Friday, May 31, 2013

RE:View | The Wishing Well Curse by Lynn Donovan

You may remember a few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Lynn Donovan during a {Writer Wednesday} post (see her interview here). She was gracious enough to let me review a copy of her latest release, The Wishing Well Curse and I'd like to share that review with you today!

The Wishing Well Curse

Zeke Clay finds himself in the middle of a bad situation. He's lost his education, his girlfriend, his job, and even his apartment. Despite this, he hasn't lost the one thing that will eventually save him - his destiny.

When he receives a letter from a law office in Colorado, there is no better option than to go and hear the will of a relative he didn't even know he had. Little does he know that this will change so much more than just his location.

As I began The Wishing Well Curse, I wasn't sure what to expect. I hadn't read the back cover excerpt (as I'm starting to do with most books I review - I find not knowing what to expect gives me a fresh, almost naive outlook on the novel) and decided to take it as it came.

At first blush, Zeke appears rough around the edges and used to the hard stuff of life. I found myself sucked into his thoughts and hanging on what could happen next. There were enough unknown's to make the novel intriguing.

Another thing I appreciated about this novel is that it felt real. I don't mean the existence of ghosts or the possibility of a curse, but his character and the reality of the story. Lynn did a great job of writing a gritty Christian novel. Not everything fits perfectly into a respectable package you'd expect from a lot of Christian books. Instead, life happens and Zeke and the other characters respond as any flawed characters would.

I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy intrigue, paranormal writing, and don't mind a bit of 'roughness' in the characters (trust me, it only adds to their reality and the story as a whole). This book will pull you in and have you asking yourself, How will Zeke break the cruse? You won't put the book down until you find out!

**I also hear rumors that there is to be a sequel and I'm looking forward to that!**

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I received a free copy of this book for review purposes, but was under no obligation to read the book or post a review. I do so under my own motivation and the opinions I have expressed in this review are honest and entirely my own.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Ashley Bowman {Writer Wednesday}

I'm excited to introduce you to a friend of mine from college, Ashely Bowman. She's a writer, a product reviewer, and most importantly, a sweet sister in Christ!

A little bit about Ashley...
(taken from her blog)
The name is Ashley Bowman.  I’m a runner, lifter, cook, wife, and secretary.  I’ve been happily married for about 3 years to my best friend, my confidant, my partner-in-crime, and the love of my life, Adam. :) We are expecting our first child in October 2013, and we look forward to adding a new member to our family.
How to connect with Ashley...
Follow her blog:  Making my Boast
Follow her on Twitter: @agbaeb

Writer Interview | Ashely Bowman

You & Writing

Tell us a little bit about yourself. 
...My name is Ashley Bowman. I live in upstate NY with my husband of almost 3 years and our two kitties Watson and Cassidy.

How did you start writing?
...I started writing around 10 years old as an escape. I talked, of course, but I didn’t know how to communicate well with that way. As I journaled, I grew to love the art of writing. At a young age, I wrote songs and finished my first “book” at 12 years old (No, it’s not published----it never will be.)

What has kept you writing?
...As I grew older and learned and grew as a Christian, I began to realize that the same overflow of the heart I had experienced and held secretly as a child in my own little journals was given to me for the purpose of bringing God’s glory through my continued writing. Despite my ability to communicate verbally, God has given me the ability to spread Love and the Truth through another medium.

Do you have a favorite book or work that you’ve written? If so, why?
...I wish I could list off a few books of mine that I love that I’ve written, but I think my greatest passions are the blog posts and short stories I have posted. 

Your Writing


Tell us a little bit about your what you’re working on currently? Why are you/did you write it?
...I am in the process of a few different projects. I’m about 80 pages into a work (based on the life of Horatio G. Spafford) which I’ve been stewing over for a few years, but we’ll see what actually becomes of it. I love historical fiction because there’s so much learning that can happen from historical events and so much left to the individual imagination. I am also working on a long piece on fitness and Christianity.


