gordon

Readers often ask, "Where do you get your story ideas? "My short answer is "Life." Maybe I should refine that to "Ordinary Life."

For instance the idea for my first published book, a sweet romance, came from the experience of another family that was adopting a Korean baby from the same agency we used to adopt our son. The Korean agency had a strict rule of allowing only married couples to adopt its children. Sadly, after a child was placed with a local family, the mother died before the adoption was finalized. Initially, the agency wanted to take the child back. I don't know what actually happened, but the resolution in my story is a happy one--naturally.

An article I read at work in The Wall Street Journal  planted the seed of my second book. It was about a financial planner who scammed older people. In my book, the hero's grandmother was scammed. My heroine works for the practice that scammed her. Of course, she knows nothing about it. But the hero doesn't know that.

Small-Town Sweethearts, my first Love Inspired Romance grew from a comment a family member made about how she liked their new church because it was more formal, and she could worship privately there. In contrast, I really like our church because of the fellowship the congregation shares. I started thinking about the value of Christian fellowship and how different people perceive it, and the story unfolded.

An incident my daughter experienced as a midwife inspired my latest Love Inspired, Small-Town Midwife. I thought, what if Autumn, my midwife heroine, no longer has the confidence to catch babies. Then, I brought in Dr. Jon Hanlon who exudes nothing but confidence in his technical app roach to delivering babies. How could a romance not develop?

Think about your life. How many story ideas do you see?

The Lawman's Honor Interview

How exciting to have Heath Monroe, the hero from The Lawman’s Honor by Linda Goodnight, a  March, 2014, release from Love Inspired Romance.

1.   Heath, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

For most of my adult life, I’ve worked for the DEA. I’m proud of the work and the number of  bad guys I helped put away, but a man gets tired of that kind of life. Always moving, always keeping relationships at arm’s length for safety’s sake.

2.  What do you do for fun?

I like to kick back and watch some basketball on the tube when I have time, which isn’t often. And when I get down to Houston I have a blast with my brothers and their kids. I have this little niece who has a piece of my heart.

3.  What do you put off doing because you dread it?

 Well, you see, I met this woman, or rather, she met me when I crashed my SUV on these crazy, winding, dark, Ozark roads. I like her but I found out something pretty incriminating about her late husband. I want to tell her, but I dread hurting her and besides, what if she’s involved?

4.  What are you afraid of most in life?

I’m a former DEA agent. Fear is a four letter word.

5.  What is the most important thing to you?

I promised on my father’s grave I’d that ferret out the bad guys and make a difference on this planet. Holding to that promise means everything. I carry my dad’s badge at all times as a reminder.

6.  Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?

I’ve been known to pick up a thriller.

7.  If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I can be a little intense and suspicious. Both come in handy in my line of work, but in relationships, not so much.

8.  Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

No pets but I wouldn’t mind owning a one someday. My brother jokes that I’m socially deficient because I’ve never owned a dog.

9. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

Easy one. I’d go back to the morning my dad died and make sure I told him I loved him. And that I was proud to be his son.