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?
On Love’s Gentle Shore by Liz Johnson — When Natalie O’Ryan’s fiancé books their wedding in her hometown, Natalie didn’t know the only reception venue available would be an old barn belonging to Justin Kane–the best friend she left behind all those years ago after promising to stay. As they work together to get the dilapidated building ready for the party, Natalie and Justin discover the groundwork for forgiveness–and that there may be more than an old friendship between them. (Contemporary Romance from Revell – A Division of Baker Publishing Group)
Their Ranch Reunion by Mindy Obenhaus — Single mom Carly Wagner is surprised to learn she’ll have to share ownership of the home she’s inherited with her first love—and first heartbreak—Andrew Stephens. The man who fled their tiny Western town is back and standing in the way of her dreams to expand her B and B. Now a successful businessman, Andrew has eight weeks to buy Carly out. But Carly’s too stubborn to persuade—and too beautiful to ignore. When fire ravages her inn and she and her daughter move in to their shared property, Andrew’s in over his head. Time is running out and Andrew must decide: leave and chase another deal…or stay and chase Carly’s heart. (Contemporary Romance from Love Inspired [Harlequin])
Time and Tide by Kristen Terrette — Recovering from addiction and a near death experience, Chad moves to Moanna Island, a small island close to Savannah off the Atlantic coast, to begin a job with his family’s real estate empire, a job he was supposed to have taken years ago. Free-spirited Ryan Mason is a Moanna local girl from a blue-collar family. She’s dropped her own dreams to help her father care for her schizophrenic brother. When Chad and Ryan meet at the rehabilitation center where her brother lives, feelings develop between them. Can their crazy worlds ever fit together once he learns her secret and she finds out he is the sole heir to the Cusher Empire? (Contemporary from Hartwood Publishing Group)
Just Look Up by Courtney Walsh — When a workaholic interior designer returns to her hometown to check on her brother’s welfare, she reconnects with a soldier, secretly in love with her, over a renovation project that will help the struggling town. (Contemporary Romance from Tyndale House)
Cozy Mystery:
A Tempting Taste of Mystery by Elizabeth Ludwig — Judging a pie contest leads Cheryl Cooper and friends into mayhem and mystery after someone begins methodically sabotaging the entries. (Cozy Mystery from Guideposts Publications)
Over Maya Dead Body by Sandra Orchard — FBI Special Agent Serena Jones arrives on Martha’s Vineyard with her family, ready for a little bit of R&R and a whole lot of reminiscing as they celebrate the engagement of an old family friend. But crime doesn’t take a vacation, and she’s soon entangled in an investigation of a suspicious death tied to an antiquities smuggling ring.When her investigation propels her into danger, Serena must stay the course and solve this case before anyone else dies. But just how is she supposed to do that when the two men in her life arrive on the scene, bringing with them plenty of romantic complications–and even a secret or two? (Cozy Mystery from Revell [Baker])
Of Rags and Riches Romance Collection by Susanne Dietze, Michelle Griep, Anne Love, Gabrielle Meyer, Natalie Monk, Jennifer Uhlarik, Erica Vetsch, Jaime Jo Wright, and Kathleen Y’Barbo — Journey along in nine historical romances with those whose lives are transformed by the opulence, growth, and great changes taking place in America’s Gilded Age. Nine couples meet during these exhilarating times and work to build a future together through fighting for social reform, celebrating new opportunities for leisure activities, taking advantage of economic growth and new inventions, and more. Watch as these romances develop and legacies of faith and love are formed. (Historical Romance from Barbour Publishing)
A Rebel in My House by Sandra Merville Hart — Promises can be impossible to keep–especially when a Confederate soldier trapped behind enemy lines looks to a Gettysburg seamstress for help. (Historical Romance from Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas)
A Match for Melissa by Susan Karsten — Wanting a godly husband, Melissa’s only choice is to follow her father’s wishes, even when doing so may not achieve the desires of her heart. (Historical Romance from Prism Book Group [Pelican]).