Writing

Where do you find inspiration for your story/characters? Are they based on real life or pure imagination or both?
...I have definitely written stories with characters inspired by real-life people (“The Razor’s Edge”) and those that have simply grown and developed through my never-ceasing imagination. Sometimes, I develop characters, themes, or even story lines from my dreams.

When you write, what is your overall intention with your stories? 
Ashley & her husband
...I don’t always write fiction, but when I do, there is often a message I want to convey or an idea that I want to challenge. For my non-fiction works, I am often inspired by my own running/fitness journey and what God is teaching me through those disciplines. There is so much that God allows us to enjoy or gives us to encounter throughout our lives that reveals our true heart condition, demonstrates the character of the Lord, or challenges us to walk in the ways of the Bible. Married life is also a great way for the Lord to work on my heart, so I try to share those lessons with others through my blog/writing.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors for writing?

...Just keep writing. It’s not about writing one certain genre. I went to school thinking I wanted to write fiction, but the Lord has opened more doors for me through writing non-fiction than I ever planned. Now, I actually enjoy non-fiction writing just as much as allowing myself to be lost in my own imagination. Write in every circumstance: happiness, sadness, pain, anger, love. Some of those will need to be written and then stored for your eyes only, some may need to be deleted right away, but some of them will communicate Truth from a new perspective and help to change someones life.

You

Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to?
...You know, in college, I would listen to music when I wrote, and I called it my “zone” music. I often listened to one CD over and over for a semester. Nowadays, I do a lot of thinking/planning while I work around the house, and then I might have Owl City or the like on (something slow, somewhat repetitious, and nothing too rocky.) However, when I sit down to actually write, the music goes off, and it’s just me and the keyboard. Yeah, I don’t really write with a pen/pencil or paper. My handwriting is atrocious, and my mind works faster than my pen, so I’m often focused on my computer screen while my fingers fly on the keyboard.

What is your favorite season and why?
...I am a tank top, shorts, and barefoot kind of girl. I love running and being outside, so I would have to say summer. I really detest winter (and yes, I realize I’m in the wrong state to detest the cold.)

What is your favorite genre to read? Why do you enjoy it?
...While I am a huge historical fiction fan, I can’t say that there’s really a type of book (besides romance) that I wouldn’t at least try to read. I am also a fan of deep, theological, and spiritually challenging books.

____________________

Thank you so much Ashley for this great interview! It was so wonderful to reconnect with you after college, especially on something near and dear to us both - writing! I love how you recommend writing in all stages of feeling - the good and the bad. It's so true! Our feelings and emotions come out in ways we never would have expected but that's what makes our writing so real

I am excited for you and your husband with the expectation of your baby in October and hope to hear more from you about writing in the future!

Thinking Thoughts readers, make sure you check out Ashley's awesome blog! I'm sure you'll enjoy her theological posts, fitness focused posts, and her extensive lists of fun recipes!

Friday, May 24, 2013

RE:View | Beyond the Valley by Rita Gerlach

Time for a little review for the day. I just finished this delightful novel a few days ago and would love to share a bit about it. You will definitely want to get a copy for yourself (click here) and make sure to check out the rest of the books in The Daughters of the Potomac Series.

About Rita....
(taken from her Amazon page)
Rita Gerlach lives with her husband and two sons in a historical town nestled along the Catoctin Mountains, amid Civil War battlefields and Revolutionary War outposts in central Maryland. She was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in a large family in the Maryland suburbs.

"Romantic historical fiction that has an inspirational bent, is one way people can escape the cares of life and be transported back to a time of raw courage and ideal love," she says. "The goal of my writing is to give readers a respite from a stressful world..."

