Donald James Parker's hero's interview

This week I'm hosting Donald James Parker with his book, The Bulldog Compact. If you want to enter the drawing for the book, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don't want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (May 3rd) evening.

Hero's interview from The Bulldog Compact:

Interview with the hero:

1. Lance (Bambi) Masterson, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

I’m a driven individual who refuses to fail in the quest for my dream. I give up sleep, relaxation, social life, and more to pursue my goal of winning the state basketball championship.

2. What do you do for fun?

Sports, especially basketball. I also play on the tennis team. I like bike riding and fishing as well.

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

Asking the girl of my dreams for a date. I literally have to do pushups to get myself to a point where I have the courage to dial the phone. My second dread is graduating from high school. I don’t want to end my basketball career.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?

Girls and the rejection that goes with becoming vulnerable by showing affection for someone of the opposite sex. Secondly I have a fear of losing and being labeled a loser.

5. What do you want out of life?

A state basketball championship, respect, and the love of the girl I admire.

6. What is the most important thing to you?

Doing all I can do and encouraging my teammates to do the same in order to bring home the state championship trophy. I’m a little out of balance in this regard which leads to a climatic decision on my part. I do love my family, God, and my community.

7. Do you read? If so, what is your favorite type of book to read?

Not only do I read, but I’m a walking advertisement for a literacy program. Sports novels are my favorite, but I also read some other books within the story of my life.

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

I’d like to be less emotional. Perhaps I could be like Mr. Spock from Star Trek and be emotionally detached from things around me, so I wouldn’t get into so much trouble and my inability to relate to girls would be less of a problem.

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

My basketball. It’s my trusty companion. The cool thing is that I have no need for a super-duper-pooper-scooper and never have to feed it.

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

I’d travel back to my hometown about thirty years earlier to instill in the boys of yesteryear the motivation and enthusiasm to work hard to be winners. If I succeeded, I never would have needed to write the Bulldog Compact, which dictates the course of my life so maybe I shouldn’t mess with the past.

This week Donald James Parker

Congratulations to Cindi for winning Lynette Sowell's The Wiles of Watermelon and Carolynn for winning Linore Rose Burkard's Before the Season Ends.

This week I'm hosting Donald James Parker with his book, The Bulldog Compact. If you want to enter the drawing for the book, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don't want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (May 3rd) evening.

Blurb for The Bulldog Compact:
There seem to be four inevitable things about Madison, South Dakota: The winters are cold, the summers are hot, the wind never ceases, and the Bulldogs always field a losing basketball team. Lance Masterson, who is known to his peers by the nickname of Bambi, can't do anything about the weather, but he decides he can do something about the basketball program. Though only an eighth grader, he drafts a document dubbed The Bulldog Compact in which the signers pledge to give do everything they can to win the state basketball championship. The mission they chose to accept is to train their bodies, minds, and spirits to make a heroic attempt at conquering the summit of South Dakota basketball. Bambi and his friends come of age as they find it is easier to sign on the dotted line than to pour out the blood, sweat, and tears needed to reach their goal. They discover that not only do they have to overcome the bigger schools of the class A ranks but also have to battle themselves and the naysayers of their own community in order to hang onto their dream.


Donald James Parker's Bio:
Donald is the author of The Bulldog Compact, More Than Dust in the Wind, All the Voices of the Wind, All the Stillness of the Wind, All the Fury of the Wind, Reforming the Potter's Clay, and Angels of Interstate 29. His mission is to wage a cultural warfare of love through fiction, providing a counterweight to the misguided messages of relativistic morality and watered-down Christianity.

Games we play

So what does the game Scrabble have with romance? For my husband and me a lot. We love to play this game and often do on the weekend, but we aren't competitors. We are a team playing against the computer. I have laughed so much during these times we play Scrabble. It has been a great time for bonding.

I'm usually quick to put something up while my husband loves to take his time and try to use all the tiles even when we have letters like five or six vowels or q, v, f and b together. There's probably a word out there that has q, v, f and b, but I could think forever and never come up with it. I've threatened to use the speed version on my computer.

What kind of games do you play with your husband or significant other? Are you a team or competing against each other?

Linore Rose Burkard's interview

This week I'm hosting Lynette Sowell with The Wiles of Watermelon and Linore Rose Burkard with Before the Season Ends. If you want to enter the drawings for either or both of these books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don't want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com and let me know which books. The drawings end Sunday (April 26th) evening.

Linore Rose Burkard's interview:

1. How do you handle rejections?
I only write for my current publisher, so rejection is not something I’ve had to deal with since joining the Harvest House family of authors. Before then, I had only queried two publishers before self-publishing, so again, I did not have to suffer a great deal of rejection before starting my journey of publishing. Writers getting a lot of rejection should congratulate themselves for living the writing life, for being brave enough to risk that rejection, and especially for continuing to do so. Each “no” is a step towards that “yes.” Each “no” eliminates one unsuitable publisher, narrowing down your choices until you finally find the one that’s right for you.

2. Why do you write?
I’m assuming you mean aside from the fact that I have this legal obligation called a contract , so I’ll say that after years of searching and wondering, I have come to the fabulous and wonderful conclusion that writing is my calling. I write because God has gifted me to; and I am utterly and wholly unsuited for other types of “jobs.” I used to wonder what the heck was wrong with me that I was so insanely dissatisfied at “normal” jobs. No matter how busy I was, or how well I did my job, I was nevertheless deeply bored, at heart. When I became an executive secretary, I often had to transcribe letters my boss had written, and I would automatically “improve” them. The boss loved it because it made her look better. It was effortless for me, and the only work I really enjoyed! In retrospect, I can see now that the only work that really satisfies me is that which requires I use my imagination, or at least some semblance of writing skills.

3. What would you be doing with your free time if you weren’t writing?
Keeping my house cleaner! Planting flowers. Putting up more wallpaper. Maybe even doing some fine art. (Drawing and watercolors.) I really need to have creative outlets in my life. If you asked my younger kids this question, though, they’d say, “playing with us more,” and,“baking desserts.” Lol

4. What are you working on right now?
The third book in the Regency Series for Harvest House. It’s called, The Country House Courtship, and has most of the characters everyone loves from the first two books, as well as a new setting and new love story.

5. Do you put yourself into your books/characters?
Not intentionally, but I think it’s unavoidable for any writer.

6. Tell us about the book you have out right now.
The House in Grosvenor Square. (smile) This is a continuation of the obstacle-ridden march to the altar between Ariana and Mr. Mornay (From, Before the Season Ends.)It’s a really fun romp, and yet it gets serious, and there are spiritual issues, and abductions, and thievery, and rescues. The characters are explored more deeply, and I also had fun inserting some suspense so that by the end, you are breathless! Reviews are trickling in, and they’re so far all just as positive and gratifying as the many rave reviews I got for BTSE. I am humbled and honored.

