Meet author Jennifer Hallmark
Jennifer Hallmark writes Southern fiction and her website, Alabama-Inspired Fiction, and the group blog, Inspired Prompt, she co-founded, focus on her books, love of the South, and helping writers. Her debut novel, Jessie’s Hope, is a Selah Award finalist for First Novel. When she isn’t babysitting, gardening, or exploring the beautiful state of Alabama, you can find her at her desk writing fiction or working on one of her two blogs.
Tell us about your newest book.
First, Jessie’s Hope is a story of forgiveness and redemption. Jessie is a young woman who, at the age of ten, lost her mother and her mobility in an accident. Shortly after, her father walked away also. She is now twenty years old and getting ready to marry. She wants to find her father and peace before the wedding. Her grandparents, who’ve raised her, are struggling to find the resources to provide her with a wedding and a dress that they think will make up for the past. While planning for her wedding in the middle of tornado season, Jessie discovers weather isn’t the only obstacle to living happily ever after.
What inspired you to write Jessie’s Hope?
My local writing group assignment. I was given three writing prompts: a wedding dress designer, a dusty baseball cap, and faded coveralls. I wrote a short story, which turned into a novella, then finally a novel.
Who is your main character, and how did you choose that name?
The two main characters in my novel are Jessie Smith and her grandfather, Homer Smith. Jessie is in memory of my father, Jesse Dison Jr. and Homer is named after my maternal great-grandfather, Homer Gautney.
What is the hardest part of being an author?
My biggest struggle is time management. I’m not good at multi-tasking and will flit from email to novel writing to blogging. I don’t make much progress at times. Add in an aging mother and six grandchildren and it makes planning a challenge.
What’s the best part of your author’s life?
The people I’ve met along the way. From writers to editors to readers to publishers, there are some amazing men and women out there that I now call friends. They are encouragers, cheerleaders, and add accountability to my writing.
What’s one unusual fact about you?
For twenty years, my husband and I owned two different chicken farms and raised more than a million chickens. We now live on a mini-farm and raise calves, turkeys, peacocks, and chickens.
What is your favorite pastime?
I love taking day trips with my husband and friends to different places in Alabama and Tennessee. We also enjoy camping…
What are you working on now?
I have finished the sequel to Jessie’s Hope, tentatively titled Angeline’s Dream and my agent is busy shopping it. I’m also working on a Southern fiction historical and a medieval fantasy.
Website: https://www.jenniferhallmark.com
Link to book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QV41QT1
Social media links:
Meet author Elva Cobb Martin
Elva Cobb Martin is a wife, mother, and grandmother who lives in South Carolina with her husband and a mini-dachshund. A life-long student of history, her favorite city, Charleston, inspires her stories of romance and adventure. Her love of writing grew out of a desire to share exciting stories of courageous characters and communicate truths of the Christian faith to bring hope and encouragement. Connect with her on her web site at http://www.elvamartin.com.
My newest novel is an inspirational historical romance
—Marisol.
She is my first heroine in the Charleston Brides series. Marisol flees Spain for the New World after murdering the nobleman who molested her. She ends up for sale on the indentured servants’ block in Charles Town harbor—dirty, angry and with child. Captain Ethan Beckett, once a Charles Town minister, now a privateer grieving the death of his wife, brings her home as a governess to his young son. As their paths intertwine on a journey filled with danger, intrigue, and romance, only the grace of God can overcome the past and ignite a new beginning for Marisol and Ethan.
What inspired you to write Marisol?
I love the colonial area, privateers, and pirates. And I became intrigued with the issue of indentured servants. I also wanted to show how God’s love can overcome the worse experiences tossed to us by life. I pray for God’s plan and theme for each novel.
30-second blurb: Escaping to the New World is her only option…Rescuing her will wrap the chains of the Inquisition around his neck.
What genre do you focus on and why?
Historical Romance: Because I’ve always loved history, which truly is stranger than fiction.
What is your work schedule like when you are writing a book? It is kind of chaotic. I tend to do research and plot storming any time I can, then write the first draft fast without much editing. In draft 2 I do editing and adding of details. I write on the ms three afternoons a week usually. I may go out of town to finish the first or second draft, to cut down on distractions. I have a sweet husband, household and church responsibilities, ACFW-SC chapter presidency responsibilities, and social media I have to fit in somewhere.
