Welcome, Bettie Boswell

We're so happy to have Bettie Boswell join us today. 

Hi Bettie: Let’s find out your favorites in the Fast Four:

What is your favorite?

Coffee or Tea? I mostly drink water.

M&Ms or Reece’s Pieces?

Peanut M&Ms if I had to choose

Cat or Dog Person?

Both, but we are retired from animals. Now there is more time to write and travel. 

Spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter?

Spring or fall because I like moderate temperatures.

We’re excited to learn more about you:

Do you have any upcoming projects, releases, or sales?

My newest book is a children's picture book called Lucy and Thunder. Its premiere will be May 1st. I will have it and my novels: On Cue, and Free to Love at the Mt. Zion Ridge booth, Jeffersonville, OH at the Ohio Author's Book Fair on May 27th.

What genre do you like to read?
I like Christian romance in any sub-genre including suspense, mystery, contemporary or historical. 

When you aren’t reading or writing, what do you like to do?

I enjoy taking pictures of plant life while walking. My three grandchildren keep me on my toes before and after school. Volunteering as a docent at the Mazza Museum of children's book illustrations satisfies my joy of teaching others about picture books.

 Do you have a new release you'd like to tell us about?

On May 1st, Lucy and Thunder will be published.  It is the first picture book where I am author and illustrator. The story is about a young creature that is afraid of Thunder. When Thunder comes booming into her house, Lucy doesn't know what to do. Her family gives her good advice. Lucy tries, but it will take a prayer to help her realize what she needs to do. I had fun creating the characters for this book. I hope parents and teachers will read this one to their little ones and explore some of the suggested activities in the back matter.

This past July my split-time romance, Free to Love made its way into the world. It follows a couple in a forced marriage, and their friends (former owners) who travel north for freedom from slavery and freedom from living the lifestyle of slave owners. Ginny from my first novel, On Cue, plays a narrating role as she researches for the musical in the former book. The new book, Free to Love serves as a prequel to the first book. Those books may be read in any order. I've had many positive comments about both tales. I just submitted a sequel to complete a trilogy for Ginny's story. The future story is also split-time involving a post WW2 romance and Ginny's new marriage.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

All the books about Ginny involved historical research. Both On Cue and Free to Love required knowledge of the Underground Railroad in northwest Ohio and a general understanding of the lifestyles during the early to mid-1800s. I originally did the research for a community musical I co-wrote for Ohio's bi-centennial in 2003. That research has been recycled for both of Ginny's books and a children's reader called Sidetracked. I put in several years researching northwest Ohio.

With my non-fiction children's book called Skateboarding. I had about three weeks to learn about the sport, and write the piece. That research included plenty of library books and an interview with some locals at a skate park. It is a hi-lo book which means high interest for upper grades with simple vocabulary readable at a lower grade level.

How do you select the names of your characters?

I've used names of family and friends in many of my novels/manuscripts, but sometimes I just pick a name that works with the other characters or situations in the book.

My manuscripts for children mostly have non-family names. In Lucy's case, the inspiration for the main character is a younger relative's fear of storms. However, the only Lucy I knew of was my husband's late aunt, and she wasn't the scared young lady in my life who loves to cuddle with her pets.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Check out the little bat in Lucy and Thunder. That's all I'm saying for now.

Just for fun:

If you could have any super power, which would it be?

The ability to stretch or shorten time would be a wonderful asset. Think of all the extra hours for completing a story and all those chores that get in the way. Once the book was submitted and accepted, waiting for publication could be shortened so the reader (and the writer) could get the book sooner.

Bettie Boswell has always loved to read and create stories. That interest helped her create musicals for both church and school and eventually she decided to write and illustrate stories to share with the world. Her first experience with Christian romance started when she spent a summer with her grandmother during her early teen years and read a Grace Livingston Hill novel. Now she reads a Christian novel every week and sometimes more than one. Her writing interests extend from children's to adult fiction and non-fiction. Her first romance novel, On Cue, debuted November 2020. The prequel to that novel, called Free to Love is also available from Mt. Zion Ridge Press. Her children's books include Skateboarding and Sidetracked. In 2023 she has two more children's books coming, where she will be both author and illustrator. They are Lucy and Thunder and Dottie's Dream Horse. She has also contributed to educational works, magazine articles, and devotional and short story anthologies. She has two grown sons, a daughter-in-law, three grandchildren, and a busy minister husband.

