I have been enjoying getting to know other Prism Book Group authors and I have started to dig into their writing so I can get a feel for the publishing house as a whole and help them out with reviews, as I hope they will help me in the future.  Plus, I just love to read and I finally figured out a way to get back to reading...(I put the kindle app on my phone so I can read while rocking my daughter to sleep!)  Paula Mowery, fellow Prism Book Group author was the first one to offer her book to me so I could read and review it.

"Legacy and Love" is made up of two novellas..."The Prayer Shawl" and "The Inheritance."

In "The Prayer Shawl" we meet two main characters, and let me just tell you, the characters are very vivid.  I felt like the story was being driven by and orchestrated by them.  I'm not sure how Paula Mowery writes, if she thinks of stories first or characters first, but I felt like the characters were very alive.  I envy this in writing because it's not something I feel like I always do well.

I won't give away details in the story and you can read a summary below, but let me just say that it was a delightful, very Christian-oriented story.  It had themes of miracles and belief and it's a great read for anyone needing something to reconfirm their faith.

Then came "The Inheritance."  This story surprised me.  When I read the first few chapters, I figured I knew where it was going.  It seemed typical in plot and I thought I could predict what would happen.  But the two main characters have to find something and I was surprised by what they had to find.  Then, as they started finding things, I was surprised by those items as well.  Serves me right for thinking I knew what was coming! 

This story is also very Christian-oriented and a great read for those who enjoy Christian romance stories.  It also had tinges of mystery to it.

My biggest complaint of the stories is that they moved very quickly, given their shorter lengths.  I think either or both could have been expanded into full books and that would have been enjoyable as well.  The stories moved at a fast clip and could have slowed down in places to give the reader even more detail.  That being said, they were great the way they were.  I would recommend"Legacy and Love" to Christian readers who enjoy stories of faith and hope.

Tell us a little bit about your background.


I was a middle school English teacher before quitting to homeschool my daughter. I have always set the example of writing whether for my students or for my own daughter.


Now tell us how you got into writing.


Reading and writing have always been things I have loved doing. Reading Christian fiction has been a hobby and still is. As my daughter began to move up in grades, she did more independent work. This is when I started to write. I had over 15 manuscripts written before I ever got the courage to submit anything.


Was getting published hard?


Getting published is definitely not easy. I wrote and wrote and read and read. Then, I joined an online writers’ group and learned and learned. After that came learning to submit, looking for a place to submit, and building the courage to submit.


Give us a summary of your current novel.


My newest release is entitled Legacy and Love. There are two stories in this book in which each heroine has been influenced by a godly grandmother. For a more specific idea about what each story is about, please read the blurbs for each.

Blurbs for Legacy and Love

 

The Prayer Shawl

 

Sean Holland is a magazine reporter always looking for the next story. Hope Weaver is a pediatric nurse who shares Christ through making prayer shawls. The shawls are just the touchy-feely story Sean needs, even though he’ll have to endure Hope’s strong Christian beliefs to get it. An unexpected connection brings them together as a couple. But, can they find love if they don’t share their faith?

 

 

Inheritance

 

Alex Lyndon’s life has been a series of fits and starts with no finishes. She finds herself jobless and divorced. Now her only family, Granny Olivia, is critically ill.

 

Chase Carson had to step into running the family business when his father died. The time is past due to visit Miss Olivia.

 

Alex and Chase must go on a treasure hunt. Will each find purpose and love for their lives in the process?


And what about your upcoming release?


The two stories in Legacy and Love are truly special. In each I reveal a little bit about my own grandmother. I’ll give you a hint: She always read her Bible before going to sleep and listened to Southern gospel music as well as allowed me to sit near her as she crocheted.


Where do you get your ideas?


That varies. I have gotten ideas from sermon illustrations, newspaper articles, ancestry studies, and even eavesdropping (which is called research if you are a writer).


How long does it take you to write a novel?


The length of time it takes for me to write a novel varies as well. Inheritance, one of the stories from Legacy and Love, took about two to three years because of revising and chopping. Whereas, The Prayer Shawl took several months.


What do you enjoy doing outside of writing?


In addition to writing my own novels, I am an acquisitions editor. In this role I get to help other writers achieve their publishing dream. I also do some speaking, mostly to women’s groups. I do enjoy sharing with them. And aside from the writing world, I enjoy spending time with my hubby and daughter.


