Saturday, August 15, 2020

Mid-Month Madness Party!


Welcome to the Mid-Month Madness Party! We really appreciate you coming by! We will be giving away five books so be sure to pay attention to how to enter.


To enter to win you MUST leave a comment WITH your email and you MUST ask one or more of the authors a question you'd like to know about them, their writing, or their books.


We are looking forward to getting to know you better and hope you'll get to know us better, too!


Dinah's Dilemma


Will she have to run from her past for the rest of her life?





 The Richest Knight


She wants the security of riches. He's turned his back on the demands of wealth.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B088CNWVT5



Fall Flip


Can a former Home Network queen give a new contractor a do-over?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WFR5RP8



Wild Dandelions


Rachel Rothburn agrees to a marriage of convenience with an obnoxious doctor and the pair set off for Oregon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01349SZKA



Shattered Memories



Unaware her new husband believes she had his family murdered, Brithwin must prove her innocence before she’s the next victim.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TRMK3A4







Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is also a trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.


Nancy Farrier grew up on a small farm in the Midwest amidst a close-knit family. She came to love farm life including the cooking, gardening and canning, but not so much the cleaning house part. In school, she often got in trouble in history class for hiding a fiction book in her textbook to read during the teacher’s lecture. Nancy was shocked to later discover she had such a love for history. Now Nancy lives in Southern California and loves to research and include bits of history in her books. She is a Christian and enjoys encouraging her readers in their faith.
www.nancyjfarrier.com




Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. She’s a managing editor for the historical imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and the author of over ten traditionally published novels and several novellas. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses!

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Catherine Brakefield says, “My readers inspire my writing!”
Catherine is an award-winning author of the inspirational historical romance Wilted Dandelions which won Honorable Mention, the Eric Hoffer Book Award, and Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year award in 2016. Her four-book Destiny series is rising in popularity with nation-wide book clubs; Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart won first place in The Maxwell Medal 2019 fiction category, and Waltz with Destiny.
She is a member of Heart of America Christian Writers Network (HACWN), American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), president of the Great Lakes Chapter and has been featured in numerous periodicals, Michigan History and Southern Writers Magazine.
She has written two pictorial history books. Images of America; The Lapeer Area, and Images of America: Eastern Lapeer County.

Her short stories have been published in Guidepost Books True Stories of Extraordinary Answers to Prayer, Unexpected Answers and Desires of Your Heart; Baker Books, Revell, The Dog Next Door, Horse of my Heart, Second-Chance DOGS, and Horse of my Dreams; CrossRiver Media Publishers, The Benefit Package and Abba’s Promise; Bethany House Publishers, Jesus Talked to me Today.

She has been featured in numerous periodicals over the last thirty years, Michigan History and Southern Writers Magazine to name a few. Catherine is a member of Heart of American Christian Writers Network (HACWN); American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and president of the ACFW Great Lakes Chapter. She loves to tell America’s story one truth at a time through her speaking engagements.

She is a longtime Michigan resident and lives with her husband of 45 years and their Arabian horses in the picturesque hills of Addison Township. She has two adult children, loves traveling the byroads across America, and spoiling her two handsome grandsons and two beautiful granddaughters!

Follow me on: https://www.catherineulrichbrakefield.com/
Newsletter: https://www.catherineulrichbrakefield.com/newsletter-sign-up-form.html
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Ulrich-Brakefield/e/B001H6UI8U/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatherineUlrichBrakefield/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/search?q=Catherine+Ulrich+Brakefield&qid=aqKTjRCaFn
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/catherine-ulrich-brakefield?list=about
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Youtube+Catherine+Ulrich+Brakefield
Blog: Hope, Hearts, and Hoofbeats https://catherineulrichbrakefield.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CUBrakefield
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-brakefield-4710b315/





Debbie Lynne Costello attended Heritage University, where she studied Journalism and worked in the editing department. She has the first full-length in her medieval series out, Sword of Forgiveness, and two novellas in the series out. She has the first book of her 19th century Charleston Series, Shattered Memories. She also has a short-story, The Letter, published in Guidepost's Cup of Christmas Cheer book.

She and her husband have four children. They live in upstate South Carolina with their family, shelties, german shepherd, cat, miniature donkey, Arabian and Tennessee Walking horses. She spent thirteen years coaching cheerleading and trying to make a difference in young girls’ lives. Debbie Lynne has shown Shetland sheepdogs and raised them for 20 years. In her spare time, she goes horseback riding, paints, knits, and takes care of the grandbabies.

WEBSITE: www.debbielynnecostello.com
BLOG: www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com

76 comments:

  1. Congratulations to all of you authors on the books you are featuring this month. All of the descriptions sound like great stories. I think I'd like to ask all of you this--what is the strangest thing you have done in the name of research as you wrote your books?
    bcrug(at)twc(dot)com

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    1. Connie, that is a GREAT question! I would say mine is more unusual than strange. When I was researching for my medieval we took a trip to Italy. I wanted to know what it felt like to live in the old castles so my hubby researched and found a castle that we could stay in. We spent 3 days and nights there exploring the grounds and rooms. It was amazing!