7. Do you have any advice for other writers?
To write the best book they are capable of writing before seeking publication; they should write what they would want to read. A really good book, sooner or later, will find a publisher. I really believe that.

8. How important is faith in your books?
Faith is probably always going to be a central theme in my work. It’s a theme that is an undercurrent in life, in everyone’s life, whether they want to think about it that way or not. Life is a journey towards God; so living it with faith, whether it’s being tested or refined or just plain “advertised,” (shown to others), it will be in my books. Each of my characters will probably grapple with faith issues at some point, as we all must.

9. What themes do you like to write about?
My favorites themes are that God is involved in our daily lives; that He is always a source of hope, or can be; and that happy endings are possible for everyone. I don’t mean to imply that only happy endings happen in life, but that they are possible.

10. What is your writing schedule like?
My writing schedule is never written in stone, so to speak. I have a busy household and appointments and things come up regularly that would throw me off schedule if I let them. I work in terms of specific goals, and then I give everything I can to achieving that goal. Some weeks that translates into writing for hours every day, and some weeks I might be doing a great deal of marketing and networking and no real writing at all. Some days I throw myself into housekeeping and get only a little time to write. Again, I focus on the overall goal, and make sure I am moving towards it with smaller, more achievable ones. (Such as, “today I need to write a scene, or two scenes, etc.) If I end up writing way past my initial goal, great; I use goals to keep on track but I never make myself stop because one has been met.

Lynette Sowell's heroine's interview

This week I'm hosting Lynette Sowell with The Wiles of Watermelon and Linore Rose Burkard with Before the Season Ends. If you want to enter the drawings for either or both of these books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don't want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com and let me know which books. The drawings end Sunday (April 26th) evening.

Heroine interview from The Wiles of Watermelon:

1. Andi, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
I love concocting soap recipes for my store and I’m really good at making soap, but I’m a horrible cook. You’d think someone who could follow a soap recipe could make a decent casserole. Nope. I’m hopeless in that area, and generations of my Tennessee ancestors are spinning in their graves at my admission.

2. What do you do for fun?
I love spending time with my family and friends. Momma always makes a huge Sunday dinner, and most Sundays my husband Ben and I make a trip to their place after church. My sister Diana, her husband, and two boys liven things up.

3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?
Oh, balancing the books for my soap store, Tennessee River Soaps. Diana set up a program for me on the store’s computer, but truthfully, I’d rather be helping customers or working on new soap fragrances in my workroom.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?
That somehow I missed God’s plan. I get so gung-ho on ideas sometimes I don’t stop to think if it’s something I should really be doing.

5. What do you want out of life?
Right now, I’d like to see my husband more. We spent the first year of our marriage working on our house, and now that it’s finished, he’s still really busy working at Honey’s Place, the best local restaurant in Greenburg, Tennessee. I’d love some peace and quiet and a slower pace for both of us.

6. What is the most important thing to you?
Definitely, my family. You can lose a lot of things in this life—jobs, money, things—but you can’t replace people.

7. Do you read? If so, what is your favorite type of book to read?
Yes, I do read, but I don’t have a lot of time since I run my own business. I love a good suspense novel, though, when I can squeeze a few minutes into my schedule.

8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I tend to over-think things too much! I’d like to make a decision, and stick to it.

9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
I have an adorable kitten that I named Spot. I didn’t pick her. Ben, my husband, brought her home for me one day. I’ve never had a cat before and I’m still getting used to her. We always had dogs when I was growing up.

10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
I’d love to go back thirty years ago, and tell my Aunt Jewel not to run away. It’s cast a shadow over our family that has never disappeared, especially since no one’s ever heard from here.

This week Lynette Sowell and Linore Rose Burkard

Congratulations to raspberrygirl for winning Bonnie Leon's Enduring Love and to tetewa for winning Linda Hall's Shadows on the River.

This week I'm hosting Lynette Sowell with The Wiles of Watermelon and Linore Rose Burkard with Before the Season Ends. If you want to enter the drawings for either or both of these books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don't want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com and let me know which books. The drawings end Sunday (April 26th) evening.


Lynette Sowell's Bio:

Lynette Sowell works as a medical transcriptionist for a large HMO. But that's her day job. In her "spare" time, she loves to spin adventures for the characters who emerge from story ideas in her head. She hopes to spread the truth of God's love and person while taking readers on an entertaining journey. Lynette is a Massachusetts transplant, who makes her home in central Texas with her husband, two kids by love and marriage (what's a step-kid?), and five cats who have their humans well-trained. She loves to read, travel, spend time with her family, and is a green-thumb-in-training.

Blurb of The Wiles of Watermelon:

Newlywed Andi Hartley is not at all sure she’s ready to look like an over-ripe melon. . .In fact, she’s still getting used to being married. But her husband, Ben, wants to start a family right away. Gulp. Their family plans are put on hold, however, when Andi's kitten runs from the house to their watermelon field and digs up a bone attached to the remains of a thirty-year-old skeleton. Buried secrets come to life. . .and then the colorful owner of Greenburg's best eatery is murdered. As Andi unearths more and more of the suspicious history surrounding the skeleton, she realizes both deaths are related. Is she also about to unearth a murderer?



BIO-LINORE ROSE BURKARD
:

Linore Rose Burkard creates Inspirational Romance for the Jane Austen Soul. Her characters take you back in time to experience life and love during the era of Regency England (circa 1800 - 1830). Fans of classic romances, such as Pride & Prejudice, Emma, and Sense & Sensibility, will enjoy meeting Ariana Forsythe, a feisty heroine who finds her heart and beliefs tested by high-society London.

Ms. Burkard's novels include Before the Seasons Ends and The House in Grosvenor Square (coming April, 2009). Her stories blend Christian faith and romance with well-researched details from the Regency period. Her books and monthly newsletter captivate readers with little-known facts, exciting stories, and historical insights. Experience a romantic age, where timeless lessons still apply to modern life. And, enjoy romance that reminds us happy endings are possible for everyone.
Publisher's Weekly affirms, "Ms. Burkard's command of period detail is impressive, evident in material details, but also in dialogue. Her novels even help non-Regencyphiles learn the difference between ladies' pelisses and spencers...On the whole, it's a tasty confection."