Do you find certain times of the day or certain things inspire you to write?


Because of the schedule I have to keep, I’ve had to manipulate those inspiring times to write. I have another part-time job in public school so I have to adjust my thinking and write when I am home to do it. In other words, I can’t presently take advantage of my best hours to write or when I can produce more. I just have to take what I’ve got! I arrive home each day during the week around 12:30. I have lunch with my daughter and then I set out to mark off my to-write and to-edit list.


What advice would you give to a new writer wishing to make it in the publishing world?


Read, write, learn, and repeat! Read in the genre you are interested in writing. Practice writing. Take a course or join a writing community and learn. Then, stay persistent and consistent.


We'd love to hear a few quirky facts about you...things that don't normally come up in an interview!


Being a pastor’s wife, I have to be really careful about how closely a story or character resembles someone in my church. They are always looking to see if I wrote them into a story. I think that is so funny because I’m always sitting in church wondering if my pastor/hubby is going to share a story that everyone will know is something stupid I did.

When my first book came out, I practiced my signature for booksignings – reminded me of when you would practice writing your married name when you were dating someone in high school.


Anything else you want to add!...

My writing, editing, and speaking are encompassed into the calling God gave to me about three years ago when He made it clear that this is what He wanted me to do in this season of my life. I am humbled and grateful He would choose me to present His truths through fiction.

Thank you for this opportunity to share.

Paula Mowery is a published author, acquisitions editor, and speaker. Her first two published works were The Blessing Seer and Be The Blessing from Pelican Book Group. Both are women’s fiction, and their themes have been the topics of speaking engagements. In November of 2013, her first romance released in the anthology, Brave New Century, from Prism Book Group. Legacy and Love is her first solo romance. Reviewers of her writing characterize it as “thundering with emotion.” Her articles have appeared in Woman’s World, The Christian Online Magazine, and the multi-author devotional blog, Full Flavored Living.

As an acquisitions editor for Prism Book Group, Paula particularly looks for romance stories with Christian values at its core. She’s especially attracted to those manuscripts that leave the reader mulling over the story long after turning the last page.

Having been an avid reader of Christian fiction, she now puts that love to use by writing book reviews. She is a member of ACFW and is on the author interview team.

Paula is a pastor’s wife and mom to a first year college student. She homeschooled her daughter through all twelve years, and they both lived to tell about it. Before educating her daughter at home, she was an English teacher in public school.

You can follow Paula at www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Mowery/175869562589187. Learn more about Paula at her blog at www.paulamowery.blogspot.com or enjoy her monthly columns on www.christianonlinemagazine.com.

I'm currently in the thick of editing "Wrong Place, Right Time" with my lead editor from The Writer's Coffee Shop.  When I spoke with her via Skype, it sounded like quite a process.  First, we would do the substantive edit, which takes several months.  Then there is copy editing and line editing and a few other stages.

I have to admit, editing is not my favorite thing to do when it comes to writing.  I prefer the creative part where I get it all out and then leave it behind.  But I know it's important and I wanted to learn from the process.

Recently, I got the first section of edits back from my editor to work on on my end.  I opened the document, which I took a picture of to show you what it looked like.  When I saw the margins completely full of purple comments from top to bottom on every one of the 16 pages she sent back to me, I quickly turned the computer off and moved on with my day.  It was Friday and I didn't want to ruin the weekend thinking about it when I knew I wouldn't have time to work on it.

Once Monday rolled around, I knew I had to get to work so I opened the document back up and dug in.  Once I got going on it I realized it wasn't nearly as bad as it looked.  That's assuming I did what I was supposed to do with it! :)  Mostly, she deleted things here and there and I had to approve or deny those changes.  I approved most.  They made sense.  Especially given the fact that the story is moving toward a shorter length.

Sometimes she would give her reasons for deleting something or rearranging a sentence and other times she just did it.  And there was one area she wanted me to expand a scene, which made sense so I did that as well.  I am thrilled to report that the first small section of the substantive edit did not take me nearly as long as I thought it might.  I was thinking it might take the entire week...really I was!!  Since it wasn't as painful as I predicted, I look forward to the next section and the one after that. It'll be fun to see it all come together into one cohesive story.  I am excited to move on to cover design and other promotional aspects of the publishing process.  The substantive edit is supposed to be complete by the beginning of June.  I hope the rest isn't as bad as the first part, which wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.

