Susan Page Davis' "Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island, Canada"

We're happy to have Susan Page Davis with us today talking about her book Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island, Canada. To learn more about Susan and her book, read on!

Title: Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island
Publisher: Summerside Press

Cover blurb: Prince Edward Island pulls out all the stops to prepare for the visit of Prince Albert Edward (Queen Victoria’s son, later King Edward VII) in 1860. Molly Orland, a farmer’s daughter, is hired as a housemaid at the governor’s mansion, where the prince and his entourage will stay. Peter Stark is sent ahead of the royal party to ensure the arrangements are in order. Though Peter and Molly are attracted to each other, there seems to be no future for them, since Peter must soon leave with his master, the Earl of Washburn, and Molly will lose her job if discovered to be engaging in a flirtation with one of the visitors. However, Molly’s family harbors a secret that connects her family to Washburn’s. Can she and Peter overcome the past and set right a 60-year-old wrong?

1) How did this story come to you?
I thought of it after reading some historical material on Prince Edward Island and learning about the Prince of Wales’s 1860 goodwill tour of British North America and the United States.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
This one was not typical. The editor and I had talked several times about working together, but up to that point a story line hadn’t clicked for both of us. When Summerside Press decided to cross the border into Canada with the Love Finds You line, Rachel Meisel asked if I’d like to write a story set in PEI. I lived in Maine then, and was within five or six hours’ drive of the island. I jumped at the chance, we worked out the story line, and I went to PEI to do research.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I am a stroke survivor (it happened 13 years ago, and no cause was found); I’m descended from John Alden of Mayflower fame; and I collect old tea tins.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I just finished a Texas historical called Captive Trail. It’s about a young woman who spent 12 years with the Comanche and is found lying unconscious in the road by a stagecoach driver. Moody Publishers will release this title September 1 as part of the new Texas Trails series, which I’m writing with two other authors, Darlene Franklin and Vickie McDonough. We’re each writing two books.
And I’m working on Lady Anne’s Quest, in which an English lady searches for her uncle in 1855 Oregon. She needs to tell him that he’s now the Earl of Stoneford—but he disappeared into the American West twenty years ago, and he’s a hard man to find. Especially when two bumbling crooks are out to stop her and an assassin has her uncle in his sights. This is Book 2 of my Prairie Dreams series for Barbour Publishing. Book 1 (The Lady’s Maid) will release October 1.

5) Parting comments?
Thanks for having me over today, Dawn! I love visiting with you and your friends. I’m delighted that we’re giving away a copy of Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
My Website is: www.susanpagedavis.com and I give away free books there every month. Come see me there or on Facebook.

Mary Ellis' "Abigail's New Hope"

We're happy to have Mary Ellis with us today talking about her book Abigail's New Hope. To learn more about Mary and her book, read on!

Title: Abigail’s New Hope, 1st in Wayne County Series
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

Cover blurb: Love Blooms in Unexpected Places
As an Amish midwife, Abigail Graber loves bringing babies into the world. But when a difficult delivery takes a devastating turn, she is faced with some hard choices. Despite her best efforts, the young mother dies—but the baby is saved. When a heartless judge confines Abigail to the county jail for her mistakes, her sister Catherine comes to the Graber farm to care for Abigail’s young children while her husband, Daniel, works his fields. For the first time Catherine meets Daniel’s reclusive cousin, Isaiah, who is deaf and thought to be simpleminded by his community. She endeavors to teach him to communicate and discovers he possesses unexpected gifts and talents. While Abigail searches for forgiveness, Catherine changes lives and, in return, finds love, something long elusive in her life. And Isaiah discovers God, who cares nothing about our handicaps or limitations in His sustaining grace. An inspirational tale of overcoming grief, maintaining faith, and finding hope in an ever-changing world.

1) How did this story come to you?
I became intrigued by a real-life story that happened here about 5 years ago in Ohio’s Amish country. Although I fictionalized many details, a strong woman’s test of faith remains the focus of my story too.

2 Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
It took me ten long years of writing and rewriting several books before I found a lovely agent who believed in me. She matched me with this wonderful publisher, and I feel I am “home” at last. I can write the books of my heart to glorify God, which is the best way to spend your day!

3)Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
One, although I have many pie recipes in my books, I have Amish friends who invent these recipes for me. I am not a good baker at all, but I do make very good homemade soup. Two, I absolutely love lima beans, Brussel sprouts and cooked spinach—three vegetables many people run away from, and three, I’m a rather slow reader. I’ve always envied fast readers. But at least, once I finish a book it usually sticks with me for a while.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I’m just finishing the second in the Holmes County Series, A Marriage for Meghan—the story of a former problem student turned schoolmarm. What could possibly go wrong? And next, I’ll be writing the 4th installment of the Miller Family Series. I can’t wait to revisit the characters of my first 3-book series set in Holmes County Ohio. It’ll be like meeting old friends for lunch.

5) Parting comments?
I hope those who are going through dark days will turn to the Bible first and foremost, but also not discount the ability of fiction to heal wounded souls.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
Readers can find me at http://www.maryeellis.wordpress.com/ and I hope they’ll drop by and say hi.

Shannon Vannatter's "White Doves"

We're happy to have Shannon Taylor Vannatter with us today talking about her book White Doves. To learn more about Shannon and her book, read on!

Title: White Doves
Publisher: Heartsong Presents

Cover blurb:Romance wasn’t what Laken had in mind.
Laken Kroft left home eight years ago and never looked back. Who knew when she applied for the promotion to postmaster that she'd end up in Romance, Arkansas, and much too close to her parents, the town drunk and the local gossip maven?
Hayden Winters has his hands full raising his paraplegic nephew, Brady, and wrestling with his guilt over having caused the child's injury. When the boy's father, Laken's brother, turns up and starts talking custody, Laken's influence is Hayden's only hope. But whose side is she really on?
Will their mutual bond with their seven-year-old nephew draw them closer or rip them asunder? Will Laken accept Hayden “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” or be forced to turn her back on him and “Return to Sender”?

1) How did this story come to you?
I wanted to base the book around the Romance Post Office, where romantics send wedding invitations and Valentine cards to be re-mailed from Romance, Arkansas. I thought it was fun to make the heroine the postmaster and the hero a mail carrier, so she’s his boss. I’d read several years ago in a magazine about family members accidentally backing over toddlers in SUV’s and I wanted to explore how God could get someone past such a tragedy.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
It’s the second book in my series, which was never supposed to be a series. My editor asked if the first book could be made into a series. I came up with the story in about a month’s time. I had to write the chapter by chapter synopsis first and since I’m a seat of the pants writer, that threw me into my first case of writers’ block, which I thought was a myth. It’s not. This book was harder to write than any of my others. And it required the most editing in the series. After my brilliant editors helped me weed away all the excess, I love the story.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
1. I live across an Arkansas hayfield from my parents.
2. I’m an only child.
3. My son is an only child.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I just signed another contract with Heartsong for a Texas rodeo series. I’ll be starting book two soon.

5) Parting comments?
Texas is my second favorite state since my husband is from there. I hope to have more Arkansas books in the future.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
http://www.shannonvannatter.com/