Summer Splash and Doldrums…

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Gail

Well, it’s mid-July already. Somebody told me the other day that as you age, seasons go even faster, even though you have more time to relax and enjoy them. One of the truths of life we’d rather not face.

But we keep our eyes on the blossoms:

Every summer offers many to delight in, but certain ones seem extra spectacular.

Last night I shared a book talk at the Clear Lake Public Library with Jerry from the Algona POW Museum. Wow – a great crowd, and our audience included a World War II veteran.

When I asked where he was during the war, he said, “I was stationed in England as a pilot.”

Oh my goodness… needless to say, we dropped everything and gave him a round of applause. Takes me back to a fabulous novel someone gave me for my birthday — ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE — such a worthwhile read!

Also reminds me of my Women of the Heartland series . . . two books out already, and one scheduled for release this fall. I haven’t heard yet about the exact release date for A Purpose True, but it’s coming!

Can’t get enough of this incredible World War II era, and there’s no time like the summer doldrums to plunge into a meaningful new read.

Happy July 4th- Starbucks card giveaway!

Posted on July 3, 2017 by Gail

Welcome to Kansas author Barbara Fox, who is offering a commenter a ten-dollar Starbucks card.

I learned a lot here about using Pinterest here, and hope you will, too. Take it away, Barbara!

At first glance, Pinterest looks like an image rich sharing media limited in the use of words, so how can it be of value to a writer?

I live a double-sided writer’s life with my more recent side being inspirational romance. My other side helps riding instructors develop their teaching abilities. I use Pinterest for both venues with a mix of public and private boards. Starting with a private board, I can switch the setting to public once I’m ready to share with potential readers. Private boards are a safe place to develop my concept.

Visuals to Build Your Characters and Their world.

The simplest writer’s use for a board is to collect visuals of people, places and things that represent the characters and settings for your wip. I start with a board devoted to my hero, Jason Hughes. Since his board is private, I can pin hundreds of images of Jason without appearing obsessive! To find my Jason, I entered his qualities into search bar at the top of the page and chose heart throb, Henry Cavill (Superman.) I’m careful to leave Henry’s name on his pictures and just add my character’s name for reference. Since charming Jason doesn’t always have his best foot forward I don’t just look for the gorgeous pictures of Henry Cavill. I search for mad or annoyed Henry, sweaty Henry, clean shaven and bearded Henry.

And Henry doesn’t always dress like my hero, either, so I add pictures of Jason’s style and continue to add more of his personal items, such as his home or horse, the vehicle he drives and anything else that represents him. This gives me the opportunity to see my character on a different level and helps me flesh out my scenes.

Next I add my character’s activities. Jason was in Special Forces and has to make a rescue, so I added night vision goggles, weapons, typical Army gear and possible harnesses he might use in the rescue. And Jason’s Myers Briggs personality test results are on his board, along with more about his personality type.

Collecting anything that shows me who Jason is makes him clearer in my mind and as he develops more fully I delete the pins that no longer fit his image. Sometimes, I’ll browse Jason’s board before writing a scene from his POV to help put myself in his place.

Each of my main characters gets their own private board. If I’m unable to find an exact representation for a character, I’ll use multiple people. I might get facial expression from one person and body language from another. I’ll also add their love interest and any other important people so I can see them together.

I love the quotes on Pinterest and will include one that suits my character. For instance my heroine, Rylie, rides horses. The quote I chose for her reads, “Beware I ride horses which means I own pitchforks, have the strength to haul hay, have the guts to scream a half ton animal after being kicked — YOU will not be a problem.”

Visuals for Writing Description

Being able to stare at a picture and describe what you see is more effective than trying to write a picture from memory. Sometimes I study a picture, describe the facial expression and save it in a file. Later when I need beat ideas, I can access the collection I’ve written for my character. Or I might just write a description based on a pin as a warm-up before I start writing.