I also have my fingers crossed that editing for "Accept this Dandelion" will not start with Prism Book Group until editing for "Wrong Place, Right Time" is complete with The Writer's Coffee Shop.  I have this hope for several reasons...one, just for time's sake.  I don't want to get overwhelmed with too much and too many deadlines at once.  And two, so I don't get confused on character storylines and characteristics and so on.

While I await the next section, I am hitting the freelance writing world hard with paying articles and blogs and web content.  The fiction stuff is way more fun, but it'll be a long time before it pays anything...if ever!

So for anyone else going through the editing process, just keep in mind it may not be as bad as you think.  I was dreading it and now I'm not quite so much anymore.  However, even if it IS bad and hard, it's worth it in the end to see your story the best it can be!

***Originally posted 1-15-14


I have to admit, I'm not all that tech-saavy.  There are certain things I can do, but when it comes to new stuff, I'm usually a bit behind.  I put the first book I ever wrote, "Someone Always Loved You" up for sale on Amazon as an e-book quite some time ago.  Actually, my husband did it and I later revised what he did once I learned a few things.  Later, I created a paperback version of the book and put it up for sale as well.


Someone Always Loved YouLet me digress for a moment.  "Someone Always Loved You" is a book I wrote from the heart.  I was inspired to write it and I felt I HAD to write it or it would never stop bugging me.  When I finally put it up for sale on amazon, I had no illusions about making money off of it.  I did not expect to find fame and fortune from it.  I simply wanted people to read and enjoy the story.  It's a story I, to this day, cannot get out of my mind.  I love the story and I want others to love the story.  It's as simple as that.

For that reason, I placed the e-book for sale for 99 cents.  Even if I sell hundreds of copies, I'm not going to make much and I don't care.  I just want people to enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it, if that's possible.

Occasionally, as I was balancing my check book, I would notice a payment from amazon.  To be honest, I never really paid that much attention to them.  But after a few months of receiving $30 payments or more, I began to wonder.  Was this from “Someone Always Loved You”?  I began to investigate and after a little trial and error, I found the place I needed to look and discovered that the book was indeed selling.  The last few months it had sold nearly 100 copies!  I looked back and saw several months in a row of 90+ book sales.  Before that, 60, before that 50 and on down. 

Somehow, word had spread over the months and my little novel was being read.  Literally by hundreds of people! 

I was excited about the idea that people were actually reading “Someone Always Loved You.”  There have been five reviews up on amazon about the book for a while and I wondered where they came from.  Perhaps now I know! 

Days after I looked this information up, my mom forwarded an email to me.  She had gotten an email from Amazon that suggested, based on other purchases, that she buy “Someone Always Loved You.”  I had to laugh because she was the book’s very first reader.  However, I was thrilled to see that Amazon was actually suggesting it to people. 

Though I don’t know why, I don’t really care!  I was excited that it was spreading, however it was happening.

Perhaps emails from Amazon is how people are discovering it.  Maybe people are recommending it.  I don’t really know.  Like I said, it’s not my goal to make money from “Someone Always Loved You.”  I simply want people to enjoy the story as I do.




If you happen to have read the book, please let me know how you heard about it. I’m interested to hear how it’s spreading.  I hope that anyone who does read it enjoys it even half as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Someone Always Loved You e-book link


Someone Always Loved You paperback link


Someone Always Loved you Reviews

November is National Novel Writing month and many writers commit to writing a 55,000 word manuscript during that month.  Nanowrimo!  I watched as several authors I know embarked upon that adventure.  I even considered doing the same.  In the end, I did not.  I wasn't ready for a number of reasons.  For one thing, I had a lot of paying freelance writing jobs stacked up and I didn't want to put those off for something that didn't pay (until later if it gets published!)  I also had the holidays looming in front of me and a lot going on at home with my two daughters.  I couldn't do it.  But I could PLAN to do it.  So that's what I did.

I already knew what I wanted to do for my next romance novel.  I wanted to call it Mamarazzi and base it in Hollywood.  Since I admit that I am not good at coming up with names, I did a character naming contest and allowed readers to name the people who would appear in the book.  Once that contest was over, I took the holidays off.  Now that they are behind me, I am embarking on my own NanoWriMo.  Only it's more of a JanoWriMo.  I am doing my best to write the initial draft of Mamarazzi in the month of January.  So far, I am on track and it is going well.

