This week, we welcome Beverly Varnado to The Diamond Mine. Here is her official introduction:
Award winning Southern writer, Beverly Varnado, is a novelist, screenwriter, and blogger who writes to give readers hope in the redemptive purposes of God.
She has written a nonfiction memoir as well as several novels and screenplays, one of which was a finalist for the prestigious Kairos Prize in Screenwriting. The novella, A Season for Everything, is the third work in a series set in Worthville, Georgia. Previous novels set there are A Key to Everything and A Plan for Everything. Her work is also included in several anthologies and periodicals. As an artist, her work was recently chosen for exhibit at a State University.
She lives in Georgia with her husband, Jerry, and their chocolate Aussiedor who is outnumbered by several cats. Beverly is Mom to three children and Mimi to two grandchildren.
Readers may find me at One Ringing Bell, peals of words on faith, living, writing, and art at oneringingbell.blogspot.com.
Also at www.BeverlyVarnado.com , on my Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/BeverlyVarnadoAuthor, Twitter @VarnadoBeverly, or @ Beverly Varnado on Instagram.
SW: Thank you for joining us, Beverly, we’re so grateful to have you stop in this week this week and share more about yourself. Let's get started with a couple “would you rather” questions.
Would you rather write in a rooftop garden surrounded by city noises — or in a quiet studio with cows as your neighbors?
BV: I’m conflicted on that one, because I like both. In another career I spent much time in New York City, and I love the hustle and bustle and somehow can tune it out when necessary. But currently, my husband is pastor of a rural church which is surrounded by pastures and many cows and I love the setting. It’s a toss up.
SW: There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to either setting. Would you rather read a book with no page numbers or no chapter numbers?
BV: I think I could live with no chapter numbers, bit I’d have to have page numbers.
SW: I agree with you. Alright, that’s enough of those. Tell us a little about you—family, hobbies, day job, or whatever you’d like to share that’s not in your bio.
BV: I spend much time writing and painting in a little studio in our backyard. I have also been a church musician since I was twelve years old, so the piano is big for me, and I sing with a symphony chorus.
For many years, my husband and I were involved in prison ministry, and we’ve traveled internationally on mission trips.
SW: You have a lot on your hands, but doing what you find joy in sure makes it all worthwhile, doesn't it? What are three books on your tbr?
BV: My interests are varied. I’m looking forward to reading Ann Voskamp’s new book, Waymaker, a biography of Winston Churchill, and rereading Elizabeth Mussers’s classic, Swan House.
SW: I'm a fan of Elizabeth Musser. What does your writing space look like?
BV: Though I have an office inside in a lovely sunroom, when the weather permits, I do prefer to be in my little studio in the backyard. I need ventilation when I paint so it works perfectly for that, and when I write, I have fewer interruptions. Here are a few shots. My blog is called One Ringing Bell, so I love that vintage bell given to me by a neighbor.
SW: What an inspiring space! Thank you for sharing the photos with us. Would you share with us a little about your road to publication?
BV: My passion for writing began at eight when I published my first magazine, which I sold door to door for a nickel. I also received a long awaited present of a journal for my birthday that year. The magazine folded in the first week, but the journal writing continues to the present day.
So, though I’ve written since I was a child, it wasn’t until about twenty years ago, I began to sense God wanted me to devote more time to my writing and seek publication. I initially worked in non-fiction, but God led me to write a novel, which at the time, felt a bit like walking on water since I had always thought of writing fiction as doing the impossible. But somehow, through a lot of prayer and God’s help, I did it.
I won a book deal in a writing competition for Give My Love to the Chestnut Trees, which was a semi-finalist for Jerry Jenkin’s Operation First Novel. My script for this story was a Kairos Prize finalist and was optioned for a film. I then indie-published Home to Currahee―a novel I wanted to dedicate to my father. He was in declining health, but blessedly, he saw it in print a short time before he died. Five years ago, a publisher contracted for a non-fiction book, Faith in the Fashion District, and at the same time I received a contract from Anaiah Press for The Key to Everything followed by A Plan for Everything and then the Christmas novella, A Season for Everything. I also have a blog, One Ringing Bell which has over 1000 posts, and I write for various print and online publications, as well.
SW: I love hearing how God led people to where they are in their writing journeys. Tell us more about your latest release.
BV: It is a Christmas novella, a sequel to the two other small town romances set in Worthville, Georgia that are mentioned above. During these challenging times, I hope the readers of A Season for Everything take away hope and joy. My characters, Catherine and Collin, have recently faced major difficulties and wrestle with finding a new season in their life. The world is in such an upheaval at present, it’s sometimes difficult to imagine that life can look differently than it does now, but we have to keep up our hope.
SW: Wonderful. Readers, there is more about A Season for Everything below. Which of your male characters (including works in progress) would you most like to go on a date with and which of them would you most like as your best friend?
BV: Most of my lead characters have at least one trait from my husband in each one, and he is also my best friend, so I don’t think I can answer that tricky question.
SW: What are you currently working on?
BV: I’ve just finished an historical young reader that is under consideration and I’m also halfway through another romantic comedy that is a sequel to the Worthville smalltown romances.
SW: We appreciate you taking time to share with us. Before we leave, how can we pray for you?
BV: Thank you for asking. Please pray that I would be faithful to use all that God has given me for His glory.
Despite the glowing gas lights, festive wreaths, and holiday cheer that covers the town of Worthville, Catherine Todd is far from being in the Christmas spirit. She continues to wrestle with the losses that shattered her heart two years earlier, and while shopping for her kids, her overreaction to a disappointment confirms what she already knows―she’s stuck in her grief.
Children’s book author Collin Donnelly shows up in Worthville for a signing, but when an abrupt first interaction with local resident, Catherine, doesn’t go well, he wonders if he made a mistake coming to this small town. Eager to make amends, he soon learns they share a common interest in birding, and he invites her on an adventure that turns out to be filled with unexpected wonder for both of them.
They soon find themselves working together to save an endangered bird, and the more time they spend together, the more Catherine is drawn to Collin. But there are forces mounting against them having a relationship, including Catherine’s reluctance to embrace the future, a difficult secret in Collin’s past, and an alliance Collin has with his agent, who clearly doesn’t want to remain his former girlfriend.
Can they trust that, through God, there really is a season for everything?
Purchase your copy or any of Beverly's other books at AMAZON.
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