Talkshow Thursday: Laura Hilton

Talkshow Thursday: Laura Hilton

I'm pleased to welcome author Laura V. Hilton to my blog today. Draw up a chair and get to know this fascinating lady!

Linda:  Thanks for joining me today. Congratulations on your newest release Firestorm.Where did you find your inspiration for this story?

Laura:  My son is stationed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and he started sending me photos he snapped of Amish in the U.P.  I love that part of the country and wanted to set a story there, so I went to visit my son – and revisited the areas I grew up visiting and seeing where Amish live (they didn’t live there when I was a child.)

LM: You write in a variety of genres. How did you get interested in writing Amish fiction?

Laura: My maternal grandparents left the Amish. I thought it would be fun to learn about part of my family history.

LM: The age old question for writers – are you a planner or a “pantster,” and what is your favorite part of the writing process?

Laura:  I’m very definitely a Pantster and I love the discovery of the story and the moment it all comes together.

LM: Research is important for any book. How did you research Firestorm and did you discover any extra special tidbits of information?

Laura: I visited my son in Michigan and my daughter-in-law and son helped some with the research before I came up.

LM: How did you get started as a writer, and how did you decide to seek publication?

Laura:  I always wanted to be a writer.   Always. And seeking publication seemed like a necessary step if I wanted to be published J  And I did.

LM: Here are some quickies:

Laura:

Favorite Food:   whatever I’m in the mood for at the moment.  J

Favorite Season:  Winter since I love winter sports and Christmas

Favorite woman in the Bible:   Abigail

LM: You are an author and a book reviewer. How do you balance the two roles?

Laura:   I have a set amount of words I want to write every day and I read at night before bed or on Sundays between church services, usually.

LM: What is your next project?

Laura:  I am currently writing The Amish Candy Maker which releases February 2019, I have a historical novella due the end of September, and another Amish novel due the end of December.  

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

Laura:  

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Laura-V.-Hilton/e/B004IRSM5Q

Blog: http://www.lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @Laura_V_Hilton

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Laura-V-Hilton/161478847242512

Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/vernetlh/

Purchase my books:

Amazon   http://www.amazon.com/Laura-V.-Hilton/e/B004IRSM5Q 

CBD: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=laura+hilton&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/laura-hilton?store=allproducts&keyword=laura+hilton

About Firestorm:

Bridget Behr and her family migrate from the bustling Amish community where she grew up in Ohio to the mostly unpopulated Upper Peninsula of Michigan after a stalker breaks into their home. While her father and brother try to find work in the area, the family is forced to reside in a borrowed RV until the house and barn are rebuilt. While Bridget is hoping for a fresh start, she’s afraid to trust anyone—even Gabriel, the overly-friendly Amish man who lives nearby. Bridget thinks he’s a flirt who serial dates and doesn’t even remember the girls’ names.

Due to not enough construction work in his Florida community to keep him out of trouble, Gabriel Lapp has been sent to Michigan to work. His father is desperate for his son to settle down. When the family walks into Gabe’s home in the middle of a thunderstorm and he discovers their circumstances, he offers to help with construction. For Gabe, the beautiful girl he teasingly calls “the recluse” once he discovers she doesn’t attend youth events, confuses him like none other.

As Gabriel and Bridget grow closer, they realize there is more to a person than meets the eye. Just as Bridget is finally settling into her new life, and perhaps finding love, tragedy strikes. Now Bridget and her family must decide if they should move to another Amish community, or dare to fight for the future they’d hoped for in Mackinac County.

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B074W65Y2T

Talkshow Thursday: Meet Multi-genre author Kelly Irvin

Talkshow Thursday: Meet Multi-genre author Kelly Irvin

I'm pleased to be sitting down the Kelly Irvin who writes both Amish fiction and Romantic Suspense fiction-a fascinating combination! Draw up a chair and meet this interesting author.

Linda:  Thanks for joining me today. You’ve written more than a dozen Amish books, and last month released the second in your Every Amish Season series, Beneath the Summer Sun, available on Amazon. Here’s the book blurb:

Jennie Troyer knows it’s time to remarry. Can she overcome a painful secret and open her heart to love?

