For Valerie Comer, Writing is a Family Affair

I didn't start writing until my youngest was in high school. Sure, I'd always written fun newsy letters and gotten As in creative writing classes, but it wasn't until 2002 that I decided I had an itch that needed scratching. If I was ever going to learn this writing gig, the time was NOW.

From the beginning, my husband (the recipient of many of those letters back in the day) was very encouraging. I'll go a step farther and say that whatever harebrained ideas I've come up with over the years, he always believed in me, from selling Tupperware to taking a correspondence course in interior design to my most recent passion: writing fiction.

He's just as thrilled to see a new novel go "live" on Amazon as I am, and often tells me—and others—how proud he is of me.

My granddaughters are so young they neither know that having an author for a grandmother is not common, nor can they remember life any other way. But here's one of my favorite photos of my youngest granddaughter last summer when my box of Raspberries and Vinegar arrived.

My kids are both married. My son, who's the daddy of the sweetie in the above photo, thinks it's cool he grew up drinking my book titles, Raspberries and Vinegar and Wild Mint Tea.

My daughter-in-law says, "I think it's inspiring to have a role model who's always loved books and took the leap to write and get published after her kids were grown and

out of the house." I didn't even pay her to say that.

And my daughter? Her name is Hanna Sandvig, and she's a very creative person in her own right. I've often wished she would write a book, as she has a natural rhythm and voice for storytelling. She started a YA novel a few years back, but she couldn't get past drawing the characters.

Yep, she's an artist and illustrator, and we all know there are only so many passions one can have in life. Digital art is hers, after her family, of course. I'm glad we saw an artistic bent in her when she was little and bought her all the crayons, chalk, watercolors, and paints she wanted, as well as art and sculpture classes when opportunities arose. She taught herself digital art in high school art classes and has developed, as an adult, a very unique style that I love.

About a year ago I decided to self-publish a novel that had made the rounds of the bigger houses to no avail. I decided I believed in this story and the series it kicked off, that it contained timely topics—local food and environmentalism—and that God was moving me forward in a slightly different direction.

After congratulating me, the first thing Hanna said was, "And I get to do the cover, right?" Of course, right! Very shortly after that, I was offered—and accepted—a contract for that novel from Choose NOW Publishing. My new publisher asked if I had any ideas for the cover, and I mentioned that my daughter had been sketching ideas.

To make a long story short, we sent the sketch in, my publisher liked what she saw and contracted my daughter, and we've all been delighted with the results ever since! The second book in the series, Wild Mint Tea, just released, and I love this cover even more than the first one…if that's even possible.

I can't begin to describe the honor it is to share these books with Hanna. We'd both had a couple of smaller successes before—me with a novella in Rainbow's End (Barbour, 2012) and her with several pieces of wedding cake art in the pages of Sandra Bricker's Always the Baker, Finally the Bride (Abingdon, 2013). But to share my first solo novel with her first cover art? It busts the buttons of my pride.

Wild Mint Tea http://valeriecomer.com/mint is dedicated to my daughter, Hanna. Not only is she one of my top cheerleaders and my favorite artist, she's a mom who gardens and cooks from scratch and cares about the quality of her daughters' food.

It's a passion she and I share with my daughter-in-law. In fact, quality food from scratch is a huge driver for our entire family. It's a way of life that has become the foundation of the Farm Fresh Romance series, which is a unique farm lit http://farmlit.com series that follows the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of three college graduates who move onto a reclaimed farm where they plan to take the rural area by storm with their sustainable lifestyle and focus on local foods.

Wild Mint Tea released March first, and it's the second book in the series.

She’s rooted deep. He flies free.

Local-foods chef Claire Halford envisions turning Green Acres Farm into an event destination. Weddings prove trickier than she imagined when the first one comes with a ruggedly handsome brother-of-the-bride, who has everything but a fixed address. Oh, and faith in God.

Noel Kenzie loves the freedom his reforestation company affords him. Why worry about deep stuff like God and commitment when he’s in his prime? Except there’s a woman who might make it worth giving up his wings…and digging in some roots. If he dares.

PS. What do my other granddaughters think of Grandma being an author? The two-year-old doesn't have an opinion, but she's the most avid book lover of the bunch and will easily spend half an hour "reading" to herself. Her current favorite is Curious George.

The eldest was 3 1/2 when Raspberries and Vinegar released last summer. She held the book up proudly and said to her mom, "Look, Mommy, it's your picture! Your lovely picture that you maded!" To her, that's the most important part of the family affair, and I think that's just as it should be.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow, when you can enter to win a free e-copy of Valerie's latest release, Wild Mint Tea!