What is the hardest part of being an author?
Bouncing all the balls listed in the previous item and still having quality time to write. But I do find the Lord helps me find it.
What is one thing your readers should know about you?
I am a highly motivated, get-it-done-early type person who loves the Lord and tries to give God the first place in my life. And I am 76 years old and had my first contracted book published at age 74. I wrote that first novel 30 years earlier, was called into the ministry, and put it up in the attic all those years until retirement. God is so good. My advice to writers is never give up!
What is your favorite past time?
Spending time with my grandson and hubby, and reading good novels or watching movies in my genre. I also love mysteries like John Grisham’s, Agatha Christy, classic Sherlock. These get my mind into a totally different orbit, and it’s restful.
My other published books on Amazon:
Summer of Deception (2017) – a contemporary romantic suspense set in Charleston.
In a Pirate’s Debt (2017) – historical romance set in the Caribbean and Charles Town.
Power Over Satan (2014)– a short Bible study on our authority in Christ.
What are you working on now?
I am currently in the publisher’s editing stage for Georgia Ann, Book 2 in the Charleston Brides series. It’s to be released later this year by Wild Heart Books. Also working on Book 3, Anna Grace, in the research and plotting stage.
Author Website Link: http://www.elvamartin.com
Author Blog Link: http://carolinaromancewithelvamartin.blogspot.com
Author Facebook Link: http://www.facebook.com/elvacobbmartin
Author Twitter: http://twitter.com/ElvaCobbMartin
Pinterest Link: https://www.pinterest.com/elvacobbmartin/
Thousand Islands Book Tour…and more
I can’t wait! I’ve been waiting all year for these next few weeks to visit the Thousand Islands and the beauty that it holds. I’ll be doing several book signings in the area, enjoy visiting family and friends, and even have a memorial for my wonderful husband who passed away in February.
For those of you who aren’t on my newsletter list, be sure to sign up in the upper right-hand corner of my website so you can see my book tour schedule. I’ll be sending it out this weekend.
In the meantime, I thought you would enjoy another excerpt from my latest book Devyn’s Dilemma. It’s about Singer Castle on Dark Island in 1910:
Mrs. VanLeer quirked a brow and smiled. “And I had the distinct impression that you were none too happy to be here. Well, carry on, then.” She turned on her heel and left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.
Devyn reflected on the missus’ comment. Yes, she had been frank about her dislike of the river and working on Dark Island. Had Brice shared her thoughts with others? If so, he would get an earful, to be sure! But … she had to admit that the castle was growing on her, and the river wasn’t quite as distasteful as she had once thought. She
walked over to the window and, for once, tried to admire the view without her sieve of bitterness marring it.
Sparkling sunshine dancing on the tiny waves.
Birds swooping and soaring on the breeze.
Boats traveling along the main channel of the mighty river.
And beyond, the many tiny islands dotting it.
It all made a rather pretty picture.
She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer. “If you can, Lord, take my pain, my
hatred, my fear, and wash them away with the current below.” Could He do that? Shaking herself from her melancholy, Devyn glanced around the circular room. It
wasn’t huge, maybe twelve feet in diameter. The walls were the same heavy granite that covered the outside of the castle, roughly grouted but somehow fitting for a gentleman’s office. The room had two desks, two typewriters, and a huge safe.
She tentatively went up to the safe and ran her fingers over the gold letters on the door, “F. G. Bourne,” and above it “Herring-Hall Marvin Safe Co” in smaller letters. Devyn’s heart skipped a beat. The safe was … open? Why? What should she do? Someone might accuse her of opening it, and then what?
Afraid to touch it, she stepped back and turned away. She bit her lip as she glanced over her shoulder at the small, dark cavity before picking up her cleaning cloth and avoiding the predicament altogether. She would decide what to do about the safe later.
