Then Came a Buggy

by Barbara Cameron

Students entering senior year in high school usually have a lot on their minds. Which college will they choose? How are they going to finance it? And what will be their major?

I wasn’t one of those students worrying about college. My dad was pushing me to go to the local community college and become a nurse.

That was the last thing I wanted. I was the oldest child and was tired of taking care of my younger siblings. When I saw a notice on the school announcement board about a cooperative education class at the local newspaper I decided to apply. After all, I was a voracious reader and I’d enjoyed the extra credit assignments in creative writing my English teacher gave me.

Read More

Before You Write. . . You Must Choose a Lens

by Cynthia L Simmons

Before you began to write, you must choose which point of view, POV, you will use. That seems like an easy decision yet it’s crucial to the outcome of your work. Point of view tells who speaks to the reader, who is holding the camera. Each perspective has its strengths and weaknesses.

First person uses the pronouns ‘I, me, mine’ for singular and ‘we, us’ for plural. If you want your audience to connect emotionally, this is your best option. Joshua employed this POV when he wrote, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Remember in order to use this POV, you’ll share only what you know rather than the thoughts of others.

The pronoun employed in second person is ‘you’, which is both singular and plural. This POV doesn’t work well for story telling because it tends to have an authoritarian tone. Think about the Ten Commandments: “You shall not murder”.  Recipes use this POV because the author tells what to do: mix the eggs and butter well. You’ll also see it in letters, greeting cards, and poetry and song lyrics: “You are my sunshine…”

Third person uses the pronouns ‘he, she, it, they, we, and us’.  This POV offers many possibilities, but let’s start with omniscient. The narrator in Omniscient POV knows the thoughts and actions of everyone in the room. This POV has drawbacks. First, your audience doesn’t connect to the emotions as quickly. Second, readers can be confused as the narrator jumps in and out of character’s inner thoughts. Writers like Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers used omniscient POV. Here’s an excerpt from The Body in the Library by Christie. “In her sleep, Mrs. Bantry frowned. Something disturbing was penetrating through the dream state.” If one is sleeping, they aren’t conscious of their own thoughts, so the narrator reveals information Mrs. Bantry wouldn’t be aware of until later.

Another form of third person is limited POV, and many authors prefer this one. The POV character can only reveal what he sees and knows. Think about the story of Moses. He found an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite. After looking around to make sure no one saw him, he killed the Egyptian and hid the body. Later, however, when he stopped two Israelites from fighting, they knew both knew about the Egyptian. Moses had limited knowledge. He thought no one saw, but he was wrong.

Deep POV is another type of third person, and many Christian writers put this POV into action for their novels. This POV can be tricky. The author must sink into the POV character revealing thoughts and emotions. Readers tend to enjoy this POV because they feel dropped into the story even sensing emotions the POV character experiences. To utilize this POV, apply third person pronouns while writing as if you are in first person. Avoid words like ‘saw’ and ‘felt’ so you can describe gut reactions. DiAnn Mills wrote deep POV in this sample from her novel, Breach of Trust: “Paige’s pulse raced into high gear as her foot pressed the accelerator. If the guy thought he’d succeed in making her nervous, he’d better think again. She changed lanes again while watching him in the mirror.” Notice Paige assumed what her pursuer intended, but she didn’t know. You see her heart beat faster in response to what she believed.

In summary, authors have several POVs to choose from. Those who want to write novels can choose first person, third person omniscient, limited, or deep POV. For instructional material, letters or poetry, authors will get the best results from second person. Perfecting your POV polishes your work and makes your readers want more.

TWEETABLE

Before You Write. . . You Must Choose a Lens by Cynthia L. Simmons (Click to Tweet)

Bio:

Cynthia L Simmons and her husband, Ray, have five children and reside in Atlanta. She has taught for over thirty years as a homeschool mother and Bible teacher. She’s a columnist for Leading Hearts Magazine and she directs Atlanta Christian Writing Conference. Cyndi has a heart for encouraging women in today’s crazy, upside-down world. She loves history and peppers her speaking and teaching with fascinating vignettes from the past. Her first book, Struggles and Triumphs, was nominated for 2008 Georgia Author of the Year. She co-founded Homeschool Answers and hosts Heart of the Matter Radio. Visit her at www.clsimmons.com.