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Did You Know? ~ Stormy Petrel

On November 16, 1871, a blizzard abruptly roared out of warm autumn skies on the plains of Kansas. The snow continued for three days. Many helpless travelers were caught in the storm. Among them was a young, recently married woman from England.

This young woman, known only by a story told years later by Kansas resident Annie Gilkeson,was nicknamed Stormy Petrel. She had come to American from England with her brothers after her father lost his wealth to drinking. Stormy and her brothers settled in Kansas. Soon she fell in love with another settler from England, and they married.

All of them were clueless about farming. The dry plains of Kansas were so different from lush, green England that they had trouble scratching out a living. Then they heard about the money being made from hunting buffalo. Being English and used to fox hunting, they were enamored of the idea of hunting for profit, so they decided to sell as much as they could of their unnecessary belongings and put the cash into a camping outfit. Then they set out to make their fortune hunting buffalo.

When they began their journey on November 16th, the weather was balmy. They sang songs from England and had fun. Caught up in the adventure, they forgot about being homesick for the rain and fog of their homeland. Their joy was to be short-lived. Soon clouds gathered in the sky, and the air grew chilly. Had they been seasoned pioneers, they would have recognized the clouds as "snow clouds." Stormy had to wrap up in her fancy little coat. Snow began to fall in gentle flakes, but the foursome wasn’t worried. The land agent who sold them their property had assured them that Kansas never had bad weather. The group found some trees near a creek and made camp. The snow began falling steadily, and they made dinner as best they could. Still, they went to bed expecting to find clear sky the next morning.

During the night the temperature dropped. Snow fell more heavily and soon wind blew in gusts. When they awoke, they were nearly buried in snow. Making breakfast was impossible. The night before they’d observed a town about a mile away, and the men decided to go there for better supplies. For some reason they left Stormy at the little camp, tucked in the wagon, probably thinking she’d be safer there.

The men made it to the town, gathered more supplies, and headed back toward the camp. The wind increased with each step, driving snow into their faces, almost blinding them. They could see only a few feet in front of the, and wandered in circles the whole day. As night fell, they realized further searching was futile, and they followed lights back to town to stay the night and begin searching first thing in the morning.

In the meantime, Stormy fought the cold by wrapping in everything she could find in the wagon. She ate the little food that was left and drank water from melted snow. Her thoughts during this time were never recorded, but she survived the long day and night. The next morning she found the wagon buried in snow. She dug her way out realizing that searchers would never be able to find her, so she put her red scarf on the end of an umbrella and hoisted it like a flag of distress.

That red scarf saved her life. The men awakened early and began their search again. When they saw the red scarf, they whooped with joy. They broke through the drift around the wagon. Stormy’s husband lifted her numb, freezing body to his horse and carried her back to the little town. Stormy was so weak, they had to stop at the first house they found where an elderly widow lived. She nursed Stormy back to health and it was she who gave Stormy the nickname, Stormy Petrel, which is another word for Storm Petrel, a small seabird of the open ocean believed to be a harbinger of bad weather.

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Writing A Series by Author Valerie Comer

There are definite perks and definite challenges to writing a series, don't you think?

On the negative side:

You have to remain within the parameters you've already created

You may find characters auditioning for parts that don't mesh with the series

You can't choose a different voice style for the remaining books

Your readers want exactly what they want

On the plus side:

You know your story world

You know some—possibly most—of your characters

Your voice for the stories is set

You know what your readers want

Yes, I think every negative has a correlating positive side, and the positive side is stronger. Readers love series, so why not give them a trilogy or a series…or maybe collections?

Wait. There's a difference?

Trilogies: A 3-book series is the most common, but for a set to qualify as a trilogy, they need to take the same story, with the same main characters, and continue the same drama. The earlier books often end in a cliffhanger, and make poor standalones. The reader knows the story isn't complete, even though some subplots are wrapped up, and eagerly looks for the next installment. Technically, this type of series doesn't have to end in three books, but it's the most common length.

Series: An example of an open-ended series is the Nancy Drew mysteries. Each is a standalone. You know just what to expect from Nancy and her friends. She doesn't change much but falls from one scrape into another without a blink, solving each in her signature fashion. Still, when a story is done, everything is settled and she is safe and sound.

Collections: These are stories that are related and set in the same story world. Technically, my Farm Fresh Romance books are a collection. Each stands alone as the romance of one of the young women who joined together to purchase and operate Green Acres Farm with the goal of building a sustainable lifestyle.

