Introducing Debut Love Inspired Author Jessica Keller

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

Home for Good

It’s Valentine’s week. What better time to read some romances?!

This past week, I treated myself to Home for Good by debut author Jessica Keller. It was an extra special treat for me, because it has a bit of suspense, too. 🙂

Here’s the blurb:

“I made a promise to protect you.”

But pregnant Ali Silver’s husband broke his vow and walked away from her. After being injured in combat, Jericho has finally come home to Bitterroot Valley to make peace with his father and regain Ali’s trust. But the single mom’s keeping secrets of her own. And someone’s killing off Ali’s cattle and sabotaging her horse therapy business. Jericho will do whatever it takes to protect his wife and be a real father to his son. Because when it comes to love and second chances, he’s one determined cowboy.

I loved the therapeutic horseback-riding angle, as my daughter has volunteered in such a program, and I have two friends whose physically-challenged children use the program.

And… I loved the names Jessica chose for her characters and setting. They are very meaningful. So… I hunted her down to ask her if there’s a story behind the story.

I learned that, in addition to celebrating her debut novel, she’s celebrating a new baby, who, not to be outdone by the book, arrived about the same time the book was due to hit bookstore shelves!  😉

Baby

Congratulations, Jessica! (Btw, the pic isn’t of Jessica’s baby…Image courtesy of Clare Bloomfield at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Here’s what Jessica shared about the story’s inspiration:

First about the horses:

horsehorse

I did volunteer at a therapeutic horseback-riding program! I feel the same passion that Ali Silver does for it. I’ve seen unspeaking children say first words through therapeutic riding and children locked in their own head come out and become social through it as well. The bond that God created between humanity and the animals He called us to rule over really amazes me.

And about the names:

Choosing Names

When I set out to write Home for Good, I never intended to write it in a western setting. As I picked names for my characters I gave them each a name that meant something important to the story (some of which I can’t explain without giving away plot points!) and then I decided it could be fun to put the book in a setting that held meaning as well. I started looking up real names of towns all over the country and came upon–not a town–but a region called Bitterroot Valley. One of the main themes of the book is not letting bitterness take over. What better place to set a book with a theme of dealing with bitterness than in Bitteroot Valley?! Especially when I learned the meaning behind the name of the Bitteroot flower (how the valley gets its name), which I explain in the book, then I know the location was meant to be!

About the hero’s injury:

The injury that takes Jericho out of the Army really happened. Not to Jericho of course, but to my father. He’s now had two knee replacements and doing well, but before that, he had even more trouble getting around and knee pain than Jericho even experienced.

And…about Jessica:

Jessica_Keller

As a child Jessica possessed the dangerous combination of too much energy coupled with an over-active imagination. This pairing led to more than seven broken bones and countless scars. She’s worked as a zookeeper, a librarian, camp counselor, horse wrangler, housekeeper, and finance clerk, but now loves her full-time work in law enforcement. Former editor of both her college newspaper and literary journal at Trinity International University, Jessica received degrees in both Communications and Biblical Studies. She lives in the Chicagoland suburbs with her amazing husband, beautiful daughter, and two annoyingly outgoing cats. Jessica writes Young Adult fiction and Romance.
 
Blog: www.jesskeller.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessicakellerauthor
Twitter: @KellerAuthor

Thanks so much Jessica for answering my questions and joining us here today!

Your Turn: Any comments or questions for Jessica? What names have you come across in a book that seemed especially fitting? 

 

Book with letters image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What Are You Waiting For?

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

Snapped this photo of our Alaskan Husky Saturday morning, which got me to thinking about the question in the title.

Husky_in_snow

Our pup had her eyes fixed on the trees or perhaps the road beyond, waiting for something, and she wasn’t budging.

Her patience was admirable, considering how thick the snow was coming down. After half an hour of peeking out the window at her, every five minutes, it became clear to me that she’d sit there until whatever she was waiting for showed up, or she turned into a snow drift!