In many of her stories, she writes about the struggles endured by early colonists, with a sprinkling of both American and English history. Her genre - Inspirational Historical Romance / Drama.
Visit Rita's website at http://ritagerlach.blogspot.com/

Her Blog 'Inspire' http://inspire-writer.blogspot.com/

Beyond the Valley

Beyond the Valley is the third book in The Daughters of the Potomac Series by Rita Gerlach. I'll be honest and say I wasn't sure what to expect - not because of the book itself, but because it was Book 3 and I hadn't read any of the previous books. Maybe to you this isn't a big deal, but growing up with my mom as my "book mentor" it is next to sin to read books out of order in a series ;)

I forged ahead though (sorry mom), and was so glad I did! Rita made the transition for a 'new' reader like me easy. The intro wasn't filled with a lot of backstory to wade through and immediately I was drawn into the life of Sarah.

(Side note: as of right now I still haven't read the other two books so I cannot vouch for this books tie to the rest.)

For Sarah Carr, a strong and spirited woman, life is more than difficult. With the death of her husband, she is left alone in the world with barely any connections and forced to turn to her husband's family for help. Unfortunately, their help is nothing more than selling her into a life of servitude.

Faced with the humiliation of being auctioned as a slave and the ever present loneliness that comes from being thousands of miles away from everything you've ever know, Sarah rests on her faith in God and hope for new love despite the harshest of trails.

Much of Sarah's journey is wrought with hardship, but I appreciated the way in which Rita crafted her character, ever-hopeful and reliant on the Lord for the majority of the book. There were several twists and turns that I never would have seen coming (something I really admire in a good book) and I was very satisfied by the ending.

This is a must-read if you enjoy historical romance - or a well crafted story for that matter! The descriptions are fascinating and the action, romance, and plot are delightful.

_______________
I received a free copy of this book for review purposes, but was under no obligation to read the book or post a review. I do so under my own motivation and the opinions I have expressed in this review are honest and entirely my own.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Delia Latham {Writer Wednesday} & Giveaway


Please give a warm welcome to Delia Latham!

A little bit about Delia...
 
Born and raised in Weedpatch, California, Delia Latham moved to Oklahoma in '08, making her a self-proclaimed California Okie. She loves to read and write in her country home, and gets a kick out of watching her husband play Farmer John. She's a Christian wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, but especially loves being a princess daughter to the King of Kings. She loves Dr. Pepper and hearing from her readers.

Delia writes inspirational romance and women's fiction, and is currently contracted through White Rose Publishing and Vinspire Publishing.
How to connect with Delia....
 Contact her through her website (www.delialatham.net), blog, or Facebook author page. 

Author Interview | Delia Latham 

 You & Writing 

-->Tell us a little bit about yourself: How did you start writing? What has kept you writing?
...I’m probably the most ordinary person you’d ever care to meet. :) My name isn’t likely to be used in the same sentence with the word “glamor.” Fancy isn’t my thing. I do love beauty, but I find it in simple things. God things.
...At a very young age, I discovered that writing afforded me a means of expression. On paper, it was easy to say the things I found difficult to put into verbal form, whether from shyness, lack of confidence, or…whatever causes a person to find oral communication a challenge. So I wrote poems and songs and (very bad) short stories…and I was fortunate to have a number of people in my life who encouraged me to further develop that skill. With a little detour into newspaper journalism and a long hiatus to raise four children, I finally arrived at my goal of becoming a novelist in 2008, with the publication of my vintage inspirational romance, Goldeneyes.

If published, what was the hardest thing about publishing? The easiest?
...I’m not the most patient of individuals, so waiting has always been hard for me. That space of time between ending a manuscript in to a publishing house and hearing back from them is pure torture for me. Easiest is the actual writing process. I love it, so it’s rarely a chore.
Your Writing

-->
Tell us a little bit about your book or what you’re working on currently? Why are you/did you write it?
...Lexi’s Heart is part of a collection of books called Heart’s Haven, written by a group of four authors whom I strongly feel God brought together to do this work. My original plan was to come up with something to rival Barbour’s Christmas collections, so Heart’s Haven was born as a Valentine’s Day set. All of the authors love it, and we formed such an amazing bond with each other during the process. The concept just took off, and from that first set at least a couple of follow-ups have come to fruition. Lexi’s Heart is my contribution to the Heart’s Haven Holidays collection, with a focus on Mother’s Day. 

