Title: Finally A Bride, book 3 in the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series.
Publisher: Barbour Publishing
Cover blurb: Jacqueline Davis, a reporter for the Lookout Ledger, is bent on nabbing her story at any cost. When Noah Jeffers comes to Lookout as temporary pastor, Jack suspects there may be something hidden behind his shepherding ways. Soon though, Jack becomes attracted to the new pastor despite her initial hesitation. But as she uncovers the truth, will the story cost her too much? Will she reveal what she’s found, or keep it hidden to protect her heart and the town?
1) How did this story come to you?
I had finished the first book in the series, The Anonymous Bride, and my editor asked me for proposals for two sequel books. After writing about Jack, a rambunctious tomboy, in the first two books, I knew the last book had to be her story. I set the book ten years after the others and set about seeing what kind of trouble Jack could get into now that she was grown up. I also knew it would take a very special man to tame her.
2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
Although Finally A Bride is my 21st book to be published, it is my first trade size book. I started out writing novellas (20,000 word stories) that were included in anthologies published by Barbour. In the mean time, I sent in several proposals to Heartsong. Sooner or Later, a book that won the ACFW Noble Theme contest, was later purchased by Tracie Peterson, Heartsong’s Acquisition Editor. She eventually bought two more books, to complete a series that later became Oklahoma Brides. After I’d written a number of Heartsong books, my novella editor, who also bought Barbour’s trade fiction books, asked me to submit a proposal for a trade fiction story. She rejected my first idea but then bought The Anonymous Bride, which led to selling the other two books in the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series.
3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
1. When I was first married, my husband and I lived on a kibbutz in Israel for a year.
2. When I was 14, I used the money I’d earned babysitting and working odd jobs to buy a motorcycle. I was too young to drive a car, but I got a license to ride a motorcycle, and thus gained my freedom early.
3. I hate wearing dresses. I only own two of them, and one was the dress I wore to my son’s wedding ten years ago.
4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I’m currently writing Long Trail Home, which is the third book in a series that I’m writing with fellow authors Susan Page Davis and Darlene Franklin. The series is called “Texas Trails: A Morgan Family series” and spans several generations and 50 years of a Texas family. The first three books release this fall with the final three coming next spring.
Here’s the blurb for Long Trail Home: A weary soldier returns from the War Between the States to discover his parents dead, his family farm in shambles, and his fiancée married. Riley Morgan takes a job at the Wilcox School for Blind Children and tries to make peace with God and himself. When a pretty, blind woman who cares for the children reaches through his scarred walls and touches his heart, he begins to find renewed faith and hope for the future. But when he discovers Annie feigned her blindness just to have a home, will his anger and hurt drive him away and ruin all chances for a future filled with love, faith, and family?
5) Parting comments?
Thanks so much for having me as a guest again, K. Dawn. I always enjoy being here. I’d like to also let your readers know about a new series I have coming out next year. Guidepost Books will be publishing Whispers on the Prairie, which is set in 1870s Kansas. The first book is titled Winds of Change, but I’m calling it book my “Love Comes Softly meets Bonanza” story. What happens when a young woman finds herself stranded at a stage stop with three brothers and a matchmaking mother?
6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
I’m on Facebook, and my website is http://www.vickiemcdonough.com/. Stop by an leave a comment in my guestbook to be entered in my quarterly book giveaway. Also, I plan to start a newsletter soon. If you’d like to be on the list to receive it, please use the link on my website and email me.
