Spotlight: Elizabeth Goddard and UNTRACEABLE

Elizabeth Goddard here.

Thank you so much for joining me on Suspense Sisters today! I’m not answering interview questions but simply blogging about my story, and sharing with you my heart and thoughts. You’ll get a peek inside and a look at the genesis of the story.  Also. . .

I'm giving away a copy of UNTRACEABLE, so when you've read the article, be sure to comment and leave your contact information to enter the drawing.

I’m excited to share more with you about my upcoming novel UNTRACEABLE. I say upcoming—it officially releases March 1, but many of you have already gotten your hands on the story through the Harlequin Readers Service or Book Club or via various contests around the web, or if you’re on my street team (Waving at my street team). 

UNTRACEABLE is book 2 in my MOUNTAIN COVE series--a mountain search and rescue series set in Alaska. If you haven’t already read book 1, BURIED, I strongly encourage you to start there. You can read UNTRACEABLE alone, sure, but it’s so much better if you meet the characters in BURIED. Besides, it starts out with an avalanche and I had so much fun writing that book. UNTRACEABLE was not a fun book to write. It was brutal, so brutal, but the payoff and the powerful emotional experience are so worth it.   

For my original proposal, I had written a book blurb for UNTRACEABLE to go with my synopsis and three chapters for BURIED, the first book, so I had to build the story from there. For the blurb I had in mind something from the synopsis of the CLIFFHANGER movie so I built the book from that idea. In my story, the weather played a big part in the conflict. The story takes place in the spring in southeast Alaska—so how bad could the weather be, you ask?

I always, always find something in real life that I can use to base my story research on and that real life story is about a man who fought blizzard after blizzard in that same region  where my story is set. I’ll include the link to that real life story at the end of this post. My mountain search and rescue expert, who lives in southeast Alaska and assisted me with BURIED, sent me the link to that story. He also played an important role in rescuing the individual stranded on the Juneau Icefield. 

See, that’s why I love writing stories set in Alaska. There is so much fodder to work with. Plenty of wild and dangerous and beautiful nature to add to the tension and conflict. So I have my man-vs-man conflict and I added on a ton of man-vs-nature conflict, and because I was going through a brutal time myself, spiritual conflict grew from that.

Think about it though. If you are being battered from all sides, and feeling weighed down by life itself, you have spiritual conflict going on. You might wonder where God is in all this? That’s exactly how my characters felt. And that’s how I felt personally and in real life as I wrote this story. All that comes out in the writing.

I held nothing back.

Hence we came up with the title, UNTRACEABLE. The rescuers needed rescued but how could anyone find them? How could even God find them? I hope I’ve piqued your interest now. You can purchase UNTRACEABLE anywhere Love Inspired Books are sold.

If you read the article please comment and share your thoughts. I love to hear from you. That lets me know I've connected. Plus, you'll be entered in the drawing for UNTRACEABLE.  Also, if you'd like to get book news from me, stop over at my website ElizabethGoddard.com and sign up for my newsletter.

NO WAY OUT

On a daring mission, search-and-rescue specialist Heidi Warren and her team step onto an icy Alaskan mountaintop. . .and right into a trap. A stranded gang of thieves holds them at gunpoint, forcing them to serve as guides along the treacherous path. Menaced on all sides by dangerous weather, deadly terrain and murderous criminals, Heidi desperately needs someone to trust. But her rescue partner, Isaiah Callahan, is keeping secrets from her. Secrets that ended their chance at a relationship before it could even begin. Yet her survival depends on finding a way to trust Isaiah when a blizzard starts closing in and her options start running out.

Mountain Cove: In the Alaskan wilderness, love and danger collide.

You can buy UNTRACEABLE for you Kindle here.

 

Now, if you’d like to read a story from which I drew inspiration and knowledge for UNTRACEABLE, click here.

Many blessings!

Elizabeth Goddard is the bestselling, award-winning author of  twenty-three romance novels and counting. A 7th generation Texan, Elizabeth graduated with a B.S. degree in computer science and worked in high-level software sales for several years before retiring to home school her children and fulfill her dream of becoming an author. Currently, she makes her home in Minnesota where she helps her husband in ministry.