 What is one take-away from your book that you hope readers identify with?
...Lexi had suffered through twenty-three year’s of mental and emotional abuse in a marriage that wasn’t a marriage—not in the sense God intended. She’s healing in this book, and having to learn to trust God. She’s built walls around her heart to protect herself against anyone who might put her back in a similar position, but those walls also prevent her from allowing a better kind of love inside—the healing love of God and the genuine love of a man who would never abuse her in any way. I hope readers will pick up on the underlying message that when we can’t bring ourselves to trust any other human being, GOD can always be trusted. He’s always there, and always ready to shelter us. But He won’t force Himself into an unwilling heart…we have to trust Him enough to invite Him into our lives before He’ll come inside.

Writing
 
When you write, what is your overall intention with your stories?
...My goal in writing is always to deliver whatever message God has for some reader of that story. To lay it out there to the best of my ability—that’s me being God’s transcriptionist, if you will—and then trust God to get it into the hands He intended it for. If the words I write encourage, uplift, strengthen and/or renew another of God’s children, then my goal has been accomplished. Writing is a ministry. My only goal is to carry it out to the best of my ability and according to God’s direction. Of course, if a little money started coming in along the way, I wouldn’t be opposed… lol But truly, if I were writing because I want to be rich, I’d be sadly disappointed.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors for writing and/or publishing?
...Write. Write. Write. It’s what writer’s do. You can never be guaranteed a manuscript you pour your heart and soul into will be accepted, but you can certainly guarantee that it will not be accepted if it’s never written and never submitted. So write. Submit. Take the blows, and come back writing stronger…then do it all again…and again…and again. :)

You
-->

What is a favorite memory you have of your mother? 
...What a perfect question for an author with a Mother’s Day-themed book! :) My mother was the most amazing woman! I miss her so much. She was tiny—not quite five feet tall, and very petite, but what she lacked in stature she definitely made up for in spirit. I have so many memories of her…I’m not sure I can share one and call it my “favorite.” As an all-inclusive memory, however, I just remember that Mama loved her husband and her children fiercely and without apology. We didn’t have a lot of material possessions, but she always made the most of what was available, and even with eight children and an income that didn’t stretch nearly far enough, we never went hungry. Mama was the glue that made our house a wonderful home. I loved her with all my heart, and can only hope to reflect a tiny portion of the powerful effect she had on the lives of those around her.

If you had to choose one type of food, what kind would it be?
...Here’s the thing…this gal likes FOOD. Period. Any food. All food. Was it Gene Autry who said, “I’ve never met a man I didn’t like”? Well, I never met a potato I didn’t like…or a piece of pasta…or a flavor of ice cream…see what I mean?

April showers bring May flowers – or so they say. Do you have a favorite flower? If so, why is it your favorite?
...Have you ever seen a passion flower? It’s very simple, and yet so incredibly perfect. The first time I saw one, I cried. All I could think as I gazed down at those perfectly alternating green and lavender petals was, “How can anyone look at this stunning creation and not believe that there is a God? Things like this do not happen by accident.” The passion flower has to be my favorite, but again, I’m drawn to simple things. I love morning glories and pansies, too.
Borrowed from peoplespharmacy.com

_________________________
Thank you so much Delia - what a wonderful interview! I hadn't seen a passion flower until I looked it up so I thought I'd share (photo to the left). What an amazing flower!

I love how you call yourself "God’s transcriptionist". I think if we all are writing with the Lord in mind and through His leading, we are all like that! At least, that would be my prayer! Thanks again!

