AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Cindy A. Christiansen

Hello, Kathryn. I have been writing for some time now and have sixteen published books. I got started writing when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune illness and was bedridden. Writing and adopting my first rescue dog was what got me through that difficult period of time. Although I write sweet romantic suspense, I also add dogs, feature them on my covers and donate a portion of my proceeds to Community Animal Welfare Society (CAWS).

After four years of not being able to write due to my youngest son's health issues, I am back with two new novellas--Christmas Spoons and Hawk Mountain Heist. Hawk Mountain Heist is my traditional style but Christmas Spoons is my first historical, holiday, family-life story. It's getting great reviews on Amazon!

Louise has been passed from one relative to another for years. Now, World War II has ended, she’s ready to graduate high school and wants to escape to Salt Lake City, Utah on her own. That is, until she meets Danny who has just returned from World War II.

Danny longed for two years to return to his small home town. Now that he’s home, nothing feels the same. He finds himself wishing for more out of life than working his family’s farm and turning his money over to his parents.

When friends decide to elope to Las Vegas, Danny and Louise find themselves along for the ride. With very few possessions, little money and limited jobs after the war, the two struggle to build a future with only their love, friends, optimism and faith.

This novella is a historical, holiday, family-life story suitable for young adults and up.

Buy Links:  https://books2read.com/u/4XKAQv

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When easy-going Tanker Sutherland is jilted at the altar, he moves to Utah for a job on the ski patrol and to train a new avalanche rescue dog, Tobler. Tank is annoyed when he’s assigned to help a pretentious, well-to-do woman named Olivia find her brother instead of an official search and rescue. Never once did he dream it would involve criminal recyclers, kidnapping, an avalanche and serious danger. 

Olivia is terrified of being buried alive, but it doesn’t stop her from going to the winter mountains during a huge storm to find her real estate developer brother when he doesn’t return her calls. Unfortunately, she’s assigned a ski patroller who doesn’t have his heart in the search.

Will Olivia and Tanker set their distrust aside long enough to rescue her brother from criminal recyclers?

This novella is a sweet (clean) romantic suspense suitable for young adults and up.

Buylink: https://books2read.com/u/4NGJxx

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Bestselling author, Cindy A Christiansen, has combined her love of dogs with her joy of writing to create an award-winning combination. Her novels always include canine characters both in the pages and on the cover, an extension of the credit she gives to her extraordinary rescue dogs for their part in helping her overcome numerous challenges. In a reciprocal gesture for their love and devotion, a portion of the proceeds from her books is donated to assist abandoned and abused dogs.

She lives in Utah with her loving husband, two creative children with autism, and a pack of rambunctious dogs.

Fly into a good book!

You can contact her through her website at:

http://www.dragonflyromance.com

or by email at:

cindy@dragonflyromance.com.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Anne Evans

Tell me about yourself. What got you started in writing?

When I was a child, my dad had a personal library of 4000 books. He got me hooked on the reading addiction early. From there it was a natural step for me to start wanting to create books of my own. As a middle schooler, I fell in love with Rosemary Sutcliff’s juvenile historical fiction and at age 15 I finished my first full length novel. The rest is history.

How do you schedule your writing time? When do you write?

As the mom of a preschooler and new baby, I write either before the kiddos get up, or after they’re in bed. While on deadline, though, I’ve been known to attempt trying to string sentences together while my 4-year-old “Joe-Joe” has his preschool songs turned up to an ear-blasting amount of decibels.

How and where do you write? Do you prefer a lap top or some other method of getting your words down?

I type 120 wpm so trying to piece together thoughts on anything slower than a laptop keyboard drives me crazy. Thumb typing on my phone is sheer torture.

What's your favorite part about writing? Your least favorite part about writing?

My favorite part about writing is getting people’s edits in my critique groups and seeing my story through their eyes. My least favorite part about writing is getting people’s edits in my critique groups and seeing all my mistakes through their eyes.

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at Amazon

How did you come up with your book idea? How long did it take you to write your book?

