Today I’ve invited “Cora Buchanan” the heroine of the inspirational romance, Song of the Meadowlark, to answer a few questions.
First a bit about the book:
When trusting others only leads to pain and rejection, and loving ends only in loss, what will it take to restore hope again? Shamed by the uncovered truth about her missing husband’s secret life, Cora Buchanan sets out on a road trip for home, but winds up stranded in a small Georgia town. Add in an adorable little girl and her rugged widower cowboy father, and plunge with her into pure romance with a twist of mystery. Set in the charm of contemporary small-town Georgia.
1. Cora, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
I am the poster child of young adult rebellion gone straight. I married someone my parents didn’t approve of and left Florida to live in South Carolina with him. I thought we had a great marriage until he was arrested for trafficking drugs and then fled after his parents bailed him out. That’s when I realized my parents had been right and I started on my path to change. The saddest part about leaving South Carolina was leaving behind Clark’s parents who had been like parents to me.
2. What do you do for fun?
It took me a while to remember what fun having fun can be. When I lived at the beach growing up, I loved to swim in the ocean. I still do but now I live on a ranch in South Georgia. I’m learning to ride horses although I’m still pretty scared of them.
3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?
Paying bills. I hate doing it!
4. What are you afraid of most in life?
I’m afraid of being abandoned—again.
5. What do you want out of life?
I want a family who will love me and who will support me in my dreams.
6. What is the most important thing to you?
I used to think a career and material possessions were the most important things in life. But now that I have been through a total life change, loving God is the most important thing to me.
7. Do you read? If so, what is your favorite type of book to read?
I love to read romances and mysteries.
8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would change the way I shrink away from conflict. I have learned that not all conflict is bad but I still tend to avoid it.
9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
I do not have a pet right now because I live on a ranch as a nanny. When I was growing up I had a black Labrador named Bandit. He stayed by my side all the time. I left him when I married and moved away to South Carolina.
10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
If I could travel back in time, I would go out West to the late 1800s. I have grown to love living on the Southern Hope ranch and think it would be exciting to live as they used to back then.
Song of the Meadowlark was written by Sherri Wilson Johnson.
Sherri is an Inspirational Romance novelist, a speaker, social media junkie, and a former homeschooling mom who loves to share God with others, while sharing her life experiences with them. You can learn more about Sherri and her books at: http://sherriwilsonjohnson.com/
Your Turn: Any questions for Sherri? Or how about answering one of the interview questions for yourself?
Okay, I know what you’re thinking… what do throat remedies have to do with fiction books or conversations about characters?
Well…
Tomorrow, the final book in my Undercover Cops series, Critical Condition, releases from Love Inspired suspense. As you might guess from the title, it’s a medical mystery/suspense.
Alternative medicine plays a role in the suspense plot, so I thought it would be intriguing to explore the realm of alternative medicine and home remedies with you.
With the onset of autumn, at least in the Western Hemisphere, comes the beginning of cold and flu season. Everyone seems to have their own little ritual for what they do when they feel a sore throat or cold coming on.
And commercials abound with commercial remedies promising to lessen your symptoms.
But what works for you?
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| Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
For me, when I feel a sore throat coming on, I take a few drops of Amol® in water. It is a traditional herbal medicine originating from Germany that I have never seen in any store. My friend purchased the bottle–which has long since expired–for me in her local pharmacy. Yet, even supposedly past its prime, the stuff still works great.
It contains: oil of clove; oil of cinnamon; oil of peppermint; and oil of lavender. It clears my sinuses and soothes my sore throat like nothing else I’ve ever tried. And if I take it at the first sign of a sore throat coming on, my condition often doesn’t worsen.
Your Turn: What’s your favorite or most effective remedy or ritual for battling a cold or sore throat?
Hi Everyone and a big welcome to my new subscribers,
My big news for the week is that Critical Condition, the third book in the Undercover Cops series, releases Tuesday!! (probably will hit Walmarts around the 7th)
So much has happened since I last wrote…
Deep Cover won the 2012 Canadian Christian Writing Award for romance.