Which got me to thinking… What are you waiting for?

It turns out that our dog wasn’t waiting for my daughter to come home (as sweet as that sounded). She was patiently waiting for a black squirrel (yes, we have both black and gray squirrels in our neck of the woods) to come down from the tree so she could chase it.

Now we’ve been told over and over that patience is a virtue. And I definitely believe that waiting on the Lord is always a good thing.

But…she was turning into a snow drift!

Of course, unlike what we sometimes wait for, she was waiting for something she could reasonably expect to happen sooner or later. Emphasis on the later.

So here we are in February, and many folks are already frustrated with themselves for blowing their New Year’s resolutions or for appearing to be no closer to the “goals” they set for themselves Jan 1st or 13 months ago.

Are you one of them?

Make sure the goals you’ve set for yourself are really goals, that is things you actually have control over attaining. Not hopes and dreams such as Mr. Right pounding down your door begging you to marry him or your dream publisher pounding down your door begging to buy your manuscript? 

Using my writing experience as an example… From day one, I knew selling a manuscript was not something I could make happen. It was beyond my control. But I could write the best manuscript I was capable of writing, and the next, and the next, and invite agents and editors to consider them. So finishing a manuscript became my goal.

Selling the manuscript was the dream that kept me working and waiting.

I was determined not to quit. I knew the journey to publication typically took many years and several manuscripts and many more rejections. I didn’t set any deadlines such as if I don’t sell by this time, I’ll quit. I wasn’t interested in self-publishing. I kept doing what was within my control–writing.

Anyway, I’ve rambled on. But I want to urge you to think about what you’re waiting for in whatever facet of life is dear to your heart these days. Don’t get snowed under by confusing dreams with goals while waiting for your dream squirrel to scurry down the tree toward you.

Work toward your goals as the Lord leads, and wait upon Him to make your dreams come true.

Your Turn: Do you have a “waiting”, “goal”, or “dream” experience you’d like to share?

 “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36

open+heartA Valentine’s Read – Over at the Craftie Ladies of Love Inspired Romance blog, we’re telling a serialized romance from Feb 1 to Feb 14th. Click on the link and scroll down to the Feb 1 post to begin the story. Then stop by each day for the next installment. This is being written on the fly by 14 different authors–sure to be interesting. 😉

Are You a Seat Stealer?

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

Someone keeps stealing my seat!

toddler_on_chair

My little granddaughter has decided that its great fun to sneak onto my chair the second I leave the room. She watches me expectantly when I return, anticipating being tickled and scooped into my lap.

Then there’s my daughter’s cat who also keeps an eye on my chair, and when my granddaughter is not around to do so, takes over my spot, even if he had a perfectly good spot on the sofa.

Trouble is when I return and tell him to get off, he goes all limp like a protestor trying to thwart riot police. I scoop him up and dump him on the floor. No cuddle to encourage such behavior from me. No sir.

All this seat stealing got me to thinking about thrones…or maybe it was the Sunday School lesson about Esther approaching the king’s throne uninvited not knowing if he’d reach out his scepter or demand her death.

Anyway, I realized that the hero of Fatal Inheritance (the book I was reading page proofs for this past week) is a bit of a seat stealer, too. In most areas of his life, God’s on the throne, but when it comes to finding a wife…the hero’s not so sure. Oh, he wants his choice to be God’s choice, but he has a pretty rigid mental checklist of what that choice should look like.

Admittedly, I’m a bit of a seat stealer myself sometimes–when my priorities for how I spend my time don’t match God’s.

But unlike how I am with my granddaughter or with my cat, God doesn’t cajole His seat back or take it back by force.

He waits to be invited. And because He’s my Daddy-King, He then lets me clamor onto his lap for a good long chat, and I wonder why I ever stole His spot in the first place.

Ever feel that way?

What Happens to a Manuscript After the Author Hands it In?

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

A reader asked me to explain what happens to my manuscript after I hand it in.