Book Blurb:

With his father dead and his business partner incapacitated, Peter Chandler inherits the leadership of a bank in economic crisis. With only a newly minted college degree and little experience, Peter joins his partner's daughter, Mary Beth Roper, in a struggle to keep C&R Bank afloat while the Civil War rages around Chattanooga. Political pressure for unsecured loans of gold to the government stirs up trouble as tempers and prices rise. Their problems multiply when Mary Beth discovers counterfeit money with Peter's forged signature. Can they find the forger before the bank fails? The two friends must pursue gold on behalf of their business, as they learn to pursue their heavenly Father to find hope and peace.

Read More

Write What You Don’t Know: Researching with Passion and Purpose ~ Melanie Dobson

Write What You Don’t Know: Researching with Passion and Purpose

by Melanie Dobson

As a novelist I’ve often been told to “write what I know,” but the truth is I don’t know that much—at least not enough to sustain a career in fiction writing. But I do enjoy learning new things so, when I begin a novel, I slowly put together the pieces of my story puzzle by doing these five things.

1. Surf the Web

Like most novelists, I begin my research online, searching for the seeds of my story. When I started to write Chateau of Secrets, for example, I wondered if there were any Jewish men in Hitler’s army. On Google I discovered that there were probably tens of thousands of Jewish men who were in the Wehrmacht. This startling fact became central to my novel.

In the past fifteen years, I’ve visited locations around the world via computer screen, read countless interviews on a wide range of topics, and connected with multiple experts in my areas of research. Even though the Internet is fantastic for obtaining facts and some sensory details, it’s not my only means of information. As fiction writers, we need to verify what we find online through other types of research as well.

2. Interview Experts and Locals

Most people love to talk about their hobbies or areas of expertise, and if I tell them I write fiction, they’ll often give me more information than I’ll ever need for my story. Or at least, more than I think I’ll need. An interview often changes the direction of a story.

Because I write both historical and contemporary fiction, I’ve interviewed detectives, history buffs, Amish people, and the families of men and women who were part of the French resistance. I’ve spent hours talking to new friends about the inner workings of the Mafia, what it was like to grow up in a religious cult, and the details of living in France when Nazi Germans occupied the country.

One of the most important interviews I ever did was with an Amana woman named Emilie. I asked her a simple question—what were Amana women passionate about in the 19th century? The answer to that question (friendship) shaped my entire novel.

3. Invade the Library

The mansion in my novel Refuge on Crescent Hill was inspired by a derelict brick mansion in Ohio, built before the Civil War. As I tried to find information about this house, the town’s librarian uncovered the mother lode—a research paper written sixty years ago that included pictures, historical detail, and folklore about a secret tunnel that ran underneath the Curtis Mansion. This one paper gave me everything I needed for the details of my fictional house and, like my interview with Emilie, this paper molded my plot.

Newspapers, magazines, diaries, archived research papers, and of course, books provide basics such as how people dressed and what they ate during a specific era. They also give insight on more abstract concepts like how people approached life and what world and cultural events shaped their thinking. Novels set during specific time periods have been an invaluable resource for me as well. My current work in progress  takes place in the 1940s, so I’m reading a stack of World War II novels right now.

4. Explore Museums and Landmarks

Living farms, museums, old houses, and historical villages like Williamsburg or Old Salem offer a unique and educational window to the past. For my historical novels, I learned how to run a printing press in a tourist village, how to cook on the open hearth at a home in Indiana, how to load a rifle at the Oregon Trail Museum in Idaho, and how to drive an Amish buggy at a museum in Ohio. While landmarks and museums are open to the public, many will give private tours to writers, and their tour guides often have accumulated more information in their heads than reference books have between their covers. After a tour, I always ask my guide for their email address so I can send him or her questions as I write.

5. Visit the Location

While Google Maps and Google Earth help writers establish a fantastic sense of place, I still think it’s critical to visit a location to experience the sounds, smells, and even the tastes of a place before describing it on paper. Currently, I am writing European time-slip fiction which means I’ve headed twice across the Atlantic in the past two years. In France, I stayed in the medieval chateau that inspired Chateau of Secrets. For a week, I immersed myself in local life and culture, meeting new people, visiting the historical sites, riding my bike around the villages, sipping espresso and—the toughest part of the job—eating chocolate croissants. I flew home with a folder filled with detailed notes, and from my experiences emerged a story set outside the beautiful Norman village of Saint-Lo.