 It’s been four years since Jennie’s husband died in a farming accident. Long enough that the elders in her Amish community think it’s time to marry again for the sake of her seven children. What they don’t know is that grief isn’t holding her back from a new relationship. Fear is. A terrible secret in her past keeps her from moving forward.

Mennonite book salesman Nathan Walker stops by Jennie’s farm whenever he’s in the area. Despite years of conversation and dinners together, she never seems to relax around him. He knows he should move on, but something about her keeps drawing him back.

Meanwhile, Leo Graber nurtures a decades-long love for Jennie, but guilt plagues him—guilt for letting Jennie marry someone else and guilt for his father’s death on a hunting trip many years ago. How could anyone love him again—and how could he ever take a chance to love in return?

In this second book in the Every Amish Season series, three hearts try to discern God’s plan for the future—and find peace beneath the summer sun.

Where did you find your inspiration for this story?

Kelly: Beneath the Summer Sun is part of a four-book series that examines the role widows play in Upon a Spring Breeze, is about a young, pregnant Amish woman who suffers a terrible tragedy. Beneath the Summer Sun focuses on Jennie Troyer, a thirty-something widow with seven children. The third book features a grandmother and the fourth book, a great-grandmother. The different seasons of life. It’s been a pleasure to write this series. Each heroine is so different, and I love writing older men. So much fun.

Amish community life. I saw a blurb by an Amish scribe in The Budget newspaper that listed the annual stats for their district, which included number of births, deaths, school graduates, baptisms, weddings, etc. It included number of widows/widowers. They were singled out as an important statistic. I wanted to explore how they fit into the family unit that is so important to Amish communities. I also wanted to write about older women. The first book,

LM: The age-old question for writers – are you a planner or a “panster,” and what is your favorite part of the writing process?

Kelly: I’m totally a panster. I’ve gotten a little better about thinking ahead but mostly I know who the main characters are and what the central conflict is. After that, I let my imagination go wild. I love having a new character pop up or learning something about my heroine that I didn’t know until it appears on the page. That’s my absolute favorite part of writing. I have to do a lot of editing and some rewriting, but it’s working it to have that creative process unleashed.

LM: You write Amish fiction which requires an extra layer of research to ensure accuracy about their culture and beliefs. How did you go about researching Beneath the Summer Sun and did you discover any extra special tidbits of information?

Kelly: Regardless of the genre, a lot of research is necessary to get the details right. We’re so fortunate to have tons of information at our fingertips through the Internet. With all my Amish stories, I go to Donald B. Kraybill’s The Amish to better understand issues of faith, how they’ve been affected by changes in the mainstream world, and many details of day-to-day life. I read The Budget newspaper for glimpses into daily life as well. The Amish scribes are wonderful about sharing about family and community life. It’s a fantastic peek into their world. I enjoy reading Amishamerica.com’s blog which also includes great photographs to get a good visual of how things look in different communities. My husband and I went to Jamesport, Missouri, where this series is set, a few years ago and attended their school fund-raiser auction over Fourth of July weekend. I observed their buggy styles, clothes/colors, whether they had phone shacks, took a look at the schools, and learned about setting. It’s an on-going process of learning.

LM: How did you get started as a writer, and how did you decide to seek publication?

Kelly: I always wanted to be a writer. I decided in high school to become a newspaper reporter so I could write and make a living. I did that for about 10 years, before I jumped into public relations, but I always wanted to write novels. When I turned 45, I realized it was now or never. I spent a few years writing, learning the craft, going to conferences, and finally got an agent. It took another three years to get my first book published, a romantic suspense novel called A Deadly Wilderness. My agent suggested I try writing an Amish romance. She ended up selling my first one, To Love and to Cherish, before I finished writing it. I’ve loved every minute of writing these stories and have been blessed to get them published by Harvest House and Zondervan publishing houses.

LM: You live in a beautiful area of the world, a place many people visit. If money were no object, what is your idea of the ultimate vacation?

Kelly: I’d love to do an extended tour of Europe, with stops in France, Spain, and England. I have a physical disability that makes traveling a challenge, but I’ve always wanted to visit Paris, Madrid, and London.

LM: What is your next project?

