This week I’m hosting Lacy Williams with Marrying Miss Marshal, Veronica Heley with Murder My Neighbour, C. J. Chase with Redeeming the Rogue, and Cara Lynn James with Love by the Book (will have a drawing if 10 people enter). If you want to enter the drawings, 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 (August 14th) evening.
Interview with Lacy Williams:
1. What made you start writing?
I think I must’ve started writing because I started imagining. When I was little, my dad would sometimes tell us stories, often just stories he made up, so that encouraged me to be creative. I can still remember imagining different stories about characters from my favorite cartoons (Muppet Babies—anyone remember that one??). Once the stories were in my head, I think it was just natural for me to want to write them out.
2. How long have you been writing? When did you sell your first book?
I have notebooks full of stories from my childhood. During high school I took a correspondence course through the Institute of Children’s Literature, which was my first experience with an editor (although she used a green pen not a red one!). I took a break from writing during college—although I still had stories running through my head, none of them made it onto paper. Then in 2006, I got serious about becoming published and joined the American Christian Fiction Writers. I signed my first contract in 2010 (for MARRYING MISS MARSHAL).
3. How do you handle rejections?
Not very well. 🙂 I am usually upset for a few hours, then start looking at things more objectively. Sometimes it takes a close friend or my husband jolting me out of the melancholy by reminding me why I’m really writing—because I’m called to write. When I remember the real reason behind my writing then handling those rejections is a little easier (still difficult, but not as hard as it could be).
4. Why do you write?
Mostly because I can’t seem to stop. And also to be an example to my kids. Being published has been a big dream for me for a long time. I think if they see me following my dreams and working hard toward those goals then they will do the same for themselves, no matter what their goals are.
5. What would you be doing with your free time if you weren’t writing?
My house would probably be a lot cleaner. 🙂 No, really, I enjoy working with my dogs in obedience training and would probably enter competitions with them. I also teach adult-level writing classes part-time and if I wasn’t writing, I would probably teach more.
6. What are you working on right now?
I am in the brainstorming stage of a new book about an amateur birdwatcher who falls in love with an ex-con who is trying hard NOT to overcome his past—until he discovers how true love can really change him.
7. Do you put yourself into your books/characters?
Each character gets a smidgen of either myself or someone I know. Danna Carpenter, the heroine of MARRYING MISS MARSHAL, has a lot of my independence (although she’s a little worse than I am!). Also, she can’t cook.
8. Tell us about the book you have out right now.
MARRYING MISS MARSHAL is the story of a female town marshal Danna Carpenter who has to battle for respect from the very people she is supposed to respect. When tenderfoot detective Chas O’Grady arrives in town looking for cattle rustlers, he and Danna reluctantly join forces. When the town gossip mill gets started, they are forced into an even more serious partnership—marriage.
Publisher’s Weekly calls it, “warmly romantic with a hint of adventure and an unconventional heroine” (June)
9. Do you have any advice for other writers?
Never give up on your dream, and find people who will stand behind you and encourage you along the way. Writing can be such a solitary job and we all need those people close to us who will give us that occasional boost by just believing in us.
10. How important is faith in your books?
Faith is key for my characters. I believe that a person cannot be truly happy if they’re not following God’s will for their lives and this manifests in my characters. Sometimes it’s big and sometimes it’s the small things about the characters that you’ll notice, but it is always there.
11. What themes do you like to write about?
I love writing (and reading about) heroes who have a dark past that they have overcome. Redemption stories. I also love doing stories with kids in them—kids always seem to do something you don’t expect and fictional characters aren’t any different!
12. What is your favorite book you’ve written and why?
I am not really sure I’ve written it yet! So maybe I’ll tell you about my favorite hero that I’ve written. His name is Jonas White and he grew up literally on the streets of Philadelphia. He made a living as a boot-black (shoe-shiner) until he became a bricklayer’s apprentice as a teenager. He ended up going west and settled in Wyoming on his own homestead. By the time he re-encounters the heroine, he has opened his heart to several orphaned children. I love Jonas because of what he overcame to get to a good place in his life and because of his big, loving heart. (sign up for my newsletter via my website and you’ll get an update when his story is going to be published!)
13. What is your writing schedule like?
Well, it’s about to get crazy. I try to check in on my email throughout the day. Then, I usually focus on writing while my daughter is down for her nap (usually an hour to an hour and a half) and after her bedtime (another 45 minutes to an hour). If I’m really concentrating, I can pound out about 2,500 words in a day. On very special days, when my mom or aunt can babysit, I’ll sneak away to the library and those days I can get 4-5,000 words.
But… with a new baby on the way, I’m expecting things to be crazy around our house for awhile. We’ll see how my schedule turns out with two little ones underfoot!
