fiction « Christa Allan

June 6, 2013

On the Threshold: A Mom/Daughter Team Novel

Filed under: Books,Guest Post,Issues,Writing — Tags: Christina Tarabochia, Depression, fiction, On the Threshold, Sherrie Ashcraft — Christa Allan @ 1:45 am

FROM CHRISTA: Sherrie and Christina were among my pre-published cheerleaders for Walking on Broken Glass. I met them during Margie Lawson’s workshop, and I’m excited to be able to introduce them to you here.

After fourteen years of hard work, Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Berry Tarabochia are thrilled to announce the release of their novel, On the Threshold. Interested in how a mother and daughter can write a book together? Want a chance at winning a Kindle and a business card design from a top-notch company? Keep reading!
Why did you ladies begin writing this book?
Both of us had always talked about writing a book, but fourteen years ago Sherrie said if we were ever going to write, maybe we should work on a book together. It would hold us accountable. We lived on different sides of the state of Oregon at the time, so we did a lot of it via e-mail, and once a month Sherrie would make the 250-mile drive to Christina’s house and we’d work on it in person. We wanted to share a real look at depression and trying to be good enough to please God–what that might look like in a family’s life.

Fourteen years? Really?
That’s from the first word penned. The very first contest we entered, we actually talked about how we needed to decide how to fight off all the editors who’d be making offers. Instead, we found out we had a lot to learn! Attending writing conferences and reading craft books brought our writing to a higher level.

Tell us about On the Threshold.
We loved having the chance to tell this story! In fact, we have a few more stories to tell about these characters if readers love this one. Here’s what the book is about.
Suzanne—a mother with a long-held secret. Tony—a police officer with something to prove. Beth—a daughter with a storybook future. When all they love is lost, what’s worth living for?
Suzanne Corbin and her daughter, Beth Harris, live a seemingly easy life. Suzanne has distanced herself from her past, replacing pain with fulfillment as a wife and mother, while Beth savors her husband’s love and anticipates the birth of their child. But all that is about to change.
Like a sandcastle buffeted by ocean waves, Suzanne’s façade crumbles when her perfect life is swept away. Tragedy strikes and police officer Tony Barnett intersects with the lives of both women as he tries to discover the truth. Left adrift and drowning in guilt long ignored, Suzanne spirals downward into paralyzing depression. Beth, dealing with her own grief, must face the challenge of forgiveness. Can these two women learn to trust each other again? Will they find the power of God’s grace in their lives?

And a little about you?
Mother/daughter writing team Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Berry Tarabochia bring a voice of authenticity to this novel as they have experienced some of the same issues faced by these characters. They like to say they were separated at birth but share one brain, which allows them to write in a seamless stream. Both live in NW Oregon and love spending time together. Many years ago, they were both on a winning Family Feud team!

Sherrie is the Women’s Ministry Director at her church, and loves being the grandma of eight and great-grandma of one. Christina is also the author of The Familiar Stranger, a Christy finalist and Carol Award winner, and runs a thriving editing business.
Please sign up for their Infrequent, Humorous Newsletter at Ashberry Lane for a chance to win cool prizes.

What about this contest?
If you help get the word out, you can earn different points for each thing you do, and every point represents an entry in the contest.
Say, for example, you name your next child “Threshold” in honor of our book. You would earn 100 points (entries), which would greatly increase your likelihood of winning.

Fine print to be read as quickly as those medical side effects are glossed over on TV: A certified copy of the birth certificate must be sent to Ashberry Lane proving the child was born between now and when the contest ends on June 30rd at 10 PM, PDT. Some restrictions apply, such as you must also promise not to change the child’s name to anything else for at least the next fifteen years. You are, however, allowed to use “Thresh” as his or her first name, and “Hold” as the middle.

If that seems like we’re asking a little too much, there are other ways for you to enter the contest.
~ Post about On the Threshold on Twitter or LinkedIn, or share the cover on Instagram or Pinterest, and you’ve doubled your points to TWO.
~ Refer someone to sign up for the newsletter. If he or she notes you as referrer, guess what? You just earned THREE points.
~ Blog about it and reap FOUR points. (We’re available for more blog interviews.)
~ And for those who buy the book (e-book or print copy), you will gain FIVE points.
~ Leave a review—positive or negative—on a retailing site after reading the book, and TEN points to you!

All you have to do to enter is drop us an email to Christina [at] ashberrylane [dot] net with a description of what you did. We trust you.