Kelly: I’m finishing editing the fourth book in this series, With Winter’s First Frost so that I can jump into a new project. I recently signed a contract with Thomas Nelson Publishing to write two romantic suspense novels. The first one, Tell Her No Lies, will debut in January 2019. It’s already written, but I need to get started in January on the second one, which is due in August. I’m thrilled and excited to get back to my first love, romantic suspense. I’ll continue to write Amish romances too. It’s the best of both worlds and writing in different genres helps keep me fresh.

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

Kelly:

Website: http://www.kellyirvin.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kelly.irvin.author

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/irvin0739/

Twitter: @Kelly_S_Irvin

Talkshow Thursday: Debut Author Rachel L Miller

Talkshow Thursday: Debut Author Rachel L. Miller

Linda:  I'm pleased to welcome debut novelist, Rachel L. Miller to today's Talkshow Thursday. She feels very strongly that God has led her to a simpler lifestyle, thus her deep kinship with the Plain People. She enjoys spending time with her family and doing fun, simple things like swimming, making sun tea, sitting outside watching the sunrise, or listening to rain fall on the tin roof. 

Rachel, thanks for joining me today. Your debut novel, A Mother for Leah sounds intriguing. Where did you get the inspiration for the plot?

Rachel: Well, first you need to know that A Mother for Leah was written spontaneously-in answer to a challenge from my mother. As far as inspiration, it was mostly a combination of my own dependence on God's will, combined with the curiosity of what would happen when someone in the Amish community chose not to remarry immediately.

LM: The journey to publication can sometimes be long and frustrating. As a debut novelist, what advice can you give to not-yet-published authors?

Rachel: Do not give up. Pray a lot. Trust that God has a plan and that He will get you where you need to be in His time, which is more perfect than anything we can imagine!

LM: Your novel is set in “Windy Gap.” Is that a real location or did you make it up, and if so is there a location you based it on?

Rachel: "Windy Gap" is a made up community. In fact, so far all the locations for my series are made up. Creating my own locations and communities made it easier for me to take full creative license. Also, I knew that was the name of my town from the very beginning and since there was no town that I could find in New York that matches it , I made one up. For those who enjoy knowing geographical locations, Windy Gap is roughly twenty miles north of Allegheny State Park in Cattaraugus County, NY.

LM: What do you do to prepare yourself for writing? For example do you listen to music or set up in a specific place?

Rachel: I must have coffee, music, and no distractions. Once I am in my story world, if I get pulled away, often it proves impossible for me to immerse myself again. This is why I tend to get up very early to write.

LM: Writing about a different culture must take a significant amount of research to ensure accuracy. Do you have an unusual or favorite research story to share?

Rachel: Unusual, yes. On one of our most recent research trips, I stood outside in twenty degree weather, with cars rushing past me on a highway bridge because I was determined to get a particular shot of an older bridge that was tucked back in the woods off the main road.

LM: What new skill would you like to master at some point (e.g., a foreign language, etc.)?

Rachel: Since moving in our new house, my daughter and I have been learning archery. She doesn't have much distance yet, but her accuracy far outstrips mine.

LM: Tell me about A Mother for Leah.

Rachel:  Here is the book blurb: 

Will Leah Fisher find love because of a buggy accident?

Could love soften Leah's heart so that she is able to see her answered prayers in Naomi Yoder or will she drive a wedge between her father and the only woman he has shown an interest in since Elisabeth Fisher's death?

Leah Fisher lost her mother ten years ago. She is rapidly approaching womanhood, and the lack is becoming more difficult every day. Will she be able to recognize love when it is right in front of her? Could love be the key to Leah opening her heart, making room for the woman her father intends to marry...or will she stubbornly cling to the memory of her own mother? Will Leah be able to let go of her own ideas and realize that God truly does know best for her or will she allow love to slip through her fingers, destroying Samuel Fisher and Naomi Yoder's happiness at the same time?

LM: What is your next project?

Rachel: Currently I am working on book 2 of the Windy Gap Wishes series.

LM: Where can folks find you on the web?

Rachel:
Website: http://rlmauthor.com
Amazon: amazon.com/author/rlmillerauthor
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/RLMauthor
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/bIHd7T
Instagram: http://instagram.com/rlmauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RLMAuthor
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/RLM_Author/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RachelLMillerAuthor

LM: Thank you so much for visiting! Best wishes on the success of your novel.