Ms. Burkard began writing when she couldn't find a Regency romance with an inspirational twist. "There were Christian books that approached the genre," she says, "But, they fell short of being a genuine Regency. I knew that many women like me want stories that are historically authentic and offer glimpses of God's involvement in our lives. So, I finally gave up looking and decided to write one myself."

Ms. Burkard was raised in New York, where she graduated magna cum laude from the City University of New York with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature. She lives with her husband and five children in a town full of antique stores and gift shops in southwestern Ohio. Her hobbies include working on four new Regency novels, family movie nights, swimming, and gardening.

Short description of Before the Season Ends:

England, 1813: Romantic woes at home send Ariana Forsythe to her Aunt Bentley's town house in the fashionable Mayfair district of London. There she finds worse troubles than those that prompted her flight from home. Under her aunt's watchful eye, Ariana is soon steeped in high society--and at odds with Mr. Phillip Mornay, London's current darling rogue.

Then, unexpectedly, rumour of a scandal changes Ariana forever. Her faith and her future are at stake in an unexpected adventure that gains even the Prince Regent's attention.

Will Ariana's faith survive this test? And what about her heart? For it is Ariana's heart that most threatens to betray the truths she has always believed in. When she finds herself backed against a wall, betrothed to a man who cannot share her faith, how can it ever turn out right?

Sara Mills' interview

This interview ran on Monday -- and I just learned that Sara's husband died of a heart attack on Tuesday. He was young -- 40 -- and I am so grieved for Sara and her children. If you've considered buying one of these books, please follow the links at the end of this post to buy one or both books. I thoroughly enjoyed both, and may go buy them again they were that good.

Miss Fortune and Miss Match are delightful books set in NYC in 1947. Tell us how you got the idea for Allie and these books...

I got the idea for Miss Fortune in the middle of the night, when all good ideas come to me:
One sleepless night I was watching The Maltese Falcon and I started to wonder how different the story would be if Sam Spade had been a woman. She'd never have fallen for Miss Wunderly's charms and lies. She'd have been smart and tough and she would have solved the case in half the time it took Sam because she wouldn't spend all of her time smoking cigarettes and calling her secretary Precious.

The thought of a hard-boiled female detective got my mind whirling.

I paused the movie and sat in my darkened living room thinking about how much fun a female Sam Spade could be. Intrigued but not yet ready to dash to my computer, I changed disks and put on Casablanca (my all time favorite movie ever). The sweeping love story, a tale full of hard choices and sacrifice was what finally made the whole idea click in my mind. If I could just combine the P.I. detective story of the Maltese Falcon with the love story from Casablanca, and make Sam Spade more of a Samantha, I could have the best of all worlds.

These books are so good, I wish I'd written them. How did you set the stage to capture that gritty PI feel without being dark?

I find that a lot of PI stories are gritty and dark, focusing on the worst of the humanity, and while I wanted the Allie Fortune mysteries to be exciting and tension-filled I didn’t want them to be stark and hopeless.

One of the things I tried to do to counteract the darkness was to give Allie a multi-layered life. She has cases, relationships, friends and family, all of which I hope combine to make the stories textured, rich and full of life.

Allie is a character I'd love to have coffee with. What did she teach you while you wrote these books?

Allie was a great character to write. One of the things I learned from her was that human relationships (man/woman, mother/daughter, friends) are complicated and full of unspoken rules and expectations. Allie is a rule-breaker at heart and it complicates her life on a regular basis. One of the storylines I loved most is Allie’s relationship with her mother and how it grows and changes and how it’s shaped her.

Another dimension of Allie’s character that really taught me a lot was her willingness to do whatever was needed to help those she loves. There is no price on that kind of friendship and it’s a characteristic I’d like to see more of in myself. Okay I admit it, I’ve got a bit of a friend-crush on Allie. LOL.

One last question: If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would that be and who would you take with you?

If I could go anywhere right now I’d head to Monterey, California (I’m writing a book set there right now) and I’d plant myself on the beach with a notebook, writing my story as the waves crashed. Sounds like my idea of heaven on earth. There’s something about the wind-shaped Cypress trees and the crash of the surf in Monterey that calls to me. I don’t know why, it just is.

Miss Fortune, Allie Fortune Mystery Series #1 By Sara Mills / Moody Publishers In 1947 Allie Fortune is the only female private investigator in New York City, but she's kept awake at night by a mystery of her own: her fianci disappeared in the war and no one knows if he's still alive. Until Allie finds out, she will have no peace. When there's a knock on her office door at four in the morning, Allie suspects trouble as usual, and Mary Gordon is no exception. Mary claims someone is following her, that her apartment has been ransacked, and that she's been shot at, but she has no idea why any of this is happening. Allie takes the case, and in the process discovers an international mystery that puts her own life in danger. Meanwhile, the FBI is working the case as well, and she is partnered up with an attractive, single agent who would be perfect for her under other circumstances-if only she knew whether her fianci was still alive.

Miss Match, Allie Fortune Mystery Series #2 By Sara Mills / Moody Publishers FBI agent Jack O'Connor receives a letter from Maggie, a woman he used to love, saying she's in trouble in Berlin. The FBI refuses to get involved, so Jack asks Allie Fortune to help him investigate. Allie and Jack pose as a missionary couple who want to bring orphans back to the United States. A child finds important documents that everyone in the city - Soviets and allies alike - want for themselves. Maggie refuses to tell Jack what the documents are, saying if things go wrong, they are better off not knowing. Through the course of the search, Allie's past is brought back to her, half a world away from home.

Heroine's Interview from Linda Hall's Shadows on the River

This week I'm hosting Bonnie Leon with Enduring Love and Linda Hall with Shadows on the River. If you want to enter the drawings for either or both of these books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don't want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com and let me know which books. The drawings end Sunday (April 19th) evening.

Heroine's interview from Linda Hall's Shadows on the River:

1. Ally Roarke, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

I design boats, which is sort of unusual for a woman, I guess. I've got a Masters degree in Marine Engineering Technology from Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada. When I graduated more than ten years ago, there were only three of us female types in my class. There are more women are studying engineering now, and particularly Marine Engineering, and I’m pleased with that.


2.What do you do for fun?

I wish I could say that I get out there and race small sailboats in my spare time, but with my daughter (I’m a single mom), my time is pretty much spent with her. Plus, she is profoundly deaf. There has been a very steep learning curve since I found that out. I studied ASL (sign language), and that’s how we communicate. Plus, I’m always monitoring her school work. Deaf children are often behind in their literacy skills, so I’m constantly reading up on that, and working with her and making sure she’s caught up. She attends a regular classroom, with a full-time interpreter. See? The question was – ‘what do I do for fun?’ and I’ve ended up talking about my daughter.


