Hi, guys! V. Joy Palmer here! Since we are all friends here, you guys can call me Joy. ;-) And one of my favorite things to do is talk with my friends at coffee shops then head to the bookstores. Yes, plural. After all, books and yummy drinks are the perfect combination! So consider this our virtual coffee shop. I'll wait a second for you to get your warm drink and a fuzzy blanket before we chat with today's guest. <3
Today we are going to pry into the private life of CHAT with Author Terrie Todd!
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Terrie Todd is the award-winning author of eight historical and split-time novels and one nonfiction book. She contributes monthly to the Heroes, Heroines, and History blog, and has published numerous articles, devotionals, and play scripts. Her novel, April’s Promise, is a finalist in the 2024 ACFW Carol Awards. Watch for her next book, Even If We Cry, releasing in December, followed by Even If I Perish in 2025. Terrie lives with her husband, Jon, in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada, where they raised their three children. They are grandparents to five boys. You can follow her and sign up for her newsletter at www.terrietodd.blogspot.com
Follow Terrie on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).
Interview ~
This may be the most important question I ask -- no pressure or anything, LOL!
*drum roll*
What are you drinking in our virtual coffee house? Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate? Something else altogether?
Yes, please. I drink one cup of coffee with hazelnut creamer in the morning, then herbal tea with honey in the afternoon and evening. Hot chocolate is great but reserved for special occasions.
Perfect answer, LOL! If you could order anything in the world to eat (we can dream, can't we?), what would it be?
Calorie-free Black Forest trifle. (You didn’t say it actually has to exist.)
I like your thinking! Where is your favorite place to write, and why is that your favorite place?
In my home office, at the huge, solid oak WWII army surplus desk my husband acquired for free while in college. I love the fact that I write WWII-era stories at this old desk. I think the familiarity of my home space helps me stay focused on my work. I’m way too distracted when I try writing in a coffee shop, library, or even my back yard.
Your desk sounds amazing! Do you have an odd habit that is only explained by your bookish, writer tendencies? Safe space. ;-)
For 14 years, I wrote a weekly “faith and humor” newspaper column. Having to come up with something to write about every week trained my mind to be constantly considering the column potential in every daily thing. My column has now ended, but I hope the habit sticks.
Because I write historical fiction, I often catch myself wondering how our ancestors accomplished certain tasks that we do every day. Then I Google the history of things like toothbrushes, toilets, and toenail trimming.
Love those! What inspired you to write April’s Promise?
Years ago, an acquaintance shared with me how her older siblings teased her by telling her that their oldest sister was actually her birth mother. She never proved or disproved it, but her story intrigued me enough to think it might make an interesting premise for a novel. As I researched, I was amazed by how often this scenario has taken place in families as a means of protecting a daughter’s reputation. (This isn’t a huge spoiler, since the reader discovers it early in the book.) I wanted to explore how the ramifications of such an enormous deception might affect all the different members of a family.
Love this premise! What led you to write in this genre?
I’ve always enjoyed historical fiction, but to be honest when I decided to try writing a book for the first time, I thought historical would be simpler because it’s easier to get your character into trouble. Without the ease of communication we have today, for example, it’s a much bigger deal to be stranded on a country road with a broken-down car. With the strict social norms of the past, it was a far bigger disaster for a teenager to become pregnant than it is now. While I was correct about that, I’ve learned that historical fiction is more work because of all the extra research.
Very interesting! What message do you hope to convey to your readers?
My characters’ experiences eventually drive home the truth that even when the worst that can happen to us happens, God can redeem it through his love and healing power.
Beautiful message! Can you tell us a little about your next project?
Even If We Cry releases on December 5, 2024. Here’s the blurb:
Nina’s
one task is to keep her family together while a world war threatens to rip them
apart.
Warned
they “mustn’t cry,” British teenager Nina Gabriel and her two young siblings
board a ship bound for Canada as part of the WWII child evacuee program in
1940. Nina’s mischievous brother and seasick sister test her limits on the long
voyage—but her burden of responsibility grows still heavier in Canada.
Determined
to fulfill her promise to her parents, Nina battles to keep the siblings
together through what they all hoped would be no more than one school term.
Months turn into years. Unfamiliar Canadian customs, a foster sister who
resents them, the mysterious deaths of their host family’s other children, and
the birth of a new brother back in England complicate Nina’s world. It doesn’t
help when David, the boy she’s grown to love, enlists in the air force with no
end to the war in sight.
When a telegram arrives after a London bombing, will Nina find a way to fulfill her promise for the brother she’s never met? Will the Gabriel siblings learn that each of them is loved, even if they cry?
Sounds amazing! Do you have a favorite Bible verse or story that inspires you on a soul level?
Psalm 138:8 says, “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me.” I have this on canvas where I can see it from my desk as a reminder to be faithful with my part and trust God with the rest. The photo I put with it is a cluster of cranberry blossoms with some of the flowers open and others still waiting to open. It speaks to me of potential and how there’s always more goodness to come.
Love this verse and what it means to you! What are you currently reading? Inquiring minds -- mine! -- want to know. ;-)
I am loving Lynn Austin’s book, Until We Reach Home.
Sounds great! Thanks for answering all of my prying questions, Terrie!
Scroll to check out Terrie's Carol Award Finalist, April's Promise, and an awesome giveaway!
Carol Award Finalist ~
Emmaleen
Kimball is
fourteen when she becomes convinced she was born to traveling acrobats and left
on her parents’ doorstep. Why else would there be a thirteen-year age gap
between her and her closest sibling? When her family won’t tell her the truth
about her origins, she’s determined to solve the mystery herself.
Bernadette
Kimball is
twenty-seven and living back at home to help with a family crisis, but she
can’t wait to get back to her career in the city. She doesn’t fit in with her
family. Not that she cares. Who needs a family? Families are just one big mess
of secrets and lies.
April
Kimball-Madden carries
the burden of a secret she promised never to reveal. She wishes she could tell
Emmaleen the truth. But she’s convinced that if her husband Joey ever finds out
who Emmaleen’s biological parents are, her marriage won’t survive.
As a
world war wages across the globe, the Kimball family faces a different kind of
conflict at home. Will their personal battles drag them down and tear their
family apart? Or can the faith they’ve been taught, and the mercy they’re
shown, lead them to victory?
1 comment:
Thanks so much for having me, Joy! You suit your name.
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