My Heart Belongs on Mackinac Island by Carrie Fancett Pagels — Moor your heart on Mackinac Island along with resident sweetheart Maude Welling, an heiress trying to prove her worth by working incognito as a maid at the Grand Hotel. Meet Ben Steffans, a journalist posing as a wealthy industrialist who has come to the island to uncover a story about impoverished men pursuing heiresses at the famed hotel. Will a growing love between Maude and Ben be scuttled when truths are revealed in this Gilded Age romance? (Historical Romance from Barbour Publishing)
Salvation by the Sea by Kristen Reed — Life has been anything but easy for Muirigan thanks to a series of life-altering calamities, but she’s found peace with her new, understated life by the sea. However, the maid’s past comes back to haunt her when she saves the shipwrecked Prince Halvard one morning. Failing to recognize one of his dearest childhood friends, the prince invites Muirigan to live at court as a reward for her valiant heroism. As the two reconnect, something deeper than friendship blossoms, but will their newfound affection survive when Muirigan’s lies are revealed and Halvard learns the truth about what has befallen since their tragic separation? (Historical Romance, Independently Published)
Romantic Suspense:
Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble — As a 911 dispatcher, Dana Newell takes pride in being calm in tough circumstances. In addition to her emotionally-charged career, she’s faced enough emergencies in her own life. She recently escaped her abusive fiancé to move to tranquil Rock Harbor where she hopes life will be more peaceful. But the idyllic town hides more danger and secrets than it first appeared. Dana is continually drawn to her new friend Boone, who has scars inside and out. Then she answers a call at her job only to hear a friend’s desperate screams on the other end. Soon the pain in her past collides with the mysteries of her new home—and threatens to keep her from the future she’s always wanted. (Romantic Suspense from HarperCollins Christian Publishing [Thomas Nelson and Zondervan])
Speculative:
The Genesis Tree by Heather L.L. FitzGerald — Deception is rampant, the enemy is subtle, and love dares to tug at Sadie’s heart amid the turmoil that forces her and her family back to the Tethered World below. (Speculative/Contemporary Fantasy from Mountain Brook Ink)
Sandra Glahn teaches in the Media Arts and Worship Department at Dallas Theological Seminary. She’s authored more than 20 books, including the Christy fiction finalist Lethal Harvest. She loves storytelling, mostly medical suspense.
How do you pick the location/setting of your romantic suspense novels? Sandra: I learned from reading the Bible that “place” can have meaning apart from the event that happens in it. For example, when Peter denies Christ, he’s standing by a charcoal fire. But later, when Jesus gives him three opportunities to declare his love, he does so by—you guessed it—a charcoal fire. Or after Queen Jezebel plots to have a man in Jezreel stoned to death because she wants his vineyard, she gets eaten by dogs about seventeen years later in—you guessed it—Jezreel. That said, I sometimes create settings that communicate something other than mere “place” in my stories. For example, an important scene relating to abortion happened in one of my stories on the steps of the Dallas Courthouse because that is where the Roe v. Wade decision happened.
What did you want to be as a child (and did that dream come true)? Sandra: I wanted to be the singer Diana Ross. I loved to sing. My siblings would even mock me by chanting, “Sing it, Diana!” But that did not deter me.
What’s the weirdest way someone has died or been killed in your novels? Sandra: A scientist trying to eliminate a hereditary disease that killed one of his family members creates what he hopes will serve as something of a vaccine to save the rest of his family. When he injects himself first, uh, suffice it say his “cure” didn’t work.
Current book: Informed Consent
A celebrated medical researcher accidentally causes his son’s life-threatening illness, but to save the child—and his marriage—this doctor must violate another patient’s rights.
This piece originally appeared on the ACFW blog on June 22, 2017.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I’ve been thinking a lot about hope lately in relation to writing, and how we can forget to cultivate hope in our quest for publication, sales, and reaching readers. When our hope buckets are empty or nearly so, we find ourselves fighting discouragement, resentment, envy, and jealousy. We lose our contentment where God has us and wallow in self-pity and despair.
Hope is the antidote to those ugly emotions that sap us of our creativity and our joy in writing. But hope can be tough to hold onto in the midst of lackluster sales, no contracts or awards, and low readership. Hope is easy when the accolades and contracts and publications mount up, isn’t it? It’s a breeze to feel hopeful when your agent calls to tell you about a new book contract, but it’s harder when publishers don’t respond to your proposals or your work is languishing in no-man’s land of an agent’s manuscript pile.