When I researched for Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana, I spent days exploring hidden spaces in homes near Liberty that had once been stations along the Underground Railroad. I drove through the surrounding forest at night, and when I stepped out into the darkness, the owls hooted and the cloud cover masked the stars. My heart raced, and I felt terribly alone—a glimpse of what a runaway slave might have felt like in that horrible blackness, pursued by a slave hunter and his dogs.

Since I always visit my main settings, the layout and details of a place are rooted in my mind so when it’s time to start writing, I don’t have to worry about the location. I can get completely lost in my story instead.

By ardently researching both online and off what we don’t know, I hope that we, as fiction writers, are able to expand our interests, meet new people, travel to interesting places, and through our stories, take readers on a journey with us so we can learn together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Melanie Dobson is the award-winning author of 14 historical romance, suspense and contemporary novels. Dobson and her husband, Jon, enjoy living in the Pacific Northwest with their two daughters. When she isn’t writing or playing with her family, Dobson enjoys exploring ghost towns, line dancing and reading historical fiction.

You can connect with Melanie at:

Facebook: Melanie-Dobson | Twitter:  @MelBDobson  | Web:  www.melaniedobson.com  

Read More

Merry Mayhem ~ Anita Higman

Merry Mayhem

By

Anita Higman

Novels set during the Christmas season are becoming more popular than ever. People love reading cozy stories during the coziest time of the year. But the stories can’t be all about Santa’s rosy cheeks and merry dimples. If I don’t have St. Nick ripping his pants on the way down the chimney, or landing on some burning coals, or facing a gun-toting homeowner, then readers might want to settle in for a long winter’s nap—but only after opening the shutters to toss my novel out onto the new-fallen snow!

Okay then, let’s brainstorm a snuggly Christmas scene that can be tweaked enough to turn tranquility into turmoil.

Our heroine and hero, Lucy and Harold, are in love—oh, how sweet—and Lucy knows that Harold has created a perfect evening so he can pop the question. The tree is decorated, Josh Groban’s Noel CD is playing, and Harold and Lucy are nestled in front of a crackling fire sipping hot wassail. That’s a nice Christmassy proposal scene, but we can only take cozy so far. Ray Bradbury said, “First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!” Good advice, but what if my heroine, Lucy, wants to marry Harold and is about to yes? It’s the end of my happily-ever-after story. Something ugly will need to happen soon. Some sort of struggle, internal or external.

Here’s one scenario. Hours before their romantic interlude, Lucy discovers that one of her beloved friends, Alice, is also in love with Harold. This could cause some struggle, but Lucy may say yes to the proposal anyway, since she could convince herself that she is the only woman on earth who could make Harold happy. Okay, so after a chapter or two, the conflict fizzles.

Maybe a moral dilemma would turn up the heat. What if Lucy’s friend, Alice, was a widow, and the reason her husband is dead and her children are fatherless is because of an accident—an accident that was Lucy’s fault? And what if Alice had a problem with depression because of her loss and grief? Okay, that’s a twist that will make readers squirm. Lucy is now going to say no to Harold’s proposal—that is, if she has any moral marbles in her bag—and she’ll want to give Harold a chance to fall in love with Alice.

Good, but maybe the conflict needs another layer. Perhaps since the accident—which was years ago—Alice has used the incident as leverage, and she has forced Lucy into a subservient mode that has turned into oppression. Lucy will not only need to love Alice as Christ would, but she’ll also need discernment and wisdom and courage to break free of Alice’s control. Hopefully this additional dimension will help keep Lucy tripping toward the altar until she finally gets to say, “I do.”

If you have trouble creating conflict in your story, then find a brainstorming buddy who can help you flesh it out. This simple but effective idea has worked well for me.

I think one of the best books out there on plot development and conflict is The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman. I highly recommend it. Hope this helps.

 

Merry mayhem to all and to all a goodnight!

Bestselling and award-winning author, Anita Higman, has thirty-two books published.

One of Anita latest novels, A Merry Little Christmas (Guideposts/Summerside) is a romantic story set in the turbulent 60s. The novel is available in bookstores and online at Amazon.

Anita would love for you to visit her online at www.anitahigman.com or chat with her on her Facebook Reader Page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/AuthorAnitaHigman.

