Writer Paula Mowery On Christmas Reading

Paula, welcome to my Christmas series of Writers on Reading. I’ve been looking forward to these interviews like—well, excuse the cliché—but a kid at Christmas! So with your recent Christmas story, Love Again, released Nov. 20. What is your favorite part about a Christmas-themed story?

A happily ever after is just amplified with Christmas involved.

I don’t know about you, but many of us associate this season with traditional baking. I don’t think a Christmas novel would be complete without those special scents floating around in your head. What are your favorite Christmas goodies to read or write about?

I do like it when a character will pull out the good ol’ sugar cookie recipe, bake, and decorate with other characters, especially kids. There’s something really homey about making Christmas-shaped cookies and sprinkling them with sugar crystals or slathering on some icing. Takes me back to my grandmother’s kitchen around the holidays.

Awww, that’s delightful, Paula. As far back as you remember, what was the first Christmas-related fiction story you read or had read to you? Is there a Christmas book you like to share with your children or grandchildren? Do you have any other special Christmas reading memories?

As many kids, I enjoyed The Night Before Christmas. I also liked reading the Christmas sections of The Little House On The Prairie books. Their humble gifts and foods at that time just made the real meaning of Christmas and the need for family stand out. Of course, family gathered around to listen to the Christmas story from the Bible is a sweet memory too.

Very sweet memories. Thank you for sharing. What is on your Christmas fiction to-read list this year? And what is your ideal Christmas reading experience?

I hope to read the other stories included in the Christmas series coming out from Prism Book Group.

Thank you for sharing. It was fun visiting with you, Paula. Folks, you can continue to connect with Paula, and get to know more about her books at the links below.

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. Be The Blessing won the Selah Award in 2014 in the novella category. In November of 2013, her first romance released in the anthology, Brave New Century, from Prism Book Group. This book went to number five on Amazon’s bestseller category, historical Christian romance. Legacy and Love was her first solo romance and was a finalist in the Carolyn Readers Choice Awards in 2015.

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. She wrote a section for Join the Insanity by Rhonda Rhea. She has devotionals included in several collaborative books.

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. She was a member of the 2014 and 2015 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference faculty.

Paula is a pastor’s wife and mom to a 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. By going through prismbookgroup.com you can find all the links to buy the book. 

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Our-Good-Paula-Mowery-ebook/dp/B014VL43X8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1443731694&sr=1-1&keywords=For+Our+Good

Writer Darlene Franklin On Christmas Reading

Darlene, welcome to my Christmas series of Writers on Reading. I’ve been looking forward to these interviews like—well, excuse the cliché—but a kid at Christmas! So you've got so many Christmas novels to your name, and your most recent, Jacob's Christmas Dream, released just over a week ago. What do you look for when selecting a Christmassy novel or novella to cozy up with this month?

Let’s start with Christian and historical. I looked at several pages of Christian Christmas books, the covers that jumped out at me are ones from series I’m also in, or similar themes. Western, but not cowboys. Mail order brides. American. From there I look at the blurbs, and who knows what will tickle my interest? In the process of looking at the books, I bought a time-travel Christmas novella to try.

Sounds very fun! You’ve got some great reading ahead of you this season. I don’t know about you, but many of us associate this season with traditional baking. I don’t think a Christmas novel would be complete without those special scents floating around in your head. What are your favorite Christmas goodies to read or write about?

One of my novellas is An Apple for Christmas, so I had a lot of fun writing about apples. My favorite family tradition is decorating sugar cookies.

You’re making my mouth water, lol. Is there an element of these books that you’d feel cheated if it wasn’t there? Or something special you like to add to your Christmas stories?

I was going to say snow—but not really. Or Christmas day itself—but not really. There are two kinds of Christmas stories that I write: one is inspired by a Bible story. This year’s Jacob’s Christmas Dream is drawn from the story of Isaac and Rebekah. The other starts well before Christmas, but culminates on the holiday.

I adore both kinds—almost as much as I adored your fun answer. As far back as you remember, what was the first Christmas-related fiction story you read or had read to you? Is there a Christmas book you like to share with your children or grandchildren? Do you have any other special Christmas reading memories?

 

Oh, it has to be, isn’t everyone’s A Christmas Carol? I haven’t read Christmas stories to my children (aside from the Biblical accounts), but I also like to read The Gift of the Magi and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

My mother had a recording of Mr. Pickwick’s Christmas by Dickens. It’s part of a larger book, one I’m not sure of. Over the years, I came to love listening to it just as she did.

Oh, Darlene, that’s so special! Thank you for sharing. (See, why I love these interviews?) What is on your Christmas fiction to-read list this year? And what is your ideal Christmas reading experience?

I am reading (or rereading, in some cases), Christmas Traditions for a book club. I also have that time-travel Christmas book to read, and a book of Christmas-timed mysteries. A story that has that “aw” moment at the end. Scrooge’s transformation, the ham in Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the exchange of gifts in Magi.

Over the years, has any Christmas novel or novella really stuck with you that you’d like to share with our readers? And is there one you’re looking forward to rereading?

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I mentioned a couple above here. Of the Barbour collections I’ve been involved with, I’m most fond of A Woodlands Christmas, which has four wonderful stories which are tied together by an itinerant carpenter named Gabriel.

We’re going to have to look into that book. Darlene, thanks so much for visiting with us and letting us get to know you better. Folks, you can continue to connect with Darlene—and find out more about her books—at the links below her bio.

Best-selling author Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. She lives in Oklahoma, near her son and his family, and continues her interests in playing the piano and singing, books, good fellowship, and reality TV in addition to writing. She is an active member of Oklahoma City Christian Fiction Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Christian Authors Network. She has written over fifty books and more than 250 devotionals. Her historical fiction ranges from the Revolutionary War to World War II, from Texas to Vermont.