I had a blast on the Alaskan cruise my husband and I took to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We took a behind-the-scenes tour to research material for a future book. Of course, I made the captain a little nervous when I started asking a lot of question like “What if someone went overboard?”
We suspense writers are always plotting. ~grin~
I freaked my husband out when I found out that the guy sitting beside us on the plane was a pilot and I asked him how I could take down a plane. I explained I was a novelist. Honest.
I arrived home from that trip to a new Love Inspired Suspense book contract. Yay!
I also pitched my idea for a “cruise ship” suspense. My editor has given it tentative approval, but I have to submit a complete proposal once I hand in the other story.
It’s due Nov 1st and I’m getting a tad nervous.
Writing two books at the same time (the LIS and the second book in my series for Revell that debuts next summer) is proving to be more challenging than I’d anticipated, especially when I decided to change the villain halfway through the story.
What was I thinking?!
Hence, the reason for my short, but hopefully sweet, newsletter. ~grin~
However… if you’re feeling creative, you could help me with one thing. I need to give my editor some suspense-sounding title suggestions for the book.
What do you think of Fatal Inheritance?
If you’d like to read a bit about the story and offer other suggestions, stop by my blog post about it: http://www.sandraorchard.blogspot.ca/2012/09/how-to-choose-book-title.html (If the editor picks your title, I’ll thank you in the credits and send you an autographed copy.)
Until next time, happy reading!
Sandra O
P.S. This newsletter’s winner of an autographed copy of one of my books, is Tami B!! Please email me your snail mail address, Tami.
One more note:
If you enjoy Critical Condition, please consider writing a review and/or “liking” the book at your favorite online retailers, or at a book lovers’ site such as Goodreads. Or simply tell a friend about it (or friends if you’re on FB).
Thank you so much to all the book club members who have already read the book and took the time to send me a note or post to my FB page. When I’m pulling out my hair trying to get my newest characters to cooperate, your encouraging notes keep me going.
For my last post about the 2012 ACFW conference, I’m sharing notes from the classes I attended.
The Continuing Class~Writing that Sings, with former editor, writer and agent, Karen Ball, was awesome. Karen is a fun teacher with a great sense of humor. If you ever have a chance to take one of her classes, do so.
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| Karen Ball |
Unfortunately, I missed most of her lessons due to appointments, but I did learn the all-important secret ingredient to writing stories that sing.
Write your passion.
What drives you? Who we are, the experiences we’ve had lead to a primary catalyst. The catalyst that drives every story we write. The better you understand this catalyst, the stronger your story will be. Our catalyst goes soul-deep. When we write from it, we become more vulnerable on the page.
Karen went around the room asking people what their catalyst was. One person said they were writing about suicide. Karen kept pressing, asking why, digging deeper to find the true catalyst. The need to believe that even when you feel like God has abandoned you, He hasn’t. He’s there. He’s sufficient.
To find your catalyst, listen to yourself. Talk to those who know you well. Say so what? What else? What does that mean?
Most of my other classes were marketing related. The most important advice I heard from more than one speaker was it’s better to do two or three things well (for example, be on Facebook or Twitter or Goodreads) than to try to do everything and do them all poorly.
As Susan May Warren said so eloquently, “If Twitter’s not your thing, don’t do it. I release you.”
Too many writers feel pressured to jump into every social media op out there and their writing suffers. The most important thing you can do to sell books is first and foremost to write a good book.
One other class that was scary-enlightening was Landmines in Your Book Contract by my agent Steve Laube.
He gave us a mock book contract that had a variety of landmines in it, which we had to find. The scary thing was that every single one of them had appeared in actual publisher’s contracts in the last year and a half.
Too many authors sign contracts without understanding what they are signing. Having an agent negotiate your contract helps you to be on a level playing field, but some agents are more contract savvy than others.
Ultimately, it is up to you, the author, to understand, and be willing to live with, the contract you’re signing before you sign. If you don’t understand something, keep asking your agent to explain it until you do.