Here is a sample email:
Dear Sherrie and Christina,
Fortunately, my last name is Hold, so when my triplets were born yesterday, all I had to do was name them “On,” “The,” and “Thresh.” (Yes, that makes a double “h,” but without it, the name just looks silly and I don’t want a kid with a funny name.) I also got the cover of On the Threshold tattooed on my arm, took a picture of it, and posted it on every possible social media site, including Facebook, though I understand I don’t get points for anything done on there. Next, I forwarded the Infrequent, Humorous Newsletter to a few of my friends and ALL of my enemies. After reading the book in two hours, I posted an honest review on three different retail sites. Please enter my name 349 times.
Love,
Your #1 Fan
Or something like that. :)
Where else can we find you gals online?
Buy the book, e-version or paperback, on Amazon or B&N or iTunes or in any other version on Smashwords. Sign up for the newsletter (all the kids are doing it!). If you want a signed copy mailed anywhere in the United States, email us. (Christina [at] ashberrylane [dot] net)
www.twitter.com/authorchristina
www.facebook.com/sherrie.ashcraft
www.facebook.com/authorchristina
www.christinaberry.net/
www.authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com
Thanks for hosting us!

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May 6, 2013

What A Mother Knows…about New Orleans by Leslie Lehr

Filed under: Books,Guest Post — Tags: Faulkner House Books, fiction, Leslie Lehr, New Orleans, Pirates Alley Faulkner Society, What A Mother Knows, women, Words & Music Conference — Christa Allan @ 4:08 am

LESLIE LEHR Author of What A Mother Knows

Do you remember the movie, Brigadoon? Gene Kelly is a New Yorker who goes to Scotland and falls in love with a beautiful woman in a Scottish hamlet. The catch is that this idyllic town only appears out of the mist for one day every hundred years. For me, that’s New Orleans.

My first visit was like a fairy tale, when The Pirates Alley Faulkner Society flew me in to receive an award for Best Novella. As a young mother who wrote during naptime in suburban Los Angeles, the allure of New Orleans was as great as the recognition for my writing. Trying to translate the patois of the cabdriver felt like being in a foreign land. When we approached the French Quarter, the mist parted as if in a dream.

Ensconced in a Penthouse overlooking the river, I snacked on pralines then fell asleep bruised from pinching myself. The next morning I walked over to the French Quarter on narrow streets right out of a storybook. The humidity that made my clothes stick to my skin also fed the vines climbing the trellises of the balconies above me. The colors of the slim houses were like a rainbow I had never seen in the sky. The smells of jambalaya and the allure of jazz around every corner were like a circus for the senses. I counted five antique stores on one block. I fell in love.

The moment I stepped inside the elegant Hotel Monteleone where the Words & Music Conference was being held, the wind rose up behind me as if a spell had been broken. Sirens split the air to announce the arrival of Hurricane Georges. The city was on order to evacuate.

Within minutes, store owners were boarding up windows and tourists were hailing cabs. I ran to Faulkner House Books to leave my manuscript for Joe deSalvo and Rosemary James, who ran the conference. When I tried to leave, the door was locked. I screamed in panic until a neighbor rescued me. I ran back to my hotel where local residents were moving in. The taxis were gone, so I hitched a ride in the last car out. As my airplane lifted off into the sky, they closed the airport.

When I returned a year later, the penthouse was taken. But I was the lucky winner, having returned to meet my new agent and my editor from Random House. My high heels echoed across the cobblestones as I scurried between jazz concerts and poetry readings, scholarly panels and gourmet restaurants. It was thrilling to meet so many members of the glittering southern literati.

On stage in a grand old theater, I finally received my gold medal. I burst into tears. The judge took me for a mint Julep, then we strolled to the formal reception held in a spooky church courtyard. A fortune-teller studied my hand and smiled as the mist rose up. At dawn, I flew back to my children and watched the city disappear behind me.

Now I have a new novel, What A Mother Knows, to share with those benevolent folks who launched my career. The next conference is just around the corner. I can’t wait to see my Brigadoon rise from the mist. And like Gene Kelly, I may never leave.

That’s the question that inspired me to write What a Mother Knows. It started when my daughter was crying at night and I feared the worst. I didn’t know what to do, or how to help her. This book offers an answer to that question, one that every mother asks.

On these pages you’ll find Special Features, including Pinterest character boards and an interactive map, reviews, excerpts, and aBook Club Bonus section with discussion questions, party menus, and a playlist.

You’ll find links to my Blog Tour, reviews on Goodreads, and information on upcoming events. You can also contact me about a Skype Visit or to request a personalized bookplate.

