How Chapel Springs Revival was Born

(posted by Michelle Griep / 

Guest blogger is Ane Mulligan)

Author ANE MULLIGAN

While a large, floppy straw hat is her favorite, Ane has worn many different ones: hairdresser, legislative affairs director (that's a fancy name for a lobbyist), drama director, playwright, humor columnist, and novelist. Her lifetime experience provides a plethora of fodder for her Southern-fried fiction (try saying that three times fast). She firmly believes coffee and chocolate are two of the four major food groups. You can find Ane on her Southern-fried Fiction website, Google+, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and Pinterest.

NR: Leave a comment for Ane and be entered in a drawing for a copy of Chapel Springs Revival. U.S. residents only, please.

Years ago, I heard a young women complaining about her husband. Let's face it; we all joke about men coming from Mars and women from Venus, but that's not what she was doing. She was stirring the water in a bitter well.

Another time in church, I overheard another conversation (yes, I'm a writer and I tend to eavesdrop). It went something like this:

"I just learned that God has the perfect mate all picked out for each of us, and we're supposed to pray to find that person."

"Yeah, so?"

"I didn't do that! I didn't know. So, that must mean George* isn't the one God wants me married to."

Uh-oh. The conversation went on to include all the things her husband did wrong and the word "divorce." I later pulled her aside for a "Titus 2:4" moment.

Men, being from Mars, have a difficult time expressing emotions. With women, those emotions need discussion. They need dissecting. Husbands, while wonderful, necessary creatures, can't help in the biology of emotion. 

I now had a seed of an idea. I brainstormed with a friend about a woman who, when she became a Christian, thought life and her marriage would be included in the new creation part. But her thighs are just as big, her husband as ornery as ever, and he still won't go to church with her. Toss in a BFF whose husband had grown non-communicative and was never home, and I had the foundation for a story.

From that first "what-if," Claire Bennett, Patsy Kowalski, and the small village of Chapel Springs were born.

Claire is tired of being nothing more than a sheet-changer, a towel-folder, a pancake-flipper. She resolves to emulate her Great Aunt Lola, who refused to be slighted by any man. Why, the first morning Aunt Lola's husband forgot to kiss her goodbye, she packed her bags, went off to Hollywood, and became a big star in silent films.

I had to find out if Claire would really do what Great Aunt Lola did. As I worked on the plotting and backstory for Claire and Patsy, I saw the same things I'd heard the young women say at church: Patsy focusing on what her husband did wrong, and Claire trying to find Mr. God-Ordained-Right.

I had so much fun writing this book, especially scenes filled with miscommunication. My favorite is when the gals catch Patsy's husband in what they think is an incriminating situation. The dialogue is laced with double entendre, or in other words miscommunication. I hope my readers laugh as hard as I did writing it.

I have to tell you I wrote myself into a corner at one point. I was about 56,000 words in when I screeched to a halt. I had to do some fast research, involving Linda Kozar's Geo-geek husband to geologically extract me from the hole I'd dug myself into. Thank you Mike Kozar! Whew.

It's my hope that through humor, readers will see God's hand in their choice of a husband. God is a faithful keeper of little girls' dreams for a knight in shining armor.

*Name changed to protect an innocent man.

Ane Mulligan's Debut Novel ~ A MUST Read!

Chapel Springs Revival

With a friend like Claire, you need a gurney, a mop, and a guardian angel.

Everybody in the small town of Chapel Springs, Georgia, knows best friends Claire and Patsy. It's impossible not to, what with Claire's zany antics and Patsy's self-appointed mission to keep her friend out of trouble. And trouble abounds. Chapel Springs has grown dilapidated and the tourist trade has slackened. With their livelihoods threatened, they join forces to revitalize the town. No one could have guessed the real issue needing restoration is personal.

With their marriages in as much disarray as the town, Claire and Patsy embark on a mission of mishaps and miscommunication, determined to restore warmth to Chapel Springs —and their lives. That is if they can convince their husbands and the town council, led by two curmudgeons who would prefer to see Chapel Springs left in the fifties and closed to traffic.

AND NOW TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER OF THE CHAPEL SPRINGS REVIVAL BLOG TOUR... drum roll, please!

The winner of the grand prize, the limited edition giclee reproduction of an original artwork by Terence Mulligan is ..... Deanna Stevens!

Congratulatiuons, Deanna!

Other winners of prizes are:

Robin Roze: Wedgewood ring box

Linda Yezak: teacup, chocolate kisses and a half pound of gourmet coffee

Ellen Jervis: wins the pearl choker and bracelet

Thank you all for helping make my blog tour and book launch a success!

Read More

Goodreads Giveaway of Chapel Springs Revival

by +AneMulligan  @AneMulligan

I'm doing a giveaway  of my debut novel Chapel Springs Revival (#2 in Amazon's Hot New bestsellers) on Goodreads, from midnight tonight to midnight tomorrow night. Don't register before midnight. 

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/107754-chapel-springs-revival

Read More

Meet Debut Author, Kimberli Buffaloe

Available at Amazon

I first met Kimberli Buffaloe when she joined the Penwrights Critique group where I was already a member. I soon fell in love with her writing and as our friendship grew, came to love her as a friend. She recently joined the ranks of indie authors with her debut novel Learning to Live Again, written under the pen name of Kimberli McCay, and I’m happy to introduce her to you now, with this interview.

