Once again, Vince from the "Philosophy of Romance" blog has honored me with an amazing review! Vince, thanks so much for naming Autumn Rains the Philosophy of Romance Book of the Year for 2009! I was truly and deeply moved by your thoughtful review, and I'm so grateful for this recognition.
If you haven't visited Vince's blog before, do check it out. Vince offers some unique and thought-provoking insights into the romance novel genre.
I was stunned and deeply touched today when I came across the review of my novel One Imperfect Christmas on the Philosophy of Romance blog. I can't even describe what it feels like when a reader truly gets the characters and connects with their struggles and growth.
Vince, your words truly blessed me. Thank you so much!
Oh, and if there are any Hallmark Hall of Fame movie producers out there, give me a call, huh? Any time. Day or night. I'm here.
Highlights of the past few weeks included a trip to the Houston area for Thanksgiving, where we spent a week with my husband’s sister and her husband (who provided the inspiration for my current release, Autumn Rains, BTW).
During our visit, Katy Budget Books hosted me for a book signing and even put my name on the big marquee out front! Boy, did I feel special! Afterward, Stacy, the manager, had me smear my hands with paint so she could put my palm prints on the wall with those of other authors who’d signed there. So now I am immortalized in fingerpaint!
Then on December 1, Dr. Angela Kropik of the Stuebner-Airline Chiropractic Center included me as part of her patient appreciation day. Her patients and staff kept me busy autographing books all morning and part of the afternoon. I arrived with nearly 40 books and left with only 4!
In the meantime, pour yourself a glass of eggnog, put some Christmas carols on the stereo, and take a few moments to remember that . . .
It was a great day yesterday at the Tulsa Cokesbury Bookstore Open House. Many thanks to manager Brian Green-Young and staff for their hospitality! The coffee, wassail, cookies, and other goodies were all delicious, and the store was beautifully decked out in holiday finery. We had a steady stream of visitors, and I signed about 20 books. All in all, a delightful day!
A Slow Burn: A Novel by Mary E. DeMuthMy Goodreads rating: 4 of 5 stars I have to begin by saying this book did NOT end as expected! That's not a bad thing--in fact, Mary DeMuth's heart-wrenching story riveted my attention to the very last page. She is a master at digging deep into her characters' lives and pulling out every emotional nuance.
A Slow Burn continues the mystery begun in Daisy Chain, which relates a young girl's abduction and murder and the devastating effects on her family and friends. In this second book of Mary's trilogy, the murdered Daisy's mother, Emory Chance, is the central character, dealing with demons from both her past and present. The mystery aspect of the story is like a bass chord that you feel more than hear, while the sad and troubled symphony that is Emory's life plays out on stage. The story is really more about Emory's struggle to find herself through her relationships with the other characters, especially the ever-faithful Hixon.
We still don't learn who the murderer is, however, so of course now I'm anxious for Mary's final book in the trilogy.
Please welcome my guest today, debut novelist Erica Vetsch! Erica's novel The Bartered Bride released this month from Heartsong Presents. Leave a comment on today's post before midnight Thursday, November 19, to be entered in a drawing for an autographed copy of Erica's book!
I started writing for the Christian
Fiction market in the fall of 2004. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but
I knew I had stories burning in my brain, and I wanted to put them on paper. A
lifelong reader and fan of fiction, I had spun stories in my head since I was a
little girl. I began studying the craft of writing fiction, reading with a more
discerning eye, and writing. I wrote five novels before I began the story that would
eventually be my first published book. One of the best things I did was join
the ACFW and get involved in a critique group. I grew by leaps and bounds.
I pitched The Bartered Bride to
Rebecca Germany at the 2007 ACFW Conference. (JoAnne Simmons, editor of the
Heartsong Presents line was home on maternity leave, and Becky was taking
pitches for her.) I received permission to send in a proposal, which I did in
October of 2007.
Then I waited. And waited. And
waited.