*** Update! ***
Just heard from Delia and she would like to do a GIVEAWAY of the first book in the Heart's Haven series titled Jewels for the Kingdom! What a treat! SO - make sure you leave a comment below so that you can be entered in to win this e-Book. I'll be announcing the winner on Tuesday so final entries need to be made 12am (Pacific Standard Time) on Monday May 27th.
 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Lynn Donovan {Writer Wednesday}

I'm happy to introduce you all to Lynn Donovan for today's {Writer Wednesday} author interview!

A little bit about Lynn...


Lynn Donovan writes from her heart and her passion for Jesus Christ. She is a daughter, wife, mother of four and grandmother of seven who has five decades of experiences to draw from when creating her stories. She has published a collection of Short Stories, The Clockwork Dragon, and this novel with AltWitPress. She categorizes herself as the “sandwich generation” because she is caring for her mother who has Alzheimer’s and her special-needs sister. She is one child away from an empty nest. She currently lives in Southwest Kansas but looks forward to building a home in Colorado. 
How to connect with Lynn...
You can learn more about Lynn on her blog: SittingOnThePorchWithLynn.blogspot.com
Follow her on Twitter @MLynnDonovan
Check out her LinkedIn.com profile at M Lynn Donovan
Become her friend on Facebook at MLDonovan
And like her Facebook author page at LynnDonovanFGG (For God’s Glory)

Author Interview | Lynn Donovan 

You and Writing
Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you start writing?
...My initial response is: I never thought of myself as a writer. But when I really thought about it, I’ve always been the one who initiated a story-play time adventure. When I was really young, like 6 or 7, my friends and I played outside (I know, shocking) and we would develop a scenario as we went along. The ideas always started with “See...” For example, we would decide to play cowboys and Indians, I would say, “See, we need to get water from the creek but the Indians are chasing us, so we have to hide in these bushes and sneak down to the water. See, we are hot and tired, so we have a hard time crawling down to the creek.” Then we’d play that out, kind of like keep away or tag. When I got older (11 or so) we sat down (outside of course) and wrote out plays. Then we’d rehearse them, set up lawn chairs on my friends back porch and invite their parents to come watch our play. Later still, I learned to sew and made hand puppets (like sock puppets). I road my Schwinn bike (like Pee Wee Herman’s) to the appliance store (about ¼ mile from my house) and literally dragged a freezer box back home. We’d cut out a window and hang a curtain that could be pulled back, and put on a puppet show. Again, by setting up lawn chairs and inviting our parents to come see.
What has kept you writing?
...Now that I am writing, the ideas won’t stop. I hear a newscast and think, hmm that would make an interesting scene to write or basis for a whole story. Or I’ll read a passage in the bible and think of a way to write that in modern times. Several ideas have come from a dream. Death Without Shoes in The Clockwork Dragon, is about 80% from a dream.
...Two years ago, we transferred my mother, who has Alzheimer’s and my sister, who is blind and deaf, to our home. They live with us now and so I do not work outside of the home. Writing allows me to stay busy, joyfully, and take care of their needs as well. I feel it was divinely orchestrated for me to have this season where I have time to write. My only challenge is my own multi-active mind who thinks it can do several things at once. I have to make lists so I can ignore the activity, for now, and focus on writing.
Do you have a favorite book or work that you’ve written? If so why?
...Actually I love all my stories, since they are my own creations, but the one I am the most fond of is, “Blind and Deaf Faith.” I wrote it for a Creative Writing class I took at the local college this past fall. It is a fantasy fiction about my sister. The main character, Faith, is a blind and deaf Marine Biologist. My sister is fascinated with sharks and dreams (literally) of running a shark center. Due to her limitations, she will never do such. However, in my writing I have been able to present it as a reality. I gave a final copy to her and needless to say she LOVED it and hugged me. Her joy made me cry. (Yes, she can read. She holds the paper about one inch from her eyes.) A copy of it is on my blog, and it will be published in the college’s Telolith. (Seward County Community College) which is a yearly publication from the English and Art Department. Student’s Art work and writings are published in it. And it wins outstanding awards for quality and layout, etc., every year.
What is the hardest thing about publishing? The easiest?
...I have to confess. I am SO blessed. Ephesians 3:20 says: Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” A year ago, February/March, I wrote The Wishing Well Curse. I didn’t know anything about writing. I simply wrote the story like I would tell the story. My grammar was based on mother-tongue knowledge. I saw it laid out in my mind like a movie, and did my best to put that picture into words. ...Then I read Jeff Gerke’s book, The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction. Learned a lot! Then I used his link at the back of the book to find a discussion forum, The Anomaly or Where the Map Ends. From there I was invited to an online critique group. It was in that critique group that I learned how to polish my manuscript. A member of the group, Pauline Creeden, invited everyone in the group to write a short story or two about a clockwork dragon which was home to legends, the many demons. I wrote four and collaborated on another. Pauline published it Oct 2012 with her publishing company, AltWitPress. (She wrote two of the stories) Then in December, Pauline sent me a message asking me if I had any finished manuscripts. I gulped, cried, ran to tell my husband, and then I relied, YES! I sent her the Wishing Well Curse. She suggested some structural/plot changes. I made them and here we are today. It was totally a Divine Appointment! And I do realize and appreciate that this NEVER happens in publishing…but it did for me!  Thank you God!
           Your Writing