* * *

Kimberli, this is your debut novel. What sparked the story?

The original plot was inspired by a debate I had with my husband, with me setting up the story as I would a chessboard and attempting to move the characters toward checkmate. I was a newbie writer at the time with an agenda, so it was a game I lost. As my writing matured, I dug deeper into the characters’ lives and motivations and found the real story.

What would you do differently if you were starting your publishing career today?

Pray harder, speak less, listen more.

Share a bit of your journey to publication.

After several false starts, my journey began ten years ago after we moved to South Carolina so my husband could attend seminary full-time. We suddenly became empty nesters, and though I worked, I found myself with time on my hands. I joined an online writers’ group, which led me to American Christian Fiction Writers. The story after that is typical of most authors—high points and low, earning publishing credits, and meeting great people.

Where do you write: In a cave, a coffeehouse, or a cozy nook?

We live on a half-acre in a neighborhood surrounded by farmland, so I camp out on my sofa with my feet propped on the coffee table where I can gaze out the window and daydream when I need to think through a scene.

What would you do if you didn't write?

I enjoy Carolina history so much, my husband claims I should teach the subject. But I’m a pastor’s wife, so my work has to be flexible and portable. I would love to work at the Caroliniana Room at the University of South Carolina, though.

What issue makes you struggle as an author? How do you handle it?

Discouragement, of course, but when I look back over the years, I can see how that discouragement led to personal and professional growth.

What are your top 3 recommendations for a new writer?

Present yourself as a professional, whether at a conference or in an online group. It’s easy to grow comfortable and vent or share too much of your personal life.

Always assume you have more to learn. Listen to those in the industry and to those who provide feedback.

My youngest daughter, a former Airman, participates in Spartan Races. She loves that participants often help one another over difficult obstacles and that they encourage one another toward the finish line. The writing life can easily be compared to those brutal races (though the Spartan finish line is far closer!) so do ye likewise.

Then what 3 things would recommend not doing?

Don’t pass up the opportunity to attend a few writers conferences.

Don’t hope an agent or editor will love your story so much, they’ll overlook the flaws in your writing. They won’t. If an agent or editor requests material, send a well written, polished manuscript.

Don’t ignore an agent or editor’s guidelines.

Some say a writer is born and others say anyone can learn. What do you think?

I believe it’s both. Certainly some authors have a gift for prose, but some have a gift for storytelling, and still others have a story to tell.

What's the strangest or funniest experience you've had in writing?

I embarrassed myself in front an author at a Blue Ridge Conference. Next question.

Do you prefer the creating or editing aspect of writing? How do you feel about research?

My preference has switched over the years, and I now prefer editing. That’s where the real crafting begins. Research? Love it.

Do you consider yourself a visual writer? If so, what visuals do you use?

No. Visuals would only confuse me.

Do you work best under pressure or do you write at a leisurely pace??

Definitely under pressure. After my husband accepted a call to a church in an agrarian community, I found myself in the enviable position of having all the time in the world to write. I went from pounding out a draft in thirty to forty days while working full time, to pecking one out in a year as a stay-at-home pastor’s wife.

What are your writing rituals?

If I wanted to accomplish anything, I had to make changes. Following the lead of a professor I know, I started writing for an hour a day. Within the first five days, I had written close to five thousand words. That was motivation enough to continue the schedule. Now I clean my house, then write. I’m generally done before two in the afternoon.

What are your thoughts on critique partners?

I have very warm and fuzzy thoughts about them, especially mine. They do more than offer suggestions and corrections. They challenge me to grow and offer encouragement. I wouldn’t be where I am without them.

Any final thoughts?

We sit alone and write, and then we’re faced with the task of promoting ourselves and rising above the competition. Like the Spartan racers, don’t overlook the joy of boosting a straggler over a wall toward the finish line.

Learning to Live Again -- What's it about?

Some women have to forgive their husbands for being unfaithful. Vicky Morgan has to forgive hers for dying.

A year after a botched carjacking turned her into a widow at the age of twenty-five, Vicky meets a former police officer with connections to the crime that wrecked lives and sent her into hiding. She not only learns the fate of the officer injured in the attack, she has support from the only person who can understand what she suffered through that fateful night.

Clay Waters faces an uncertain future after his wife takes an extended vacation from their marriage. Unwilling to risk leaving their son without a parent, he quits his job at the police department. A decision that leaves him feeling useless until he meets the petite recluse who barely survived a face-off with a murderer.

Vicky gives Clay the sense of purpose he wants, and he provides her with protection she needs as she gradually expands her world and renews a faith she once tossed aside for a man. But when friendship turns to love, will the faith teaching them to forgive now keep them apart?

Kimberli's book is available on Amazon. 

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago with her two rescue cats, an hour's drive away from her hometown which she visits often to dig into its historical legacy. Her novels include Thyme for Love, and Love Will Find a Way, contemporary romantic mysteries and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. She can often be found speaking at events around Lake Geneva or nosing in Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.

Read More