Image

There are three main editing stages, followed by a final page proofs stage.

Major Revisions

After submission my editor reads my manuscript, and if there are issues with the plot or romance or conflict or pacing or chapter hooks or chapter endings etc, she will send the manuscript back with a revision letter, explaining what needs to be adjusted. An author is typically given 30-60 days to make these revisions.

I had a half page revision letter for my first novel, but after that, plot issues were addressed at the proposal stage so subsequent manuscripts have gone directly to the second revision stage.

Line Edits

At this stage, an editor (sometimes a different one than the one who read the manuscript first), will mark up the manuscript using track changes, making suggestions, asking questions, pointing out areas that need to be elaborated, eliminated, tightened etc.

Depending on how tight to deadline the publisher is, an author may have a very short time to turn these edits around. I’ve had a couple of manuscripts where I was asked if I could do them in three days. It was not difficult to get them done in that time, because I write full-time. So authors will communicate with their editors how much time they need, and all the editors I’ve worked with are great about accommodating vacations etc. 

BTW, this is the stage that earns the author the release of the second half of her advance. 

Copy Edits

Once an author returns their revised line-edited manuscript, it goes to a copy editor. This is always a different editor, one very knowledgeable about grammar and style rules and when it’s better to break them. I never see the copy edited manuscript with my Love Inspired Suspense manuscripts, unless the copy editor catches a “content” discrepancy that I need to fix. Many LI authors, however, do see their copy edits, so it varies by editor. 

In contrast, I worked closely with the copy editor for Deadly Devotion. She caught things like the heroine’s apartment levitating from the second to third floor over the course of a couple of chapters. Comma issues etc. she would simply change. However, if she felt a phrase was awkward or the noun being reference by a pronoun, for example, was unclear, she’d ask me to change it, or suggest a change and ask if I was okay with it.

I was given 2 or 3 weeks to go through the manuscript, which was plenty of time, especially since the editor had kindly waited until after I’d submitted another manuscript I had on deadline. She called this stage “galleys” and told me that if I wanted to make any significant content changes, like changing a character’s name, job, an entire scene, this was my last chance.

Final Stage – called Page Proofs or AAs for Author Alterations

 At this point the author receives a hard copy of her novel as each page will be printed. Since I’m in Canada and my editors are in the US, I have actually always received a pdf copy. For LIS, I simply print off any pages on which I find issues. I note the fix on the page itself with a red pen, and keep a list of each change with page number, line number and whether the issue is a Printer’s Error or an Author Change. If authors try to make too many changes at this stage, they can be charged for the cost of resetting type. However, I don’t personally know anyone who has ever had to do that. Once I’ve proofed all the pages, I mail back only those pages I’ve made changes on, along with the list.

New changes since this blog was first posted: My most recent AAs were submitted digitally in much the same way as I describe below (and no line numbers or list-making required):

In contrast, my page proofs for Deadly Devotion didn’t have line numbers. They looked exactly how they will appear in the book, complete with a cool leaf graphic between scenes! Any errors I found I marked up directly in the pdf and emailed it back to my copy editor. However, authors living in the US receive hard copies and mail back those pages they change.

Your Turn: Any questions?

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Introducing Murder in Hum Harbour

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

Since I soon have a mystery coming out set in Canada (Deadly Devotion from Revell, June 2013), I was delighted to find another inspirational mystery also set in Canada.

Murder_in_Hum_HarbourMurder in Hum Harbour (yes, that’s the way we spell “harbor” in Canada) by Jayne E. Self is set in Nova Scotia. 

This is the first in a three-book Seaglass Mystery series, so called after the heroine sleuth’s intriguing occupation of jewelry making using sea glass.

Murder in Hum Harbour is Jayne’s debut novel and won the Canadian Christian Writing Award in the mystery category.

I’ve loved visiting Canada’s Maritime provinces in real life and thoroughly enjoyed visiting again vicariously through Jayne’s story.