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

Paying bills. Ugh. There’s never enough money. With my degree – a Masters in Engineering – I could be working in some big company and plenty, but when Maddie was born and I discovered she was deaf, I sort of put all that on hold. For the past ten years I’ve worked out of my home taking boat design contracts – which are hit and miss, but at least I’ve been there for my daughter.

So, yeah – bills are a challenge. I’m constantly juggling stuff.


4.What are you afraid of most in life?

When I was just a little bit older than my daughter is now, I witnessed a horrific crime. I watched someone push my best friend off a bridge to her death. I would do anything to save my own daughter from all the hurt that has caused me – all the fear, and lack of trust that I have – the bitterness I have kept inside me for so many years.


5.What do you want out of life?

Since university I have been designing a small, fast sailboat. I want to develop this boat and get it into production, but there’s a part of me that doesn't think it’s good enough, that people won’t like it, that this whole business venture of mine will crash. I have the whole thing on paper and on computer, and I want to get it out there but I'm just afraid.


6.What is the most important thing to you?

That’s easy. My daughter.


7.Do you read? If so, what is your favorite type of book to read?

I love books about people’s sailing adventures – autobiographies about sailing around the world. I read old ones, I read modern ones. If anyone writes a memoir about being out on the water, I’m sure to be first at the bookstore to buy it.


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

That I wouldn't be so fearful. That I would trust more. I’ve met a nice man, Mark Bishop. He’s helping me trust and not be afraid. SHADOWS ON THE RIVER is our story. I hope you enjoy reading it.


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

What an interesting question! Maddie and I don’t have any pets, but maybe a dog would be good for her. I’ll look into it. I’m sure she’ll love a pet!


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

Oh, that’s an easy one. I’d go back and sail tall ships and square - riggers in the swashbuckling days when they regularly traveled the trade routes from the Caribbean to Newfoundland and back again.

Hero Interview from Bonnie Leon's Enduring Love

This week I'm hosting Bonnie Leon with Enduring Love and Linda Hall with Shadows on the River. If you want to enter the drawings for either or both of these books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don't want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com and let me know which books. The drawings end Sunday (April 19th) evening.

Hero's interview from Enduring Love:

Thanks so much for having me. It’s so much fun stepping into the characters point of view. Last time we did a character interview I took the side of Hannah, John’s other half. Now it’s John’s turn.

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

On a personal level, I’m not all that “interesting”, I’m pretty much an average chap. However, my life has taken a remarkable turn. As a boy and a young man everything was mapped out for me, but nothings turned out as planned.

My father owned a machinery company in London, and I spent my growing up years learning the business. When he passed on I took over. My life was one of affluence, although I never truly cherished the status. I wanted adventure instead. When it was thrust upon me the direction it took was unexpected and unwelcome. Being a prisoner is never one’s own choice.

Now I find myself living far from my homeland of England, in a remarkable place called New South Wales. I own a sheep farm. I’m happy here. Or I should say I was until Margaret, my first wife, stepped back into my life. I’d been told she was deceased, so needless to say her appearance was a shock. Nothing is at it should be. I’ve got two wives. I love Hannah, but I’m trying to love Margaret, she’s the one I’m living with.

My life is complicated, but I trust God will unravel the mess it has become..

2.What do you do for fun?

Running the farm leaves little time for small pleasures, but I do enjoy hunting. I especially like joining my chums and going out to track down wild boar.

I also find fishing to be pleasurable. My son, Thomas, and I toss a line in the Parramatta whenever possible. He’s a fine lad.

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

I confess to dreading church. It wasn’t always that way, but with all that’s happened recently, showing up on a Sunday means facing Hannah. Seeing her makes our present circumstances more painful. I admit to coming up with tasks that must be done on a Sunday. That way I don’t have to go.

And equally dreadful is waking up each morning to the knowledge that Hannah won’t be part of my day—I dread mornings.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?

Men don’t like to admit to being afraid, and I’m no different there. But of course there are things to be feared. At present my greatest fear is spending my life in a loveless marriage. I want to do right by Magaret, but I don’t love her. I pray God will reignite the spark that once existed between us.

5. What do you want out of life?

A simple enough question, but life is complicated. I feel responsible for Hannah and Thomas, my adopted son. And although I don’t live with them any longer, I carry them in my heart every day. I’m also trying to rebuild a life with Margaret. There doesn’t seem to be enough of me to go around, and I often feel as if I’m living in the midst of an emotional maelstrom. I am torn between two women and a son who feels I’ve let him down. There is no peace. And so above all things I pray for God’s presence and mercy.

6. What is the most important thing to you?

My father was a good man, who raised me to love God and my family, and to do right by others. By example and the teaching of God’s Word, he taught me the Lord’s principles. In so many ways I’ve failed. I lost the business he left to me, ended up in prison, and now I’m hurting the people I love. Family mattered most to my father. I pray he cannot see the mess I’ve made of my life and that I will be able to set things to rights again and earn his respect.

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

Aside from spending daily time in devotions, I do enjoy a good read now and again. It’s difficult to find time, but I must admit to having thoroughly enjoyed the adventures of Robinson Crusoe written by Daniel Defoe. What a great adventure that was. And although considered a bit sentimental I found myself moved by The Vicar of Wakefield. It would seem I have much in common with the vicar in that he lost his inheritance due to the deception of a man he trusted. However, I was glad to see that all came out right in the end. I pray it will be so for me.

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

Although generally steady and rational I do, on occasion, give way to my passions and behave stupidly. More than once it’s gotten me into trouble. In fact, such an incident is what landed me in prison. I continue to carry this weakness to the Lord in prayer with the hope of becoming more steadfast.

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

I have a fine sheep dog named Jackson, but he’s more a working animal than a pet. I do remember a dog I had as a lad, though. We called him Blackie. He was just a mutt, not good for much really, not even as a protector to my family. But he was a good friend. He and I went everywhere together. I still miss the old boy.

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

If I could take the knowledge I now possess and travel backward in time I’d return to the days before meeting Margaret Cresswell. Instead of giving into her charms I’d make certain to go by the sewing shop of Constance Talbot who had a daughter, Hannah. And I’d make Hannah my wife. We’d have had a fine life together in London. Or perhaps we’d have set off on an adventure to see the world, following our dreams together. If only I could truly go back. Yet perhaps fate is not to be altered. I’m determined to live will live with the life I’ve been dealt, and find the joy in it. God has not forsaken me, but rather He stands with me. I know that.

This week Bonnie Leon and Linda Hall

Congratulations to house_mouse for winning Debra Clopton's Texas Ranger Dad, to Patricia for winning Merrillee Whren's Homecoming Blessings and mez for winning Cheryl Wyatt's Ready-Made Family.