Where to start her cleaning? Spiders. They had to go first. She took her broom and covered it with a cloth, using it as a weapon to chase away every eight-legged
intruder. She stomped on those that fell to the floor and scurried away from one that was intent on getting into her hair. Dangling from a fine web, the spider seemed to dance midair, chasing her like a miniature bully. She swatted at the creature, squealed once, and finally triumphed over it, squashing it until it was pulverized into nothing.
Once the spiders and their webs were eradiated, she turned to the dusting. A large wooden letter holder stood about three feet high on a second desk, which she decided belonged to Mr. Bourne’s assistant or secretary, whomever that was. She counted the cubbyholes—one hundred—and dusted every one of them as well as the top and sides, careful to replace the dozens of papers in each used cubby.
She hummed a tune as she worked and turned to the desk and the clutter on it, careful to replace each item exactly. Would Mr. Bourne really notice if an item was an inch or two off, especially if it wasn’t his desk? Shrugging her shoulders, she glanced over at the safe again. How could someone so meticulous leave it unlatched?
Suddenly, Brice walked into the room and stopped mid-step. “Oh, I didn’t know you were here. Top of the morning to you, my bonnie lass! ’Tis a crackin’ day, aye?” His face flushed and his ears turned pink as he glanced around the stone-walled room. He whistled when his gaze fell on the desk she had cleaned. “Thank you. I had intended to get rid of those spiders myself but haven’t had the chance. And my desk is immaculate. Right fine job you’re doing, Devyn. Mr. Bourne will be pleased as a peach pie, he will.”
Check out Devyn’s Dilemma, Book 2 of the Thousand Islands Gilded Age series You can experience this wonder yourself and/or read about it in my latest novel, Devyn’s Dilemma.
1910, Thousand Islands, New York. Others may consider The Towers castle on Dark Island an enchanting summer retreat, but to Devyn McKenna, it’s a prison. Yet as she works as a maid for Frederick Bourne, former president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, her life blossoms under the kindness of his family and fascinating entrepreneurs such as J.P. Morgan, Thomas Lipton, and Captain Vanderbilt. But more than anything, the growing friendship of Mr. Bourne’s valet, Brice McBride, begins to pry away the painful layers that conceal Devyn’s heart.
Brice is drawn to the mysterious Devyn even though he’s certain she’s hiding a secret, one far more dangerous than the clues they find in The Towers that hint of a treasure on the island. When Devyn is accused of stealing Bourne’s investment in Vanderbilt’s New York City subway expansion, he might not be able to protect her.
Meet author C.F.E. Black
C. F. E. Black learned her love of literature from her two professor parents and a handful of excellent English teachers. She now pours this love back into young people by teaching high school and writing novels for teens. She lives in north Alabama with her husband, son, and a cat named Sprinkles. Find her on her website cfeblack.com.
Tell us about your newest book.
Mind of Mine is YA sci-fi about a girl who has to share her mind with fifteen other people. It released with Illuminate YA, an imprint of LPC Books (now Iron Stream Media). Mind of Mine is my first novel.
What inspired you to write Mind of Mine?
Mind of Mine was two things for me: a means of giving back and of not giving up. I teach high schoolers and I see their hurts, their triumphs, their challenges, and their needs every day. Books have a way of telling us the things we need to hear, but they do so in a way that entertains and delights. Teenagers who read are often the more successful ones in the classroom. I wrote this book for all my students. I wrote this book because I want to tell young people that they matter enough for adults to write about and for them.
The second reason I wrote Mind of Mine is a personal one. While a writer at heart for many years, I did not begin my drive toward publication until after a near-death experience that left me shaken and awed at the temporality of our lives. I dove into writing full-time for one academic year (thanks to my husband’s support), and completed a novel as I’d always wanted to do.
How would you describe this book to someone in a 30-second blurb?
She is a genius . . . who frequently forgets her own name.
Raised to put science over self, V must link her brain with fifteen other people, making her one of the world’s smartest humans. With this privilege comes a life dedicated to continual research inside a secluded facility, a life devoid of freedom.
But V is losing her identity and unable to predict which face will peer back at her from the nearest mirror. Escaping this life will mean freedom to think for herself—and abandoning everything and everyone she’s known and loved.
When your thoughts and speech are no longer private, freedom comes at a price. But for V the price may be her life.
What genre do you focus on and why?