Tell us a little bit about your book.
...The Wishing Well Curse is about a twenty-one year old man named Zeke Clay who lives in Austin, TX. His parents have died and on one spring day he loses everything, he drops out of college, finds his girlfriend with another guy, leaves their apartment, and gets fired from work. He receives an invitation to come to Pueblo Colorado for the reading of a Will for an Uncle he never knew he had. What does he have to lose? He goes to Colorado and discovers he could inherit a huge fortune, but he has to break a century old curse along with some other strange conditions. He is given clues from this Uncle and his mother. One source is First Chronicals 4:10, the Jabez prayer. (Did I mention his middle name is Jabez) Hmm, maybe mom knew something when she named him. He has to deal with a cantankerous elderly Attorney, a pastor who looks more like a Hell’s Angels member than an evangelical pastor, the attorney’s nephew/receptionist, and two ghosts who are not terribly agreeable. If that’s not strange enough, his 3 year old tattoo, a band of thorns, on his bicep, bleeds every time he goes near the wishing well. Wonder why?
Why are you/did you write it?
...Prior to this story, I wrote a fictitious story about a difficult period in my life but every other chapter is about the chapter before only from the point of view of the spiritual world, i.e., my guardian angel, prayer warriors, other angels, and demons who were out to get me. I wrote it to completion, was amazed I could write a whole novel length manuscript, and then decided it was too personal. So I set it aside and thought, “Okay, now what?” The Wishing Well Curse was the only other story in my head at the time, so I started writing it.
Do you have a favorite character in this work? If so, why?
...Zeke, the main character, is totally patterned from my first born. So, he’s a favored and dear character to me. But as I wrote the story, I became fond of Clifford. Don’t get me wrong, I like all my characters in their own way, after all I birthed them, so to speak.
What is one take-away from your book that you hope readers identify with?
...God had a purpose for each and every one of us even before we were conceived. My hope is for every reader to wonder what their purpose is. I call it destiny, but I refer to God’s destiny for us. By wondering what that destiny is, I hope everyone will seek and find that destiny, then follow that path and fulfill God’s plan. I hope this story plants a seed that will flourish over time.
Writing
Where do you find inspiration for your story/characters? Are they based on real life or pure imagination or both?
...This story originated in my head over twenty years ago when I heard Gordon Lightfoot’s song, If you could read my mind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta0a3DFUU0Y  The line “Just like an old time movie, about a ghost from a wishing well…” got me to thinking. Then when this season presented itself in my life, I thought: I’m gonna try to write that story… And here we are today. Some scenes are from a real life event. The only character from a real life person is Zeke. The rest are from my imagination. With one minor exception, a waitress. (That’s all I’m saying.)
...I describe the way I write like this: I follow my characters around and write down whatever they say and do. Sometimes they won’t let me eavesdrop, other times they’re very open to me. That’s not to say I don’t plan out my story or do research. I do that too. But my characters usually take the story a whole different direction and I go along for the ride.
...My characters are VERY real to me. Sometimes, I accidentally call my dog Zeke, his name is Binx.
When you write, what is your overall intention with your stories?
...Number one intention is to glorify God. Number two intention is to entertain. Number three intention is … no that’s about it.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors for writing and/or publishing?
...Three quotes: Nike-Just do it  Nemo-Just keep swimming [writing]  Confucius-A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
...The only way to be a writer is to start writing and keep on writing. No matter how terrible you may think it is, how slow you may type. If you don’t have a computer, write it out in long hand. WHATEVER you have to do, write. Second: read, read, read, everything you can get your hands on in the genre you love, or want to write in. Third: read all the how-to-write and how-to-edit books you can get your hands on. Plus, get an emotional thesaurus! Invaluable! Fourth: connect with other writers - online, in person with writing group, join a critique group (be careful some of those can be brutal) if you don’t like the critique group, join another. Whether you write Christian fiction or not, I recommend Where the Map Ends at www.wherethemapends.com/main.htm  Lurk through the discussion threads until you feel comfortable with posting something. Last, but not least, pray about it. Pray before you write, pray after you write. Pray for other’s who write.