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    2. Connie, I had to ponder this before I answered. I haven’t done strange thing so much as researched strange things. For instance, how to survive grenade thrown in a room or how to poison someone. Those aren’t things most people look up.

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  2. All of these books sound interesting! My question for the authors is: what’s the most interesting thing you learned while writing your books?

    - Kailey Bechtel
    Kaileybehrendt(at) gmail (dot) com

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    1. The most interesting thing regarding Fall Flip happened after I wrote it. I'd mostly stuck to historical fiction with deeper themes. This was quite a change for me, my first full-length contemporary romance with more of a warm-fuzzy, Hallmark/HGTV vibe (even though there IS history b/c they're renovating a 1920s bungalow). I was nervous about how the book would be received. Then shocked when it had the best sales and reviews of any of my titles and became a finalist for a couple awards. :)

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    2. And this "Unknown" is Denise Weimer. I don't know why it says that when I'm signed into my Google account.

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    3. Hey Kailey, Another good question. I have learned so many fascinating things while researching. One of the ones that just shocked me is that Lobster use to be poor man's food. 150 years ago Lobster use to be so plentiful that they had more lobster than they knew what to do with so the lobsters were considered garbage food much like carps are considered the garbage fish of the lakes. They were used for fertilizer to help enrich and nourish the ground of their gardens. An easy catch, they were also used for bait to catch fish they would serve at the dinner table.

      However, they were used for human consumption—as inhumane as is—they were fed to servants, children, slaves, and indentured servants. That was considered cold-hearted by many, making a person eat lobster day after day. So much so that it was actually put into contracts that a servant would not have to eat lobster more than three days a week. A group of indentured servants in a Massachusetts town got so disgusted with their daily diet of lobster that they went to court filing against the masters they’d sworn to serve. They won their case and would no longer have to eat lobster more than three times a week.

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    4. Great question. I have learned so much over the years through research. While writing Dinah's Dilemma I found out about the sod houses that settlers out west lived in when they first arrived. The Great Plains had few trees so lumber was expensive to procure, so the settlers went with what they had plenty of (dirt) to build their houses.

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    5. All of those answers are very interesting!

      - Kailey Bechtel

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    6. Kailey, great question. I’ve learned so many interesting things, many of which ended up as posts on our blog. For my book, Bandolero, set in 1830’s California, I learned about the practice of pitting a bull against a bear to see which would win. A horrific practice, but one that played into my story in an off scene way.

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  3. My question for the authors is how do you come up with your ideas for your books and how much time do you spend on research for a story?

    wfnren at aol dot com

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    1. Hi, Wendy, thanks for stopping by. I've allowed the various locations, legends, and lore of my home state of Georgia to influence story ideas. Research time varies a lot. Much less for a contemporary, although my recent release Traces required extra research due to the technology involved. When I first started writing historicals, I researched up to a year before starting to write. For my most recent one, probably a month or two. :)

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    2. Wendy! I love these questions! Most of my ideas just pop into my head when I'm doing mindless work. LOL. Then once I start writing the story as crazy as this sounds the characters take me where they want to go. I have had to change my storyline so often because when I was writing I just felt like the character wanted to go in a different direction. How long do I research? I honestly research through the whole book as I write. Medievals take me more time as there is so much untruth and half-truths in fiction books and in movies that I need to research everything I 'think' I know. For instance, we tend to believe that knights and lords could just attack another castle because they wanted it or were mad at the owner, but that is so not true unless it was hundreds of years before my time period. There were laws in the 12th century and prior that did not allow for such lawlessness.

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    3. Hi Wendy! Great question. I've gotten my ideas from lots of places: overheard conversations, books or movies I thought should have been done differently, the Bible, and displays at the museum where I volunteer. I outline my stories before writing them so I usually know what research needs to be done and do it before I start writing.

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    4. Good question, Wendy. I have way more stories ideas than I could ever write. It’s hard to say where the next one will come from. A snippet of conversation, a news story, part of the Sunday morning sermon, a piece of history I stumble across, or just a random idea that hits me between the eyes. Different books require different mounts of research. For instance, the quilting in Matching Points, took several hours of research because I don’t sew much or quilt.

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  4. Congratulations on all these wonderful books! Catherine, you are a new author for me. I am looking forward to reading your books. Have you been writing for many years, or is this something you started later, i.e. after your children were grown?
    bettimace (at) gmail (dot) com

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    1. Hey Betti! I'm looking forward to hearing Catherine's reply!