Read More

Jason Wright's 13 Tools for Authors ~ Video

Read More

Researchng History ~ Melanie Dobson

Melanie Dobson has written twelve contemporary and historical novels. In 2011, two of her historical novels won Carol Awards:  Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa (for historical romance) and The Silent Order (for romantic suspense). This fall her latest novel, Where the Trail Ends, will launch American Tapestries, a historical romance series based on significant events that have shaped our country.Melanie and her husband, Jon, enjoy exploring their home state of Oregon with their two daughters. When Melanie isn't writing or playing with her family, she enjoys exploring ghost towns and cemeteries, line dancing, and reading historical fiction. To learn more about Melanie and her books as well as more information about her research trips, please visit 

Researching a Historical Novel

By Melanie Dobson

My favorite part of writing a historical novel isn’t the actual writing. It’s the research.  I love exploring old houses and museums, tracking down experts, and reading diaries. With each discovery of information, my story begins to take shape. There are five specific ways that I research to both develop my plotlines and add authenticity to my historical novels.

Visit the Location

My first historical novel was about a Quaker woman who ran an Underground Railroad station so I spent days exploring hidden places that had once been used to harbor runaway slaves. In one home, I climbed the secret staircase hidden in a closet and crept over the exposed nails and boards to the room where the Quaker homeowners once hid runaways. At night I stepped out into the surrounding forest, when the cloud cover masked the stars and the only sound was the hoot of an owl. My heart raced as I wondered what a runaway slave might have felt like in that horrible blackness, pursued by a slave hunter and his dogs. How would she find a safe place to hide for the night? While the terrain and photo features on mapping websites help tremendously with geographical details, it is invaluable for me to experience my main setting as well so I know a bit of what my main characters would have seen, heard, and smelled.

Interview Experts and Locals

Because I’ve written both historical and contemporary fiction, I’ve interviewed experts about everything from how to sell stolen goods online to the technicalities of delivering mail in the late 1800s. I’ve spent hours interviewing about the inner workings of the Mafia, what it was like to grow up in a religious cult, and how a family could travel for six months across our country in a wagon. I’m always surprised by something I discover during these interviews, something I hadn’t been able to uncover in the books I’d read.

The most important interview I ever did was with an Amana woman named Emilie. I asked her a simple question—what were Amana women passionate about in the 19^th century? The answer to that question—friendship—shaped my entire novel.

Explore Museums and Landmarks

Living farms, museums, and historical villages like Williamsburg or Old Salem offer a unique and educational window to the past. I learned how to run a printing press in Ohio’s Roscoe Village, cook on the open hearth at a National Historic Landmark in Indiana, and drive an Amish buggy at a museum in Walnut Creek. Many of these museums and historic landmarks will give private tours to writers, and the friendly tour guides are often a seemingly endless source of information.

Invade the Library

One of my books was inspired by a beautiful mansion in Ohio that had been built before the Civil War. I couldn’t find information about this house, but the town’s librarian unearthed a research paper written sixty years ago that included pictures of the mansion, historical detail, and folklore about a secret tunnel that ran—and maybe still runs—underneath. This one paper gave me the information I needed for the details of my fictional house and helped form my plot.

Newspapers, magazines, diaries, archived research papers, and of course, books provide basics like how people dressed and what they ate during a specific era as well as more abstract concepts like how they approached life and what world events shaped their thinking.

Surf the Web

How did writers write before the Internet? I ask myself this question almost daily as I search for specific words or facts online. One of the most effective ways I’ve been able to use the Internet is to establish contacts where I can get additional information about a difficult research topic. In one novel, for example, I needed specifics on how a telephone would work in 1890, but I couldn’t seem to find this info anywhere. Then I found someone online who sold phones from this era, and we dialogued via email until I had my answers. Without him, I’d probably still be wondering.

It’s hard for me to stop researching, but after a month or two of work, I finally organize what I’ve discovered and input it into Scrivener. Then I use this research to begin writing my story.

Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan is Melanie’s latest novel.