You 
What is a favorite memory you have of your mother?
...Not my mother so much as my grandmother. She was the funniest person I have ever known. I got my humor gene from her. She always saw the silver lining. She patiently spent time with me, playing games (hide and go seek, checkers, and made up goofy games, too.) She would go out of her way to help someone in need. She read to me and bought me Golden books, Tell a Tale, etc. She taught me to cook, I had my own little bitty apron, and baking tools just my size. I stood on a stool and helped with everything. (At least I thought I was helping) There’s a story about her and my apron on my blog, too. Her son, my father, imprinted on me the art of telling a story with just the right poignant pauses and climactic reveals. I dedicated this book to him.

If you had to choose one type of food, what kind would it be?
...I love all foods (you can tell by looking at me!  LOL) but the first thing that comes to my mind is Italian. I’m not Italian, but I love their food and cook it probably 60% of the time. I’m in love with pasta!  
April showers bring May flowers – or so they say. Do you have a favorite flower? If so, why is it your favorite?
...Daisy is the first thing that comes to mind. But I adore daffodils and tulips and roses and … well, I love all kinds of flowers! I don’t know why. They’re beautiful and I love looking at them.
One question I did not ask but Lynn was so gracioius to piont out:
Will there be a sequel?
...Why yes, Emilie, there is!  I’m calling it Thorns of Betrayal. It is (as Paul Harvey would say) the rest of the story…about Zeke.  That’s all I can tell you without spoiling the Wishing Well Curse.  *evil smile*
_______________
Thank you so much for this great interview Lynn! I am right there with you about playing outside as a child. I think it was the beginning for my writing career. I'm also a very visual writer myself. I see what my characters are doing and basically let them tell me the story.  And lastly, your advice about praying for your writing and for others who are writing is invaluable! I'm planning a post on this soon so I won't say more than that ;)
I also have exciting news from Lynn that a new trailer for The Wishing Well Curse is out! You can follow the link below to check it out:
If you're intersted in purchasing her novel The Wishing Well Curse (how could you not be after reading its descritpion!?) you can find it at the link below:

I'm excited to say that I'll be reviewing The Wishing Well Curse on the blog soon!!  Happy Wednesday :)