Author Interview ~ Lena Nelson Dooley

Hi, Lena! Welcome to The Borrowed Book. It’s so good to have you back! You are a multi-published author with more than 690,000 books in print. That’s an amazing number! What do you think has been the secret to your longevity?

Persistence and readers who like my writing. Thank you, everyone, for each book you read.

On top of writing, you run a very busy blog, do numerous teaching and speaking engagements, and somehow find time to mentor. Do you find keeping so busy hinders your creativity?

Not really. It might hinder my time spent on writing, but not the creativity. At least not so far. Each of the things I do feeds my creativity. I love to teach. Interviewing other authors is fun. And through mentoring, I grow myself.

Many of the people who follow our blog are aspiring writers themselves. Can you share your favorite writing tip with them?

The only writers who become published are the ones who keep submitting, then learning from feedback, then submitting again.

Tell us a little about your latest release, Mary’s Blessing:

When her mother dies, Mary Lenora must grow up quickly to take care of her brothers and sisters. Can love help her to shoulder the burden?

Mary Lenora Caine knows she is adopted. As she was growing up, her mother called her “God’s blessing.” But now that she’s gone, Mary no longer feels like any kind of blessing. Her father, in his grief, has cut himself off from the family, leaving the running of the home entirely in Mary’s hands.

As she nears her eighteenth birthday, Mary can’t see anything in her future but drudgery. Then her childhood friend Daniel begins to court her, promising her a life of riches and ease. But her fairy-tale dreams turn to dust when her family becomes too much for Daniel, and he abandons her in her time of deepest need.

Will Daniel come to grips with God’s plan for him? And if he does return, can Mary trust that this time he will really follow through?

If you could only share one line from Mary’s Blessing, which one would you choose and why?

Wow! That’s a hard question. Since I’ve written another book since this one and I’m writing another one now, I can’t remember one specific memorable line. I do love this story, because it deals with a poor self-image and lack of trust in God. I loved watching these characters make mistakes, then grow throughout the story.

The main character in this book is adopted. Do you have any personal adoption stories you’d like to share? What led you to write about this highly emotional topic?

The adoption part of the story came from the discernment God gave me about adoption. I have known people who were adopted. And I’ve had a relative who gave up a child for adoption.

The really personal part of the story was the feelings by the triplets that something was missing from their lives. I had those feeling while growing up. Because my mother died when I was seven years old, I didn’t find out until I was about 30 that shortly after I was born, my mother had to go back to the hospital. They removed a mass of bone, hair, and tissue that the doctors believe was a twin that didn’t completely form.

Along with adoption, Mary’s Blessing touches on the topic of grief. Why did you feel it was important to give each one of your characters such difficult trials to face?

Every person has trials to face. My stories experience things that other people have to deal with as well. I want the readers to see played out in the book how one person faced similar trials and became stronger through the process.

What kind of research did you have to do for this book? Can you share some articles or website links you found particularly helpful?

I do a lot of research. Details about the time period, the place, the society, etc. I want the books have authentic details to give the reader a true picture of the history of the time. I used books and web sites. There are a number of books available for cities with historical photos of that town. Those books were valuable. But I also found helpful tidbits by searching for the history of transportation and other details in the places. In this book, specifically Oregon City and Portland. All those details are authentic.

Tell us what new projects you’re working on.

I have started writing the first book in my Restored Hearts series, also for Realms. The working title is The Gift of a Son. That could be changed. There will be three books in this series.

What is the one question you were afraid I would ask…and how would you answer?

Actually, I’m not fearful about any question. If one comes that I don’t want to answer, I just say so.

About the Author...

Lena Nelson Dooley is a multi-published, award-winning author, who loves to connect with her readers. She has more than 675,000 books in print. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers http://www.acfw.com/ and president of the local chapter, DFW Ready Writers. She’s also a member of Christian Authors Network, CROWN Fiction Marketing, and Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. To learn more, visit her at:

Website: http://www.lenanelsondooley.com/  

Blog: http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lenandooley/