I am also a blogger over at The Huffington Post. You can read my latest blog entry about what I know as a mother and how it shaped my new release What A Mother Knows.

SYNOPSIS

How far will a mother go to protect her child?

An unsettling, emotional and suspenseful novel of the unshakable bonds of motherhood, in which Michelle Mason not only loses her memory after a deadly car crash, but can’t find her 16-year-old daughter, the one person who may know what happened that day. But the deeper Michelle digs, the more she questions the innocence of everyone, even herself. A dramatic portrayal of the fragile skin of memory, What a Mother Knows is about finding the truth that can set love free.

COME BACK TOMORROW…LESLIE IS SHARING THE PROLOGUE OF HER POWERFUL AND POIGNANT NOVEL

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March 18, 2013

Where is Christa today?

Filed under: Writing — Tags: fiction, free book, Trish Perry — Christa Allan @ 9:38 am

Please leave a comment on Trish’s blog, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for a FREE book!

Looking forward to chatting with you there.

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March 4, 2013

GUEST POST: Sometimes She Really Does Have What You Want

Filed under: Books,Guest Post — Tags: babies, envy, fiction, I'll Take What She Has, Samantha Wilde, This Little Mommy Stayed Home, women's fiction — Christa Allan @ 1:35 am

NOTE FROM CHRISTA: I’m delighted to host Samantha Wilde, author of This Little Mommy Stayed Home and the ever-so-newly released, I’ll Take What She Has. Sam and I both contribute to (along with a posse of other women writers) Girlfriends Book Club, which gave me the opportunity to ask her to share her Wilde wisdom on my blog. Sam welcomes you to join her Facebook Author Page, her Wilde Mama Blog, and her website.

Samantha Wilde’s new release

Since I began writing my second novel, I’ll Take What She Has, infinite opportunities to riff on the title have presented themselves. It’s one of those titles that lends itself to conversation, humor and playfulness. In fact, it calls to mind so perfectly the idea of envy that I often don’t need to tell people anything but the title to get them interested in the book.

The story follows the quest of best friends, Annie and Nora, for greener grass, and the experiences of envy range from the very superficial to the deepest darkest down under no one wants to talk about. One thread in the novel concerns the envy Nora feels when Cynthia Cypress, the new hire in the school’s history department, gets pregnant. Nora has tried for nearly a year without success and Cynthia’s news awakens her green-eyed monster.

When I talk to women about envy in friendship, we all have a good laugh, and most of our envy over our friends’ lives is quite funny and quite harmless. But baby envy can prove disastrous to friendships. In an article published in the UK this time last year, the effects of baby envy were explored. One thing struck me: the strong evidence of a taboo against talking about baby envy with friends.

I love to write about realities that don’t get talked about enough. In my first novel, This Little Mommy Stayed Home, I wrote a lot of irrational anger into the narrative—because many new mothers feel irrational anger during the first nine months of new motherhood (as well as, of course, many other feelings) but no one wants to admit it because it makes you seem like a terrible mom. In this book, which also looks at mothering, I hoped to find a way out of the thick pain of wanting what you can’t have. Now most of us will easily enough say, “I envy her hair, her shoes, her dress.” But the darker underbelly of envy needs some press time, too. In fact, hanging out that kind of dirty laundry on the line will improve everyone’s situation—not to mention that it could keep friendships together. Even more than that, it can help women in similar situations. Isn’t one of the best feelings the kind you have when you realize that you aren’t alone in having a certain emotion?

I have said, show me a woman who hasn’t envied and I’ll show you a mannequin! And I mean it. Envy erupts universally—which isn’t to say that I don’t believe there’s a cure for it. I think there is. And I liked watching my fictional friends find a way to recognize their own green grass, partly because they ‘fessed up about their own envy. I like to say to a friend, “I admire you so much for (insert thing) that I nearly envy you!” It begins a rich, good, helpful conversation, and I always learn something. The truth is, even when we don’t want to admit it, she sometimes really does have something we want that we can’t have, but the only person who gets hurt by our envy is—you guessed—ourselves. Which means the nicest thing we can do is be kind to ourselves. It may be simple to say, but it is no less true: you don’t need to be her, you only need to be you.

So tell me, have you ever been hit by the green-eyed monster? Ever experienced baby envy? How have you gotten over wanting what she has?

ANOTHER NOTE FROM CHRISTA: While you’re contemplating your answer, you can entertain yourself by watching the book trailer for I’ll Take What She Has.

