Author Interview and Giveaway with Bethany Turner!

Hi guys! V. Joy Palmer here! Since we are all friends here, you guys can call me Joy. ;-) And since we are all friends, one of my favorite things to do is talk with my friends at a charming coffee house. Bonus points if that coffee house has lots of books under its roof. Books and yummy drinks are the perfect combination, after all. So please consider this our virtual coffee house! I'll wait a second for you to get your warm drink and a fuzzy blanket before we chat with today's guest. :-)

We are going to pry into the private life chat with Bethany Turner, author of The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck and Wooing Cadie McCaffrey! I've had the pleasure of helping to promote both of Bethany's wonderful books, and you can read my reviews here and here!

Get ready for some epicness!

Bethany Turner is the award-winning author of The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck, which was a Christy Award finalist. When she's not writing (and even when she is), she serves as the director of administration for Rock Springs Church in Southwest Colorado. She lives with her husband and their two sons in Colorado, where she writes for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight.

Connect with Bethany on her website, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! 

Interview ~

First things first, would you order coffee, tea, or hot chocolate in our virtual coffee house? Something else altogether? This is possibly the most important question... No pressure or anything, LOL! ;-) 

Coffee in the morning, iced tea in the afternoon. And chocolate all day long…but only in solid form!

You are speaking my language! LOL! On to our second most important question: if you could order anything in the world to eat, what would it be?

Oh my goodness, that’s a fabulous question. I had some fresh scallops in Cape Cod about five years ago and I’ve been thinking about them ever since, so I suppose that would be it! Although…one of my bucket list items is to have a chance to try the signature dish of a world-renowned chef, actually prepared by that chef. So if Gordon Ramsay is willing to cook me some beef Wellington, I guess I’ll take that over the scallops.

Surely Gordon Ramsay can make you some beef Wellington with a side of scallops! YUM! Where is your favorite place to write, and why is that your favorite place?

I have a small office space in my bedroom, and in addition to my desk and such, I have a recliner crammed in there. The recliner is my favorite. In the recliner, it doesn’t feel like work.

Recliners for the win! Confession time! Do you have an odd habit that is only explained by your bookish, writer tendencies? Safe space. ;-)

 I’m not sure that it’s a habit so much as a neurosis! I tend to write a lot of dialogue in my novels—primarily because I see them as movies in my mind—and when I’m deep into writing a story, dialogue tags tend to make their way into my mind during real life conversations.

“What are we having for dinner?” her teenaged son asked, his stomach growling.

“I thought we might order a pizza,” his mother replied, her guilt at having lost track of time manifesting itself as bribery.

That sort of thing. Thankfully it usually goes away when I’m not facing a deadline!

That. Is. Hilarious! LOVE IT! What inspired you to write Wooing Cadie McCaffrey?

 I was on a plane and there was this family in front of me—the husband with one of their children, right in front of me, and the wife with the other child, in the row in front of them. Every once in a while the parents would start to talk to each other, and then their attention was always pulled away by one of the kids. None of it was bad. It was just life. But a couple times I saw this look pass between the husband and wife. A look that somehow captured lifelong love and commitment, and an affection for the life they had built together, but it also somehow said, “We’ll find time for us again someday.” It was so real, and I knew I wanted to write the story of a couple for whom love is never the problem. The problem is life, and the struggle to carve out time for each other. It morphed and grew a lot from there, but that was the beginning.

That is such an awesome story nugget! My romantic heart is all mushy! *happy sigh* What led you to write in this genre?

The truth is I wrote the story that was on my heart with absolutely no consideration of what genre it fell into. That was The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck. I honestly knew very little about the Christian book market, and had no idea where that book would end up landing. But once I got in, I saw the need for more books like what I most loved to write anyway—books that perhaps can get away with going where some other books couldn’t or shouldn’t, because the journey is accompanied by laughter.

That is so awesome! I absolutely love that we are seeing more and more of these wonderful stories (like yours!!) appearing in the Christian Fiction market! What message do you hope to convey to your readers in Wooing Cadie McCaffrey?