The day arrived in 2008 when JoAnne
asked to see a full manuscript. Joy! I sent it in so fast, my email nearly
burst into flames. And I waited some more. The story was set in historical
Minnesota, one of the state slots Heartsong still had open. I was hopeful that
it would fit JoAnne’s needs. I’d studied the guidelines until I practically had
them memorized. Surely, I thought, The Bartered Bride would pass muster.
JoAnne posted on The Edit Café blog
from time to time the state slots she still had open, and imagine my dismay
when Minnesota went off the list and I still hadn’t heard from her! What had
happened?
When I finally screwed up my courage
and asked after the manuscript, she said she was still considering it for one
of her ‘wildcard’ slots, though she had, indeed, filled her historical
Minnesota slot with another author’s work. Okay, not totally rejected. Just not
totally accepted either. Sigh.
I waited some more. And while I was
waiting, I wrote the sequel to The Bartered Bride, just in case she wanted it.
And I wrote the first book in a new series, just in case The Bartered Bride
didn’t go anywhere.
Finally, at the ACFW conference of
2008, in Minneapolis, JoAnne went to the stage and announced in front of 500
authors, agents, and editors, that she was offering me a contract on The
Bartered Bride, for publication in November of 2009.
I was GOBSMACKED! And thrilled, and
excited, and weak, and elated.
I’ve learned so much in the past
four years, and many of those lessons have come in the last year while I’ve
gone through the period between contract and having the book actually release.
Patience, humility, teamwork, more patience. God is teaching me a lot these
days.
Those Barbour
contract announcements at ACFW are always such a thrill. What a delight that
you got to be a recipient! What do you find hardest or easiest about writing
historical romance? Any advice about research methods or sources?
As a former history teacher and
complete history junkie, I adore writing historical romance. The hardest thing
for me is keeping my novels from sounding like history books. I want to throw
in all the fun facts that I’m uncovering in my research, when the reader really
just wants a good story. The easiest? Buying books. I love having research
books to delve into when I’m writing a story. Often I’m trying to incorporate
an actual historical event into my novel, so I have to get the details right.
My husband is so generous. He doesn’t complain when those boxes come from
Amazon, or I browse yet another museum store for just the right book.
Advice about research methods and
sources?
·
Watch out for internet
research. There are some reputable sources on-line, but check and double-check
anything you find online.
·
Books published by
historical societies or universities are considered highly reliable. The
Minnesota Historical Society Press is a leader in historical reference books,
as is the University of Oklahoma Press. I use both frequently in my research.
·
There is no substitute
for actually walking the ground in the place you’re trying to portray in your
story. I know this isn’t always, or even often, possible, but I’ve found it to
be invaluable. I’ve visited lighthouses, frontier forts, whaleback ships, and
even a gold mine in an effort to learn more about my settings.
·
Historical treasures
abound in small, county museums. The volunteers who staff these museums are
eager to talk about the artifacts and the stories from their local area, and so
often, they know the interesting human aspects of history that make for good
fiction.
Oh, I know what it is
to appreciate a supportive husband! What inspired the story idea for The Bartered Bride? Did this book
present any particular challenges?
The idea for The Bartered Bride came
to me in church, of all places. Sitting and waiting for the service to begin, a
germ of an idea flashed through my head. My family and I had just been in
Duluth, MN, where I had learned of a terrible storm that had hit Lake Superior
in 1905, causing many shipwrecks and a change in the shipping industry. I
wondered how I could use that information in a book. I got goose bumps when the
pieces of the story began fitting together. It was all I could do to sit still
and listen to the sermon instead of jotting notes on the back of my bulletin.
Some challenges I encountered:
·
The setting and time
period. I’d not researched or written anything during the Gilded Age before. I
normally write cowboy/American West type stories, so this was a departure for
me.
·
Writing with a tight
word-count. Heartsong has a strict word-count limit of 50,000 words maximum. To
fit in the romance, the historical events, and the spiritual message was a real
challenge.
·
A bit of ambivalence
from some sources when they heard I was writing category romance, as if a
Heartsong wasn’t a ‘real’ book. This challenge had more to do with me taming my
pride, smiling politely, and voicing my hope that my book would be enjoyed,
even though it was a category romance than trying to correct anyone else’s
perceptions of what made a ‘real’ book. Like I said, God is teaching me a lot
these days.