I write YA sci-fi and fantasy because I teach high school and know how important it is for young people to have clean entertainment with positive messages.
Why do you write?
Writing is so exciting! I love creating characters and worlds. But I also understand that fiction can communicate deep truths, so I strive to do that in a God-honoring way. Because I have spent so much time with teenagers, I know how badly they (and we all) need the truth!
Who is your main character, and how did you choose that name?
Her name is Valeria, but she goes by V. The name actually came from a secret society I was in in college (almost all the names did!). She goes by V because she is known by her superiors as just the Roman numeral five, and she has taken this number, which she resents, and let it become just a letter, which is unique to her. She’s a little prickly at first, but there’s a reason!
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing a book?
For this book, I actually took a year off of full-time teaching after a scary near-death experience that left me more motivated to write. Emotionally and physically, I just didn’t feel ready to go back to full-time teaching, so I wrote. Everyday. A year later, I took another job teaching high school English. Now, my writing schedule consists of writing as much as possible during my toddler’s nap time! I’m more of a morning writer, so I don’t write too much after my son goes to sleep.
What is the hardest part of being an author?
Navigating the marketing world. Being an author requires so much more than putting words on a page in a compelling way. I’ve learned a lot since the book came out, but I still have much to learn!
What’s the best part of your author’s life?
Creation. I just love the thrill of writing. I can’t imagine ever not wanting to write all the time.
What’s one thing your readers should know about you?
My readers may want to know that my students helped me pick my author name, the book title, and website design. One unusual fact about me is that I grew up thinking I wanted to be a lawyer—then changed my mind senior year of college and decided to teach! I always encourage my students when they don’t know what they want to “be” yet.
How have you changed or grown as a writer?
The first manuscript I wrote was a story I’d been writing and revising since I was probably twelve. I needed to finish it, just to tell myself it could be done. The second book I finished, which is the only one I’ve published, is hopefully much better than the first one I wrote. And with God’s blessing, I hope I’m continuing to hone my craft and improve as a writer. I’m currently taking a writing course to that end!
What is your favorite pastime?
Like all authors, I love to read. But perhaps the hobby that brings me the most joy and relaxation is running. I’m not one of those super-runners, but I completely love it. I’ll run instead of read if the time permits.
Do you have other books? We’d love to know.
No other published works. Yet. I’m working on a YA fantasy draft, and I’ve got another sci-fi book starting to take shape in my mind after that. We’ll see!
Website: www.cfeblack.com
Link to book: https://amzn.to/2LLMHDx
Social media links: https://www.instagram.com/author_cfeblack/
https://www.facebook.com/CFEBlack
Meet author Kathy Ide
Kathy Ide is the author of Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, and Capitalization Dictionary and editor/compiler of the Fiction Lover’s Devotional series. She’s a professional freelance editor. She directs the SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference and Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. She owns Christian Editor Network, parent company to The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network, Christian Editor Connection, The PEN Institute, and PENCON, which she founded. For more, visit www.KathyIde.com.
Tell us about your newest book.
Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors is the follow-up book to Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors. It contains a wealth of suggestions from best-selling authors who have studied editing techniques and implemented them in their books.
Successful writers spend a lot more time editing than they do writing. They know that first drafts need extensive revisions to ensure their stories or messages come across clearly and effectively. This book will help aspiring, beginning, and intermediate writers polish their manuscripts and get them ready for publication. These tips can help established authors edit other writers’ manuscripts, either in a critique group setting or as editorial freelancers.
What inspired you to write Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors?
I’ve been a freelance editor for more than twenty years. In my work with authors, I created flyers on various writing techniques that I sent as an attachment to my edits whenever a client was clearly struggling with a particular area. These flyers became the basis for my chapters.
I’ve been serving on faculty for writers’ conferences across the country for about fifteen years. This has enabled me to meet numerous best-selling authors, professional editors, acquisitions editors, literary agents, and other industry professionals. When I told them I was putting together a book about editing, and asked if they’d be willing to provide their favorite tips, many were eager to help.
How would you describe this book to someone in a 30-second blurb?
If you want to write a book that resonates with readers, you’ll need to spend more time editing it than writing it. This book is a roadmap for that journey.