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    2. Yes. It was well after my children were grown. I always had a desire to write, but never felt I would be good enough. God makes the impossible possible!

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  5. I would like to know what the longest period between books has been. Do you write a book on the heels of the previous book? Do you have outlines or ideas for several books ahead?
    Thanks for the great interviews and information.

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    1. Hi Paula! I start a new book only a few days after finishing one. I have a folder filled with ideas, and I plan my writing for each year, so I know with some certainty what I'll be writing for 2021. In fact as I get close to the end of a manuscript, I get anxious to start the new one.

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    2. I have files with ideas in them. I have gone over a year since writing a book. It's been a rough and busy couple years, my dad got very sick and passed, we were building a house, literally, we moved, and trips to Houston for hubby's cancer checks and now treatments again. So I am just coming back to full time writing again. And I must say, I am LOVING IT!

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    3. Hanks for the question, Paula. I almost always start another book as soon as I finish one. I have so many ideas demanding attention that Inhave to keep writing to stay sane. Or sort of sane. lol

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  6. Hi, Paula! My longest period was seven years between my first published novella and first published novel, but that was because I had little children at home. It also took me a long time to research and write all four books of my Georgia Gold Series. Later, there was a period where I wrote several novels one right after another and had to wait for them to come out, but then four came out within six months! Crazy.

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  7. Congratulations to each author. These books looks like great ones. Debbie or any of you, when did you know you wanted to be an author? How old were you when you became an author.
    grandmama_brenda(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Hi Brenda! I started writing stories when I was in elementary school, but I didn't think seriously about publication until about 2007. I was 43 when I became a freelance author (magazines, etc.) and 55 when my first fiction book was published.

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    2. HEY BRENDA!!!! Thanks for coming by! I loved to write stories since I was about 8 and went to college for journalism, but I never thought about writing a book until one day when I was talking to my husband he said why don't you write a book. LOL That truly was what made me think of it! I was 49 when I became an author.

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    3. Hi Brenda, I made up stories all the time when I was young. I even wrote some down. I didn’t think bout publication for a long time because I didn’t believe I was good enough. Only when God got my attention and made it clear I was to write for Him did I have the courage to seek publication. Thanks for the question.

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  8. Hello from west Texas, I want to ask whoever wants to answer my question, What was your favorite book as a child? and also Who or what inspired you to become an author? Thank you so much. aliciabhaney(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

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    1. Alicia, Hello from SC! We were supposed to go to MDA in Houston this September but will be doing his tests and treatments local because of the virus. My favorite book growing up was probably Ribsy as a little girl. I also loved Mickey sees the USA. As I got older I loved the Alfred Hitchcock series and the Hardy Boys. My hubby was my inspiration. He knew I went to college for journalism and he knew I loved to read and he was the one that suggested I write a book. And so I did!

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    2. Alicia, what a great Nd difficult question. I was a voracious reader from the time I learned to read. The library was my good friend. I loved the Black Stallion books. But, I also read just bout anything except nonfiction. As I said before I’ve always had stories I my head, but when I started waking in the night crying because I had to write, I realized this was a calling, not something would go away.

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    3. Hi Alicia! I was also a voracious reader, and as a small child "Are you My Mother?" was my favorite book, but the book that made me want to be a writer was "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" that I read as a young teen. The book really spoke to me, and I wanted to write books that had the same effect.

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  9. Ok, I'm going to do this for all of you! When did you accept Christ?

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    1. What a beautiful question! The Holy Spirit started dealing with me when I was 12. But I didn't know what salvation was at the time but He was preparing my heart. At 16 my mother got saved and shared the plan of salvation with me and I thought about it and a few days later I got on my knees and asked Christ into my heart. Best decision I ever made!

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    2. Trudy, I went to church with y parents, but never heard the message that I needed to accept Christ. So, I knew Who Jesus was but that was all. As a teenager, I rebelled and turned my back on my parent’s beliefs. I had several very rough years before I accepted Christ. I was 25 at that time. Best decision I ever made. He is my life Nd the very breath I my lungs. ❤️

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    3. I was a young girl in Vacation Bible School. The church sent a bus around to neighborhoods to pick up kids, and I remember getting off the bus and my mom was out in the front yard working in the garden, and I told her. I was so short they had to put a cinder block in the baptismal so my head was above water. :-)

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    4. Hi, Trudy, I accepted Christ at church when I was about five. My dad was the pastor, but I didn't tell my parents until the ride home.

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  10. All the books look like they’d be fun to read. I’ve read Fall Flip and the Witness Tree by Denise Weimer and loved those.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by, L Palmer. I’ve read Fall Flip. Such a fun story.

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    2. Thank you so much, Linda! If you are drawn, I can sub in another book. And a little reveal, Nancy has read Fall Flip b/c she was my general editor. :)

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  11. Thank you to all of the authors ❤️
    I love to ask this question: do you act out your characters in front of the mirror?