Mamarazzi is my first goal for 2014 since it is the first thing I am doing in the New Year.  Once it is complete, I would really love to try using some beta readers to get some impressions from people before I go through and make changes, edit etc.  That is something I have never done before.  I do have someone who reads through and helps me with grammar etc, but outside that one person, no one really reads my stuff until it's in print...if it's ever in print.  So I would like to try something like that in 2014 and see how helpful it is to me.

This year, I am also going to see "Wrong Place, Right Time" in print in December 2014.  The editing starts in March followed by cover design and all sorts of other exciting steps.  I consider this book to be my first real published piece.  I have several other paperbacks but I have never been an intricate part of the process before.  Two of my paperbacks I self-published for fun (not saying anything bad about self-publishing here, it's admirable and lots of work.  I, however, did not put the work into it that many do.  My self-published novels were more so that I could see it in print and give it to family, friends etc.)  The other two paperbacks with my name on the cover were created by Blue Ribbon Books.  They bought the stories for ebooks and eventually turned them into paperbacks.  I had no idea the books would ever be in print and don't make any royalties from them.  So while it's cool to have all of those books out there, "Wrong Place, Right Time" is still what I feel will be my very first.

This year, I hope to get a publishing contract for "Accept this Dandelion" which is currently under consideration with my publisher.  With any luck, perhaps I can get a contract going for "Mamarazzi" as well and really get them lined up!

I would also like to set a goal in my freelance writing.  I just did my end of the year report and I made slightly more this year than last year.  I am amazed because I had a baby last January and there were several months where my grand total income was $0. :)  I don't have a number in mine, but I would like to grow my freelance business each year.  That doesn't mean I'll have time to write more, but perhaps I can write higher paying things each year.  Someday, when my girls are in school, I can write more as well.  But for now, I'm thrilled with the way things are going.




Outside of writing, I'd really like to leave the house alone more this year.  Haha.  With a 4-year-old and nearly 1-year-old I have left the house a grand total of three times in 2013 alone.  Each of those three times was when one or both of them was asleep and I was majorly rushed to make it back home before they awakened and terrorized my husband or mom.  :)  Perhaps sometime in 2014 when they are awake I can venture out alone.  Maybe at least once. :)




I don't want to overdo it with goals because I'm not good at backing down once I make them.  I feel like these goals are pretty decent and attainable and very exciting as well.  I look forward to letting you in on the journey as I go!

***Originally posted 1-1-15


What grabs you when you're looking for a book? The cover first, perhaps? Maybe even the author's name? The title? Then maybe you read the back of the book to see what it's about. If you're still interested, you open the front cover and read the first line. If that first line is good, you get the book. If not, you might move on to something else.

A year ago November I attended a writing conference in Kansas City. One of the classes was about writing that epic first line. It's important to drawing the reader in, but before you even have readers, it's important to getting an agent and/or a publisher. I thought to celebrate the first day of a new year, I would present the first lines from some of my books. Some were written before that conference and some after. I will not which is which so you can see if the conference class helped me be more conscious about that particular trick of the trade.

These books were written before the conference.


Someone Always Loved YouSomeone Always Loved You

The bright yellow taxi took the curve on two wheels.




Beyond the Bars

It was too hot in the San Francisco apartment, but the bomb maker hardly noticed.




Taxi Delivery

Jed Leida swerved to the left and laid on the horn.




Mending Fences

Maria Miller had never been so scared in her life.




Mending Hearts

Beth Schrock had a sore throat but since she was working on sewing some new clothing that day, it didn't matter.

These lines were written after the conference.




God in the Kitchen

"You should have a moustache," the check out clerk said as she grabbed a can of soup from the conveyor belt.

(I wrote this book before the conference, but revised the beginning after.)

Wrong Place, Right Time

(to be released December 2014)

"Stop the wedding!" Kate Covington shouted a little too loudly into the small wedding chapel.

Accept this Dandelion

(under consideration for publication)

"My favorite flower," Rene Lockhart said, blinking into the bright light of the camera, "is the dandelion."

Mamarazzi

(to be written starting in January, though I have the first line and a bit more already.)

She wasn't sure what bothered her more...what she did for a living or the fact that she was getting good at it.

So there are my first lines as they stand. For the first day of the year, I hope you enjoyed them. Looking back I can definitely tell a difference before and after the conference. Before, I'd just start writing. After, I thought about it quite a bit before I jumped right in.