Bettie is giving away an ebook. If you are interested in winning one, comment on the blog and include your email address by May 3, 2023. We need five comments to choose a winner.

Interview with Janyre Tromp

This interview was done with Kregel editor and debut author, Janyre Tromp. Her book, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye, was a wonderful read. It kept me turning pages into the wee hours so that I had to scrounge up an intense amount of will power to put the book down and go to bed. That will power went out the window in the morning. A cold cup of coffee and a sink full of dirty dishes is a small price to pay for the enjoyment of reading to the end. And you can get yourself a copy of this wonderful book. Just read to the end of this post.

Janyre is a busy lady, as you’ll see in the following interview, and I’m so grateful she was willing to take time to answer my questions. I’m sure you’ll be as delighted as I was to get to know her a little better.

Janyre Tromp is a book editor by day and writer of historical novels with a healthy dose of lyrical intrigue at night. She’s the author of Shadows in the Mind’s Eye and co-author of both O Little Town and It’s a Wonderful Christmas. And that all happens from her unfinished basement when she’s not hanging out with her family, two troublesome cats, and slightly eccentric Shetland Sheepdog.

LBL: Let’s start with a round of non-writing trivia. Which do you prefer? For your physical location, a country or an urban setting?

JT: Country. I’m spoiled to have a woods and creek behind my house. We spend a lot of time out there. Crowds make me a little nervous. I absolutely adore people and their stories, but if it isn’t a controlled environment, it’s overwhelming to my senses.

LBL: I’m sure many people, like me, can relate. I’d take a country setting any day. Sweet or salty snacks?

JT: I was always a salty snacker until I was pregnant with my son. Even in utero, my dude wanted sweets—cake, candy, anything with sugar. Now I’ve developed a taste for cake when I always hated it before!

LBL: Sheesh! I’d love to hate cake. Lol.For your personal enjoyment, paper, digital, or audio books?

JT: A few years ago, I would have said strictly paper. Now, I usually have one of each going at all times. My friends wonder how I can keep it all straight, but as a book editor, it’s my job to remember details and keep stories straight. I don’t typically struggle at all.

LBL: Are you a morning person or a night owl?

JT: With kids in school and early morning practices, I’ve had to become a morning person. On breaks, I revert to my natural night owl tendencies.

LBL: I know the answer to this one, but for our readers, pets or no pets?

JT: We have a menagerie of pets—2 cats, a dog, and a bunch of fish. My cats especially are characters. You’ll have to pop onto Instagram to see their antics. We got Brave as a way to help our daughter through a particularly harrowing round of medical tests. Hope followed not long after for our son as he dealt with the fear of losing his sister and my often prolonged and surprising absences as I cared for our daughter in the hospital. Their names are very representative of that time and are a reminder of the beauty found in the ugliest of places.

LBL: And here are pictures of two of the Tromp family's lovely animals.

Hope

Odie

(Brave is apparently too active to capture in a photograph, but you can find some vidoes and candid shots of the little rascal on Janyre's Instagram.)

LBL: When you aren’t reading, writing or editing, what do you like to do?

JT: Since my day job is editing, I joke that if my eyes are open I’m reading, writing, or editing. But seriously I love to walk and play games with my kids.

LBL: Great activities to give the eyes a little rest from all the reading. :) Tell us a little about your family.

JT: Chris and I have known each other since we were teenagers, and we’ve been married for 25 years. He’s the Chief Digital Officer of a financial technology company. Mostly I have no understanding of what he and his compatriots do. Our oldest is an elite swimmer, honor student, and fine artist. She’s a senior this year and, while I’ll miss her next year, I’m super excited to see where God will take her. She’s a champion for truth and has survived more than most adults. Our son is an eighth grader. He’s a soccer mid-fielder, percussionist, and honor student. He’s hilarious, loyal, and gentle . . . unless you pick on his friends or someone in a position of weakness, then he is a force to be reckoned with.