Writing from pins is also great for activity. For instance, one of my public boards is Great Kisses, Romance and Dance. If I’m writing a dance scene I’ll look through the pins I’ve collected to see where partners place their hands, how they hold one another, or how their head angles as they gaze into each other’s eyes. Hand-holding has its own expression, whether fingers are entwined just a little or deeply and desperately clasped. The pictures reveal more detail than does our foggy memory or imagination. I have private boards for facial expression, body language, and helps with beats.

Making a Main Board for My Story.

When I’m ready, I move my favorite pictures representing each character and activity to a main board for my wip. When I want to share, I make the board public. Then I’ll use Facebook to attract readers to the Pinterest board where they are drawn into the story. It’s a great way to engage people and receive feedback and they will want to know when your story will be published. Beta readers will enjoy seeing the story from your perspective. Currently I use a working title so as not to interfere if I enter a contest.

There are so many good ways to use Pinterest and this post doesn’t scratch the surface. It would take a series to cover everything. I love Pinterest for its creative stimulus, but it’s also a terrific marketing tool. Pinterest claims 1.75 million active member users each month. In my personal experience, it is the number three portal for entry to my site for riding instructors. For a good post about using Pinterest to promote your book, check out DiAnn Mills’ article, The Power of Pinterest http://www.novelrocket.com/2017/06/the-power-of-pinterest.html

This Pinterest For Creatives post comes with a warning: Beware. Pinterest can hold your attention for hours. It’s easy to start out look at Henry Cavill’s handsome face and end up reading a recipe for gluten free pancakes or unstuffed cabbage rolls.

You can check out my Pinterest page at https://www.pinterest.com/barbaraellinfox/. Look for Rylie and Friends.

Tell us how you use Pinterest as a writer or a reader and we’ll put your name in the bucket for a $10 Starbucks card.

I write stories about love, hope, healing and horses through contemporary Christian romance. My lifetime experience teaching riders and training horses brings authenticity to my stories about horse lovers in love. My web site is devoted to helping riding instructors with lesson plans, ideas and encouragement for their teaching careers. I live in the Mid-West with an assortment of horses including, my American Mustang, Reno. You can visit me at TheRidingInstructor.net or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/barbaraellinfox

Catching Up With Daylight -MASSIVE GIVEAWAY!

Posted on June 22, 2017 by Gail

Welcome to the WhiteFire Publishing Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to go back to stop #1 and collect all the clues in order. Once you have them all, you’ll have uncovered a secret message. Turn that in at the final stop for a chance to win one of THREE amazing prize packages!

The Hunt begins at Roseanna White’s site

Take your time! You have all weekend to complete the Hunt—entries will be counted until Monday June 26—so have fun reading all the posts along the way and getting to know each author
Lots of extra prizes! Many of the authors are featuring unique giveaways as well, for even more chances to win!
Submit your entry for the grand prizes back at Roseanna White’s blog.

On an evening flight from Des Moines, Iowa to Colorado Springs, the man in the seat behind me quipped, “We’ll be catching up with daylight on this trip.” Voila! The perfect title for my memoir.

A few years later, WhiteFire Publishing issued me a contract for this manuscript, a compilation of essays, quotes, and women’s stories. The process of nurturing this work to publication taught me so much about life, even though I was a late bloomer with my writing.

I learned that memoir borrows some fiction techniques, such as grounding the reader in each new chapter. And of course, the genre requires imagination.

You may be singing your heart out like this little wren in our back yard, but must alert the reader to the whys and wherefores.

Memoir relays one’s unique journey, but mine definitely benefitted from editors’ objectivity. In the end, the published books delivered to my door one day gave me deep satisfaction. I believe I may have hugged the Fed Ex man.

Taking the journey is one thing, but turning your private writing into public writing entirely another, and I’m so grateful WhiteFire gave me the opportunity.

From there, the road has stretched on to writing World War II fiction focused on characters’ journeys. Their joys and sorrows become as real to me as my next door neighbor’s.

