This week I’m hosting Kristen Ethridge with Saving Grace, Jo Huddleston with That Summer and Tanya Eavenson with Unconditional (ebook). If you want to enter the drawings for the 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. The drawings end Sunday (Feb. 10th) evening.
Hero Interview from Saving Grace by Kristen Ethridge:
Jake, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
I’m not afraid to strike out on my own and try new things. I chose not to go into the family business, but became a lawyer instead. When I returned home to Port Provident and took over Peoples Property Group, I tried to take it in a different direction than the one my father had been going.
What do you do for fun?
Since I’ve recently returned to Port Provident, the thing I enjoy most is reconnecting with my family. I missed spending time with Nana and my sister while I was away in Austin. Of course, living on an island has benefits—there’s nothing like an afternoon on the beach or out on the water—or even just looking at the waves—to bring a sense of peace.
What do you put off doing because you dread it?
For most of my life, I put off being a part of the family business. I’m John Edward Peoples, IV, and I think most folks in Port Provident assumed I’d be a part of Peoples Property Group like the other three men with that name before me. But I had such a strained relationship with my father growing up that I just wanted to get as far away from him and that legacy as possible. I didn’t want my personal issues to also become my professional issues as well.
What are you afraid of most in life?
That all the nasty things my father said about me are true. I lived with the burden of believing I was lazy, soft-hearted, and a disappointment for so many years. I’ve returned to Port Provident in large part to prove to myself and others that I’m not who we’ve all been told I am.
What do you want out of life?
I’d like to make a difference in whatever I do. I’m in a career transition right now, and I’m not sure if I’m suited to running a development company. I liked being able to connect with people when I had my law practice, and I don’t really get to do that in my new role. I’m hoping I can find a way to help people, wherever I wind up.
What is the most important thing to you?
My family. My relationship with my parents could fill a how-to book on dysfunction. But it made me even closer to my sister and my dad’s mother, Nana, who helped raise me because I felt I had so few people who loved me unconditionally. And isn’t that what we all really want? Someone who loves us just for who we are?
Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?
Nana gave me a book recently about the history of Port Provident. I’m looking forward to reading more about it.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
That’s a tough question. I think I would like to change that part of me that believed all the negative things said about me as I was growing up. I wish I could have blocked it all out and not allowed it to affect who I thought I was.
Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
I don’t have a pet. I’d probably like a big dog who enjoys running on the beach like a Labrador. Right now, I’m living in Nana’s guesthouse, so that would be kind of cramped!
If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
I’d like to meet my great-grandfather, the first John Edward Peoples, and be there as he helped Port Provident rebuild after the 1910 hurricane that almost destroyed the whole island.
Enjoyed the interview. Saving Gracie looks like a really good book.
johnsonk133[at]yahoo[dot]com
Really would love to be entered to win this. I would love to read her book.
This sounds like a sweet romance between two people that need to understand each other better in order to build a relationship. True for all of us; but in this day and time with cultural diversity, we could all do some more studying on the subject. Thanks for the opportunity to win a free book.
Hi, Susan, Katie, and Jane! Thank you so much for stopping by and your sweet words about Saving Gracie!
Jane–as a native Texan who has lived on the border, this story is very much reflective of what my own life is. My mother was an ESL teacher herself, and my daughter attends a Spanish immersion preschool, taught entirely by native speakers from various Spanish-speaking countries. We live in a very diverse world, and I wanted to bring some of that to Love Inspired. 🙂
Living on an island sounds like fun.
bn100candg(at)Hotmail(dot)com
I am looking forward to reading SAVING GRACIE. I’d be worried about the weather living on an island.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Great interview. Jake, you say that you was not afraid to strike out on your own and try new things and become a lawyer. Since returning to Port Provident, you enjoy reconnection with your family. So you have lived with the burden of believing that you was lazy. You are wanting to meet your great-grandfather, the first John Edward Peoples. Sounds like a great book, would love to win it. God bless you.
Norma Stanforth
n38stanforth@yahoo.com
Hi, Norma-
Thanks for stopping by. I think you really got to the heart of some of what Jake really has to work through. And to some extent, I think we all have a little bit of that in us. There isn’t a person among us who hasn’t been shaped by the thoughts and expectations of others. Sometimes, we live up to them and are very happy and other times, they influence us negatively. Jake is in that same boat, and really has to decide for himself whose influence he’s going to allow to define his perception of self–his father’s or his Heavenly Father’s.
I hope you enjoy Saving Gracie.
bn and Mary- Living on an island is definitely a lot of fun. I used to live on Galveston Island, which is just off the Texas coast south of Houston. My time living there definitely influenced Port Provident, the town where Saving Gracie is set. There’s always a lot to do because the economy is oriented toward tourists. In Galveston, obviously, there’s the summer season where everyone goes to the beach, but there’s also Mardi Gras, Dickens on the Strand at Christmas time, ArtWalk once a month in the downtown area, and even an annual motorcycle rally that more than doubles the city’s population for that weekend! And in the off-season, locals get to take advantage of all the tourist-focused attractions for themselves without the long lines.
But yes, the weather is always a concern. We got brushed by several small hurricanes and tropical storms during our time there, but they were mainly rain and wind and not really a big deal. In 2008, however, we did get smacked very hard when Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston. Although it was a Category 2, it had a Category 4 storm surge and did extensive damage. We were actually out of our home and small business for six months.
Although we don’t live in Galveston anymore, I still think fondly on our time there and jokingly tell people we spent five years on vacation.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you both enjoy Saving Gracie!
I would to read this book.
Melanie Lankford
melanielankford@comcast.net
Hi, Melanie! Thanks for stopping by. If you don’t win here, I’m also giving away a copy on my blog–www.kristenethridge.com
I am a big fan of Love Inspired books and would love to be entered to win a copy of Saving Gracie. 🙂
😀 Smiles & Blessings,
Cindy W.
countrybear52 AT yahoo DOT com
thanks for the chance to win a copy of this book
ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com