This week I'm hosting Bonnie Leon with Enduring Love and Linda Hall with Shadows on the River. If you want to enter the drawings for either or both of these books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don't want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com and let me know which books. The drawings end Sunday (April 19th) evening.

Bonnie Leon's bio:

Bonnie Leon is the author of sixteen novels, including the popular Queensland Chronicles and the Sydney Cove series, plus the bestselling Journey of Eleven Moons. She’s presently in the midst of a new Alaskan series set during the 1930’s about a woman named Kate who loves to fly.

Bonnie stays busy speaking for women’s groups as well as teaching at writing seminars
and conventions. She and her husband Greg live in the mountains of Southern Oregon. They have three grown children and four grandchildren.

Back blurb of Enduring Love:

Just when things seem to be looking up for John and Hannah Bradshaw, their world is turned upside down.

Years ago, when John was in prison, he was told his first wife, Margaret, died. So how is it that she shows up in Sydney Town looking to pick up where they left off?

Hannah is distraught. Her marriage is now null and void, and she and John feel they must separate to allow John's first marriage to continue.

But is Margaret hiding something? And just what will she do to get what she wants?

The suspenseful, romantic conclusion to the Sydney Cove trilogy.



Linda Hall's bio:

Award winning and twice Christy-nominated author Linda Hall has written fifteen novels plus many short stories. She has also worked as a freelance writer, news reporter and feature writer for daily newspaper.

She grew up in New Jersey where her love of the ocean was nurtured. Most of her novels have something to do with the sea. When she's not writing, Linda and her husband enjoy sailing the St. John River system and the coast of Maine. In the summer we basically move aboard their 34' sailboat aptly named - Mystery.

Right now she writes romantic suspense for Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Suspense line, and loving it. She grew up reading Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt and feels like she has “come home” in her writing.


SHADOWS ON THE RIVER, blurb:

“I was only fourteen when I witnessed a murder on the riverbank. A murder that went unpunished. Unless you count what happened to my family. We were forced out of town by the teenage killer's prominent parents. And the murder was forgotten—by everyone but me. Now, the killer is a respected businessman. I can't let him get away with it. But I'm a single mother with a child to protect, what can I do? The new man in my life, Mark Bishop, warns me to be careful. For there's already been another murder. Close to home.”

Will we have a love potion soon?

I read an article in AARP Bulletin last month talking about a professor of neuroscience, Larry Young, at Emory University exploring developing a drug that works on our brain to release brain hormones that give us a "warm feeling." In the article the author wondered if there would be a day when we could take a love pill to help us as the article said, "make people have the impulse and the desire to move closer to one another." It's interesting to note that our brain's chemistry does change in certain activities associated with love (the article gave the examples of breast feeding and sex). So do you think one day we'll see a love potion on the shelf to tap into those changes that occur in us when we see someone we love?

Hero Interview from Ready-Made Family

Interview with the hero from Ready-Made Family by Cheryl Wyatt:
This week I am hosting three Love Inspired authors: Debra Clopton with Texas Ranger Dad, Merrillee Whren with Homecoming Blessings and Cheryl Wyatt with Ready-Made Family. If you are interested in entering the drawings for any of these books, please leave a post with your email address. You won't be entered if you don't leave your email address or you can email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings will end Sunday evening, April 12th.

Hero Interview from Ready-Made Family by Cheryl Wyatt:

1. Ben Dillinger, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
I am a United States Special Operations Pararescue Jumper. PJ for short. There are less than a 1000 of us worldwide. Our training takes two years and over 80% do not make it through the PJ pipeline program. We are skydiving search and rescue paramedics
trained in military combat. When an allied pilot is shot down or crashed behind enemy lines? We're the ones who go after them. We also stay on standby for shuttle landings in the event of a water landing---we're there along with NASA.

2. What do you do for fun?
Skydive!!! Train for missions which also means skydiving. Train others to skydive. I volunteer at Refuge's Drop Zone (the facility and grounds where parachutists land) to take civilians on tandem jumps for fun. We video the jump and give it to people afterwards. Great fun.

3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?
Unpacking my rucksack after a long mission. So I actually keep two mission rucksacks. So that one's ready to go at all times.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?
Letting my brother down. He has Mosaic Down Syndrome and I was embarrassed of him growing up. But I just took him in and am trying to build a relationship with him.

5. What do you want out of life?
I'm single and looking for a family. I'm more than ready to settle down. But I need a gal who can handle what I do and the fact that I have to leave on a moment's notice. My job is dangerous and I need someone who can be brave when I'm gone. There's this girl who just happened into town...not of her own volition though...who I've got my eye on. You'll have to read the book to get the rest of the story.

6. What is the most important thing to you?
God. Worship. I am a worship leader in my church. I make up my own worship songs to God. The guys on my team like to make fun of me over it. They call me a musical poet. But, hey, I can still lift more than any of them in the gym. So I can take 'em. LOL.

7. Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?
Um...sadly not into books. But I'd read Steeple Hill books. Amelia, that's the girl I was telling you about earlier who I like, she loves romance novels. She reads your books in fact. There's a slew of them on her bookshelves right now. :-)

8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wish I knew how to better talk to my brother. I have a hard time relating to people with disabilities. Many people don't know what to do or say. Or whether to help or resist helping to spare the person's dignity. It's hard to know what to do or say to a disabled person sometimes. But I'm learning and God is helping me relate better to my brother.

9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
I don't have a pet. Can't really take care of one with having to leave on my job. But the girl I like, she has a dog named Shasta. And her little girl has this bear-baby thing that's sort of like a pet. It's a stuffed animal named Bearby. She never leaves home without it. Bearby's like an appendage. He goes everywhere with us. If you look closely, you can see him on the cover of Ready-Made Family. Little Reece in the foreground there? She's running with Bearby across the yard.

10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
Vietnam to see where PJs originated from. I have an enormous respect for Vietnam vets. What they went through wasn't easy. And I'd feel like I was standing on sacred ground almost. The sacrifice and courage and valor displayed by those men makes me want to visit the sites of the offensives.

Merrillee Whren's hero interview

This week I am hosting three Love Inspired authors: Debra Clopton with Texas Ranger Dad, Merrillee Whren with Homecoming Blessings and Cheryl Wyatt with Ready-Made Family. If you are interested in entering the drawings for any of these books, please leave a post with your email address. You won't be entered if you don't leave your email address or you can email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings will end Sunday evening, April 12th.