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Purchase Link for Jacob's Christmas Dream

Writer Gail Kittleson On Reading

Gail, welcome to Writers on Reading! With your debut novel, In This Together releasing two

days ago, I’m curious to know what you read. So… Do you find one theme more repeatedly snags your attention as a read? Is there something special you seek when selecting your next reading adventure?

Thank you for having me, Deirdre. My answers are yes and yes. Historical examples of triumph over major obstacles attract me. For example, Disney’s many rejections, Thomas Edison’s two thousand failures, or Eleanor Roosevelt’s struggle to find her niche in life intrigue me. What was it about these people, and many other historical figures, that kept them focused on their goals? I suppose that outdated word, “pluck” is at play, but I never tire at seeing how this characteristic worked in their lives.

So I seek stories about such characters—whether memoir, biography, or fiction. The heroine in True Grit is one example.

Aha, Maddie Ross. Mother always compared me to her. Don’t feel like her anymore though.… Excellent examples of what you seek, Gail! As a writer, you should know better, but as a reader, you know we all do it…so tell us, when did you last “judge a book by the cover”? How did it work out?

Hum...good question. I think it was a book I read just before my current one. I loved the characters, the plot held my interest, but the many grammatical errors drove me to distraction. I’m a natural proofreader and do some fiction editing, so when the errors begin to mount, so does my frustration.

Makes sense. Your debut book released just two days ago. Did you find time to read during the months you spend writing this book or with deadlines ahead, is it either/or for you? If so, what did you read while working on your last book? If not, what did you read when you finished this one?

Absolutely not either/or. I always find time to read. I read The Beautiful Mystery during the edits of In This Together, reread The Four Agreements, a book on Arizona history, because I was also editing another ms at the time, and Anne Lamott’s Small Victories. I also tried to read a little in Spanish every day, because I’m learning that language.

Nothing more fun than learning another language. What was the last book you absolutely couldn't put down? Why?

The Beautiful Mystery. And Five Quarters of an Orange. In both, I got so involved with the main character’s quest, I just HAD to know what would happen.

That’s so fun! Great recommends there! Did a book recently make you laugh/cry/sigh/shiver?

As I research my WWII novels, several books have caused these reactions. How can one read about the Waffen SS atrocities without shivering/crying/descending into periods of gloom? The book Village of Secrets and other texts about the occurrences along the SS’s path through southern France hold me in what I’ll call a dark fascination. How could humans carry out these horrible acts? And the survivors—yes, they were the “Greatest Generation,” yet human like you and me. Still, I always find hope in the participants’ personal stories. The depth of human depravity often reveals the strength of the human spirit.

Well said, Gail! Were you the kind of kid/teen who loved reading? Which novel do you first remember reading?

That was me, thick glasses and morose expression included. I read anywhere and everywhere. When I didn’t “get” algebra right away, I pulled out Gone With the Wind. Seriously. Not a good idea for my grade—lol. Early on, To Kill a Mockingbird stunned me into rapt adoration for the heroine and her father.

I’m gonna have to ask if you’ve read the sequel and how you feel about her very different rendition of Atticus Finch? When did you know you wanted to write? Did any or multiple books influence this desire?

In junior high. I think it was seventh grade. I started writing poetry then, and knew I needed and wanted to write. Scads of books—basically every biography and fiction in our school library, plus everything our little town library offered—influenced me. I was starving—they were food. But it took decades to develop the confidence to follow my passion.

Has any book stuck with you recently? What created the lasting impressions?

Where Treasure Hides—Johnnie Alexander’s many plot convolutions stick with me, maybe because they match the willy-nilly nature of World War II in occupied nations. You never know what to expect, you see characters doing u-turns, finding victory over fears, lapsing back, taking enormous leaps of faith, moving to safety, then back again into danger, etc. Kind of like the Allied forces.

Sounds like a book worth adding to our reading lists! With a cozy winter well upon us, what is on your to-read list? And what is your ideal cozy reading experience?

Peggy Trotter’s Year of Jubilee, Sandi Rogg’s Out of the Ashes, and a possible read through Roseanna White’s latest (unpublished) creation. And I’m looking forward to reading The Art of Memoir, because I facilitate a little writing class and workshops, and there’s always more to learn about memoir.

My ideal autumn reading experience ... ah, for a fireplace and a mountain stream outside the window. We have a corn/wood stove, but it makes entirely too much noise.

Is there a book you are looking forward to rereading?

Now that To Kill A Mockingbird has a companion novel, I think I’ll probably read To Kill again. Not sure about its companion—I don’t want to mess with my romantic notions about this amazing author. Also, I always look forward to another read of Emily Dickinson’s poetry. ALWAYS—so many untold tales there!

If Dottie, the main character in In This Together were to pick a book from today’s shelves, what do you think it would be?

I think Julie and Julia, because Dottie’s all about cooking nutritious meals for the male boarders at her place of employment. Either that, or Dottie, a practical, down-to-earth woman of the mid-40’s, would reach for a cookbook.

How fun. Thanks so much for visiting and letting us get to know you better as a reader, Gail!

And thank you, Deirdre. This has been such a fun interview, all about my friends throughout the years, books!

Folks, you can continue to connect with Gail—and find out more about In This Together or her memoir, Catching Up with Daylight: A Journey to Wholeness

—at the links below.

http://www.gailkittleson.com/

www.facebook.com/gail.kittleson

https://www.facebook.com/Gail-Kittleson-author-1799350843625035/timeline/

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/gail-kittleson/43/935/b06

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3459831.Gail_Kittleson

http://www.amazon.com/This-Together-Gail-Kittleson-ebook/dp/B016BVY4Z8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447631792&sr=8-2&keywords=gail+kittleson