What genre do you focus on and why?
Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors has tips for fiction, nonfiction, and memoir. While some editing is the same regardless of genre, there are unique aspects to those three categories that change the way an author needs to edit.
Why do you write?
I’ve seen the power of the written word—whether in books, articles, scripts, poems, or even personal letters—to touch hearts and even change lives. Since I’ve also seen how the written word can often be misunderstood, I have a passion for helping writers make sure that what they’ve written clearly communicates what they intended.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing a book?
Because I direct two writers’ conferences and own a network for Christian editors, my schedule is always crazy! My own writing typically takes a backseat to my other responsibilities. But I carve out time for things I feel strongly that God wants me to work on. When I’m not traveling or busy with visiting relatives, I try to make Wednesday my Writing day—at least a few hours of it.
What is the hardest part of being an author?
For me, it’s focusing on my writing when I have so many other commitments pulling at my attention. I love everything I do, including my writing. But I tend to work to deadline, putting off things that aren’t urgent in order to accomplish what has to get done today. It can be difficult to let myself write when I have no idea how I’m going to meet some deadline for something else.
What’s the best part of your author’s life?
The people I get to work with! I adore Christian writers, Christian editors, people who participate in Christian writers’ conferences. They all have the same goal I do—to help one another take the next step in whatever journey God has them on to accomplish what He has called them to do. And so many of these people have played vital roles in helping me accomplish the things He has called me to do. Most of my dearest friends are people I’ve met through writing and editing.
What’s one unusual fact about you?
My birthday is 2/2/55
My anniversary is 5/5/95
This year was my palindrome birthday: 02/02/2020
How have you changed or grown as a writer?
I have gained a tremendous appreciation for the work that goes into writing and publishing a book! And a tremendous admiration for everyone who is part of the big team of people involved.
I’ve always loved to read, and the Lord has spoken to me clearly through many things I’ve read. But being in this world has opened my eyes to everything a writer goes through, and how many other people work so hard to get the writer’s words into a reader’s hands. Sometimes it seems like a miracle that anything gets published! I so appreciate everyone who has a hand in the process.
What is your favorite pastime?
I have a few: Disneyland, having family come to visit, and hiking with my husband in secluded forests to find giant sequoias
Do you have other books? We’d love to know.
Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors
Capitalization Dictionary
Fiction-Lover’s Devotional series
What are you working on now?
My agent has a proposal out for Sequoia Quest, based on the journey my husband and I have been on to find all of the largest trees in the world—all sequoias, and all without a five- to six-hour drive from our home.
Website: www.KathyIde.com
Social media links:
www.facebook.com/Kathy.Ide
www.facebook.com/KathyIde.AuthorEditor
https://www.instagram.com/kathyideauthoreditor/
www.linkedin.com/in/ kathyideauthoreditor
www.goodreads.com/author/show/4354766.Kathy_Ide
Meet author Pat Nichols
Pat Nichols draws on her experience to create stories about women facing challenges and triumphs in the pursuit of their dreams. Pat received a 2018 NGCWC Awards for her short story, The Vet and Valentine’s Day, and a 2019 Award for Willow Falls series book three. She is a member of ACFW and Word Weavers International. She has been featured on WATC Television Atlanta Alive and in Voyager Magazine
Tell us about your newest book.
The Trouble in Willow Falls, is the second book in the Willow Falls series. It continues the story begun in The Secret of Willow Inn, about a small North Georgia town struggling to survive. The three primary characters are Emily Hayes, editor of her small-town newspaper and aspiring author; Rachel Streetman, who is finally pursuing her dream to become a stage actress; and Sadie Liles, an ex-con who spent thirty years in prison for killing the town hero.
After waiting for months to hear from publishers, Emily Hayes receives one response—a rejection. When famous artist Naomi Jasper offers her much-needed cash to finish writing, then cast and direct a play about Willow Falls’ colorful history, she is forced to make a difficult decision—postpone rewriting her novel or accept the project. After convincing Rachel to partner with her, she agrees to take on the play and realizes failure is an all-too-possible outcome.