I can relate to the
ambivalence you mentioned. Many people don’t realize how much discipline it
takes to write a well-told story in 50,000 words or less. So describe a day in
the life of author Erica Vetsch. What’s a typical writing day for you? What
kinds of distractions do you have to resist? How has your life changed since
that first book contract?
Wow, a day in my life.
I’m a wife, a home-school mom, and a
company bookkeeper, in addition to being a writer. My usual writing day starts
with getting kids through chores and started on school. Fortunately, both my
children are old enough to be self-directed in some subjects, so once we go
over the material and I set the assignments, they take it from there. While
they are working on their schoolwork, I do the company bookkeeping for our
family lumber business. Depending on the time of the year, this involves more
or less work. End of month, end of quarter, and especially the end of the year
mean more work. After lunch, that’s my writing time. When I’m working on a
first draft, I try to write about a thousand words a day, hopefully more, but
rarely less. Editing is done after the first draft is finished.
I love to write at my local coffee
shop, Caribou Coffee. Their Earl Grey tea is out of this world, and I love that
they know me there. I try to get there a couple afternoons a week.
How has life changed since that
first contract?
I am juggling more things at one
time than ever. Writing first drafts, content edits, copy edits, galley edits,
proposals for new books. I try to stay on task by formulating goals at the
beginning of the month, striving to complete those goals, but also being as
flexible as I can within those goals to adapt to whatever comes up that I
didn’t expect.
You obviously have to be very disciplined to juggle so many responsibilities and get the writing done! What’s on the horizon?
More novels in this series? Another historical series for Heartsong Presents?
The Bartered Bride is the first in a
three-book series. The Marriage Masquerade is scheduled to release in January
2010, with The Engineered Engagement in June 2010.
I have another series coming out
with Heartsong next year as well. Clara and the Cowboy releases in April. Lily
and the Lawman in August, and Maggie and the Maverick in November 2010.
It’s going to be a busy year.
I can see that! One year and six contracts later? Wow!!! Congratulations, Erica! And thanks so much for sharing your writing journey today.
ERICA VETSCH is married to Peter and keeps
the company books for the family lumber business. A home-school mom to Heather
and James, Erica loves history, romance, and storytelling. Her ideal vacation
is taking her family to out-of-the-way history museums and chatting to curators
about local history. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Calvary Bible College in
Secondary Education: Social Studies. You can find her on the web at www.onthewritepath.blogspot.com
ABOUT THE BARTERED BRIDE:
Jonathan Kennebrae is furious when his grandfather informs him that his future has been decided. He will marry Melissa Brooke or be disinherited. Jonathan has invested years of his life in Kennabrae Shipping, but heaven help him if Grandfather decides to take it all away for this.
Melissa, too, is devastated when her parents make their announcement. As little more than a bargaining chip in her father’s business maneuvers, she feels her secure world slipping away. Engaged to marry a man she has never met—someone “considerably older” than herself? What have her parents done?
Can Jonathan and Melissa find a way out of this loveless marriage, or must they find a way forward together?
AN EXERPT FROM THE BOOK:
Melissa stood, knocking her chair over onto the grass. She put her hand to her mouth, turning her head wildly from Jonathan to her parents, then back again. Jonathan rose slowly, easing up on numb legs.
“Kennebrae?” She whispered so low he had to stoop to hear her. “Your name is Kennebrae?”
“Of course it is. What else would it be?”
She blinked, staring at him. “But, I thought—” Her throat spasmed as she tried to swallow. “I thought…”
He caught her just before she hit the grass in a dead faint.
Our grandchildren #4 and #5 hand-painted the colorful little house attached to the fence. I saw one bluebird taking a gander in the peephole, but I don’t know if he liked what he saw. Hopefully he’ll ask his Realtor to make us an offer. I’d certainly be willing to negotiate if it means a bluebird family moving in!
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