Discoveries as You Write: Author interview with Rebecca Velez

Your first three novels were historical fiction set in Old Testament times. Since then you’ve written books outside of Biblical times. What made you decide to switch genres?
Esperanza Ranch is a contemporary fiction novel about a group of young women recovering from PTSD. It began as a writer’s prompt and took on a life of its own.

My favorite genre to read is historical fiction, so other than Esperanza Ranch, I’ve written in that genre. The idea for my new series was sparked when I lived in New Braunfels, Texas, which was foun, ded by a German prince, the only American town to be founded by European nobility.

How do you go about doing research for your books? What’s one of the most unique facts you’ve discovered in doing your research?
I do a lot of research online. It’s much easier to research now than when I started in the mid-1990s. Email makes it easy to reach out to potential sources, too. Of course, I still learn a lot from books. My favorite way to research is in-person. I visited the living museums of Hessenpark in Germany and Heritage Village in New Braunfels to see how people lived in the 1840s.

One funny tidbit I learned was that doctors thought the speed of train travel—up to 30 mph in the mid-1800s—would be bad for your health.

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
A reader wrote on FB that my first novel Such a Time as This was one of her favorite books. 

Marketing is the biggest key to making sales. What is the best marketing source you've used that has produced more sales rather than just clicks?
Interacting on the Avid Readers of Christian Fiction FB group has brought in the most sales for me.

What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner?
I was a journalism major in college. I wish I’d been taught about contracts, taxes, and marketing your books, the business side of writing. 

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give?
 “Butt in the chair,” or as Nike would say, “Just do it!”

I’m a planner, so I try to plot out my books, but they never go the way I originally imagine. Sometimes I have to glue myself to the chair and push through.

 Are there any other points about writing you would like to add?
In a nod to my heritage, I’ve gifted Annika’s family with a two-hundred-year-old antique passed down through my family. It’s a cabbage-shaped sugar bowl that traveled from Virginia to Missouri by wagon and has the scars to prove it. My mother would have liked its inclusion in my latest novel, but like Annika’s Mutter, mine has passed away. She died in 2022 while I was writing this book. An avid reader, she always supported my writing and read my drafts. I miss her and dedicate A Place for Annika to her. 

 

You just released A Place for Annika. Can you give me a short synopsis?
Since her mother died, Annika’s life in Hesse has deteriorated. At seventeen, she’s nearly old enough to marry and establish a happy home of her own, but her plan to marry the farmer next door is dashed.

Nursing a broken heart and bruised ego, Annika takes a job as a seamstress in the city. Professional success and a suitor make her dreams seem within grasp. But Annika comes to realize she needs more than a handsome husband to fill the void in her life. 

That's all for today's interview. If you'd like to learn more about Rebecca's books, here are some links to get you started.

https://www.amazon.com/Place-Annika-Rebecca-Velez-ebook/dp/B0CSF7R63K
https://rebeccalvelez.wixsite.com/rebecca-velez-books
https://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-velez-53392036/
https://www.instagram.com/rebeccalynnvelez/

And here's a bonus for my readers, leave a comment on this post with your name and we'll pick one reader who'll receive an eBook of A Place for Annika. So do that now. It can be as simple as I want to be in the giveaway. We'll chose a winner next Friday!