Happy New Year! I need to get back to writing Mamarazzi so I'll make this short!

***Originally posted 11-20-13


One of the questions I get asked more than anything else is: Where do you come up with your ideas?  I don't know how many different answers I've given.  It all depends on what book or story I'm talking about at the time and where I really DID get the idea!  Even the WAY I wrote the book varies depending on when I wrote it.  Here are a few of the ways I've answered the question: Where do you come up with your ideas?


Someone Always Loved You-Real Life

Sometimes, my books are based on experiences from real life that I have fictionalized.  Take "Someone Always Loved You," for example.  This was the first book I ever wrote.  It is based around a woman in a coma.  The idea I had when I started it was that I wanted to have someone in a coma throughout the book.  The reader would get to see what she experienced.  She would hear people talking around her at times and she would be in a dream-like state at other times, re-living past experiences and so on.  That was the entire basis for the book.  It was something I wanted to write for a long time because my grandmother was in a coma on two separate occasions and I always wondered what she experienced when she was in that state.  I mulled the idea over for years before the prologue for the book just simply jumped into my mind...and then wouldn't leave.  The idea behind the prologue was that an EMT driver would actually hit the woman on her way into the hospital, sending her into a coma.  From that point on, I had no idea what would happen.  I wrote the prologue and then had to finish the book.  But I never knew what would happen day to day as I wrote.  A lot of the stories the woman in the coma relives are things that happened to me in real life.  Though many of them are figments of my imagination.  Many of the characters have pieces of me or someone I know, though they are all most certainly fictional at their core.  This book, more than any other, is based on real life experiences.




-Friend Ideas

A friend of mine enjoys the fact that I write and she likes giving me ideas.  Some of them I have used and others I have stored away for later.  One time, she told me that I should find an event in history and write about it from five different people's perspectives.  Her idea is the basis of my novel "Beyond the Bars."  Though when I sat down to write it, I knew I didn't want to do anything historical.  I'm a fiction writer.  I would make something up!  As the idea formed, I thought it might be neat to have similar events happening across the country with different people experiencing the blow back.  One would even die in the event and would then go on to speak about it from beyond.  There's a prisoner, a priest, a mother, and a cop involved and they all  have different views on what happened.  And it all came about from that one brief idea from a friend.  In this book, I experimented in truly writing it a chapter at a time.  I did my best not to think beyond that chapter.  I engulfed myself in the character I was working with and tried to see things as they saw them.  Then, the next day when I moved to another chapter, I would move on.  The result became more of a thriller than I expected and I struggled with the title for a long time, but settled on "Beyond the Bars."  Read it and you'll understand why.




-Random Sentences

I was in church one Sunday and the pastor talked about what we would say to God if He showed up in our kitchen.  I remember nothing else about the sermon as I'm sure I was entertaining my daughter and attempting to keep her as quiet as possible at the time.  but that one sentence became the basis for my novel, "God in the Kitchen."  I thought it might be interesting to have a God-like being (more of an angel, really,) appear to a man in his kitchen and help him find his way in life.  It became more of a romance/love story, but it had a deeper message of trusting God as well.  It was the first and so far only Christian fiction novel I have written.  And I got the idea from one phrase.

-Who Knows Where

I attended a writing conference last November.  An agent ran several classes and I attended as many as I could.  In one class, she taught us to write "hooks" for first sentences.  The idea was that people might pick up a book, look at the cover and the title, and then open it and read a bit to see if they wanted it.  The first sentence needed to hook them in.  She then had us write first sentences and share them with the group.  I came up with "Stop the wedding!"  Later in the conference, I attended another one of her classes about writing romance novels.  I hadn't ever written romance before, though all of my books had romantic elements involved in them.  When I got home, I caught up on some things and then I wrote "Wrong Place, Right Time."  The first line is: "Stop the wedding!"  The novel will come out December 2014 from The Writer's Coffee Shop.

-TV shows

There aren't many shows that I feel like I HAVE to see.  One such show is the Bachelor.  People who know me think that's funny because it's not really in line with my personality.  But I find the show hilarious and highly entertaining.  After writing one romance, I wanted to base a novel on the Bachelor.  What if there was a local bachelor show without so much glitz?  What resulted was "Accept This Dandelion," and the characters can't do anything right.  It ended up being a lot funnier than I intended, simply because of the mood I was in when writing it.  And probably because of the lack of sleep two little girls provided me with.  This novel now awaits an answer from my publisher.  I am hoping it will be in the line up to come out sometime after "Wrong Place, Right Time."