The first book, Raspberries and Vinegar, is the story of Jo, the feisty environmentalist, and Zach, the junk-food-loving reluctant farmer next door. In the second story, Wild Mint Tea, which just released March first, Jo and Zach are (married) secondary characters, but the romance story belongs to Claire and Noel. Claire is a local-food chef who's catering weddings at the farm, and Noel is the brother of the first bride.

I'm currently writing the third Farm Fresh Romance story, Sweetened with Honey. I took a break to write a standalone novella (releasing in September in Snowflake Tiara with Angela Breidenbach). But what a treat to return to Green Acres Farm and catch up on Jo and Zach's family and to see how Claire and Noel are faring a couple of years later. It's also fun to contemplate their third friend, Sierra, and the young widower who has stolen her heart.

Old friends like retired plumber Ed Graysen, who's cruised through the first two stories; Zach's dad, who's been recuperating from a debilitating neurological disease; and the unpleasant Mr. Leask, who sells sick cattle, are all hanging around, looking for their parts in this new tale.

In the first book, Sierra's dad and brother came to Green Acres to help build the girls' straw bale house. Now that it's Sierra's turn to find love, surely we'll meet Tim Riehl and his wise-cracking college-age son again.

It's starting to feel like a family reunion! And a group of other inhabitants of Galena Landing, Idaho, feel it's time we got to know the community a bit better.

All in all, I'm pretty sure I won't want to say goodbye to the Farm Fresh Romance gang at the end of Sweetened with Honey. Maybe I won't have to. They have friends, after all, and a good collection can always handle another story or two!

What are some examples of trilogies, series, or collections you particularly enjoyed?

Valerie writes Farm Lit where food meets faith, injecting experience laced with humor into her stories. Please visit her at her website to enjoy her blog, connect with her on social media, find her books, and join her e-newsletter list.

Links to:

Valerie's website: http://valeriecomer.com

Wild Mint Tea: http://valeriecomer.com/mint

Raspberries and Vinegar: http://valeriecomer.com/raspberries

About the Farm Fresh Romance books: This unique farm lit series follows the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of three college graduates who move onto a reclaimed farm where they plan to take the rural area by storm with their sustainable lifestyle and focus on local foods. 

The second tale in the Farm Fresh Romance series, Wild Mint Tea, finds chef Claire Halford hosting weddings at Green Acres Farm, but the first bride comes with a globe-trotting brother. Noel Kenzie's reforestation company provides him the means to enjoy life. This is no time for him to settle down…or Claire to spread her wings.

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Writing What You LOVE ~ A Guest Post by Sylvia Bambola

Today we're featuring author Sylvia Bambola, who's sharing about writing what you love vs. writing what you know. Read on to learn her thoughts on the subject, and to learn about her latest release!

Writing What You LOVE

Mark Twain said “Write what you know.” And the words of a luminary like Twain are generally held in high esteem. I mean, practically every school in America has at least some of his works in their library. Others even make reading them mandatory. So when I find myself contradicting a known master like Twain, I know I do so at my own peril. But the truth is if I had followed his advice I never would have written a single word.

From a young age I loved reading and telling stories. My friends and I would sit around for hours making them up. And always my stories were about things that excited me or things I cared deeply about. So my rule as a writer has always been “write what interests you.” In other words: write what you love. If I’m not interested in the subject; if I’m not passionate about it, I doubt I’d be capable of interesting anyone else. To my mind, events, customs, history, all these things can be researched. And yes, that takes hard work. But it enables me to write the kind of stories I want. The other difficult challenge, of course, is to populate these stories with characters who are believable and who touch hearts.

My first novel, A Vessel of Honor, written under the pen name of Margaret Miller and published well before 9/11, was about terrorism. The rise of radical Islam concerned me greatly. How would it affect America should it reach our shores? How would it affect my family? And others? Would the issue of faith make a difference? To answer some of these questions, I decided to build my story around two women: one a Christian, the other not, so I could explore how their faith or lack of it would impact them in such a crisis. The book ended up winning a Small Press Editor’s Choice Award and being seriously considered for a television movie.

My next novel, Refiner’s Fire, was about the underground Church in Romania during the brutal reign of Nicolae Ceausescu. This subject interested me deeply because I was born in Romania but later adopted by an American family. It really caused the “what ifs” to swirl around in my head. What if I still lived in Romania? What if I had to endure such persecution? What would it be like? And how did the Christians stand up under it? To explore this I decided to use two brothers separated after World War II then coming together again as men: one, the US Ambassador to Romania; the other, a Romanian Colonel. It became a Christy Finalist and won a Silver Angel Award.