LBL: Congratulations on reaching 25 years of marriage. A true achievement in today's society. And it sounds as if you've done a wonderful job raising your children. :) What inspired you to enter the publishing world, first as an editor then as a published author?

JT: I started college as a chemistry major. After one semester and the prospect of 7:30 am Calculus, I realized that if I hated labs, I was in trouble. I called my mom who told me to do what I loved. In all my 17-year-old wisdom, I responded, “No one gets paid to read, Mom!” But having no better ideas, I declared an English writing major. The rest, as they say, is history.

LBL: I sure don't blame you. Calculus at any time of the day would be a "no thank you" from me. I am glad you chose to make that course change. If you could be a character in any book—read, written or edited—who would that be and why?

JT: I think Lucy Pevensie from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is not only my favorite childhood character, but my favorite character period. I read this book for the first time in first grade and absolutely identified with Lucy. As a kid I always felt like I was on the outside and searching for something to believe in . . . something my adult self can identify with as well. She was smart, creative, gentle, and often underestimated by those around her and yet had a courageous faith and strength of character that I admire. I guess in Lucy I saw who I am and who I want to be.

LBL: What a great character. Lucy is one of my favorites, too. What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?

JT: I’m a bit of a mix. I have a general historical setting and/or question that I’m looking at. Then I do pretty in-depth character work, during which, the characters tell me all kinds of stories. Often those stories are pivotal points in the book. I end up basically writing connective tissue between the major scenes, but I often don’t know the exact ending until I’m further into the book…mostly that’s because my characters change whatever I have planned.

LBL: Care to share a picture of your writing space? Or if you prefer, just describe it for us.

JT: I work in my unfinished basement. It’s as glamorous (and cold) as it sounds!

LBL: Brr! Tell a little about your newest release, Shadows in the Mind’s Eye, and how you came up with the idea.

JT: Shadows in the Mind’s Eye takes place just post-WWII and is about a soldier returning from the Pacific and dealing with what we now know as PTSD. When he alone starts seeing things in the hills behind his farm, no one knows if there’s actually something happening or, if in a Hitchcockian twist, he’s the real danger to his family.

The story actually began while talking to my grandparents over a glass of lemonade. My U.S. History professor had given us an assignment to talk to family about the Depression and/or World War II. Until that point, I’d had no real concept of what the war was like, either for the soldiers or their families back home. I guess I’d thought that the greatest generation slid back into life and easily became the loving people I knew my grandparents were in their 70s. When I discovered that wasn’t the case, I wondered how they had survived the fear and drastic changes.

Even though the book idea started with wondering how my grandparents’ marriage survived the pressure of war, the book isn’t biographical. So, I needed a setting other than my grandparents’ hometown. For the characters that I was building, I needed a small town. When one of my good friends told me she had an entire book of stories from her family in Arkansas, I jumped at the chance to read first-hand history.

Amongst the Hughes family stories, I acquired the basis for Dovie May and Hot Springs, Arkansas—home to the largest illegal gambling racket in the country.

Well, I don’t have to tell you that mobsters and illegal activity are an excellent backdrop for a story with a bit of suspense. The book The Bookmaker’s Daughter by Shirley Abbott confirmed that Hot Springs mobsters operated with full permission of the authorities. In Shirley’s stories, I also discovered the foundation for Charlotte Anne’s father. All of which gave me a location and a cast of characters that could stoke Sam’s fears and make everyone (including the reader) wonder whether or not he was crazy.

LBL: Do you have a new project in the works? Can you give us a little sneak peek?

JT: I do! This one takes place during WWII in Burma and focuses on the battle to prevent the Japanese from taking over mainland Asia. It’s steeped in legend and myth as well as the real history of the mountain people and the American missionaries who cared for them. It's titled Darkness Calls the Tiger, and it will be available in spring of 2024.