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June 3, 2012

MEET ANN LEE MILLER and KICKING ETERNITY

Filed under: Guest Post,Interview,Writing — Tags: Ann Miller, ebooks, fiction, Jenny B. Jones, Kicking Eternity — Christa Allan @ 12:18 am

Anyone who leaves a comment with an e-mail address (JaneReader[at]msn[dot]com) will receive a free e-book copy of Kicking Eternity. Those who don’t want to leave an e-mail may contact Ann for their free book at AnnLeeMiller.com.

Tell us about your book.

Kicking Eternity, First Place Long Contemporary winner of the 2009 Romance Writers of America Faith, Hope, and Love Contest, is all about chasing dreams—our dreams, God’s dreams, and the mixed-up tangle of both.

Stuck in sleepy New Smyrna Beach one last summer, Raine socks away her camp pay checks, worries about her druggy brother, and ignores trouble: Cal Koomer. She’s a plane ticket away from teaching orphans in Africa, and not even Cal’s surfer six-pack and the chinks she spies in his rebel armor will derail her.

The artist in Cal begs to paint Raine’s ivory skin, high cheek bones, and internal sparklers behind her eyes, but falling for her would caterwaul him into his parents’ live. No thanks. The girl was self-righteous waiting to happen. Mom served sanctimony like vegetables, three servings a day, and he had a gut full.

Rec Director Drew taunts her with “Rainey” and calls her an enabler. He is so infernally there like a horsefly—till he buzzes back to his ex.

Can you give us a sneak peek at your new release?

Cal looked up from the easel and caught her staring.

Her gaze darted toward the window, her cheeks burning. When she looked back at Cal, she saw a small smile playing at the edges of his mouth and eyes. It reminded her of one she’d seen and dismissed earlier.

“Why are you quizzing me on prayer?”

“You think I have an ulterior motive?”

“You tell me.”

He sat on the table top behind him. “You were sitting there like you were afraid of your own skin. I wanted to paint your fire. Pretty much a no-brainer to get you going on a topic that lights your passion.” He shrugged and grinned at her.

Raine turned her face toward the bulletin board covered with crosses her elementary students had colored. Stupidity for having fallen for Cal’s manipulation warred against something entirely different. Cal saw something she didn’t see in herself—passion.

A board creaked nearby, and Cal squatted down in front of her. His hand cupped her face. “You moved.” He brought her head back into position. His palm stayed on her cheek a heartbeat too long, his fingers trailing down to her chin almost in a caress before he broke the contact.

She met his steady gaze. “What button are you trying to push now?”

Cal stood. “The one that turns your cheeks pink like they were a few minutes ago.”

Cal wasn’t the only one who could manipulate. “Let’s talk about obeying God.”

“Talk about whatever you want. I’m going to work on your shirt now.”

What inspired this book?

My daughter has had a passion to become a foreign missionary since she was in first grade. She just completed her junior year of college and is still headed for missions, probably to an orphanage in Peru. Also a close family friend fell in love with a young man and felt strongly that God told her to marry him. When the guy broke off the engagement, she was devastated on multiple levels. In Kicking Eternity the hero has to come to terms with the same dilemma.

Are you a panster or do you outline?

I detest plotting, but consider it a necessary evil. I plot every scene for the whole book before I actually write the book. It takes… forever. My first two books were written without plotting. Going back through whole books to fix plot lines felt counterproductive. I tried Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake method of plotting for my third book and Karen Wiesner’s First Draft In 30 Days for my most recent book. I also use Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure as I build scenes. To me, it feels so much easier to make changes to the book’s skeleton than to rewrite large portions.

How long have you been writing?

I always say I became a writer the year I discovered Sister Sheila had hair. I was in fifth grade at St. Hugh’s Catholic School in Miami, knee deep in nouns and verbs, when Sister Sheila walked through the door in a new habit that showed two inches of mouse brown hair threaded with silver. Thanks to Sister’s encouragement, I went on to earn a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University. I’ve been writing novels for the past fifteen years.

Tell us something about you that would surprise your readers.

My father spent several years building a forty-foot sailboat in our backyard. We launched it in the Miami River and lived aboard at Dinner Key Marina when I was eleven until I turned thirteen. At the time I didn’t realize how unusual it was to live on a boat and ride my bicycle down the dock each morning to attend school. All my friends at the marina did the same. After school every day, I tossed my books onto my bunk, shimmied into a swim suit, and jumped overboard. Sailboats show up in all my books thus far.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

I especially want to reach people with unhappy, dysfunctional families like the family I grew up in. I want to give them hope that God will provide love and healing for them.

Tell us about the journey to getting published.

