Monday, May 16, 2011

Mildred's Colvin's "Learning to Lean"



Title: Learning to Lean
Publisher: Self-published with Amazon (note from K. Dawn---author is multi-published with Heartsong)

Cover blurb: What woman wants the Brady Bunch reruns to take over her life? For that matter, what man wants that kind of responsibility? None, right?
Heather Conway, daycare owner and widowed mother of three, has no extra money and very little faith. Where was God when her husband died, leaving her with no insurance, no income, and facing bankruptcy? Her fourteen-year-old son is getting out of control, she needs something better than their two-bedroom rental to live in, and she just bumped into a man who has her heart beating overtime. If she were sensible, she’d latch onto a childless, wealthy man who could give her the security she craves.
Matt Sanders has just moved to town with his three kids and placed them into Heather’s daycare while he gets his Jack-of-all-trades construction/repair business off the ground. He may appear to be poor, but he has more going for him than meets the eye. His admiration for Heather soon turns into love as their families intertwine through church activities and work on her daycare.
But six kids? Maybe Matt and Heather would be better off as friends. They soon find it’s hard to let go of the security they see and blindly trust God to take care of their tomorrows. Learning to lean on God can take a lifetime or maybe only a lesson in trust.

1) How did this story come to you?
Learning to Lean is a story that developed as it was written. I owned a daycare several years ago, so child-care provider became a natural career for my heroine, Heather. The Jack-of-all trades business the hero, Matt, has going is also natural for me because of a close family friend who has done this sort of work for many years. The Brady-Bunch-type family Matt and Heather fight against forming was not planned, but just sort of happened. Heather’s insecurities and Matt’s as well, are very much like those we all face. If we don’t see an immediate answer, where do we turn? When life has no answers, there’s only one way to go. And there’s only One whom we can go to and know we will find the right answer. Heather and Matt have to learn that lesson.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
I originally wrote this story to submit to Love Inspired, which I did. After their rejection, I set it aside unsure what I wanted to do with it. Several years passed, and I heard about the option of publishing on Amazon. I had no place in mind for Learning to Lean, but I knew the story was worth publishing so I read everything I could find about Kindle Direct Publishing, took a plunge out of my comfort zone, and published Learning to Lean.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I’m not sure I know three surprising things about myself. How about: I met my husband only 2 1/2 months before we were married, we allowed our daughter to name herself, and I’ve never seen the ocean. Not overly exciting, but…

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
Oh my, I have so many projects going, I only hope I can do them all. The third book in my Route 66 series with Heartsong Presents will be released in July, 2011. I have 3 proposals out with as many publishers that I’m waiting to hear from. My current work is a sweet romance titled Love Returned that I hope to publish as an ebook on Amazon in June 2011. After that I hope to rewrite, adding scenes to a couple of my older books that have been returned to me. I will probably offer them as ebooks later. And I’m working on four more proposals for a couple of different publishers.

5) Parting comments?
Thank you, K. Dawn Byrd, for having me as a guest on your blog. I enjoy meeting new readers of Christian romance and hope you will stop by my blog, Romantic Reflections, from time to time. I plan to post any news about my books and a little about my venture into this new world of ebook publishing. It’s been interesting to say the least.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
http://www.mildredcolvin.blogspot.com/, on Face Book search Romantic Reflections by Mildred Colvin.

18 comments:

  1. Please enter me! TY Sherry D.
    heelfan91@att.net

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks good!
    ramblesahm @ yahoo dot com

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  3. Would love the chance to read Mildred's book. please enter me to win....margie at mijares dot net

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  4. Thank you for allowing me to enter to win a book. This sounds like a fabulous read.

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  5. Matt and Heather certainly lead an interesting
    and busy life...
    Thanks very much!
    Cindi
    jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Please enter me. Would love to read the book.
    dancealert at aol dot com

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  7. Please include me in this giveaway

    ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com

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  8. thanks for the chance to read this book :)

    karenk
    kmkuka at yahoo dot com

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  9. Hi Mildred,
    This sounds like a fun book to read. I'm a fan of your writing, enjoying both how well your books are written and the humor in them. I can only imagine some of the incidents that could occur in this one. And you certainly have the background for it after running a daycare center.
    Best of luck with it.

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  10. Would love to win this book, sounds marvellous!
    Karla
    k_hanns@yahoo.com

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  11. What an awesome, soul-searching type read. I would love to read it.

    Thanks!
    Lmaria23@hotmail.com

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  12. How lovely to see all the comments after my busy day away from the computer. Yes, Gail, I spent a few years in day care, so it was fun writing about something I really knew first hand. Matt and Heather do have their hands full with their six kids but mostly because of their reluctance to take on such a responsibility after going it alone. Thanks for all the comments. So encouraging!

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  13. I love reading Mildred COlvin stories!

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  14. Thanks for including me in this giveaway!

    Charlotte Kay
    charlovesmark at gmail dot com

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  15. In this time of financial insecurity in our country, your story resonates with me. I've seen real people in such predicaments. I would very much like to win and read your book to see how it turns out.
    Kaye Whitney
    kayewhitney@bellsouth.net

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  16. Great title. I think we all write from our own life experiences, or observe what others around us go through, or do, with their lives. We can't help but incorporate some of that into our stories.

    meadowlark@loreepeery.com

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  17. great contemporary theme. in today's world, blended families are becoming more commonplace. sounds like a great story.
    sign me up.

    avidreader at middleswarth not net

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  18. I so appreciate all of your wonderful comments, all so encouraging! Thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit. I would love for each of you to receive a copy of Learning to Lean and hope you would enjoy it. It can be found on amazon.com's Kindle store. Also, please come visit me at www.mildredcolvin.blogspot.com when you have the time. I'd love to meet you there.

    Now, for the one who will receive the free copy of Learning to Lean. Through my husband's unique method, that is totally unpredictable, the name scrapbookangel was selected. I will send you an email tonight to be sure I have it right and will then sent a PDF file of the book to you that you can read on your computer. Thanks so much!
    God bless!

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