Hero's interview from Homecoming Blessings:

Interview with the hero from Homecoming Blessing by Merrillee Whren:

1. Peter Dalton, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

I’m a pretty boring guy probably because I work too much. I hate to think that the most interesting thing about me is my ability to make a business plan and stick to it, but that’s about it.

2. What do you do for fun?

Fun? What’s that? In recent years, I’ve been too busy to have fun. But I have to admit working with Ashley Hiatt is fun in itself. She keeps me on my toes. There is never a dull moment when she is around.

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

I put off admitting that I’m wrong. I hate to say I’m sorry because I like to have the upper hand in every situation.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?

I’m afraid of having my heart broken again. My fiancée’s betrayal fifteen years ago has made me wary of any serious relationship with a woman.

5. What do you want out of life?

Ever since I came to work for Hiatt Construction, my dream has been to eventually step into Richard Hiatt’s shoes when he retires and run his company.

6. What is the most important thing to you?

My family is most important to me. I almost lost my brothers—one to war injuries and the other to cancer. I’ve learned to appreciate them a lot more.

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

I’ve always loved to read. I especially enjoy thrillers, mysteries and any books that deal with espionage. I don’t do as much reading as I used to because I’m much too busy with my job. Since I’ve been working with Ashley, I’ve been reading my Bible a lot more, too.

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

I’d like to be more spontaneous. I’m all about plans and sticking to the plan. Ashley’s presence in my life has put me in a more spontaneous mode. I find myself buying her little gifts on the spur of the moment—something I’ve never done before.

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

I have no pets. I work long hours, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t have the time to give a pet the attention it deserves.

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

I’m a construction guy. I like to build things. So if I could go back in time, I’d like to go back to ancient Egypt and see how they built the pyramids.

Debra Clopton's interview

This week I am hosting three Love Inspired authors: Debra Clopton with Texas Ranger Dad, Merrillee Whren with Homecoming Blessings and Cheryl Wyatt with Ready-Made Family. If you are interested in entering the drawings for any of these books, please leave a post with your email address. You won't be entered if you don't leave your email address or you can email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings will end Sunday evening, April 12th.

Debra Clopton's interview:

1. What made you start writing?

I had a high school English teacher who first put the idea into my head. But I didn’t actually start writing my first book until over 10 years later.

2. How long have you been writing? When did you sell your first book?

I wrote for 10 years, took 3 years off then revised a book and sold it. So it took 13 years. The call came in the first week of April 2003

3. How do you handle rejections?

I learned from each one and refused to let myself be discouraged by it. It is part of this business so you just have to accept and keep producing new things.

4. Why do you write?

I write because I’m driven too. I believe God gave me something to say in a way that brings glory to Him—but, also in a way that brings laughter and entertainment to those reading my books. When someone tells me I made them have a good day it makes my day!

5. What would you be doing with your free time if you weren’t writing?

I want to be writing…I’ve worked too hard to get here to think about what I’d do if I weren’t. BUT in my spare time when I’m taking a break from writing, I love to read and take road trips. I also love spending time with my friends and family.

6. What are you working on right now?
I’m working on HER FOREVER COWBOY it is scheduled to come out in January of 2010. It is a Mule Hollow book but one of three that will be called The Men of Mule Hollow. I’m in the throws of tearing my hair out over the book right now...it happens in all of my books so I’m praying the Lord leads me to the other side soon.

7. Do you put yourself into your books/characters?

A part of me is in all of my books. It just happens.

8. Tell us about the book you have out right now.
TEXAS RANGER DAD is about former Texas Ranger Zane Cantrell and prickly pear jelly maker, Rose Vincent--the woman he was assigned to protect almost fourteen years ago. He arrives in Mule Hollow to try and make amends for walking away from her all those years ago only to discover he has a son. Thirteen year old Max becomes the matchmaker. It is a fun, touching story about forgiveness and that good can come from really bad situations. I really enjoyed writing this story and tried really hard to give the readers something fresh.

9. Do you have any advice for other writers?
Keep writing. Keep learning. Finish the book.

10. How important is faith in your books?

Very important. I write about regular Christian people and the struggles they go through good and bad. I write about how, in the end they rely on God to help them understand and cope with the things that happen. It’s just as I live my life...sometimes in the midst of the trials I’m living I don’t understand but, God always brings me through and I’m stronger for trusting Him.

11. What themes do you like to write about?
I think my overriding theme is trusting God even when you don’t understand. I think for all of us this is something we have to work through over and over again in so many different situations. I also write about forgiveness...this can be applied so many ways. There are usually several themes running through my books and I most often don’t fully understand what the main (problem to work through or learn from) theme is until God leads me there.


12. What is your favorite book you’ve written and why?

This is always a hard question and most people say they love them all ☺ I do too. All the Mule Hollow books have been an adventure, a struggle and a great joy for me to write. My April release TEXAS RANGER DAD was great fun to write. It’s book 10 of the series (all the books are stand alone so you don’t have to read them all to jump into the series—I just use the town as a backdrop and the returning characters to enhance each story. Of course you can read them all if you’d like and I’m pleased to say most people enjoy doing that) However this April book I really wanted to try and do something different so I came up with ex Texas Ranger Zane Cantrell coming to Mule Hollow and bringing someone’s secret past with them. Everyone had met Rose Vincent and her son Max already in the stories (she was introduced in book 3 NO PLACE LIKE HOME) but no one knew she had a secret. Soooo I had a blast coming up with this story. So far the letters from the people who are members of the book club and get the books early, has been wonderful. I really am happy when I’ve done something that makes the readers happy.

13. What is your writing schedule like?

I start writing at about 6:30 am. Someone once said, “You do that on purpose!” Yes, sort of...that’s just when my brain gets me up and says its time to write--so I do it. I write hard during the day and sometimes the evenings depending on how tight my deadlines are.

14. How do you write a long running series set in the same town?

I use the town and the returning characters to ground my stories. Like I said earlier each book has to be stand alone also for those who don’t want to read the entire series. I love small town life and have just created a world in Mule Hollow. Some people think it makes things easier but actually it makes things harder. I have to creatively come up with fresh ideas that fit within the parameters of the world. This forces me to throw out tons of great story ideas and dig deep for what fits—while still being fresh.