I wrote my first novel fifteen years ago and have been writing full-time for ten years while trying to break in to traditional publishing. Last summer my agent let all her unpublished authors, including me, go. In the midst of my despair, God nudged me to indie e-publish. So, I swallowed a hairball of pride and walked down the self-publishing road. I feel a surge of joy and gratitude that my books are finally being read. The part of me that clamors for validation still hopes for a traditional publishing contract. But how can I go wrong obeying God?

What project are you currently working on?

In addition to Kicking Eternity, The Art of My Life debuts in September, Avra’s God in December, and Tattered Innocence next March.

What is your writing schedule like? Do you write only when inspired?

Since I started my writing career in my forties, I feel fairly obsessed to accomplish what God created me to do. Think about how the hero in Sweet Home Alabama jammed lightning rods into the sand to make his beautiful glass. He did his work before the lightning struck. I jam a lot of words onto the page before lightning strikes and makes it beautiful.

What is a fond childhood memory?

As a kid, I adored stories about girls who went to boarding school and imagined their lives as oh-so-much-better than my own. Our Lady of the Hills Camp in Hendersonville, North Carolina, the closest I got to attending boarding school, turned out to be the “happy” in my childhood, spawned a lifelong affection for camp, and inspired the setting for Kicking Eternity.

What book are you currently reading?

I’m reading Ann Brashares’ (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) The Last Summer, one of her adult novels. I enjoy reading her because I think we have similar writing styles and grasp on the early twenties.

What are your hobbies (besides writing)?

Wedged in between my writing I manage to hike in the mountains with my husband, do Zumba, and go garage saleing every Saturday morning with a friend. This year I mentored three teens from my youth group. I’ve guest lectured on plotting in Phoenix colleges for the past few years. Every summer you’ll find me at teen church camp.

Where readers can find Ann:

AnnLeeMiller.com

Twitter @AnnLeeMiller

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ann-Lee-Miller/356653761022022

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kicking-Eternity-ebook/dp/B0082GF8CE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1337363292&sr=8-2

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kicking-eternity-ann-lee-miller/1110908265?ean=2940014441759

Bio: Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix, but left her heart in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where she grew up. She loves speaking to young adults and guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. When she isn’t writing or muddling through some crisis—real or imagined—you’ll find her hiking in the Superstition Mountains with her husband or meddling in her kids’ lives.

Book Blurb:

Fresh from college, Raine scores a teaching job at New Smyrna Beach Surf and Sailing Camp. A crush on the camp rebel/art teacher threatens to derail her plans to teach orphans in Africa. The broody recreation director spots her brother’s meth addiction and Raine’s enabling. Raine believes she is helping her brother–until lives are threatened.

Endorsements:

“Ann Lee Miller writes stories straight from the heart with characters who’ll become friends, remaining with you long after you turn that final page. You won’t want to miss Kicking Eternity!”

Jenny B. Jones, Author of the Katie Parker Production Series from Think and The Charmed Life Series, and other single titles from Thomas Nelson

“In Kicking Eternity, Ann Lee Miller masterfully weaves the delicate web of emotions experienced in that turbulent ‘twenty-something’ stage of life. Powerful family dynamics, intense loyalty challenges, and tender new loves find their niche in your heart as this story unfolds layer by lovely layer.”

Mesu Andrews, Author of Revell titles Love’s Sacred Song, and Love Amid the Ashes, which won the 2012 CBA Book of the Year, New Author Category

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February 7, 2012

Enter to win a basket of goodies from New Orleans to celebrate the release of my first historical novel!

Filed under: Blog,Writing — Tags: fiction, historical novel, Love Finds You in New Orleans, romance, Summerside Press — Christa Allan @ 12:13 am

LOVE FINDS YOU IN NEW ORLEANS

The story of a woman whose grandparents must consider whether to stop keeping secrets and reveal the truth they’ve known—a truth that will make the difference between a life of obligation and a life of choice.Unlocking the past could open the door to a new future, but is the present worth the cost?

LEAVE A COMMENT TO WIN A COPY OF MY NOVEL AND A BASKET OF NEW ORLEANS’ GOODIES INCLUDING:

Mardi Gras Beads, Community Coffee, and Beignet Mix and more! CONTEST ENDS ON VALENTINE’S DAY!

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? Share your favorite stories of New Orleans or why you’d like to visit the city!

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November 14, 2011

What time is it? Thyme for Love with Pamela S. Meyers

Filed under: Blog,Interview — Tags: fiction, Oak Tara Publishing, Pamela S. Meyers, Summerside Press, Thyme for Love — Christa Allan @ 12:36 am

April Love has always dreamed of being a chef.

