Meet author Elva Cobb Martin
Elva Cobb Martin is a retired school teacher and minister, a mother, and grandmother, who lives in South Carolina with her high school sweetheart husband, Dwayne. She grew up on a farm in South Carolina and spends vacations on the Carolina Coast. Her southern roots run deep. A life-long student of history, her favorite city, Charleston, South Carolina, inspires her stories of romance and adventure. Her love of writing grew out of a desire to share exciting love stories of courageous characters and communicate truths of the Christian faith to bring hope and encouragement. She always pauses for historic houses, gardens, chocolate, and babies of any kind.
Tell us about your newest book.
Helena Allston had it all—wealth, beauty, and a life of luxury on her family’s plantation. But when her father arranges a marriage to a man she despises, Helena takes matters into her own hands, fleeing on horseback, only to find herself half-drowned and memory-less in a simple cottage. And when her memory returns, Helena ends up back where she began—arranged to marry, this time to the handsome gamekeeper who rescued her. Could there be more than obligation to this marriage? Or is he only after the Windemere Plantation her father promised him?
Gideon Falconer is at a loss when it comes to the stubborn, beautiful woman he rescued from the Ashley River. His predicament only worsens when he returns her to her family’s plantation, where her father shocks him with a demand that Gideon marry his daughter to prevent a scandal. As a man new to his faith, he feels compelled to do the right thing, but his own secrets and the past left behind in England threaten to complicate matters further. In a marriage that began as a mere obligation, can Helena and Gideon find the strength to let love and trust conquer all, despite a determined enemy’s schemes to wreck their hope?
What genre do you focus on?
I love to read and write historical Christian novels, especially those set in the South with sailing ships, plantations, spirited heroines, and strong, manly heroes. I think readers, including me, enjoy escaping to a simpler time, and to high adventure and warm romance wrapped in a Christian theme of hope instead of warped in the disappointment of modern immorality.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I’m a bit of both. I do a short, general plotting outline, but expand it as I write and save it in my numbered Chapters and Scenes file. Actually, I have five file folders open on my computer as I write a novel:
- a) Manuscript (ms) in progress (The actual story taking shape)
- b) Plotting Rough Outline (I brainstorm this in the beginning with main characters description)
- c) Chapter and Scene List (Here I expand the general plotting outline into scenes and chapters as I write them.)
- d) Character Names and Places (Where I add names of places and minor characters as I write them into the story)
- e) Appendix (Here I define words or phrases that need a further explanation)
What is one thing your readers should know about you?
I am passionate about intercession. Jesus told us that His church would be first of all a house of prayer (Luke 19:46).
How important is it for you to weave faith into your stories?
I would never have dreamed of going through all the study, work, and plain sweat to write novels unless I knew I could include a spiritual takeaway to help readers come to know about the Christian faith, or to increase their faith in Jesus Christ and God’s love, care, and the authority He’s given us to live in victory.
What do you do when you are not writing?
I like to bake, grow roses, hike on trails, and read. I’m usually reading three books at a time, two fiction, one NF. This is in addition to reading through the Bible each year. I also love to teach Bible studies on intercession and other Bible subjects.
What advice would you give upcoming writers who dream of writing a novel?
I want to encourage them with NEVER GIVE UP! If God has put this dream in their hearts, He can and will help bring it to pass, but there’s a few things they need to do. My first novel, Summer of Deception, was published thirty years after I wrote the first draft. So, never give up! With God’s help, you will see that book published! The Gamekeeper’s Reluctant Bride is my 8th novel. Nothing is impossible with our Mighty God! If you don’t give up and keep doing the five steps I mentioned.
Do you have other books before The Gamekeeper’s Reluctant Bride?
I have seven other novels and one nonfiction mentioned above on spiritual warfare. Here are the other novels and they can all be found on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3jdvHFu
Summer of Deception, a contemporary romantic suspense
In a Pirate’s Debt – Prequel to Summer of Deception
The Pirate’s Purchase Book 1 Charleston Brides series
The Sultan’s Captive – Book 2
The Petticoat Spy – Book 3
The Sugar Baron’s Governess – Book 4
The Lieutenant’s Secret Love – Book 5
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Book link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D54JZRKB
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