Writing with Emotion: Author Interview with Janice Lynn

I'm not ready to say goodbye to the Christmas spirit, so I'm sharing one more Christmas book interview with you from someone who loves to write them. So grab some hot cocoa or your favorite beverage and relax with this short but
meaningful interview.

Today's interview is with Janice Lynn who has won numerous awards including the National Readers Choice Award, The Golden Quill, the Holt Medallion Award of Merit, and RT Book Club's The American Title Contest. She has also finaled in prestigious contests such as The Golden Heart, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and Book Buyers Best.

How did you come up with the idea for your Christmas book? 

For some time I have been wanting to spread my wings as a writer and push myself outside my comfort zone, to write a story that moved people, and brought my writing to another level. When I was writing my Hallmark proposal, I kept asking myself what signifies Hallmark. I kept coming back to the emotion. Whether through a card, movie, gift, or book, Hallmark makes people feel better. When I thought of things that make me feel better, quilts immediately came to mind.

Enjoying quilts is in my genes as I come from a long line of quilters--my mom, grandmas, and great-grandmas. I have a special quilt that my great-grandmother made for my grandparents. It's made from cut up pieces of outgrown clothes and a bed sheet and is over 60 years old. When I touch that quilt, or wrap it around me, it makes me smile and fills me with memories of my great-grandmother and her love for her family. So, I wrote a story about a quilt.

The military was heavy on my mind as my son was in the process of joining the Army National Guard. Over my years as a nurse practitioner I've cared for many wonderful servicemen and women and veterans. I've watched their pride in having served, their heroism, their sacrifices, their highs and their lows, especially as they transition into civilian life.

A few in particular stand out as ones I worried about and gave extra care to due to their level of PTSD. I've always known that I'd someday channel my emotions regarding those patients into a story of healing. That was the spark for my story--a quilter who makes a patriotic quilt and a wounded warrior who received her quilt of comfort. Hallmark bought the story in September 2018.

Could you give me a short blurb about the plot specifics?

Here it is…A quilt shop owner finds a soldier's journal in a box of donated books and, having a veteran father, wants to help heal him. A Marine turned firefighter wants nothing to do with the quilter, Christmas, and doesn't see himself as worthy of being a hero. After everything he's been through, she has to show him the world through her eyes and wraps him in a special Quilt of Valor.

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

We do a saran wrap ball game every year and have a lot of fun doing that. There's always laughter and the kids talk about doing it so I know they enjoy. :)

What’s next?

My Hallmark Publishing stories are Christmas books, so I suspect I'll go quiet for a while after December 25th as I dig in to get my Christmas 2021 book written. :)

What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given you’d like to share?

Just keep writing. Rejections are going to happen. Just keep writing and writing and writing. Learn from each story you write. Every word is an education and one step closer to your dream.

What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?

I wish I had known to push myself more and to take more chances with my writing by giving my writing voice freedom to let loose.

Are there any other books that you’d like to tell my readers about?

Yes. A third story, Wrapped Up in Hope, will be out Christmas 2021.

That’s all for today’s interview. I would love to see pictures of that saran wrap ball game! If you’d like to learn more about Janice’s writing, here are some links to get you started.

Website: www.janicelynn.com

Instagram: janice.lynn.author

Twitter:  @janicemarielynn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaniceLynnAuthor

Bringing Life's Remembrances to Print: Author Interview with Paula Rose Michelson

How did you come up with the idea of your Christmas themed book?

When my daughters asked me to write about our life – they were married and had families of their own – I wrote about things they would remember and want to share with their children.  These remembrances were printed out and sent to each of them at Christmas time.

A few years later, I felt the Lord encouraging me to add real stories about what it was like to grow up Jewish in a country that seemed to us to be mostly Christian. I loved doing this because I could share the blessings God gave me when I received His son by faith.

Could you give me a short synopsis on the book for my readers?

The Elephant’s Christmas is a collection of true stories, which span many years. Though some seemed unimportant when they happened, Jesus showed me that each one was important to Him. I mention this because you, like me, may only know the eternal value of what you’re experiencing many years after.

What made you decide to do a Christmas themed book?

I knew this was to be a Christmas book before I started writing it. The hardest thing I had to do was think of the right title for what is now chapter six. I was blessed when my husband Ron suggested I title that story The Candy Cane Lane Caper.

One reader said of The Elephant’s Christmas…5-Stars! “If there were a Chicken Soup book for Christmas, I think these remembrances would be in it!” 

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

I love everything that is Christmas. However, now that I’m in my 70’s my favorite tradition is remembering all the blessings God has given us starting with His son. 

With our daughters and their families living far away, our family traditions with them are phone chats. As a Pastor’s wife, many of our traditions occur at our church and include friends, our faith family, and making sure that all are included. Since some can’t come to us, we go to them.

What’s next?

Thanks for asking! In time for Christmas, the first of my 23 Gracie & The Save a Soul Prayer Team book titled A Heartbroken Father (A Fruit of the Spirit, Volumn1) for middle readers just released. Also, just released is a short novella titled Rosa & Miguel ~ Love’s Legacy ~ The Prequel to The Naomi Chronicles. 