I have 7 characters besides the new hero and heroine of each book that must show up in each book. Working around this has been a great learning experience for me. But I chose early on to make my three matchmaking ladies, my two grumpy-old-men-checker board-players, the local diner owner and Lacy Brown,( my original heroine of the series) integral in all the books. They are what bring readers back. People enjoy seeing what everyone is up to. I also have a much loved donkey from book 2 AND BABY MAKES FIVE that I bring back occasionally just because readers love seeing Samantha again…to date, Samantha the matchmaking donkey is the favorite character of all. (It sounds silly but she’s a great character)

When I came up with the town of Mule Hollow I knew I wanted it to be a series...I had no idea that as of right now I’d have contracted to write book 16 in the series. I have 4 books coming out this year starting with TEXAS RANGER DAD in April, a novella A MULE HOLLOW MATCH in a 2-n-1 book with Janet Tronstad called Small Town Brides in June, LONESTAR CINDERELLA in July and in November HIS COWGIRL BRIDE then in 2010 I’ll have 3 more. God is awesome! And the readers too for loving these characters, buying the books and making my little town a success. Thank you all so much.

I think if you are a writer thinking about creating a series you just have to love each character you introduce and be ready to live with them for as long as the series goes. Then put your heart and soul into the books and if you do this hopefully your readers will love them too.

This week 3 Love Inspired authors: Debra Clopton, Merrillee Whren and Cheryl Wyatt

Congratulations to Martha for winning DiAnn Mills' Breach of Trust and to Edna for winning Kathi Macias' How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I'm Surrounded by Loose Cannons?.

This week I am hosting three Love Inspired authors: Debra Clopton with Texas Ranger Dad, Merrillee Whren with Homecoming Blessings and Cheryl Wyatt with Ready-Made Family. If you are interested in entering the drawings for any of these books, please leave a post with your email address. You won't be entered if you don't leave your email address or you can email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings will end Sunday evening, April 12th.

Debra Clopton's Bio:

Award winning author Debra Clopton, who writes for Steeple Hill's Love Inspired Imprint, hit the ground running in 2005 with the release of her first book THE TROUBLE WITH LACY BROWN. It was a Golden Heart finalist and won the Faith Hope and Love Inspirational Readers Choice award for 2006. Since then her subsequent books have won several awards and nominations including The Writers Guild Award, The Barclay Gold Award and her 2006 book NO PLACE LIKE HOME was a proud finalist in ACFW Book of the Year contest for short contemporary in 2007. Most recently her Feb 2007 book, DREAM A LITTLE DREAM was named one of the recipients of a Holt Medallion Award of Merritt in romantic comedy for 2008. And Operation Married by Christmas won the 2008 Booksellers Best award for best inspirational.

A prolific author Debra has created a small Texas town filled with characters readers don't want to give up. A place created especially to make readers join in on the fun—and sometimes the trials and tribulations...but always a place where readers can forget their own worries and spend a relaxing few hours in the company of their friends of Mule Hollow. Debra is known for her unique voice, her humor and the ability to weave in relevant issues while still leaving her readers with a smile. Her goal is to write books that inspire readers to want a personal relationship with God and to do it with a smile. When she isn't writing she loves redoing houses, road trips and spending time with her two sons. She lives in Madisonville Texas with her dog Bogie a Chinese Shar-pei.

Blurb for Texas Ranger Dad:

Everyone in Mule Hollow can see the resemblance between former Texas Ranger Zane Cantrell and Rose Vincent's son. The same gold-flecked amber eyes. The same smile. Not that Zane is smiling. He's in shock! How could Rose have kept their child a secret from him? Rose reminds Zane that he's the one who walked away. He has to make her see he had no choice. But Rose is as prickly as the cactus jelly she makes. And that's where their hopeful son and the Mule Hollow matchmakers come marching in.


Merrillee Whren's Bio:
Merrillee Whren is an award-winning author who writes for Steeple Hill Love
Inspired. She is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award for best inspirational romance manuscript presented by Romance Writers of America.

Her second book, An Unexpected Blessing, won the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award and the Maggie Award. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of thirty plus years, and has two grown daughters. She has lived in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas and Chicago but now makes her home on one of God’s most beautiful creations, an island off the east coast of Florida. When she’s not writing or working for her husband’s recruiting firm, she spends her free time playing tennis or walking the beach, where she does the plotting for her novels. Please visit her Web site at www.merrilleewhren.com.

Blurb for Homecoming Blessings:
Big-city businessman Peter Dalton doesn't think he and fresh-from-the-field missionary Ashley Hiatt have anything in common. Until his boss—her father—pairs them together on a special project to help those less fortunate. Suddenly, instead of making money, Peter is making dreams come true. He's a changed man. Well, maybe not when comes to settling down. With his past, he's just not cut out for family life. But lovely Ashley seems to think otherwise...and is making it her mission to prove it for good.


Cheryl Wyatt's Bio:

Cheryl Wyatt's closest friends would never dream the mayhem she plots during announcements at church. An RN-turned-SAHM, joyful chaos rules her home, and she delights in the stealth moments God gives her to write. She's convinced that having been born on a Naval base on Valentine's Day destined her to write military romance. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. Her debut novels (Books 1 and 2-Wings of Refuge Series-Steeple Hill) received Romantic Times Top Picks. In addition, her debut books received the honor of coming in at #1 and #4 on eHarlequins's Top Ten Most-Blogged-About-Books, lists which included several NYT Bestselling authors. Cheryl is currently serving as Vice President of American Christian Fiction Writers. www.acfw.com

To receive her quarterly newsletter for updates on new releases and contests with GREAT prizes (think: free books, CDs, iPods, and a Kindle!), visit her Web site at www.cherylwyatt.com and sign up in the space provided. Cheryl respects your privacy and will not share your e-mail address with a third party.

Blurb for Ready-Made Family:

Amelia North needs refuge, and finds it—in Refuge, Illinois. Stranded there after a car wreck, the single mother expects to be cold-shouldered. After all, she's already been rejected by her parents, her church and her daughter's father. Instead, she finds a town full of people with open hands and open hearts…including pararescue jumper Ben Dillinger. Ben wants to help Amelia and her daughter find safety and stability. Instead, he finds himself free-falling—right into love with the ready-made family.

April Releases--check them out

1. A Claim of Her Own, by Stephanie Whitson from Bethany House. Newly arrived in Deadwood, South Dakota, Mattie O'Keefe must soon decide where true riches lie--and what's worth dying for.

2. A Gift of Grace, Kauffman Amish Bakery Series Amy Clipston from Zondervan. When Rebecca Kaufman’s older sister, who left the Amish community when she was a teenager, dies in an automobile accident, Rebecca is left custody of her two modern non-Amish teenage nieces, Jessica and Lindsay.

3. Baby Baby, Book One of the Family Heirloom Series by Karen Weisner from Samhain Publishing House. A Proverbs 31 wife wonders, does "submissive" mean giving up having anything of her own?