But for me, memoir needed to come first – making meaning of my own experiences. Eudora Welty wrote, “To imagine yourself inside another person…is what a story writer does in every piece of work; it is his first step, and his last too, I suppose.”

Here’s the Stop # 7 Scoop:

You can order my book at: http://amazon.com/author/gailkittleson

Clue to Write Down: imagination

Link to Stop # 8, the Next Stop on the Loop: Joy Palmer

Need the full list of stops?

Melody Carlson (hosted)

All finished? Submit Your Entries!

And now, for my own little giveaway! I’m adding a World War II replica flour sack dishtowel to our group giveaway, since that era affected my childhood so much, and therefore plays into Catching Up With Daylight.

Jot a comment here, perhaps about how memoir has touched you, and leave a LIKE or a smile on my FB author page (if you’ve already LIKED it) to qualify.

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Gail

It’s HOT outside! Add a strong wind, and most people choose to stay indoors. Even the little wren outside our back door seems to have the same idea, although she still sings her cheery songs.

The flowers are blooming like crazy – that’s the glory of summer, with trees leafed out in full and grass growing an inch in a few hours.

This year, our daughter gave us a new idea – growing potatoes in a garbage can. You plant a layer, cover them as usual, and wait for them to sprout. Then cover them again. Keep repeating as the potatoes plants show their leafy heads, and of course, water liberally. Hopefully you’ll reap a barrel full of potatoes at harvest time.

We’ll see. Sounds like a winner, but time will tell.This brings to mind my latest World War II story, With Each New Dawn. If you need a compelling read this summer, this one’s for you.

This “We’ll see” attitude prevailed during that era when armies tried various tactics, hoping their latest strategy would work. Sometimes they met with success, sometimes not. And my heroine and hero lived through the waiting.

THE COPPER BOX

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Gail

Today, we welcome debut author, Suzanne Bratcher, whom I met a few winters ago in Arizona. I’ve visited Jerome, the setting for her mystery, and even read a bit of the story early on. Suzanne is offering a free print copy of her novel to one fortunate commenter. Enjoy!

Suzanne, I’d like to know how the plot idea came to you, and if you saw the ending from the start, or if the story evolved as you wrote.

The plot grew out of the setting. Jerome, Arizona advertizes itself as “the largest ghost town in America” and “the billion dollar copper camp.” From my many visits to Jerome, I knew it would be the perfect place for a mystery, particularly a mystery with a connection to the past. I wanted to use the copper connection, which is so apparent in Jerome, so a copper box became the object someone was willing to kill for. I think of mystery writing as telling a story upside down and backwards. To do that I have to know the ending before I start writing.

Tell us how the setting influenced the characters of your novel.

Because Jerome is a ghost town, I imagined characters who had come to Jerome to face ghosts from their own past. Marty Greenlaw’s ghost was a four-year-old girl with golden hair who appeared in a recurring nightmare, a child who turned out to be Marty’s little sister who died twenty-two years before. Paul Russell’s ghost was his dead wife Linda, killed in a car wreck Paul blamed himself for. He was in Jerome for the summer doing his best to fulfill Linda’s dream of rebuilding an old house across the road from Marty’s grandmother’s house.

Your title and cover certainly attract the reader – please explain how they came to be.

I wanted a title that would make a reader wonder what the book was about. Boxes always make me curious because I wonder what might be in them. The cover was designed by Diane Cretsinger Turpin of Mantle Rock Publishers. Diane read a synopsis of the book and then asked me about covers I liked on books I’d read. I sent her several, and she went to work. She sent me three or four ideas, and I picked the concept of the young woman and the copper mine. This cover is what she came up with. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

Do you have another book in the works? Tell us how it compares to The Copper Box.