These Inspiration Christian Fiction’s written from a Messianic viewpoint have been enjoyed by many. Also released is the first of 23 children’s 10-year-old Gracie & the Save a Soul Prayer Team books.

What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given that you’d like to share? 

Write everything first. Do not edit. Do not try to make sense of what you’re writing. Once you’re finished, set the work aside. A week later pick it up again. Edit. When you think you’re ready to submit, read the work out loud without inflection, and correct.

What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?

My first publishing experience was with what I thought was a partner publishing company. In reality, they were a vanity press, I highly recommend you research every publisher before you commit. After pulling my first two books from them, I self-published the books and discovered the joy of that option. I recommend it to those who want to be in control and know what’s going on.

I’m blessed to say I am now a Pen It Publications, LLC author. I chose this publisher because they and I are believers. If you want your work to be traditionally published, find a publisher who values what you do, is easy to communicate with, and whose authors say wonderful things about them.

Any last words or tips?

Yes, as my writer husband says, “Writers write. They write every day. Good writing requires more time rewriting than the original draft took.”

That’s all for today’s interview. Here are some links to connect you to Paula’s writing.

Amazon:  https://goo.gl/jYagKJ 

To join her VIP Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/2SnvCjz

Friends or Foes: An Interview with Elaine Stock

Today’s interview is with an award-winning author. Her novel, Her Good Girl (January 2018) won 2 awards: the 2018 American Fiction Awards Winner in Christian Inspirational Fiction and the 2018 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal in Christian Fiction. Now let’s read on to see what she has in store in her latest book!

How did you come up with the idea of your Christmas themed book?

Christmas Love Year Round is Book 1 of the Kindred Lake romance series. The story had brewed in my mind for a while, taking various shapes, settings, sub-themes (to the main romance theme), and even character names. In writing Christian-based fiction it is in my heart to paint the picture for readers how God loves each one of us year-round, reflecting on the reason why Christmas is meant to enjoy every day.

This was originally a story of how two former classmates from high school were reunited when Gavin reappears back in their hometown of Kindred Lake and buys the house across the street from widowed Cami. Back during their school days, Cami had joined others in bullying Gavin and his family because they were different from their more posh middle and upper-class families. The story grew into whether or not these two can forgive each other as well as themselves to make their amends into amens against the backdrop of Cami’s eight-year-old son’s flailing happiness and warring parents.

Could you give me a short synopsis on the story for my readers?

Here’s the back of the book blurb: Cami Richardson is good at chasing away the men in her life: first Gavin Kinkaid, a former classmate she’d helped to bully, and later, her husband who left her widowed and a single mom. Now all she wants is to bring a smile back to her eight-year-old son. What she doesn’t expect is for Gavin to become her new neighbor.

Gavin wants to settle down after serving in the Air Force and mend the separation between him and his dad. What he never counts on is his changing feelings when he sees Cami as a kind woman instead of his former adversary.

When Cami’s son blindsides them both during the Christmas season, is their reunion at risk or will it grow stronger?

What made you decide to do a Christmas themed book?

I enjoy writing-challenges. Although I am growing weary from seemingly endless winters in the northeast where my husband and I live, it’s fun to set a story during the winter months.

There are many sensory descriptions (for example, the sound of crunching snow under the weight of a car), and it’s a big plus for intensifying the romantic mood between a couple (for instance, in Christmas Love Year Round, Cami begins to rethink old thoughts on Gavin when she witnesses him, dressed in a wintry sweater and jeans, pull out fresh-baked cookies from the oven to share with her and her son.

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

I enjoy baking treats for the neighbors. I bake, and my husband delivers the goody packages.

What’s next?

I’m at work on Book 2 of the Kindred Lake Series with a hopeful release targeted next spring. Then there will be Book 3, an autumn story. Somewhere between these romance novels, I will be working on a novella as part of a novella collection with other authors I’ve been invited to join, plus another stand-alone time-slip novel that is loosely based on my own family’s past.

What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given you’d like to share?

Simply—but it’s not easy to do—believe in yourself, your writing, and don’t give up.

What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?

On a practical level: hone the craft of editing, even though it’s the antithesis of free creativity.

On the emotional level: Do not compare yourself to others. I repeat: Do not compare yourself to others. Every human being, whether she or he writes for fun or for publication, has a different story whether purposely or due to how life has panned out. Envy of others is the destroyer of individuality and one’s voice.

Any last words or tips?

For both readers and writers: read various genres by authors both traditionally published and independently published (the latter have come along way over the past few years and often their well-edited novels tell the story readers crave).

Also, I believe listening to audiobooks (I borrow from the library and listen to and from my commute to the day-job) helps develops dialogue, pacing, description, and characterization.

That’s all for today’s interview. If you’d like to learn more about Elaine’s writing, here are some links to get you started.

Website: http://elainestock.com

Everyone’s Story blog: http://elainestock.com/blog

Twitter  http://www.twitter.com/ElaineStock
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AuthorElaineStock
Goodreads  http://goodreads.com/ElaineStock

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/1JYAwNy

Link to purchase Christmas Love Year Round: https://amzn.to/2wnp2z8