    I’ve collected some very interesting answers 😊

    kykla99ATgmailDOTcom

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    1. Hahaha. Well, not usually but there are some facial ones I have to see if it works. In my new release I needed to see how it would look trying to raise one brow and keep the other down. Interesting contortion I must say!

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    2. Natalya, that is n interesting question. I don’t think I have done facial expressions in a mirror. I do try to pay attention to actors to see their expressions.

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    3. What a fun question. No I've never done that, but now you've given me the idea, I'm going to have to try it!

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  12. Hello Ladies! How has the Lord stretched you during this "pause" season?

    SHALOM and BLESSINGS!
    psalm103and138atgmaildotcom

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    1. Caryl, As crazy as this sounds, I have been at peace. I've been busier than ever but really have a peace only God can give. You know we are pretty much staying home unless we have to go to the grocery store, but it has all been good even though I miss church, friends, and shopping. ;)

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    2. Hi Caryl, I live in a very rural area Nd we don’t get out much, so the pandemic hasn’t changed much for me. I miss my family and miss in person church. We do have out church online and that works. It’s been a very busy time for me with a lot of work to do. Thanks for asking. Also, God often stretches me when I would rather not be stretched. The result is always good though.

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    3. The time was a mixed blessing for me. I was furloughed from my job in March, so there were financial challenges, but God provided. I was able to use the time to focus on my writing career, but the isolation was difficult because I am a very extroverted person and missed the interaction with others.

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    4. A great question, Caryl. The "pause" was filled with moves for everyone in my close family, so I actually had trouble getting my work done. :)

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  13. Thanks to all the authors for all the information on their books. I enjoy reading and reviewing. The back stories and info was fascinating. rorylynn@att.net

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  14. My question is for all.... when coming up with a title for your books, do you think of the title first and then begin writing or do you write the story and then decide on a fitting title?
    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. Melanie, I usually write the book first. When doing sequels we have to write the synopsis for them so we have to have a title for them.

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    2. Hi Melanie, that depends on the book, I guess. For my upcoming release, Matching Points, the title came as I was developing the story idea. Matching Points is a quilting term and plays a part in the story. I almost always have the title long before I finish writing the book.

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    3. I typically come up with the title first, but the last couple of books I had trouble settling on the title until after the book was finished.

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  15. Thanks for the chance to win. My question is do you ever base your characters on real people?
    [mybeach52(at)yahoo(dot)com]

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    1. I have a few times. Not necessarily incidents in their lives but personality.

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    2. Hi Michele, I rarely base mine on real people. Maybe. Trait here or there but not often. I want my character to be unique, not based ona specific person. Thanks for the question.

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  16. I'll be going over these books; a couple are sizing up as gifts for relatives as well. Also, if anyone is interested, I'd love to have you as a guest on my blog. Please message me on FB. One again, thank you for the invitation, Denise!

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    1. Thank you for coming, Pat. I hope you enjoy the books.

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    2. Thanks for coming Pat and the invitation.

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    3. Thank you for joining us, Pat, and I look forward to being on your blog.

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  17. My question (for all the authors) is if you could travel back to any era in history, what would you choose?
    jennifernicolepurcell(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. If I could go back as Lord and Lady, medieval time. But I wouldn't want to go as the average person!

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    2. Hi Jennifer, I am much too used to luxuries to go back in time. What if I didn’t have access to books? Gasp. If I could drop in for a short time, I would love to be on the hillside listening to Jesus give the Sermon on the Mount. Or to watch Da Vinci paint. But, to stay there, probable not. Great question.

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    3. Jennifer, it would be a toss-up between the mid-1800s b/c I'd know all the period dance steps for that time period or Colonial times b/c that's my new fascination. :)

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  18. Here is a question for all the authors. What is something you wish you knew about writing at the beginning of your career? What would you have done differently?
    Thank you for the opportunity! My email is txjessy1@gmail.com

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    1. Another great question. I wouldn't have 'head hopped' in my first story but understood that books today stay in one POV through a scene. I loved reading the old books because they were cleaner and there wasn't a tremendous amount of good Christian fiction out there at the time, what I didn't realize was that styles change and that was one that was huge. I had to rewrite the whole book!

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    2. Good question, Jessica. But, a hard one. I think I would have been more focused on consistency in my writing time. It was hard with five kids, a husband, etc., but I would like to have accomplished more.

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    3. That other authors would help me the most.

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    4. That's terrible to rewrite a whole book Debbie! Your response was interesting to me Nancy becaus I'm an aspiring author. I work full time and have 3 children and it's easy to put it on the back burner. When I feel lost I have author friends who keep me going the way Denise found authors :)

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  19. I wish I knew not to front load the book with a lot of back story. I had to delete the first four chapters of my first manuscript.

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