I’m finishing a romantic suspense novel called Guardians of the Canyon. I started it while my agent, Jim Hart, was looking for the right publisher for The Copper Box. Guardians is set in Arizona, and the two main characters are a woman and a man who fall in love, but the plot isn’t a mystery; it’s suspense. I’m also starting to consider possibilities for a sequel to The Copper Box. Jerome is a perfect setting for a series of mysteries, and Marty and Paul make a good team.

Any advice you’d give fledgling authors, and lessons you’ve learned along the way that might help others avoid pitfalls?

Read, read, read! Find contemporary books you wish you’d written and study how the writer put the story together. When an agent or an editor makes suggestions about your writing, don’t get defensive. Listen and take it to heart. The published version of The Copper Box is very different—and much better—then my first vision of the story. The dual point of view, the starting point, and even the genre all grew out of comments I first took as criticism. But the more I thought about each comment, the more I saw new possibilities for the story.

Thanks so much for being my guest, and congratulations on your DEBUT AUTHOR DAY!!!

Thanks for having me. I’d like to let your readers know of an early order incentive I’m offering. Anyone who orders the paper copy of The Copper Box by June 12 and sends a copy of the receipt to suzannebratcher@gmail.com will receive the free feature article, “The Story Behind the Story.” It tells about my personal connection to Jerome and goes into more detail about how The Copper Box came to be written.

HISTORICALS: STAYING TRUE TO THE TIME

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Gail

I’m glad to welcome Cynthia Roemer as she celebrates the publication of her first historical novel. Cynthia, please tell us about your experience researching this story.

I’m as old-fashioned as they come, so historical novels are a perfect fit for me—both reading and writing. As a reader, I love the nostalgia and all the life lessons one can learn from those who’ve gone before us. But as a writer, I enjoy delving into the past and researching the time period, more specifically the nineteenth century. When writing a historical/historical romance novel, research is a must to ensure the book is true to the time period.

My debut novel, Under This Same Sky, which released in late April, took place in 1854. I’ve been thrilled at some of the comments thus far by reviewers stating the novel “makes you feel exactly like you lived back in those days”. How gratifying such comments are to an author who’s spent countless hours trying to be certain every detail is true and accurate.

The well-known facts are easy to achieve. Under This Same Sky took place on the Illinois prairie in the mid-1800s. Most everyone knows settlers lived in log cabins, but do they know how the cabins were erected and what materials were used to chink the log walls? It’s widely known that covered wagons were often used when traveling across the prairie, but not many will know that a bucket of tallow was kept handy so that when the wheels began to squeak and squeal they had to be greased much like a car engine needs oil to run smoothly.

There were so many questions I had to ask as I wrote the novel: What type of clothing was worn in 1854? What farming equipment was available? Had screen doors been invented? How would my characters cross the Mississippi? What would the city of St. Louis have looked like back then? What type of lighting was used? It’s these fine details that make a novel either believable or, if left out, leave readers with a less than satisfied reaction.

Though research is a vital part of writing a historical novel, that’s not to say a writer can’t have a little fun creating fictional people and places along with the true ones. Under This Same Sky is a blend of fictional and real. My main character, Becky Hollister grows up a few miles outside of the fictional town of Miller Creek, IL, but later travels to the very real town of St. Louis, Missouri. Only one of my characters is based on a real person. The others are products of my imagination.

What’s wonderful about historical fiction is that we can have the best of both worlds—the reality of the past blended with the creativity of fiction. A match that—in this author’s opinion, can’t be beat!

~ She thought she’d lost everything ~ Instead she found what she needed most. ~

Illinois ~ 1854

Becky Hollister wants nothing more than to live out her days on the prairie, building a life for herself alongside her future husband. But when a tornado rips through her parents’ farm, killing her mother and sister, she must leave the only home she’s ever known and the man she’s begun to love to accompany her injured father to St. Louis.

Catapulted into a world of unknowns, Becky finds solace in corresponding with Matthew Brody, the handsome pastor back home. But when word comes that he is all but engaged to someone else, she must call upon her faith to decipher her future.