Several years before I had written Hot Lead & Cold Apple Pie, a romantic comedy set in the 1890s in the silver-mining town of Gilman, CO. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a book contract for it. Then my literary agent sent out a call for Christmas novella submissions. Using some of the characters from my former novel, I came up with Plum Pudding Bride on a whim and pounded out the entire manuscript in a month or so. Happily this year I got a contract on Hot Lead & Cold Apple Pie, so if you like Plum Pudding Bride, you will be able to stay in Gilman, CO a little longer for another love story full of adventure and comedy.

What types of marketing do you do to promote your writing?

I do a little bit of everything. Right now though, I just started a Facebook group connecting book bloggers and authors. Unlike other groups, it’s blogger focused and bloggers get to pick the books they want to request rather than having authors contact them. Here’s the link. If you’re a blogger, please do check out the group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/192888064470707/

What are you currently working on? Do you have a new book out?

Rosemary Sutcliff initiated my love of Ancient Rome and taking two years of Latin in college cemented that love. The first novel I ever wrote was set in the Roman Empire and finally I got a contract for novels set in that period. I have a four book series set in Ancient Rome coming out next year and I am currently working on edits. The Love & Warfare series follows a family of elite Roman patricians, the Paterculis, through the first and second century A.D. Each book is a love story, but there are plenty of villains, barbaric uprisings, smuggling, and slave revolts as well.

Do you have a project on the back burner? Tell me about it.

As soon as I get edits out of the way, I will start in earnest on my contemporary romantic suspense, From Harvard to Al-Qaeda. An atheist Harvard grad student ends up in Saudi Arabia posing as a native under a fake passport for her Ph.D. thesis in middle eastern studies. A Christian CIA operative falls in love with her and they get tangled up in Al-Qaeda of the Arabian Pennisula in Yemen trying to stop a terrorist plot. Still looking for beta readers if the premise intrigues you.

What would you tell a beginning writer who wants to publish but doesn't believe he/she has enough talent?

Most writing lectures I’ve attended start with a form of this quote: “If there’s a way you can convince yourself to give up writing, do so, because writing will drive you insane.” It’s true. You have to look far and wide to find as low paying, highly frustrating work as writing. I personally have tried to give up writing on numerous occasions and I just can’t. I need to write. Stories jump at me and I can’t seem to push them away.

So don’t worry about talent. If writing is in your blood, you’ll find a way to make your writing publish-worthy. One can’t write all the time for years without getting good at it. And if writing isn’t an all-consuming passion for you, do yourself a favor and find a job that pays more. Your checkbook will thank you.

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https://www.facebook.com/annegarboczievans

https://twitter.com/garboczievans 

FRIDAY FLICKS: Shelley by Cynthia P. Willow

Coming Soon at Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/Shelley-Christian-Paranormal-Cynthia-Willow-ebook/dp/B01CC9UJZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457040235&sr=8-1&keywords=cynthia+willow

AUTHOR INTERVIEW and Book Tour: Kimberly Rogers

Today, I'm a part of Kimberly Rogers' book tour. Since I love doing interviews, I decided that this was the best way I could help Kimberly to get the word out.

If you're a writer, you know all about getting the word out. It's tough work! But it's also a needed avenue in finding readers for your book. 

So here goes...

Why do you write?

I write for a number of reasons. The first and foremost is that I can’t not write. I have stories in my head and I need to get them down on paper. Second, I firmly believe I’ve been given a talent for crafting stories and as such I need to use it. Writing is part of my good stewardship. Third, I write because I have stories to tell. Oh, and the characters won’t leave me alone until I give them their proper story time.  

How do you come up with your characters?

They tend to introduce themselves. Baran, the protagonist in Tiger’s Paw, showed up growling and menacing when I was idly contemplating a story contest. He was almost fully formed in his present character when he showed up, although as I continue his story across the books, I am finding he has even more layers to what makes him the rather grumpy and very stoic warrior he is in Tiger’s Paw. Raina, his main secondary character, has been very elusive. She sprang into the scene unexpectedly and then she refused to leave. Fortunately, they play off each other well. She’s pretty much Baran’s opposite in every way when it comes to how their personalities and mannerisms react to the situations I throw them into. She finally starts opening up in my upcoming book, Leopard’s Heart, although she and Baran are still at loggerheads with each other.  