4. By Darkness Hid, Book One in The Blood of Kings by Jill Williamson from Marcher Lord Press. Two people discover their ability to speak to, and hear, the minds of others: a squire serving an evil prince, and a maiden masquerading as a boy to avoid marriage.

5. Chef's Deadly Dish, Book Three in the Cozy Crumb Series by Lisa Harris from Heartsong Presents: Mysteries. Determined to discover the truth, Pricilla
Crumb, an unconventional busybody, follows one lead after another, dishing up laughter and surprises along the way.

6. Copper and Candles, Michigan Brides Book One by Amber Stockton from Heartsong Presents. Charity work brings them together, but their positions in society might drive them apart.

7. Homecoming Blessings, by Merrillee Whren from Steeple Hill. When businessman Peter Dalton has to work with the boss's missionary daughter Ashley Hiatt, he finds a new focus in life as well as love.

8. Peachtree Dreams, by Debby Mayne from Barbour Publishing. Three Georgia women face the challenge to believe in happily-ever-after endings.

9. Shepherd's Fall, Prodigal Recovery Series Book One by Wanda Dyson from Random House/Waterbrook. Nick Shepherd faces the hardest decision of his life--to save his daughter from a convicted killer, he may have to compromise his beliefs.

10. Stealing Home, by Allison Pittman from Multnomah. Four people, each harboring a secret passion, are brought
together through providence, tragedy and love.

11. Texas Ranger Dad, Mule Hollow Series by Debra Clopton from Steeple Hill Love Inspired. Rose Vincent has made a life for herself and her son in Mule Hollow Texas but when Texas Ranger, Zane Cantrell comes to town, her brings her past with him and everything she holds dear in life is threatened.

12.The Reluctant Cowgirl, The McCord Sisters by Christine Lynxwiler from Barbour Publishing. When Crystal McCord’s New York dream crumbles, she thinks her parents’ Arkansas ranch might be a safe place to hide her heart. . .until she meets the cowboy next door.

Kathi Macias' interview

This week I am hosting DiAnn Mills with Breach of Trust and Kathi Macias with How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I'm Surrounded By Loose Cannons?. If you want to be entered in the drawings for these books or one of them, please leave a comment during the week on a post. To be entered you must include your email address or you need to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com and tell me you want to be in the drawings. The drawings end next Sunday evening, April 5th.

Kathi Macias' interview:

1. What made you start writing?

I’ve wanted to write for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been an avid reader and lover of books. When I was a teenager I told my boyfriend (now husband) that I would be a writer some day. And here I am! Isn’t God amazing?

2. How long have you been writing? When did you sell your first book?

I sold my first book in 1988, and it was a bestseller for Regal Books—a women’s devotional called A Moment A Day. But I was writing long before that. I won a lot of writing contests and worked on the school newspaper in junior/senior high school, then sold pieces to magazines, wrote for church newsletters, and even wrote a newspaper column and did some string reporting before launching my first book. Plus I’ve written/edited approximately 100 books for other people.

3. How do you handle rejections?

I’m a firm believer in always having a “plan B.” When that rejections rolls in (and it/they will!), I send it right back out again (or have my agent do so now). Remember, there’s an old saying that you’re not an official writer until you’ve had at least 100 rejections. I am official many times over!

4. Why do you write?

Because I love words and books and stories…and everything connected with them. Even more so because I believe God wants me to do so. I am always amazed at His hand in all my work!

5. What would you be doing with your free time if you weren’t writing?

Reading someone else’s books. Honest! There’s nothing I enjoy more, although my husband and I also like to break away for a ride on his Harley—hence, my road name of “Easy Writer.”

6. What are you working on right now?

In addition to marketing my one 2008 release and three 2009 releases, I’m under contract to turn in five novels by the end of this year, all for 2010 release. Four of them will be the “Extreme Devotion” series, the first-ever venture into fiction for New Hope Publishers. The other is a historical novel, co-authored with Susan Wales, scheduled for Fall 2010 release from Abingdon Press.

7. Do you put yourself into your books/characters?

Oh, absolutely! Much of that comes from my drama background. I love climbing into my character’s skin and bringing him/her/them to life for my readers. My stories are always character-driven, as opposed to plot-driven.

8. Tell us about the book you have out right now.

My most recent release is How Can I Run a Tight Ship when I’m Surrounded by Loose Cannons? from New Hope Publishers. It released February 1, and the subtitle is Proverbs 31 Discoveries for Yielding to the Master of the Seas. It’s my “discipleship with a grin” book that tells you more about me and my friends/family (mostly our foibles and failures!) than you’ll ever want to know. In fact, my family is threatening to go into the Witness Protection Program since the book released!

9. Do you have any advice for other writers?

Yes. Be sure you REALLY want to do this because it’s TOUGH. One of my author friends (someone much more famous than I!) told me recently he’d be happy if he could just make enough money off his book sales to pay for the ones he gives away. Oh, how I can relate! If you’re going into this for the money, forget it. If you’re doing it because you love it and would be miserable if you didn’t, then jump in! You won’t regret it.

10. How important is faith in your books?

My faith is at the heart of everything I write, preach, teach, or do. It’s who I am. The only book I’ve ever written that’s even close to secular is my writers’ workbook. Though I enjoy reaching out to unbelievers, my heart is to teach and train disciples—whether through fiction or nonfiction, humor or how-to books. And God has so blessed me with the opportunity to do just that!

11. What themes do you like to write about?

I don’t know that I have any specific theme, other than serious, deep-down, sold-out, extreme devotion/commitment. This theme, of course, is epitomized in the upcoming “Extreme Devotion” fiction series, with each story set in a different country and LOOSELY based on the true life of a modern-day martyr of the faith—and believe me, there are many of them! (And it could be coming to a neighborhood near you!)

12. What is your favorite book you’ve written and why?

My favorite nonfiction book is my 2008 release, Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World. It’s my favorite because I am so passionate about taking Christians to that next level of living beyond themselves so that they can begin to achieve all that God has purposed for them. My favorite fiction book is the first of the “Extreme Devotion” series, titled No Greater Love. It will release in January 2010, and it is about a forbidden romance between the son of an Afrikaner farmer and the daughter of a martyred ANC rebel, set at the time just before the release of Nelson Mandela from prison and the overthrow of Apartheid. It is my favorite because it speaks to all of us of the love that surpasses color or creed or heritage, the love that gives everything, regardless of the price.

13. What is your writing schedule like?

Ridiculous! I’m up long before light and work until it’s time for dinner/supper. If my poor 88-year-old mother (who lives with us) or husband didn’t remind me that they were starving, I’d probably work right through until I fell asleep on my keyboard.