She has wonderful quirky characters who kept me glued to the story until I finished–not to mention great plot twists and a fun romantic thread. 

Intrigued by the story, I contacted Jayne and asked her if she’d answer a few questions for all of us.

Is Hum Harbor a real place? 

No. The “location” I’ve claimed for Hum Harbour, along the shores of Cape George north of Antigonish is real. However, I created the village of Hum Harbour as a composite of a few local communities. I do stay as accurate as possible to the local geography.

Have you lived in NS?

We own a cottage in Nova Scotia (just down the shore from Hum Harbour) and I have spent each summer for the past twenty-some years there so in a way it’s been home base for our transient family. I chose the location because it’s familiar enough to be part of my heart and special enough to feel a little exotic to me.

Did you do any special research for the book? 

Mostly research connected to commercial fishing—boats, gear, seasons—and crafting sea glass jewelry—which involved some serious shopping.

Who’s your publisher? Where are they from? How did you connect with them? 

Harbourlight Books is an imprint of Pelican ventures, a small Christian Publisher out of New Mexico. TWG member Janet Sketchley alerted me to their new mystery line. [NB: TWG stands for The Word Guild a writer’s organization for Canadian writers who are Christian, and isn’t it cool that the American publisher spells “harbour” the same way we do in Canada?!]

Anything you’d like to share about what inspired the story? 

Every summer a good friend and I walk the beach at our Nova Scotia cottage, collect sea glass and plot murders. The plotting murders part started as a silly game, but over the years, our ‘plots’ have turned into books. Although my past attempts have been shortlisted in contests, Murder in Hum Harbour is the first to achieve publication. I was THRILLED when it won the 2012 Canadian Christian writing Award in the mystery category, and was runner up for the Grace Irwin Award (Canada’s largest Christian Literary Prize.)  Its sequel, Death of a Highland Heavyweight was released in 2012 and the third in the series, The Secret of the Hubris Heron is being plotted as we speak.

Yes, since asking Jayne these questions, I’ve had a chance to read the sequel. I love revisiting characters–especially as romance blossoms. 😉

Here’s the Back Cover Blurb for Murder in Hum Harbour:

Part-time medical receptionist, part-time jewelry crafter, Gailynn MacDonald thinks she knows everything about everyone in Hum Harbour, Nova Scotia. That’s the way she likes it. But when her former employer Doc Campbell turns up dead aboard his beached yacht, and her sister-in-law becomes the prime suspect, quirky, over-excitable Gailynn vows to unmask the killer. With Geoff Grant, Doc’s handsome replacement, by her side Gailynn uncovers secrets and confronts childhood fears. And in the process she discovers that catching a killer is a lot like crafting her seaglass jewelry… it’s all in the details.  

jayne-self-avatar

   In addition to being an award-winning author, Jayne is the director of Canada’ largest Christian Writing Conference, Write!Canada, and a grandma.  You can learn more about Jayne and her books at her website: http://www.jayneself.com/

 

Your Turn: What kind of mysteries do you enjoy? Twenty or thirty-something female sleuths with a touch of romance to sweeten the story? Older lady sleuths like Miss Marple? Quirky little Belgians like Hercule Poirot? Ones where the heroine is in danger, too? Other….? Just curious. 🙂

 

You Know What I Mean?

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

Ever wish you could have your own personal editor?

I’m not talking to just the writers in the group. I’m talking to everyone.

Over the holidays, I received some additional revision requests back from my editor thanks to an astute proof reader who caught a critical inconsistency in the story.

Girl struggling to understand what she's reading

The catch got me to thinking about how we say things, knowing what we mean, but not really realizing that others won’t interpret what we say the way we mean it.

Ever had that happen?

My poor, dear husband fell victim to that folly over the holidays when I asked him how he liked “his” taste in clothes. (I’d bought myself a top and sweater “from him” for Christmas and was fashioning them for him.) Now, men would argue that there’s no safe answer to such a question, but I beg to differ. At least…some answers are waaaaay better than others.