Your Turn: Any questions?
2nd image courtesy of Jeroen van Oostrom / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
At Kav’s request, today I bring you more details–ones I hope will interest both readers and writers–about last week’s American Christian Fiction Conference.
From the moment I arrived at the hotel, I encountered fellow writers at every turn. I hugged and caught up on life with the ones I knew and introduced myself to the ones I didn’t. Some years that included meeting my roommate for the first time. But this year I roomed with my critique partner.
Thursday night, the Love Inspired authors had a meet and greet in the president’s suite. Lucky for us, LI author Margaret Daley is also the ACFW president. Since the Harlequin family has recently expanded to include the newly procured Heartsong book club, we packed out the room.
Our editors shared some exciting news. The Love Inspired lines are among Harlequin’s top-selling lines. In fact, in August, LI even outsold Harlequin Presents.
We also learned that the Love Inspired Suspense line may expand to six books in the next year. So RS writers get polishing.
Friday morning, I had appointments with writers whose manuscripts I’d critiqued. This was one of my favorite parts of the conference. I helped Suzanne B. brainstorm a new beginning–one more befitting a romantic suspense–to her already very strong manuscript. She told me later that both agents she met invited her to submit.
Another writer I met with had a really cool hook for her story aimed at Love Inspired Suspense, and I learned later that the editor invited her to submit the full.
I also attended one-on-one appointments with various publicists. These were super beneficial as I prepare to branch into trade-length books in 2013.
I brainstormed, with Rusty Shelton of Shelton Interactive, online book launch ideas for both Critical Condition and Deadly Devotion.
Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media gave me an overview of what to expect for Deadly Devotion’s publicity campaign.
Then I met with Suzy Q, a former retailer and super-fun social media coach. She gave me tons of great advice on book signings, meeting with retailers, and things I might try when I speak at events.
Thanks to her, everyone at the Chamber of Commerce meeting I’m speaking at next month may leave with a free copy of my new release…if the publisher can ship the copies in time.
For writers, Suzy Q’s top two pieces of advice for book signings are:
1) Always sign your books with a fine-tip Sharpie marker. Ink fades. And don’t worry, the fine-tip marker does not bleed through the page.
2) Don’t sit behind a table. Yup, you read that right. Stand in front. Or, for those like me who can’t stand long without your back locking up, use a stool in front.
I’ve got to say that both suggestions surprised me, but she’s convincing. Did I mention that she used to handle Karen Kingsbury’s book signings?
This woman knows what she’s talking about.
Friday night my new publisher, Revell, treated their authors to a fabulous dinner in a private room at the hotel. I so enjoyed meeting the Revell team. They are all super-friendly and sweet. We each left with a yummy gift bag that included everything from the all-important chocolate for those I-don’t-know-what-happens-next writing sessions to a new book they’ve published called Nowhere But Up: The story of Justin Bieber’s mom, who’s Canadian like me, eh.
Okay….since this post is already long enough, on Friday I’ll share the highlights of the classes I attended.
Your Turn: Readers, what do you wish authors would do/offer at book signings, speaking events or online? Writers, any tips of things you’ve done that readers loved?
P.S. For those who can’t wait to read more, hop over to Barbara Vey of Publisher’s Weekly blog. She wrote a great summary of ACFW, including the main points of Michael Hyatt’s keynote address on why now is the best time to be a writer.
What fun it was to spend a weekend with other novelists!
We had the entire ground level of the hotel to ourselves so not a single person looked at you funny if you started pacing the hall and arguing with the character in your head, or if you discussed with a group of co-conspirators the best poison to use to do away with Charlie and not get caught.
Wednesday, I’ll share some highlights of what I learned at the ACFW conference, but today I’d like to introduce you to a couple whose table I had the privilege of sharing at the awards gala on the last night.
Now I’m not a spec fic reader, but Caleb wowed me with his love story. How sweet is this?
He’s loved her since she was 11. Just makes me want to write him into a book.