LBL: Sounds intriguing. I look forward to reading it. As an editor and author, what advice would you give to a writer working on a first book?

JT: Finish the book. Seriously. Most authors don’t make it because they don’t complete a novel.

LBL: How can we pray for you?

JT: My daughter is graduating from high school in May. She has a lot of decisions to make in the next few months and it means releasing my kiddo…something not so easy to do. She and I are particularly close since she experienced particularly difficult medical issues in 8th grade.

And if I can indulge a second request, while I love writing, it isn’t an easy path. It’s full of rejections (even after a contract), uncertainty, and a lot of hurry up and wait. I would love your prayers as I finish edits on the next book and research for and pitch the book after that.

LBL: Thank you so much, Janyre, for your time and agreeing to do this interview with me. It was truly great to learn more about you.

For more information about Janyre and her books, look her up at any of the following:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/JanyreTromp

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JanyreTromp

Instagram: www.instagram/JanyreTromp

BookBub: Janyre Tromp Books - BookBub

Or you can go directly to her website at http://JanyreTromp.com where you can grab a copy of her FREE novella, Wide Open.

Book Giveaway

Leave your name on our contact form or leave a comment with your email to be entered to win a print copy of Janyre's book, Shadows in the Mind's Eye (US addresses only).

An #interview with Christen Krumm author of On The Golden Cliffs (Big Sky #Amish #2)

 Interview with Christen Krumm about her new book On the Golden Cliffs. (A Big Sky Amish Novel)

Christen is very graciously giving away one copy of her book!  Remember we must have at least 5 people enter the giveaway!

 LVH: Glad to have you stop by, Christen.  Tell us about the book:

CK: On the Golden Cliffs is about a social media star who falls from grace and ends up in an Amish community in Montana. While there, she meets a Amishman who has a secret of his own that could threaten his livelihood if it gets out. And, of course, they fall in love — with a lot of mishaps along the way. It's super fun and not your typical Amish read. I hope readers enjoy it!

LVH: I can't wait to read it! How did your interest in writing originate?

CK: I honestly don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing stories. Growing I always wanted to be something and a writer when I grew up — whether that was a doctor and a writer or a storm chaser and a writer or a lawyer and a writer. To be a writer has always been the plan. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else (and for the record, I never did become a doctor or a lawyer or a storm chaser ��)

LVH: What does your writing process look like?

CK: Honestly it has looked different for each book, but one thing I can’t seem to stop doing is running my deadlines down to the very last possible minute and then writing like mad in order to not be late!

 LVH:  If you could cast your characters in the Hollywood adaptation of your book, who would play your characters?

CK: I love this question. I’ve always dreamt of being asked this question in an interview … and now that I’ve been asked, I have no idea! LOL. I will say that Lyla’s looks was based on a red headed Julianne Hough.

LVH: Who was your favorite character in On the Golden Cliffs:

CK: I loved Lyla and Reuben, but I think my favorite would have to go to Penny.

 LVH: What are you working on now? What is your next project?

CK: I’m just finishing up co-writing two middle grade books with Tricia Goyer, and I’m deep in the deadline trenches for my next Big Sky novel (that is coming next summer … and this one will be Penny’s story!)

 LVH: Share your bio:  

Christen Krumm is the author of the YA romcom, It Happened at Christmas, and her adult fiction debut On the Golden Cliffs. She probably drinks too much coffee and creating stories is her favorite. During the day she runs CK Productions — a virtual assisting business specializing in author assistants and podcast production. Her favorite color is green (or black). She likes big glasses, happy mail, and pretends she likes to run (she doesn’t). She lives with her husband and three wildings in a small Oklahoma town.

Website: http://christenkrumm.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/christenkrumm

Facebook: http://facebook.com/ChristenEKrumm

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/christen-krumm

Newsletter sign up: https://christenkrumm.com/newsletter

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/exploringtheblankpage

Buy Links

Book Shop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/on-the-golden-cliffs-a-big-sky-amish-novel-

tricia-goyer/19858151

Get the Audio book on Libro.FM: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9798368930350

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3of2aR3