Cynthia Roemer is an award-winning inspirational writer with a heart for scattering seeds of hope into the lives of readers. Raised in the cornfields of rural Illinois, Cynthia enjoys spinning tales set in the backdrop of the 1800s prairie. She writes from her family farm in central Illinois where she resides with her husband and their two college-aged sons.

Contact Info:

Website: http://cynthiaroemer.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCynthiaRoemer/

Twitter: https://twitter.com@cynthiaroemer

Purchase Info:

Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Under-This-Same-Cynthia-Roemer/dp/194509415X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494271640&sr=8-1&keywords=under+this+same+sky

Could You Write for Chicken Soup For the Soul?

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Gail

Tracy Crump, our guest this week, has some ideas for writers – and a GIVEAWAY of one Chicken Soup for the Soul book. Enjoy! Welcome, Tracy.

How did I come to publish eighteen stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul books?

It’s all Marylane’s doing.

Shortly after I began writing, I joined a writers group led by Marylane Wade Koch. One day she emailed to say Chicken Soup was doing a second book for the nurse’s soul. She knew I had worked as a nurse before I had children and encouraged me to submit.

Me? Nursing was so long ago. Besides, Chicken Soup would never publish anything I wrote. I let the deadline pass.

A few days later, Marylane emailed again. “They’ve extended the deadline for the nurse’s soul book. Why don’t you try submitting something?”

Ok. Now she was pushing. But what could I write about?

I finally thought of one story. And then another. And another. I ended up submitting five stories. They held three for consideration and chose two to publish. Me! In Chicken Soup for the Soul.

So what I want you to learn from my story is: If I can do it, you can do it.

Excellent Market

Chicken Soup is a great market for both experienced and inexperienced writers. Open to submissions from anyone, each anthology features 101 stories from writers just like you.

Every book has a unique theme, and Chicken Soup usually has five to ten books in the works at any given time. They publish true inspirational stories and poems, and even though they are a general market series, editors allow writers to include an element of faith. What a great opportunity for Christian writers.

Nice Pay

While it’s not a fortune, Chicken Soup does pay a solid $200 per accepted story or poem. That’s not bad for a piece under 1200 words.

And contributors also get 10 free books per story published. They can be given as gifts or sold at back-of-the-room events. A nice perk.

Fun Workshops

Now eighteen stories later, I conduct workshops on writing for the best-selling series in publishing history. My writing partners and I teach what Chicken Soup wants, what they don’t want, and how to stir up a winning story. And attendees have a blast in our breakout sessions doing mind mapping and dissecting chickens. (Don’t worry—no animals are harmed in the making of a story.)

So why don’t you try your hand at writing for Chicken Soup for the Soul?

If I can do it, you can do it!

Thanks Tracy – I hope someone who reads this will give it a go!

Bio: Tracy Crump loves to tell stories (the good kind) and has published two dozen of them in anthologies, including Chicken Soup for the Soul. She conducts workshops and webinars on writing for the popular series and recently began taking the show on the road, partnering with writers who want to bring “Stirring the Pot: Writing for Chicken Soup for the Soul” to their area. She has also published numerous articles and devotionals in publications such as Focus on the Family, Mature Living, ParentLife, and Upper Room. Her free writers newsletter includes original articles from industry professionals such as Liz Curtis Higgs and Angela Hunt as well as story callouts for Chicken Soup and other anthologies. Visit Tracy at www.TracyCrump.com or www.WriteLifeWorkshops.com.

Pursuing Gold – Striving for Excellence

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Gail

Cynthia Simmons not only writes about characters who face huge odds, she’s faced them herself. Please tell us about your experience, Cynthia.

Have you ever faced a task so daunting and intimidating you wanted to run the opposite direction? I did. We homeschooled all of our children, but then the Lord presented me with a special gift: my fifth child with severe disabilities. I was already a busy mother, but had found my sweet spot, my comfortable zone in teaching.

