Guest Blog

A Conversation With Gail Pallotta

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Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. Gail’s a former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association and a 2013 Grace Awards finalist. She’s published books, poems, short stories and articles.

How do you connect with your characters?
Gail: I visualize the characters in my mind. Then I write brief character sketches, which includes the physical descriptions and some basic personality traits. As I write and the book grows, the characters grow too.

What’s your go-to when you need a pick-me-up to keep writing?
Gail: I have several, all important. One is my husband, who will tell me I have characters stuck in my head, and I have to let them out. Another is my daughter who will tell me the world needs my book, LOL. The third, writer friends are invaluable for a pick-me-up because most of them understand. I’m fortunate to have several who will encourage me.

What did you want to be as a child (and did that dream come true?)
Gail: I wanted to be a private detective. I ended up with a major in English, but I’m a detective in my books.

Current Book: Breaking Barriers
Ann Jones defends the faith she loves. James Crawford wants to protect her.

Connect W/Gail
Website: www.gailpallotta.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore
Twitter: @Hopefulwords
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/102322508340385269334
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-pallotta-b368b220/

A Conversation With Susan Page Davis

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Susan Page Davis is the author of more than seventy published novels. She’s the winner of two Inspirational Readers’ Choice Awards and two Will Rogers Medallions, and also a winner of the Carol Award and a finalist in the WILLA Literary Awards.

When do you find time to write?
Susan: Writing is pretty much a full-time job for me now. I am at my desk by 8 a.m. and spend most of the day on writing or writing-related tasks.

What’s your go-to when you need a pick-me-up to keep writing?
Susan: Hot black tea. Even though I live in Kentucky now, I still drink hot tea.

Have you ever regretted killing off a character? Why?
Susan: Yes, there’s actually a character I’ve become fond who will be murdered in Book 5 (The Labor Day Challenge). He was sort of annoying in the earlier stories, but he made a good foil for my nice guys. Now I’ll need someone else to needle my heroes at the police station.

What did you want to be as a child (and did that dream come true)?
Susan: I wanted to run a hotel. No, it most certainly did not come true!

Current book: The House Next Door
Captain Harvey Larson and his wife Jennifer buy the house next door, never suspecting the terror it will cause. A chilling discovery gives Jennifer’s brother and sister-in-law second thoughts about moving in.

Connect W/Susan
Website: www.susanpagedavis.com
Twitter: @SusanPageDavis
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanpagedavisauthor
Sign up for Susan’s occasional newsletter at https://madmimi.com/signups/118177/join

 

A Conversation With Denise Weimer

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Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. A former magazine writer, she is a substantive editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas as well as the author of The Georgia Gold Series, The Restoration Trilogy and a number of romantic novellas due for release in upcoming months.

How do you pick the location/setting of your romantic suspense novels?
Denise: So far my novels and novellas have all been set in my home state of Georgia. I’ll probably soon push past these geographical boundaries, but so far, following the advice of “write what you know” has worked well for me. Having kids at home while building a career has meant it makes more sense to choose locations I am already familiar with not just physically, but culturally as well. Besides, Georgia is a state of great variety, from the gorgeous mountains, to the rolling Piedmont, to the historical coast. It’s a place rife with both Hallmark-worthy and intriguing backdrops for romantic suspense!

What is one of your favorite ways to connect with readers?
Denise: I enjoy Facebook parties so much! It’s fun to set a theme around your story, prepare a line-up of relevant giveaways, and chat with readers with similar interests from all over the nation.

Why do you like writing romantic suspense?
Denise: Because we don’t live life focusing on just one thing at a time, and we often face huge challenges as we seek the life we want, I love the depth of interweaving more than one plot line together. A bit of suspense or mystery heightens emotions and reveals character more quickly. I also enjoy writing stories where an unsolved mystery or threat from the past forces its way to center stage. There’s something in our nature that craves answers and resolution. Achieving those often goes hand in hand with character development and readiness for wholeness and love.

Current book: The Restoration Trilogy
When Jennifer Rushmore accepts a bachelor’s job offer to coordinate the restoration of his family’s historic doctor’s house (WHITE), apothecary (WIDOW) and log cabin (WITCH) in a rural Georgia community, little does she know it’s her own heart that will undergo the greatest renovation.

Connect W/Denise
Website: deniseweimerbooks.webs.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/denise.weimer1
Twitter: twitter.com/denise_weimer

A Conversation With Donna Schlachter

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Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick, her first-line editor and biggest fan. She writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts. Donna is proud to be represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.

What’s the hardest part of writing romantic suspense?
Donna: The hardest part is always making sure there is a balance between the romance and the suspense. There is a reader expectation that both will be about equal, and I like to charge ahead with writing the suspense part, then find I have to go back and weave in the romance.

When do you find time to write?
Donna: I am blessed to have a husband who supports my calling to write, so I don’t work outside the home. That doesn’t mean I don’t work, though. I don’t find time to write—I MAKE time to write. I impose deadlines for myself for books I’m writing, and even when I’m not under contract, I write. I independently publish two cozy mysteries a year under my pen name, Leeann Betts, and always have several stories percolating in my head.

What is your favorite spot for reading or reflecting on your current work-in-progress?
Donna: Well, that’s going to take two answers. For reading, anywhere works—I once missed my bus stop and ended up about 10 miles from where I lived when I was only seven because my nose was stuck in a book! For reflecting on my current WIP, I love museums or libraries. Both are filled with fodder for not only this story, but the next one, and the next one and. . . you get the picture.

Current book: Echoes of the Heart
A mail order bride. A crippled stationmaster. No way out for either of them—except with each other. Can they surrender their hearts and find true love?

Connect w/Donna
Website www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/donna.schlachterauthor
Twitter: twitter.com/donnaschlachter

A Conversation With Dawn V. Cahill

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Author Dawn V. Cahill pens “stories of victorious faith for the 21st century,” nearly always with a crossword puzzle, sudoku or dark chocolate nearby. She has written newspaper articles, three Christian contemporary novels and more limericks than she can count. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers.

How do you pick the location/setting of your romantic suspense novels?
Dawn: First of all, the setting needs to be familiar to me. I live on the West Coast, so I wouldn’t be inclined to set a story in, say, Cutter Gap, West Virginia.

For my Seattle Trilogy, I chose that setting because I lived outside Seattle for about five years and know it well enough to write about it. (Saves on research time!) Plus, there’s something about Seattle’s rain-soaked grayness and its high stark fir trees that lends a spooky quality to the story.

What did you want to be as a child (and did that dream come true)?
Dawn: I always wanted to be an author from the time I could read! I was an early reader, loved books and stories, and as I read I would wonder, Could I write something this good? Sure enough, in my fifties, I published my debut novel, Sapphire Secrets, and from the raving reviews, apparently my readers think I wrote something “that good.”

What is one of your favorite ways to connect with readers?
Dawn: I love when a reader “discovers” me and sends me an email to tell me about it! It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it’s a real day-brightener.

Current book: Moonstone Secrets
One missing boyfriend…one dead ex-wife. If DeeDee pursues their secrets, will she put herself in danger, too?

Connect W/Dawn
Website: dawnvcahill.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dawn-V-Cahill-Author-581290478668884/
Twitter: @dvcahill
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/dawnvcahillauth/pins/

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