I now have six published novels, and each of them was birthed out of passion and interest. Knowledge came later. Many writers write wonderful books by “writing what they know.” I’ve even heard of some who can pump out thousands of words a day with seemingly little effort. But I’m not blessed that way. It takes me a long time to write a book, so I need to invest that time in subjects that matter to me so I can bring the things I care about to my readers, and hopefully make them care about them too.

 But in the end, every writer must find his own way—the thing that makes him want to get up in the morning and face another blank page. And what’s so exciting is this: God can use us all.

Sylvia Bambola is the award winning author of six novels, including Refiner’s Fire and Tears in a Bottle. A resident of Florida, she teaches women’s Bible studies, has been a guest speaker at Women’s Aglow and various church functions, has two grown children, and is currently learning the guitar. 

You can connect with Sylvia on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and/or Goodreads.

And you can purchase Sylvia's latest release, Rebekah's Treasure (released January 2014) now on Amazon! Here's some more info about the book:

FIRST PLACE WINNER FOR ADULT FICTION IN THE FLORIDA STATE ASSOCIATION NATIONAL LEAGUE OF AMERICAN PEN WOMEN

Forced to flee war-torn Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Rebekah and her husband, Ethan, each take something of value: Rebekah, the cup of the Last Supper; Ethan, a copper scroll detailing the whereabouts of a vast Temple treasure. Ahead, separation and danger face them as each tries to survive. But it’s not only external forces that could keep them apart forever but internal ones as they struggle to discover where their true treasure lies.

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Winners!!

Good morning, BB fans! Thanks to everyone who participated in our "puzzling" Friday giveaway! Keep all those facebook and Twitter notifications, coming!

This week's winner is: 

Cindy W (countrybear52 AT yahoo DOT com ) - Faith Departed by Elizabeth Maddrey.

Congratulations, Cindy! Thank you all so much for stopping by The Borrowed Book.

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Sunday Devotional: The Deity of Jesus, or How Dare He?

Last week I looked at a portion of Luke 22, which highlights the human struggle of Jesus when faced with the road to the Cross. This week, it’s a later part of that chapter, which highlights the struggle of Jesus in His deity.

So, give it to us straight, the Pharisees said to Jesus. Are you our Machiach, our Anointed one?

And He said to them, it doesn’t matter if I said yes. You wouldn’t believe me anyway. And it isn’t like you’re going to answer any of my questions, or let me go.

Are You then the Son of God? they asked.

You say that I am, He answered.

And I can just envision the scene—the whole place erupting. See? See? What else do we need to hear. We’ve heard it ourselves from His own mouth.

The audacity of this man, to claim He’s the Son of God!

More like, the audacity of them, to speak this way to One who stood bound before them, the God clothed in flesh, putting up with their dog-and-pony show with a resignation that only underscores how ludicrous it was for them to think they could do anything to Him without His permission.

Back in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus revealed His humanity to His disciples, but here, He’s the Creator in disguise. The One in whom we all live, and move, and have our being, standing there with barely leashed patience as these men questioned and accused him.

And then I think ... the audacity of myself, to question Him. To doubt Him. The God who did not spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all. To accuse Him, in essence, of not really loving us, of not really having our best interests in mind, or sometimes even of not having a plan at all.

Yes, life spins out of control. Things don’t go the way I would choose. I feel God pressing a promise into my heart, and then everything around me seems to make a lie of that promise. But ... the Son of Man must die ... before the Resurrection can happen.

How dare He claim to be the Son of God?

No. How dare I, because it was my sins that sent Him down this road.

 ⁶⁶ As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, ⁶⁷ “If You are the Christ, tell us.”

But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will by no means believe. ⁶⁸ And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go. ⁶⁹ Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.”

⁷⁰ Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?”

So He said to them, “You rightly say that I am.”

⁷¹ And they said, “What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.” (Luke 22)

² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. ⁴ You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. (Hebrews 12, all NKJV)

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Weekly Drawing ~ Maddrey

It's Fun Friday at The Borrowed Book!

To enter:

Leave the time it took you to complete the puzzles in the comments section as well as your email address for notifying you if you've won. Winners will be drawn from ALL of the times, so the person with the fastest time may not be the actual winner, but by leaving your time, you double your chances.

Want another entry? Tweet your puzzle time and mention The Borrowed Book, get another entry. RETWEET our Tweet, get two entries!

Post your puzzle time on BB's Facebook wall and...you guessed it...get another entry!

Post it on your OWN Facebook wall and you could get as many as FIVE entries.

It's all a way to spread the word about the great giveaways on BB. So c'mon! Help us spread the word, and have a little fun at the same time. Enter all weekend long! Winners will be announced Sunday night at midnight.

This week's puzzle feature is brought to you by Elizabeth Maddrey and her newest release, Faith Departed.

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