So in conclusion, how do I write thee?  In a number of ways!  Who cares why!  I enjoy it and with any luck, readers do as well!

***Originally 11-6-13



I have a deeper female voice and no accent, which is ideal for radio I've been told.  But what many people who heard me on the air locally or on commercials across the country don't know is that there are two other voices that are nearly identical to mine.  Though my mom and sister and I may not look exactly alike, we all sound exactly the same.  When people would call our house, they would hear a girl and they would often say things like..."Jeanie...Heather...Brooke...who IS this?!"  My mom got to hear an improper joke from one of my sister's male friends once because he assumed he was talking to her.  Things like that happened all the time.In radio, when I recorded my voice for commercials or even shows, I would sit in the studio with headphones on.  I would hear my voice through the headphones as I talked and it was always kind of strange.  When I would drive home later, I would hear my voice on the radio too and that was even more strange.  I got used to that eventually, but it took time!  Today, my sister sings in the praise band at her church.  Every time we visit and she's singing up front I think my goodness, why am I singing so loud?  Everyone can hear me!!  Then I remember it's not me.  It's her!  And she has a microphone.  The praise band sounds very good, but it's still strange to hear my deep voice resonate throughout the sanctuary.

Whenever I visit with my mom and sister, I'll go home and occasionally when I say something I'll think, "whoa, that REALLY sounded like Heather.  Or wow, that really sounded like my mom!"  I have a video from when my oldest daughter was little and my mom laughs in it off camera.  It sounds SO much like me it took me a long time to figure out that it was really her.  When my nephew was little, he heard me voice and came running to me.  He wrapped his arms around my leg...and then looked up.  The look on his face was priceless.  He knew immediately upon seeing me I wasn't mommy.  But why did I sound like her?!  He was very confused.

While the three of us sound very much alike, we are different people.  And the way I personally can tell the difference is by the way we say things.  My mom has the same tone of voice, but she talks more distinctly and more properly.  My sister also has the same tone, but she says things in a different manner than I do.

The same can be said about writing.  I've been told that my writing has a similar tone or style to a variety of different authors including Karen Kingsbury, Richard Paul Evans, and even occasionally Danielle Steele, depending on what I've written.  But it doesn't matter how similar the style or mannerisms are, the story is different.  The way I say things is different.  Sometimes I read other books and think it sounds like me too.  It's weird to hear my voice in someone else's book!  But had I written that book, it likely would have sounded the same, but it would be a very different book overall.

I believe writers are born with a voice.  That voice may sound like someone else in some ways, but overall, it is uniquely that particular writer's voice.  There are many things you can do with that voice and you might even be able to change it.  But what you need to do more than anything is make sure it's heard.  It doesn't have to be heard by the masses in order to mean something.  Even if it's just you hearing yourself, your writing is worth it.

Find your voice.  You may have several!  And enjoy it.  Chances are, others will too.

***Originally posted 10-23-13


When I was in radio, I did a little writing here and there for scripts and other such things, but I missed long form writing.  In college, it was fine because I had plenty of papers to write, but once I graduated and started my career, I didn't have that creative outlet anymore and I needed it.  I tell people that the prologue for "Someone Always Love You" was something that came to me and bugged me.  It actually kept me awake at night, begging to be written.

So, one day, on a break from work, I sat down and wrote it out.  I felt better!  But the story was there and though I didn't know what it was, exactly, I HAD to finish it.  It deserved that much.  I had never written a novel before, but that was exactly what I set forth to do.

I honestly had no idea what was going to happen in the book.  The main idea was based around a woman in a coma.  My grandmother was in a coma on two separate occasions and I always wondered if she could hear the people around her...if she had thoughts, dreams, or other things going on in her mind.  Though I don't know what really happens in people's minds when they are in comas, the story is based on my idea of what it might be.

What came to me for the prologue was HOW the woman gets thrown into the coma in the first place.  From that point on, I really had no idea what was going to happen.  I wanted her to have memories of her life and I wanted her to hear some of the things going on around her.  What those memories would be and what those items she would overhear would be were  up in the air.  I literally just sat down a wrote.

Characters began to form and with them, an intricate story line of love, family ties, tragedy, mishaps and many other elements came.  Somehow, it all came together and I completed the manuscript in a little over a month.  I had no idea what to call it and no idea what to do with it.