But she didn’t expect a former fiancé or murder to be part of the recipe for her new job.

When April Love signs on to be an in-house chef at an old lakeshore mansion in Canoga Lake, Wisconsin, she comes face to face with her long-lost love, the drop-dead gorgeous Marc Thorne. It doesn’t take long for their old magnetism to recharge, but how can she trust the guy who left her nearly at the altar eight years earlier? Her gut tells her something happened to Marc in between—something he’s reluctant to reveal.

When April’s boss is murdered, Marc is accused of the crime. Unless April can find out who really killed Ramón Galvez, her chances for love will end up at the county jail. But someone else is just as determined she not solve the mystery…and will go to any length to stop her.

Q: Give us a little preview of Thyme for Love.

A: April Love has always dreamed of being a chef. When her Aunt Kitty hears of a in-house chef position for a non-profit organization housed in a lakeshore mansion next door, April returns to Canoga Lake, Wisconsin, where she’d spent many summers growing up, to apply for the job. When she discovers her former fiancé Marc Thorne working there, she wonders if this position was really God’s intention for her. After all, Marc all but left her standing at the altar to chase his own dreams in California. It doesn’t take long to realize Marc is hiding secrets and despite returning feelings for the man, April determines she will not make the same mistake as she did eight years earlier. But when their boss is found dead and Marc is framed for his murder, April has no choice but to turn sleuth to keep Marc from being accused of a murder he didn’t commit.

Q: What made you want to write this book?

A: I’ve always loved romance and mysteries, and decided to write a story that married the two elements together. I grew up in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and have always been fascinated by the many 20^th Century mansions that dot the lake’s shoreline. I toyed with the idea of setting the story in one of those homes, but decided to create a smaller lake and village just to the east of Lake Geneva to gain more freedom with some of the details of the story and its characters. I loved having the area located close enough to Lake Geneva that April and Marc could go there for a meal at one of the actual restaurants there. I also gave them backgrounds that involve working on Geneva Lake as many college students do during the summer months.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

A: In one way or another I’ve always written almost since I could hold a pencil. When I was eight years old I asked for a diary for Christmas and I wrote in it at different times of my childhood. I still have that little book and it contains bits and pieces of my life from age eight until sometime in high school. Even into my adult years I’d journal from time to time, but never thought of turning that “need” to put words to paper into a career until years later. While completing my bachelor’s through an accelerated adult program, one of my professors suggested I could make a living writing. I published several magazine articles, but as the hankering to write stories grew stronger, I began taking fiction writing classes. At a local writer’s conference a multipublished author suggested I could turn one of my short stories into a novel. That was all I needed to hear. I soon joined American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) while the organization was in its infancy and through their writing courses and conferences I continued to grow in the craft.

Q: Have you written other novels besides Thyme for Love?

Oh yes. My first novel which I would classify as a women’s fiction languishes in my computer at the moment. Authors very seldom publish their first written work as that often turns out to be a practice project. The storyline still resonates with me and I’d love to one day pull it out and rework it. There are a couple other stories that will probably never see the light of day. I’m very excited to have a novel set in my hometown of Lake Geneva, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, coming out in June 2012 from Summerside Press. It’s a 1933 historical romance, and I had a blast researching for the story.

Q. Do you have any plans for a sequel to Thyme for Love?

A. I’m so glad you asked. Thyme for Love is part of a three-book series called “On the Road to Love.” Books 2 and 3 involved April and Marc, and both are set in Canoga Lake. In Book 2, Love Will Find a Way, April moves into an old Victorian home with plans to turn it into a restaurant and catering business. It isn’t long before a discovery made while they are renovating the home threatens to hijack plans for the grand opening. In Book three, Love’s Reward, April and Marc’s wedding plans are in full swing, until it becomes apparent there is someone who doesn’t want them to marry.

Q. How do you get your story ideas?

A. There’s an old adage to write what you know. I might add to that, to always keep your eyes and ears open for a possible story line. That first novel I wrote was sparked by something someone said to me when she showed me a picture of my great-grandfather’s grave. My Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin story grew out of wanting to know the history behind the beautiful lakeshore recreational building that has become an icon of the area. Just today a newspaper article sparked an idea I’d like to develop into a proposal.