As the Gilded Age comes to a close, Elena Bissette’s family has lost most of its fortune. The Bissettes still own a home on fashionable Mackinac Island, and they spend summers there in hopes of introducing Elena to a wealthy suitor. Quickly tiring of the extravagant balls at the Grand Hotel, she spends her days walking along the island’s rugged coastline. There she meets Chase, a handsome laborer who invites her to watch the ships from an abandoned lighthouse. The two begin to meet there in secret, hoping to solve a mystery buried in the pages of a tattered diary. As Elena falls in love with Chase, her mother relentlessly contrives to introduce her to Chester Darrington, the island's most eligible bachelor. Marriage to the elusive millionaire would solve the Bissettes' financial woes, and Elena is torn between duty and love. 

Read More

Mercy in a Gift Shop - Marcia Lee Laycock

I received this scripture by email recently -  "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (Jude 1:21 NKJ)

I was struck by the words, “looking for the mercy.” I believe this is a big part of being a Christ follower – we are to be looking for evidence of His hand everywhere we go, watching for His grace and mercy, looking for signs of His incomparable love. Sometimes we are to be that hand ourselves. 

Some time ago I was in a hospital gift shop, stocking shelves with Christian books. A young woman asked me about the flowers in a nearby display case. Her eyes were hopeful but I had to disappoint her and explain that I did not work in the shop. I was just there to stock the book rack. I pointed to two ladies at a nearby counter. “Maybe they can help,” I said.

She nodded, stared at the flower display and sighed. “I’m not really sure what I want.”

I took note of her dress then – a baseball cap pulled over messy hair; a thin pair of pyjama bottoms topped by a hospital issue housecoat wrapped around a frail frame; pull-on terrycloth slippers, two sizes too big.

“My friend is dying,” she said, then turned back to me. “I am too.”

I put my clipboard down and waited. Her story unfolded in simple language, the words slipping from her mouth almost as though rehearsed. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a picture of her seven year old daughter. I could see the resemblance. She smiled when I mentioned it and went on to say there was a surgery that she was hoping for – highly experimental, there was only one doctor in the country who could do it and he just happened to live in a nearby city. But then her voice fell and I had to lean close to hear. Her friend had had the surgery. She was still dying.

The conversation turned to the word hope then. She had hope they would agree to do the surgery, hope that, unlike her friend, she would recover, hope that she would live to watch her daughter grow up.

She said a pastor came to visit sometimes and “we say our small prayers together. They seem small, just words, but maybe not, eh?” Again that hopeful look in her eyes.

I was praying small prayers right then. She’s so young, Lord. Please. Please.

Then she was gone and I resumed stocking the rack. I do it once a month and in that hospital, the rack is usually almost empty by the time I return. As I filled the pockets with books I was acutely aware of their contents. They hold pages about the love and mercy of Jesus, pages filled with stories of courage and faith, pages of humor to lift a sad heart and inspiration to encourage a weary soul. Pages of hope.

I knew I was sent there that day to do much more than “just stock the book racks,” but my job suddenly seemed important. My other job, as a writer, suddenly seemed essential, “That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.” (Ps. 26:7, KJV).

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone and also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan. Marcia's second novel, A Tumbled Stone has just been released. 

Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers of faith can be downloaded here. Visit Marcia's website

Read More

Author Interview ~ Beth Vogt

Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. She’s discovered that God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.”

Her inspirational contemporary romance novel, Wish You Were Here, debuted May 2012 (Howard Books.) Her second novel, Catch a Falling Star, releases May 2013. Beth is an established magazine writer and former editor of Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS International.

Tell us a bit about your current project.

Wish You Were Here asks the question “Can the wrong kiss lead to Mr. Right?” The novel tells the story of what happens when a woman kisses her fiancé’s brother five days before the wedding. Which is the mistake? The kiss? Or the wedding?

We are all about journeys...unique ones at that. How convoluted was your path to your first published book? Share some highlights or lowlights from your path to publication. 

The first book I ever published was a non-fiction book about late-in-life motherhood, Baby Changes Everything (Revell 2007.) For years, I said I would never writer fiction – I was quite content staying on my side of the writing road. And then I hit a season of burnout when I told my husband I would never write another word – ever, ever, ever. He came home three days later to find me at the computer … um, writing. When he asked me about my vow to never write again (ever, ever, ever), I told him that what I was doing didn’t count. I was just having fun, playing around with an idea for a novel. No one would ever see it. That “just for fun” idea became Wish You Were Here. God used burnout to redirect my life – and allow me to see a whole new dream come true.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work, or struggle in a particular area such as writers block or angst driven head-banging against walls? Please share some helpful overcoming hints that you’ve discovered.