Without hope that someone will read our books, we wouldn’t write a single word. It’s hope that spurs us to put our thoughts onto a page and turn that page into a novel. It’s also hope that separates the would-be writers from the real writers because real writers press on even when hope seems like a tiny flame instead of a roaring bonfire.
Real writers see hope in the little things: a great descriptive line, the plot that came together, the story that made you cry as you wrote it, and the love between a man and woman. Real writers feel hope as their stories take shape, knowing that the One for whom they write is pleased with their efforts…even if those efforts don’t see the light of day. Real writers feed that hope by honing their skills, encouraging other writers, and becoming better writers.
How do you keep hold of hope when your circumstances seem to dictate otherwise? Here are a few suggestions.
Mentor a new writer. I’ve found my own hope renewed by talking about writing with my two young teens and a few of their teenage friends. They’ve asked me to run a writing club again this summer, where we meet a few times to talk about writing and they work on stories together. Seeing their enthusiasm and teaching them a bit about how to write fiction can be so encouraging.
Attend a writer’s group or conference. Learning about your craft and meeting fellow writers can be wonderfully restorative to one’s own hope. Hearing about someone’s success can make you believe that your own success will come in God’s perfect time.
Write. Keep writing, keep striving, keep using your gift to put words on paper. Being able to weave stories is a gift, so don’t hide it under a bushel—let it shine on the page.
We all feel discouraged at times no matter where we are in our writing careers, but remember to keep hold of your hope even in the midst of disheartening situations or a downturn in your writing. Hope not in vain, but in the knowledge that somehow, through your writing, God will be glorified.
This piece originally appeared on the ACFW blog on June 7, 2016.
Are you a writer? If you answered yes, do you believe, deep down inside, that you are indeed a writer?
Too many times, we say we’re writers but our actions say another thing. For example, you meet someone for the first time and are asked what you do. Do you…
Say you’re a writer?
Say you’re a writer but________________(haven’t been published, don’t have an agent, aren’t as good as X author, or whatever other qualifiers that negate the statement).
If you write—published or not, paid or not—you’re a writer. Period. No qualifiers, no excuses. I know it’s scary to call yourself a writer when you don’t feel like a “real” writer. Proclaiming you’re a writer is the first step toward becoming a writer. Writing, like most things, is an action—it’s not passive. You can’t say you write if you actually don’t, um, write.
Image courtesy of punsayaporn/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Calling yourself a writer means you have something to live up to, and that’s where the actions of writing come into play. If you’re a writer, you should act like a writer by…
Taking writing seriously. So many times, writers hem and haw about their writing in conversation to others, making excuses about their lack of publishing success or their small publishing numbers. Stop. Just stop dithering and say with confidence, “I am a writer.”
Carving time to write. Writers who are serious about writing make time to write and guard that time jealously. That means that you should turn off your phone, close your email, and concentrate on putting words on the page during the time you’ve scheduled for writing. And it also means giving yourself permission to say no to those who request pieces of your writing time for other, worthy things. Yes, sometimes, life dictates a detour from writing, but writers should have a plan on getting back on track.
Honing your writing craft. Take writing classes, both in-person and online. Join writing groups like ACFW. Be active in smaller groups, like online critique cells or local chapters. Pass along your knowledge to other writers. All of these things help make us better writers.
Being open to criticism. Whether from an agent, editor, contest judge or critique partner, we need to be able to read criticism, not as a slap down of our writing ability, but as part of the process toward making our writing better. Remember, no writer is perfect!
Reading books. Read your genre and read other genres. Read fiction and nonfiction. Read books that challenge you as a writer. Reading other authors exposes us to new ideas and thoughts, as well as help us see where the market is heading.
Encouraging other writers. Whether through leaving a comment on a blog, emailing an author directly or having a face-to-face conversation, encouraging other writers in their journey is good for you as a writer. Focusing on other writers can also be a great antidote to being pessimistic about our own writing status.
Repeat after me: I’m a writer. Now go forth and write!
Sandra Glahn teaches in the Media Arts and Worship Department at Dallas Theological Seminary. She’s authored more than 20 books, including the Christy fiction finalist Lethal Harvest. She loves storytelling, mostly medical suspense.