Q. What is your daily writing routine?

A. My best writing time is morning, but I’ve had to make myself work outside the box at times when that kind of schedule doesn’t work. Since I am a morning person, I find it best to set my alarm as if I’m going to work. I get up at 5:30 and spend at least an hour in my Quiet Time with God. Then I try to walk daily for exercise before settling down in my home office to write. I recently converted unused space in my dining are into an office and that has helped tremendously with getting the sense of “going to work.” This helps me stay on task. Too many years actually working Monday through Friday probably contributes to that. On days I have an obligation away from home in the morning, I have had to force myself to be creative in the afternoon and early evening. I think as I start working on deadlines more and more that’s going to be essential.

Q. What advice do you have for new authors?

A. Persevere, persevere, and persevere. I started out aspiring to be published in novel writing more than ten years ago. I had the raw ability and desire to write, but that skill had to be trained and honed, much like a young colt has to be trained. I have learned that writers need to develop what we jokingly refer to as rhino skin and also we need a positive teachable attitude. Join critique groups, take writing courses, attend writing conferences where great teaching occurs and you’ll have opportunities to meet with industry professionals and pitch to editors and agents. ACFW has a great yearly conference ever September that is for fiction writers only. I cannot tout ACFW enough. It is a must organization to join for anyone who writes fiction from a Christian point of view.

Q. When you aren’t writing, what fills your days?

A. I volunteer at my church in the multicultural ministry, helping Japanese women learn to speak English and lead a women’s small group Bible study. I’m also chapter president of my local ACFW chapter which meets monthly. Also, I enjoy reading (surprise, surprise) and movies. Love to cook and find new ways of making things. You’ll find an adaptation of a recipe someone gave me called Chicken George at the back of Thyme for Love. I loved having April prepare it in the novel, and look forward to experimenting

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisc., Pamela Meyers currently lives in Arlington Heights, Ill. She served on the Operating Board for ACFW 2005-2009, and is president of her local ACFW chapter. Her debut novel Thyme for Love releases November 14, 2011, and her historical that is set in her hometown, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, will release in June 2012. She has published articles in Today’s Christian Woman, Christian Computing, Victory in Grace, and Ancestry. She is also a contributor in the compilation book, His Forever.

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September 20, 2011

The Language of Flowers:Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Filed under: Blog,Reviews — Tags: book review, fiction, flowers, foster care, Random House, The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh — Christa Allan @ 1:06 am

“For eight years I dreamed of fire. Trees ignited as I passed them; oceans burned. The sugary smoke settled in my hair as I slept, the scent like a cloud left on my pillow as I rose. Even so, the moment my mattress started to burn, I bolted awake. The sharp, chemical smell was nothing like the hazy syrup of my dreams; the two were as different as Indian and Carolina jasmine, separation and attachment. They could not be confused. Standing in the middle of the room, I located the source of the fire. A neat row of wooden matches lined the foot of the bed. They ignited, one after the next, a glowing picket fence across the piped edging. Watching them light, I felt a terror unequal to the size of the flickering flames, and for a paralyzing moment I was ten years old again, desperate and hopeful in a way I had never been before and would never be again.

But the bare synthetic mattress did not ignite like the thistle had in late October. It smoldered, and then the fire went out.

It was my eighteenth birthday.”

And so begins The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, and I am awake until the early morning hours because I can’t bring myself to stop reading. It is only when I hear my husband’s alarm, at three in the morning, that I realize how much time has passed. I force myself to sleep, so I can wake up and finish. When I do, I close the book, and think it was a novel I wish I had written.

Victoria Jones, the protagonist, is at once haunting, engaging and achingly real. Flashbacks to her ten-year-old self in the foster care system break you open. At eighteen, she is released from the system and begins to make her way through the world. It’s not pretty…she’s distrusting, hesitant, and awkward. Yet, she communicates through her extensive knowledge of flowers, their meaning, their ability to reflect feelings and emotions.

I found myself, at points, exhausted from pulling for her and urging her on because for a woman who can see with such deep clarity into others, she remains an enigma to herself. She makes a sacrifice that, as a mother myself, I found sacrificial and so reflective of her hesitancy to allow herself to feel deeply for another human being after her own experiences.

I hesitate to reveal too much in this review because what I loved about this novel was its surprising twists and discoveries. It was unlike anything I had ever read, and I only wish I could read it again for the first time.