My mom helped me arrive at the title of "Someone Always Loved You" and I approached agents and publishers and so on.  Though a few asked for more chapters, no one took the bait and I pushed the novel to the side and went on with everyday life.

Years later, my husband "published" the novel in ebook form as a present to me.  I went on to self-publish is in paperback form for fun as well.  I hope to go back and polish the book a bit more someday now that I know a little more what I am doing.  I also took the first few chapters to a writing conference in 2012 and won a contest with them.


Someone Always Loved You"Someone Always Loved You" is still one of the favorite stories I have ever written.  I feel like a part of me is in every single character and the story is something that I will never let go of completely.  Though I have not done all that much with it, somehow, people have been finding it online.

Just the other day, I visited the amazon link for the ebook version of the book in order to grab the link and send it to someone.  I noticed that there were reviews posted on the book!  I was surprised and excited to read them.  There are four reviews posted.  The first one I asked a reviewer to write and it is a three star review, though everything they said about the book is favorable.  The other three reviews are completely unsolicited and I was shocked to see there are all five star reviews.

You can read all of the reviews here, but here's what one reviewer said:

This book was amazing! The story was not what I had expected at all. The twist and turns it took certainly made me want to finish the book. Each character had their own distinctive personalities and I am not sure who was my favorite. The title goes hand in hand with the storyline. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading the unexpected.

Reading what complete strangers thought gave me hope that someday, more people will enjoy the story that I enjoyed writing more than you can imagine.  It's a story I will never forget and never completely move past.  It haunted my until I wrote it and though I feel better now that it's out of my system, there will be no ridding of it completely.  And for that I am thankful.

I grew up on the very edge of Iowa, very close to Illinois.  Most of my family was in the area and all of my friends.  After my freshman year in high school, my dad got transferred across the state.  I'd seen new kids come into my school, but I had never BEEN the new kid.  It was finally my turn...whether that was good or bad!

In grade school, I was an outgoing kid with a huge circle of friends.  Somewhere in the middle school, that changed.  I became much more shy and reserved.  I attribute it to the fact that kids became more in tune with what was cool...clothes, hair, makeup...and I just never cared.  So moving was scary and I had no idea how I was going to make new friends.  In fact, it's sad, I know, but I actually ate lunch in the bathroom on my first day at my new high school.

Skipping forward, I DID make friends.  Most of them fellow band members.  They called me the pit chick, which sounds like an insult, but really it was just a description.  I played in the pit in the marching band...the mallet instruments were my forte.  Since the other band members who became friends didn't know my name, when they talked about me, that's what they called me.  Eventually, they just called me Brooke. :)

Moving was hard, but it turned out fine in the end.  However, when it sounded like my dad was going to get transferred AGAIN and I might have to move between my junior and senior year, I was not okay with it.  Start a new high school as a senior?  Graduate with a bunch of kids I hardly knew?  That didn't sound like fun.  My mom looked into the possibility of me graduating early.  I never took a study hall in high school.  I found them boring.  With just one summer school class, my junior year became my senior year and I graduated with the class above mine...at the age of 16.  Okay, so I was only 16 for a week or so after graduation, but still, I was technically 16 when I graduated high school.  The below picture is one taken of me around the age of 17...maybe 18.




My dad did NOT get transferred and I went to a local college so I could live at home for at least the first year.  Since I quite enjoyed having a quiet house to return to for studying, a mom who made meals and did laundry and read papers, and a basement with a pool table and a pop-filled fridge for friends, there was really no reason for me to move out!  I went through all four years of college living at home.

I'm getting to a point with all this background information.  That part of my life leads me to a lot of what if questions.  What if I hadn't moved?  Where would I be now?  I wouldn't have attended the college I attended for sure.  If I didn't go to school there, would I ever have gotten into radio?  Would I have moved to Nebraska for a job after college?  Would I have met and married my husband?  Would I have my two little girls?

I guess I'll never know.  Occasionally I'll think about that time in my life and wonder what might have been different.  I'm glad things worked out the way they did, but it's interesting to rearrange life and see what might have been.  I think it's my writer's curious mind that does these things. :)  In fact, that's exactly what writing a book is like, only I really DO get to decide what happens.