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Have you ever had anyone criticize you for any element of your work, whether that be plot, characters, setting, grammar? If so, how did you deal with it?

I have received criticism. Because every reader is different, I’ve had some people who love my characters and the plot and I’ve had people love Baran more than Raina or love Raina more than Baran. I’ve also had criticism for not having enough world-building (i.e. info dumps) in Tiger’s Paw. I dealt with the criticisms first by looking at what the reader DID like then by looking at whether their criticisms were particular to that reader’s personal tastes or if they indicated something that needed to be changed in my writing. For the characters, it was fairly obvious that it was personal taste at play. For the world-building, it’s both personal and a reflection of my decision as an author.Tiger’s Paw is a novella-length prequel and I chose not to bog down the plot’s tight pace with a lot of world-building. The readers who wanted more in-depth information will have most of the questions mentioned answered in Leopard’s Heart and in future novel entries in the series. I also have one final safety measure to keep me from reacting poorly to criticisms. I go to one of my most trusted writing friends and first ask if they think the critic was pointing out anything that truly needs changing then I indulge in a little “why do readers have to give really different feedback” whining until it’s time to stop that and get back to work on the next book.

Where do you market your work? What have you found to be the most successful marketing tool?

I am still working on expanding my marketing. However, I stick to Facebook reader/writer groups such as Christian Indie Authors/Christian Indie Books, Indie Christian Authors, and Clean Indie Reads for free marketing as well as Twitter and then blog tours. So far, I’ve found the Facebook groups to be the most useful tool in my arsenal. As I gain traction among readers, I hope to experiment with other marketing tools such as paid advertisements.

What would you tell a beginning writer who believes he/she doesn't have enough talent to publish?

I wouldn’t define it as having enough “talent” to publish. Talent is an innate skill, so I would more readily speak of having a talent to write. It's not whether you have talent to publish, it's whether you are willing to put in the work to gain the experience needed for your best foot forward in publishing. You can have talent in writing and still fail miserably at publishing because you lack the necessary experience and refinement.

There is no magic talent for publishing. The case can be made for a perfect formula for being ready to publish. If you are willing to put in the work to better your skills and refine your talent. If you are willing to learn and to accept criticism from more experienced writers. If you are tenacious enough to keep writing even when you produced horrid first drafts, get bad reviews on your book (earned or otherwise), when you don’t sell a bunch of copies even though you’re doing everything right. It also takes the courage to stop seeking perfection and jump into the publishing pond. Tip – Use trusted critics who aren’t afraid to be brutally honest to help you reach that jumping in point.

Far too many talented writers don’t have the courage or tenacity or willingness to put in the work needed to gain a foothold in the publishing world. And, far too many hacks publish just for the sake of being published. What is your goal? Do you want to be a published writer to share your stories with whoever cares to buy your book even if they never leave a review? Do you want to be a published writer even though people will undoubtedly criticize some element of your book or give you conflicting feedback? Do you want to write the next book even though your first book bombed?

If you said yes, then the question isn’t one of talent. The question you need to ask yourself is how hard are you willing to work to learn how to write the best story possible and then work to be published. And, once you are published, don’t give up on writing. Keep at it.

***

Thank you, Kimberly!

Twitter Page:
https://twitter.com/KARogersAuthor

Author Website: 

https://kimberlyrogerscfwriter.wordpress.com/



Book Description: 

What if history didn’t quite play out the way we know it? What would
stay the same? What would change? Even in a world where Elves and
Humans coexist, there are secrets. Not all the old legends are
accurate, but neither are they false. Hidden among the Humans are the
Therians, those gifted with the ability to shift into beasts. How long
they will remain unseen by Human eyes depends on how well they adhere
to their code of life and honor – The Therian Way.

When secrecy is vital to survive among Humans and Elves, the Therian
Way offers balance. The Fringe, a militant group of discontented
Therians, threaten to expose their race to Mankind. It falls to
General Baran to track down and remove the Fringe Nest before time
runs out. Who can he trust when the fate of his people lies in the
Tiger’s paw?

This Novella Prequel is a Clean Urban Fantasy written from a Christian
worldview.