Self-doubt wants to tag along on this journey, kind of like an unwelcome, invisible companion. The best way to overcome self-doubt is to surround myself with my “security net” of friends – both writers and non-writers. These friends (including my husband) speak truth to me when I’m up on a ledge and want to jump off. They point me back to who I am in God’s eyes and they help me to shake off the self-doubt.

What mistakes have you made while seeking publication? Or to narrow it down further what’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

That idea that you’re going to get it all done one day? It’s not going to happen.

And comparing yourself to someone else? Don’t go there. You walk your journey along the writing road and let them walk their journey. If your paths cross, cheer them on.

What is your favorite source for finding story ideas?

I love weaving real life into my novels. Often story ideas are prompted by questions that I’ve faced and found answers to – or maybe not.  I like letting fictional characters wrestle with the issues we face in the real world. I also love mulling over the question, “What if?”  and getting together with other writers and brainstorming story ideas.

Have you ever had one of those awkward writer moments you’d like to share with us, the ones wherein you get “the look” from the normals? Example, you stand at a knife display at the sporting goods store and ask the clerk which would be the best to use to disembowel a six foot man…please do tell.

At one time I thought Wish You Were Here was going to be a romantic suspense. Long story short: That was a rookie writer’s attempt to ramp up tension. Several years ago, during my youngest daughter’s spring break, we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park trying to find the best place for a confrontation – complete with a car going over the edge of a cliff. We were marking spots on a map of the park. I kept thinking: If the teacher asks the class what they did during spring break, what will my daughter say? “We tried to figure out how to kill somebody?”

Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?
 

That time is relative in the writing world? That waiting is mandatory? That authors must market themselves? That social media is essential – and can pull me away from my work-in-progress … Oh, sorry. You only asked for one pet peeve.

Share a dream or something you'd love to accomplish through your writing career.

I am thankful to say I’ve accomplished more than I ever dreamed of as a writer. But one thing I hope to do in the future is encourage other writers – to help them achieve their dreams. I saw my dreams come true because of others coming alongside me and helping me. I want to do the same. 

What gives you the greatest writer buzz, makes the trip worth the hassles (besides coffee or other substances, or course)?

Relationships with other writers. We “get” each other, you know? And connecting with another writer, talking deadlines and elevator pitches and successes and “try again” moments – all of this has enriched my life so, so much.

Describe your special or favorite writing spot or send a picture if you'd like.

I have three-quarters of an office that is all mine. Or maybe it’s more like four-fifths. It’s large enough for two desks, and so the second desk is where my youngest daughter does homework or where my husband pays bills. But the office is mine – painted the way I like, with my favorite photos and sayings and mementos on the wall. 

What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?

I grab a new copy of The Book Buddy, written by best-selling author Susan May Warren. It’s an amazing work-text that helps me map out my story – everything from my theme and Story Question, to my characters and my subplots, to my key scenes. By the time I’m done working through “Buddy,” I’ve plotted out enough to begin writing my fast draft.

Have you discovered any successful marketing/promo ideas that you'd share with us?

I had the absolutely delightful experience of being part of the “Debs” with three other authors who debuted in May: Dani Pettrey, Katie Ganshert and Olivia Newport. We joined together to encourage one another months before our books launched. Then Rel of Relz Reviewz and Kelli Standish – who is amazing with web design and all the “techy” stuff – coordinated a live online launch party for us. Our publishers – Howard Books, Bethany, Waterbrook and Revell – supported our combo launch party. We also highlighted Heart of the Bride, a ministry that provides for the needs of orphans worldwide.

Parting words? Anything you wish we would’ve asked because you’ve got the perfect answer?

So … what about the llamas? Wish You Were Here is a bit quirky, in that it has a trio of llamas incorporated in the storyline. People often ask “What’s up with the llamas?” I have my husband, Rob, to thank for that. Whenever I would hit a wall and not know what to write next, he would say, “Is this when the aliens come in?” I always told him I wasn’t writing that kind of novel. One day while we were in Estes Park (yes, the same time we were trying to figure out how to kill someone off in the book) we saw some llamas. And my husband asked, “Well, how about putting llamas in your book?”

That suggestion made me laugh – and I agreed.

Read More