When God landed sweet little Caleb in my lap, I was quite frustrated because I felt I couldn’t do more. That feeling only grew as he turned out to have grand mal seizures and multiple disabilities. The psychologist who tested my son commented on the myriad of weaknesses without corresponding strengths to help him overcome.

I remember telling the Lord I’d had enough, and that someone would write on my tombstone, “She Homeschooled.” Certainly I would be teaching him forever since getting him to learn even the simplest task took Herculean strength.

Just imagine teaching a child to count. I always handed my kids blocks, and we’d pick up a block as we said the numbers, “one, two, three, four.” That worked with my other children, but failed horribly with Caleb. You see, he expended so much effort to pick up a block that he couldn’t say the numbers. Getting the numbers in the correct order was almost impossible too. (We call that sequencing, which was one of his disabilities.)

Of course, I didn’t know the list of problems he harbored when I started. His bloodcurdling screams rattled me. Imagine your son screaming, “I’m stupid. I’m stupid, I’m stupid.” Oh how that hurt!

Looking back, I see the Lord’s guidance at his birth. We’d named him Caleb after the Caleb in the Old Testament who trusted God could defeat the Canaanites. After wandering in the wilderness with the other Jewish people, he was seventy-eight when he entered the Promised Land and eighty-five when he climbed the mountain to defeat the giants the Israelites had feared. We told Caleb that story so many times. His namesake persevered, and he and I had to do the same thing.

“…we exult in our tribulations knowing that tribulation brings perseverance…” Romans 5

I didn’t want to give up, though I often felt as if I were pushing a bus up a mountain. When I stopped to measure, I’d gone an inch. Caleb reversed letters and numbers, making it hard for him to read or write. I had to use special techniques to help him discern the shape and direction of anything on paper. We wrote letters in whipped cream, sand, cookie dough, and play dough.

It still took him months to connect the shape of the letter with the name and sound. After that gut wrenching battle, he learned to read and write. Caleb has boundless compassion for anyone unhappy or suffering. Just like a bee rushes to nectar, he finds that one discouraged person and tries to make him or her feel better.

I’ve given you a brief summary of Caleb’s intense battles. Now I understand staying with the job, and striving for excellence was what God wanted for my husband and I. Both of us grew during those grueling years. We worked hard, and God blessed our efforts. Let me encourage you to do the same in whatever difficulty you face.

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. Cynthia is giving away a print copy of this novel to one commenter on this blog.

A Chattanooga native, Cynthia L Simmons and her husband have five children and reside in Atlanta. A Bible teacher and former homeschool mother, she writes a column for Leading Hearts Magazine. She conducts writing workshops, served as past president of Christian Authors Guild and directs Atlanta Christian Writing Conference. “Cyndi” is fond of history and offers younger ladies the elegance of God’s wisdom. She hosts Heart of the Matter Radio and co-founded Homeschool Answers. Her author website is www.clsimmons.com.

Posted on May 6, 2017 by Gail

This morning, a nifty anonymous quote appeared on my teabag- thank you, whoever came up with this:

The ones who say, “You can’t” and “you won’t”

are probably the ones scared that you will.

Will this little house wren move into our rather dilapidated offering?

Will this American tree sparrow father a healthy brood of chicks this summer?

Will my poor tulips make it through the cold spell we’ve been having?

And this early butterfly, will it …” I’ll let you think of a question about this delicate creature.

And what about us? Will we take the plunge to submit our writing for publication? Will we go through with our plan simplify our lifestyle?

Will we … what ever decisions we face, chances are some naysayers exist. Mine live mostly in my own heart, so I’ve had to learn to ignore them. I used to hope they’d magically disappear, but that hasn’t happened in the past six decades, so I doubt it will.

Today, we’re attending our nephew’s high school graduation party. He’s such a cool young man – I hope he moves ahead through life with confidence and positivity.

Ignoring those who say we can’t or won’t–a good resolution to make as spring bursts into summer!