Don’t just read this novel. Savor it.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, aster for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes that she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market inspires her to question what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vanessa Diffenbaugh was born in San Francisco and raised in Chico, California. After studying creative writing and education at Stanford, she went on to teach art and writing to youth in low-income communities. She and her husband, PK, have three children: Tre’von, eighteen; Chela, four; and Miles, three. Tre’von, a former foster child, is attending New York University on a Gates Millennium Scholarship. Diffenbaugh and her family currently live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her husband is studying urban school reform at Harvard.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh is also the founder of the Camellia Network. The mission of the Camellia Network is to create a nationwide movement to support youth transitioning from foster care. In The Language of Flowers, Camellia [kuh-meel-yuh] means “My Destiny is in Your Hands.” The network’s name emphasizes the belief in the interconnectedness of humanity: each gift a young person receives will be accompanied by a camellia, a reminder that the destiny of our nation lies in the hands of our youngest citizens.

Thank you to Pump Up Your Book and Vanessa Diffenbaugh for the review copy of this novel.

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July 22, 2008

Working on my Week-ness

Filed under: Issues,Writing — Tags: fiction, writing — Christa Allan @ 1:07 am

KATY MC KENNA RAYMOND WON THE DR. GARY CHAPMAN BOOK, LOVE AS A WAY OF LIFE, WHICH IS FEATURED ON MY BLOG FICTIONARY.

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I’ve decided that my blogging life, especially with two of them (blogs, not lives…but a clone might be nice) needs to be organized. Lord knows, something in my life needs to be organized. Might as well start there.

So, here’s what I’m thinking about this little blog of mine.

Christa as teacher: After spending over 21 years in high school classrooms as an English teacher, I thought it would be worthwhile to share information for students, teachers, parents, parole boards, employers. Not so much day in the life of, though that’s certainly an option, as much as a behind the scenes of and how parents help or sabotage their teenagers, and whatever any of you might want to know from a teacher’s perspective on teaching. Transparent Teaching was my first thought for those posts which, of course, would be on a Tuesday and/or Thursday to honor all things alliterative.

Then my marketing brain kicked in and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to call it Naked Teaching?” My Akismet would exhaust itself with the salacious spams, but by the second week of school, my students and I are doing naked writing, so why not? Plus, it’s a great segue into the profoundly boring subject of participles because, clearly, we should all know that naked writing and writing naked are visibly different. Transparent Naked Teaching? Nah, redundant. But, the acronym, TNT, is workable.

Christa as writer: I’ll own being opaque when it comes to my fiction writing. Not that I’m unwilling to share what I write and how it can shift from stupendous to stupid in less than two sentences. So many other writers with more experience, published books, awards, and recognizable faces and names are sharing, I wonder what could I possibly offer? [That reads much more self-pitying than I intended. Now, see, in my real book-writing-world, I'd have to change the line because the tone's not conveying the message I want.]

I don’t want to be whiny wimpy writer and compete for blog time with my Word Game Wednesday. Fiction definitely points to Friday. Hmm…Fun Fiction? Gag.

Honestly, Fiction on my Fanny would be much more accurate because, with the exception of those few authors I know who actually write while standing, if the buttocks aren’t in the chair, the book’s not happening.

Christa as wife, mother, grammy, sister, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law: This one is a compound fracture in my already fractured life. I’ve forewarned my daughters that it’s unlikely they’ll be a “good” one of those listed roles simultaneously. My adultren (a portmanteau word I just created…adult+children) are now 31, 28, 25, 25, and 22. My granddaughters are three and one. I, on the other hand, have not aged. It is miraculous. Monday or Saturday? Don’t have a firm grasp on this one yet. Liking the idea of Monday Musings…

Christa as God-child: Exploring my relationship as a child of God would be will be scary.[ For me. I hope not for you reading about me. Any other scary caused by your own relationship with God is all yours.] There are still areas in my life where I insist on playing tug-of-war with God. Who am I kidding? I’m pulling on a rope the size of which could tow a cruise ship into port, and God’s in His heaven with a yo-yo string entertaining Himself with my foolishness. I love that God as a sense of humor. I don’t always love that I’m the source of it.

Definitely a Sunday post. I’d love to call it Sashay Sunday because I have few, if any opportunities to legitimately use that word sashay, and I happen to like it (the verb; the noun, not so much). Why don’t people sashay in the 21st century? Is it symptomatic of our stressed and frenetic society that we don’t have the time to sashay places? Maybe I could start a Save the Sashay movement.

Maybe I could get back on topic. Sunday Soul Searching. Ugh. So staunchly serious.

Here’s the lineup so far:

Tuesday or Thursday: Transparent (or Naked) Teaching

Wednesday: Word Game Wednesday

Friday: Fiction on my Fanny (unless this is found to be offensive by the audience. If so, I’ll rename it Fiction on Your Fanny.)

Monday or Saturday: Family Day, yet unnamed

Sunday: Devotion day, yet unnamed.

So, feel free to help a sister out here with ideas.

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