He and his wife have taken night manager jobs to give them more time to pursue their writing dreams. Listening to them tell their story was like watching all the best parts of an inspirational romance novel come to life. Their passion for Christ and each other was wonderful to see.
I also learned that Caleb is the author of two yet-to-be-released non-fiction books. The first, How to Follow Jesus without leaving the Church, releases from Harvest House in the Fall of 2013. So…
Caleb hadn’t planned to focus on his fiction writing any longer, but his wife urged him to continue. And he’s so glad he listened.
Conferences bring out the gamut of emotions in attendees–from the thrill of a book contract, or proposal request, or an award, to the agony of being told your story isn’t ready yet, or simply being overwhelmed by how much you didn’t know that you didn’t know.
For me, the highlight of the conference was sharing in this couple’s joy the night of the gala. It reignited the passion in me to tell the greatest love story of all.
Your Turn: What inspires you?
P.S. Here’s the complete list of the 2012 Carol Award Winners (published novels)
Here’s the complete list of the 2012 Genesis Winners (pre-published manuscripts)
You can check out more photos on my Facebook Author Page
The wonderful wizards of … Texas?
This ditty from The Wizard of Oz has been humming in my head ever since I finished packing for the American Christian Fiction Writer’s conference last Friday. ~Grin~
Today, I’m on my way, and looking forward to learning from a variety of writing experts. (aka wizards)
This will be my first time to the Lone Star State. Of course, I won’t see much more than the airport and the Hyatt and the road that connects them. LOL.
But I hear, I’m bound to see lots of cowboy hats, cowboy boots, and big hairdos. And hear a lot of “ya’all”. Which I have on good authority, Texans spell with an “a” after the “y”.
I love attending writing conferences. The classes always spur me on to new ideas. The fellowship is fabulous. Where else can I hang out with a bunch of other people who also have voices talking in their heads, and who aren’t…um…schizophrenic?
Oh, and did I mention that I don’t have to cook, clean, do laundry or make the bed for 4 whole days?!
See ya’all next week…if I don’t see ya in Texas!
If you want to watch the 2012 ACFW awards presentation Saturday night, click the link to watch it live. (At least… I hope it will change to 2012 on Saturday night…right now it plays the 2011 awards)
Taking a bit of a tangent from “Conversations about Characters” today to give you another glimpse into the book publishing process, and invite you to participate!
I am currently writing my fourth Love Inspired Suspense, which has a working title of Finding Home.
I love this title, because it perfectly suits both the external plot and the spiritual theme of the story.
Unfortunately, a Love Inspired book came out in August with that exact title.
So… although my editor hasn’t asked me yet, I know that it’s only a matter of time before I need to provide alternative title suggestions.
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| Image courtesy of Vlado / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
My editor will want a title that gives a sense of the suspense, but avoids words such as death, murder, homicide, killer, deadly, lethal etc. since they’ve found that titles with those words don’t seem to sell well in Love Inspired Suspense.
And I trust my editor’s judgement implicitly. If it had been up to me, my debut novel would have been called Shades of Gray, and most of you probably know where that title has gone!
So what do you say? Interested in brainstorming with me?
In a nutshell the book is about: In the face of mounting threats, a grieving granddaughter fights to hold fast to the family farmhouse she’s inherited, but can her childhood-crush-turned-cop neighbor help her find her way home?
You can see from that description where I got the Finding Home title. The heroine used to visit her grandparents’ farm in the summer as a child, before her parents split and she moved too far away. The house is the only place she’s ever felt truly at home and loved. But someone wants her out. She’s not sure who, and she’s not sure why.
Your Turn: Any ideas? If you can’t think of any, please share book titles that immediately hooked you. Sometimes the setup of a title helps me springboard into new ideas.
P.S. The Goodreads Giveaway for Critical Condition ends tonight.
Hi all. I’m guest posting today at this cool blog I found for Christian writers called Seriously Write.
Hope you’ll stop by. Have a great weekend, too!
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