An Unlikely Romance Author

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Gail

Welcome to Janell Wojtowicz, with her debut novel, Embracing Hope. If you’d like to qualify to win an e-book copy, please leave a comment below.

How did you chose your genre, Janell?

If someone had told me thirty, twenty, even ten years ago that I would publish a Christian romance novel, I’d have guffawed and rolled my eyes. Puleeease! I’m a serious writer! I’ve reported on the Iowa caucuses, covered a murder in a small town, written fund-raising letters telling true stores of tragedy and triumph, and pitched centennial celebrations to national media.

No way would I write sappy love stories where there are always happy endings—usually with a handsome man on one knee holding a diamond in a little black velvet box—or better yet, a beautiful bride in a princess ball gown floating down the aisle to that handsome man.

Well, crow should be my main course at every meal. In November 2016, my debut Christian contemporary romance novel, “Embracing Hope”, was launched to the masses. I blame it all on a BBC version of “Jane Eyre” in 2007. The night after watching the movie, I dreamt the beginning, middle and ending of what was published nine years later.

When I first started writing the novel, I was hesitant to admit it was a love story, and a few times I got snickers when I told people. After all, they knew me as a journalist/PR professional who wrote about emerald ash borer, mission trips to China, and pig (yes, pig) judging at county fairs. Then I began finding women who said they liked Christian romance. It’s a clean, uplifting genre, they said. They aren’t reluctant to leave the book lying around the house where their daughters and granddaughters might find it and ask to read it. They don’t blush at erotic images or cringe at the foul language.

I’ve learned that there are THOUSANDS of Christian romance authors out there, and it’s a popular and growing book niche with millions of readers. Dare I admit that some of those ardent readers will find my novel sweet and sappy? Probably, after all, there’s a happy wedded-after—except not on bended knee or in a ball gown. My goal is to make readers cry, so keep a tissue handy when you read it. One reviewer told me she got so involved in the plot that she felt the need to pray for the main character! Yet Christian romance has attracted a growing audience because most novels have a message beyond romance. In my case, the message is of hope and forgiveness in the aftermath of tragedy.

I’m still a little hesitant to say I’m a romance novelist. Get over it, Janell! After all, if my brother, a Baptist preacher, feels comfortable telling his congregation that his sister wrote a Christian romance—and read it himself—then I can be comfortable admitting it, too.

My name is Janell Butler Wojtowicz, and I AM a Christian romance novelist!

Thanks so much. I can relate, because I really didn’t plan on writing fiction, either. We appreciate hearing your story, Janell.

Janell Butler Wojtowicz 2

Born and raised on an Iowa farm, Janell was one of those kids who loved to write the dreaded “What I did on summer vacation” essay. It’s no surprise she spent her entire 30-year career in writing. Much of it has been the “people stories” of trial, tragedy and triumph, which are reflected in her debut novel. Janell is a freelance writer/editor, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She and her husband, Frank, live in New Brighton, Minnesota. She has two step-sons, a step-daughter-in-law and three step-granddaughters. “Embracing Hope” is her debut novel.

NOVEL SUMMARY

Christian college dean Drew McKinley mourns his dead wife and still wears his wedding ring.He stumbles on a desperate journey to understand God’s motives for her tragic death. Crossing his perilous path is Allison, a graduate student and new employee in the dean’s office. Even as she deals with financial hardships, she recognizes Drew’s unresolved grief from her own loss. Putting up a roadblock is Chris Whitney, the handsome but egotistical student senate president. He carries the secret burden of a dysfunctional family and a below-the-surface temper.

The road Drew must navigate is fraught with career upheaval, a reawakening heart, substance and domestic abuse, a violent assault, and the struggle for forgiveness and restoration. Will Drew finish his journey to embrace the hope God offers, the love Allison shares, and the guidance Chris needs, or will he turn his back on all three with catastrophic consequences?

You may reach Janell here: