1. What made you start writing? When my boys were young, I prayed for years for God to show me a home business that I could start to help supplement our income. It wasn’t until my boys were nearly grown that God shoved me into the writing world. I truly believe that writing is how God chose to answer my prayer to work at home, even though I’d never been found of writing before then.
2. How long have you been writing? 7 ½ years.
When did you sell your first book? I had been writing three years when I made my first sale. The book, A Stitch in Time, came out a year later.
3. How do you handle rejections? LOL You should be able to answer this one. I cry on my husband’s and friends’ shoulders for a while . Then I pray and seek God to see if He has another place for the book. I won’t say rejections are don’t hurt, but they are a part of the writing world. In the end, I believe it’s all in God’s hands, and He will open the doors for me that He wants opened.
4. Why do you write? Because I feel that’s what God wants me to do for now. I enjoy creating stories from a germ of an idea. I like brainstorming and watching them take shape and the characters become real people that I ache and rejoice with.
5. What would you be doing with your free time if you weren’t writing? I would have a part-time job somewhere. I’m primary caregiver to my invalid mother and I also baby-sit my two-year-old granddaughter twice a week, besides having a home, husband, and several sons to care for.
6. What are you working on right now? I’m finishing up the third book in a historical series set in North Dakota. The first book, Wild at Heart, comes out this fall. It’s the story of a female dime novelist who accepts a rancher’s challenge to get her facts straight by visiting his ranch. Only he’s expecting a man, and not a greenhorn woman who trouble follows like a magnet.
7. Do you put yourself into your books/characters? Probably. I think the way readers see me the most is in the humor I put in my stories. My family has always been comical, in more ways than one and readers have liked that aspect of my books.
8. Tell us about the book you have out right now. Virginia Brides released this spring. It has three stories in it by three authors and is set in early Virginia. I have three books releasing this fall. I’ve already mentioned Wild at Heart. Oklahoma Brides is a historical trilogy set in the Oklahoma and Indian Territories. It’s three Heartsong Presents books that have been repackaged into one book. I also have a Christmas anthology coming out called A Bride by Christmas. It has four novellas by four authors, and in each story, someone must marry by Christmas or something bad will happen. I’m especially excited about this book, because it includes Therese Stenzel’s first fiction novella. Therese is a good writer buddy of mine.
9. Do you have any advice for other writers? Stick with it. Writing is a looonnnnggg process. It takes a long time to write a book and then a long time to sell it. When you finish one book, go ahead and start another one. Just keep writing and improving your craft.
10. How important is faith in your books? Very. My Christian walk is extremely important to me. I don’t think I’ll ever write a book that doesn’t have a faith element. My goal in writing is to entertain readers and inspire them in their faith.
11. What themes do you like to write about? I love western and prairie themes. I watched all those cowboy shows of the ‘60s, and my heroes have always been cowboys. I love writing and reading stories set in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
12. What is your favorite book you’ve written and why? The Bounty Hunter and the Bride has been my favorite for a while, but I think my new book, Wild at Heart is quickly passing it. In both books, I love the tension between the hero and heroine. The women have a way of making the men miserable. It’s fun making these tough guys squirm.
13. What is your writing schedule like? I usually get up and have breakfast, devotions, and then read emails and do minor things around the house. About 10:30 or 11, I start writing and finish around 3, when I have to go to visit my mom. My goal is to write 2,000 words a day.