When I write a novel, I think about a few different scenarios at times.  What if I make the characters go here...what might happen?  Or maybe they should do this, how would that look?  Though I'm not in control of many of the what ifs from the past, I CAN control what happens to them and that is the paramount of fun!  If you're a writer, you know what I mean!  It's fun to mess with characters.  The book "Accept this Dandelion" that I completed writing last month and am currently editing is a prime example.  I actually feel sorry for my main female character.  She gets lit on fire accidentally...she has an allergic reaction to lobster...her dress rips open on TV...the list goes on and on.  Nothing goes right for her!  But everything is just how I want it.  haha

If you're a reader, you can relate as well.  You might sometimes read a book and think, huh, I wonder what would have happened if the characters had done or said something else here.

Our imaginations are powerful and very entertaining.  I'm so glad to be able to use mine on a daily basis.  Messing with other people's lives...even if they are fictional people...can be quite a bit of fun!

***Originally posted 10-2-13
**Note, see "Freelance Writing" section of website for details


When I left radio after 12 years, I really didn't know what I was going to do.  I knew it was time to leave and I desperately wanted to work from home, but doing what...I didn't know.  Since I loved writing so much, it only made sense that I do something that involved writing.  I am so thankful for the internet and the possibilities is has opened up for me.




I started searching for writing jobs and looking at random websites and applying for even more random jobs.  I found a few here and there including thecontentauthority.com.  I applied to be a writer and was accepted after some trial articles.  However, I had to start at a low pay and prove myself.  Eventually, I moved up the ranks and get a higher rate.  Websites like these are great because you can go to a huge job board and look at the topics that are needed.  You choose one you think you can write about, write the article, and send it off.  Then, if the client on the other end likes it, they can add you as a favorite writer.  They can directly order things from you later and the good part about that is, you get to set the price on those.  I have written enough articles for enough people that I rarely take jobs from job boards anymore.  Usually, I work on the direct orders I have from the variety of sites I've been on.

After I found a few little things, I hit the jackpot when I ran across freelancewritinggigs.com.  This website posts writing job leads every morning at about 7am.  Some of the jobs are for specific locations and others are virtual, meaning they can be done from anywhere.  I would look at the jobs that could be done anywhere and see if I fit the bill.  If I did, I applied.  I have to be honest, I didn't hear back from most of them.  But the ones I DID get ended up being great.




The freelance website led me to Interact Marketing, another writing website with a job board.  Once I was accepted there, I could take jobs in a variety of topics at a variety of price levels.  Again, if the client liked me, they could add me as a favorite and order work from me later.  I got two great contacts and regular clients from this website.  One ordered from me nearly daily until my second daughter was born.  That client didn't pay great and since my time went kaput, I kind of stopped on those jobs.  The second client was Goodbye Crutches and I still write for them today.  In fact, I write usually 5 blogs a week for them.  They call me their award winning writer and most of the blogs they post are my writing.




From the freelance website, I also got connected to a guy who offered book reviews to authors.  Though he no longer works in that business, he still has me on his list and sometimes, authors contact me directly for reviews and such.  Honest reviews only!!

So, as a freelance writer, I write a little of everything.  I write about how to get around on crutches, how to cook, how to deal with kids and anything else you can think of.  To get an idea of what I do for that client, visit their blog here.  They are my current, most regular client and I work with them weekly.  The rest of my jobs come and go.  Right now, I'm working with a client who wants product description type things for hundreds of study guides, flash cards and other related items.  Yes, I said hundreds.  :)

When people ask what I write about and how I find the information, it's hard to answer.  One day, I can write about how to recover from foot surgery and the next day I'm writing about how to fight a speeding ticket in a certain state.  It really depends day to day and that's one of the things I love about it.  If I wrote the same stuff all of the time, I'd probably go nuts.  Or maybe not...because that's how much I love writing.

The one thing I've learned about my own personal freelance writing style is that I should never accept a job I know I can't complete.  I don't want to put too much on my plate and not be able to deliver.  I have also learned that I generally underestimate myself as to what I can get done in a short amount of time.  But I think that's better than overselling and not coming through.

If I never did anything else but write articles for people who need them for their websites, newsletters or wherever else, I think I'd be pretty happy.  I'm thrilled to now have success in the fiction writing world as well.  I'm looking forward to the release of "Wrong Place, Right Time" in December 2014 and I hope I can announce many more book release dates in the future.  In the meantime, there's an article on marketing automated systems waiting for my attention....