“It’s okay” is a lousy answer.

“Wow! I have awesome taste. Of course, anything I pick would look amazing on you…” would be a fabulous answer.

But I digress. 🙄

Now, what was my point? Oh, yes, if my husband…um, I mean if we had our own personal editor to evaluate what we said, before the words passed our lips, we’d miss making all kinds of silly blunders, and some serious ones, too.

Your Turn: Ever say something you wish you could take back or edit? Care to share? 😉

 Image courtesy of Phaitoon at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Merry Christmas!

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

Nativity

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  (Isaiah 9:5 KJV)

Wishing you the blessings of peace, love and joy this Christmas.

                                      Sandra O

Image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What’s in a Home?

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

Castle

Welcome to my newly designed website and new blog home. It may not be a castle, but there is plenty of room for people to drop by for a visit. 😉

This is my first time writing in WordPress so I’m still feeling my way around, but I’ve found these cool faces. 🙄

I’m going to have lots of fun playing with those!

I invite you to wander around and explore. One cool new feature, especially for those not on Facebook, is my Facebook posts now stream to the blog. This month I’ve been posting about a lot of one-day free Ebooks as I discover them, so if you have an Ereader, you might like to check it out from time to time.

If you find anything broken or difficult to navigate, please let me know. I have a week to ask my web designer for any changes, so please don’t be shy. And be sure to get lost, you’ll discover the pages I had the most fun creating.

Click here to see what I mean. 😆

Oh, and please test out my comments below. The first time you comment on the blog, it won’t appear right away. I have to moderate all first-time comments to help fight spam. But once you’ve been cleared once…you’re in. 😎

Didn’t I tell you I’d have fun with all those cartoon faces?!

Okay, I need to get back to work, because…I have line edits due tomorrow on Fatal Inheritance and copy edits due Boxing Day on Deadly Devotion. Thankfully they are all minor tweaks, but I like to give each manuscript a final read through since this is my last chance to make any major changes–changes that could be critical to future books in my Port Aster series. For example, I discovered that a character I named Zoe in book one, I started calling Maria in book two. Not good! 😕

Your Turn: What are you up to this week?

 

Image courtesy of Matt Banks at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Season of Joy

Posted on: by Sandra Orchard

Can you believe there are less than two weeks until Christmas?!

I love to indulge in lots of Christmas reading this time of year, and today, I’d like to tell you about a November Love Inspired book I read last week. 

Season_of_JoySeason of Joy, by debut novelist Virginia Carmichael, received a 4 1/2 star review from Romantic Times and has been nominated for a Reviewer’s Choice Award.

I agree with the reviewers. This is a great book.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

As the holiday season approaches, wealthy CEO Calista Sheffield wants to give instead of receive. So she volunteers at a downtown Denver shelter, never expecting that her own scarred heart will be filled with hope and healing. The mission’s director, handsome Grant Monohan, has devoted his life to helping those in need. But his harrowing past—and what he sees every day—makes him wary of Calista. Unless she shares her painful history, he’ll never believe they can have a future. But a future with Grant at the shelter is the only Christmas gift Calista truly wants.

Read an excerpt of Season of Joy by clicking here.

I really liked how Carmichael portrays the lingering effects of one’s upbringing on one’s life choices and perspective about God and sense of worth, as well as the obligation to take personal responsibility for moving past them.

Your Turn: The novel raises lots of great topics for discussion. Here’s the one I’d like to discuss today:

Calista’s father was cold and unloving toward her, but warm and friendly to others. How can hypocrisy do more damage than domestic violence? Do you think it’s sometimes easier to be loving to strangers than to those whom we live with day in and day out?

P.S. My Christmas newsletter will go out this week, too. No new Christmas story this year, unfortunately, but…every newsletter, I do give away a complimentary book to a randomly chosen subscriber. If you’d like to subscribe click here.