That love is more than a feeling. Love is an action. Love takes effort. And I’m not just talking about the love between Cadie and Will—although…definitely. With Cadie and Will, their love for the other person was never in question, but they got complacent. And the same goes with each of their relationships with God. Their faith was secure, but they became as complacent in their faith, and in their relationships with God, as they became in their relationship with each other. Love is worth fighting for, and sometimes it’s not about fighting another person, or any outside source, really. Sometime the fight really happens within.

YES and AMEN to everything you said! Can you tell us a little about your next project?

 A very little bit! I just turned in the first draft of a story that will be published by Revell in 2020, and my manuscripts tend to get turned on their heads during edits. But it’s the story of two polar-opposite celebrity chefs who share a very public, very career-altering heated exchange, and then are forced to play nice with each other down the road. I look forward to sharing more soon!

Man, I need a time machine because I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS STORY!!!! Ahem. Sorry...I'm just...um, very excited... ;-) Do you have a favorite Bible verse or story that inspires you on a soul level?

Ephesians 3:20. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Time after time I have thought I knew what needed to happen. I thought I had the plan all sorted out. But then God did what He knew was best, and He has a way of blowing all of my feeble dreams out of the water.

Love this truth! <3 What are you currently reading? Inquiring minds -- mine -- want to know! LOL! ;-)

I have a couple reads going. I’m just starting to dive in to Lincee Ray’s new release, It’s a Love Story. That girl is hilarious, and speaks such truth! And then I’m listening to the audiobook of Fosse, which is an in-depth biography of the dancer/choreographer/director Bob Fosse.

Those sound like awesome reads! *adds more books to the TBR that would take Methuselah a couple lifetimes to read* 

Thank you so much for hanging out with us and for answering all of my prying questions, Bethany!

Giveaway ~

Bethany has generously offered one paperback copy of Wooing Cadie McCaffrey to one worldwide winner!

"Romantics everywhere will sigh happily at the perfect ending."--Colleen Coble, USA Today bestselling author

After four years with her boyfriend, Cadie McCaffrey is thinking of ending things. Convinced Will doesn't love her in the "forever" way she loves him, Cadie believes it's time for her to let him go before life passes her by. When a misunderstanding leads to a mistake, leaving her hurt, disappointed, and full of regret, she finally sends him packing.

But for Will, the end of their relationship is only the beginning of his quest to figure out how to be the man Cadie wanted him to be. With the dubious guidance of his former pro-athlete work friends and tactics drawn from Cadie's favorite romantic comedies, Will attempts to win her back. It's a foolproof plan. What could possibly go wrong?

"I've found my new go-to author for rom-com with heart."--Carla Laureano, RITA Award-winning author of The Saturday Night Supper Club and Brunch at Bittersweet Café

"A modern, messy love story not to be missed."--Nicole Deese, Carol Award-winning and RITA-nominated author

"Playfully fresh."--Rachel McMillan, author of the Van Buren and DeLuca series

Rules, Info, and Such ~

The author is giving away one paperback copy of Wooing Cadie McCaffrey! 

This giveaway is open worldwide!

This giveaway will close on August 28th, 2019, at 12:00 A.M. for all the night owls.

A winner will be drawn within four days of close of giveaway. If the winner does not respond to our e-mails within one week of notification, then a new winner will be drawn in their place.

May the odds be ever in your favor. ;-)

Enter using the handy Rafflecopter here ~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by, my writerly, bookish friends! <3 See you next time!

Hugs,

V. Joy Palmer 

V. Joy Palmer is the author of Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is also an avid blogger and co-founder of Snack Time Devotions. In her spare time, Joy is an unprofessional chocolate connoisseur/binger, and she loves acting crazy and drinking coffee with the teens she mentors. When Joy isn’t urging the elves that live in her computer to write, she’s hanging out with her husband, their adorable baby girl, and their socially awkward pets.

Connect with Joy on her website, personal blog, devotional blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!