Five newcomers and one British tourist test the town’s quirky but lovable residents, who dig deep to surmount the conflicts and catastrophes that challenge Willow Falls’ small-town charms. But the avalanche of trouble in Willow Falls reminds all its residents of what binds them together: honesty, love, loyalty, and a sense of humor.
What genre do you focus on and why?
During my twenty-seven-year corporate career, in seven different management positions I worked with hundreds of amazing women from all walks of life. Their stories compelled me to choose women’s contemporary fiction and create novels about women facing tension-laced challenges and heart-warming triumphs in the pursuit of their dreams. The books in the Willow Falls series are character driven, with dashes of romance, suspense, and comedy.
Why do you write?
My writing journey began in 2014 when a beautiful young woman who had drifted in and out of our lives for thirty years, died tragically. I wanted to write a story based loosely on her life, but with a happy ending. When I told my family, they smiled and encouraged me to take the plunge. Little did they know that decision would launch my second career. What drives me today is the belief God called me to write and the desire to create stories that will go entertainment and in some small way touch my readers’ lives.
Who is your main character, and how did you choose that name?
Emily was the main character in The Secret of Willow Inn, while Rachel is the main character in The Trouble in Willow Falls. My first step in identifying names for my characters is researching names popular in their birth years. I prefer names that are easy to pronounce and remember. It’s also important they reflect the characters’ personalities. For example, Rachel, which in my mind is formal, was raised in the city by wealthy parents. Emily, on the other hand, is more casual. Appropriate for a child who grew up in a small country town. And Sadie, well it’s pure southern.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing a book?
After my husband and I retired we became late night people, often staying up past midnight and sleeping to mid-morning. Then the writing bug bit me and I discovered mornings again. Now my phone alarm sounds at five thirty. Sometimes I wake up at five, even earlier. Who knew? After pouring a cup of coffee, I settle in the recliner in my living room, read a devotion, and spend a few minutes in prayer. Then, I turn on my computer—yes, I write in a recliner—and begin working toward my weekly objective to complete 5000 words. The discipline and goal setting come from my years in the corporate world. Old habits sometimes come in handy. Throughout the day, I take breaks to engage in social media and connect with readers and other authors. When I finish a chapter, my sweet husband of fifty-plus years listens and provides feedback. He has amazing insight for a guy who hasn’t read a novel since he graduated from school.
What’s the best part of your author’s life?
Other than writing, I most enjoy engaging with other authors and readers. Why? Connecting with the community of authors through ACFW, Word Weavers, and at conferences inspires me to continue to enhance my skills and perfect my craft. Although perfection is never reached. When it comes to readers, I love sharing my story, answering their questions, and hearing their perspectives. It is especially fun to talk to book club members who have read one of my books.
What’s one thing your readers should know about you?
I’m a mother of two and grandmother of four, one precious granddaughter is with the angels. I’m married to my high-school sweetheart and have never driven his Corvette. My choice, not his.
How have you changed or grown as a writer?
A dear friend, who is a published author, edited my first manuscript and gently pointed out all the novice mistakes I’d made. My first rejection, so to speak. Again, my corporate experience enabled me to accept her feedback as a wake-up call and a blessing. Although God planted the seed to write, He knew it needed a lot of watering. So, I read everything I could find, took some courses, and attended conferences. My sister, a former English teacher, recently complimented my maturity as an author. Those few words warmed my heart and made all the time I spent studying worthwhile.
What is your favorite pastime?
Other than reading, occasionally tackling a jigsaw puzzles, and working Sudoku when riding in a car, I most enjoy spending time with my husband, family and friends.
Do you have other books? We’d love to know.
The Secret of Willow Inn, book one in the Willow Falls series, released in January 2019. I’m thrilled my publisher released books one and two in the same year.
What are you working on now?
My current work in progress is book four in the Willow Falls series. Book three is with the publisher and scheduled for release later this year. I’m considering taking a short break from the series and re-writing my first manuscript. The one with all the mistakes.
Website: https://patnicholsauthor.blog
Link to book: https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Willow-Falls/dp/1645262715
Social media links: https://www.facebook.com/pat.nichols.52459
https://twitter.com/PatNichols16
https://www.instagram.com/patnicholsauthor/