INTERVIEW WITH A.H. GABHART

A. H. Gabhart is the author of Murder at the Courthouse. As Ann H. Gabhart, she is the bestselling author of many novels, including Angel Sister, Small Town Girl, and Love Comes Home, and several popular Shaker novels such as The Outsider, The Believer, and The Innocent. Ann grew up in a small rural town in Kentucky much like Hidden Springs. She and her husband still live on a farm near that same Kentucky town. Learn more at www.annhgabhart.com.

INTERVIEW

If you had to describe yourself in one sentence, what would you say?  

I am a woman blessed beyond measure with the place I live, the family I love, and the stories I imagine.

What do you do when you’re not writing? Any interesting hobbies?

I’m not sure it qualifies as a hobby, but I do like to hike and enjoy taking photos of wildflowers and other beauties of nature to share with my Facebook friends. My dog, Oscar, a lab chow mix keeps me company on my walks, and sometimes so do a few of my nine grandchildren. I have a huge to-be-read stack of books and dream of someday taking a long reading vacation.

What was your favorite book as a teen or child?

My favorite book was Black Beauty. I shed many tears over that story. But I also read every Hardy Boy mystery in our local library and credit those books with starting me down the writing trail. The Hardy Boys inspired me to begin writing my own mystery since I fancied the idea of being a detective and solving a mystery the way they did in their stories.

Tell us three things about yourself that might surprise your readers.

I grew up on a farm. I got the first dog that was mine alone when I was eight and have had at least one dog buddy in my life ever since.

The very first “profit” I made from writing was winning 100 baby chicks when I was in the sixth grade and entered a 4-H essay contest.

The question I get asked the most is how many books have I written. I don’t know the answer to that since some of my books haven’t been published. But Murder Comes by Mail is my 30^th published book. You’d think I’d know that number straight off, but I had to count up the books. Maybe with a nice even number like 30, I’ll be able to remember now.

What genre did you start out writing? Have you changed course? Why or why not?

I have re-invented myself as a writer several times. The first book I wrote way back in the 1970s was a gothic romance. That book is still on my reject shelf. My first published book was a general market historical romance. Then when I couldn’t keep up with market trends for that genre in the 1980s, I wrote a number of young adult coming of age novels. When I again hit a slow spot in selling my work, I decided to write a book about a preacher and his family. That story brought me into the Christian inspirational market. I love writing for this market, but even here, I’ve written several different genres. I have some stories set in small towns, my Heart of Hollyhill series and my Rosey Corner series, that I think of as family stories with historical and romance threads. One book, Words Spoken True, is a historical romance set in 1855 Louisville. Then I have my Shaker books with settings in the 1800s. And now, my new releases are contemporary cozy mysteries set in a small town. So yes, I have changed course. The why was sometimes due to lack of interest from editors and sometimes because that was the story I wanted to write at a particular time.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

Back when I was a beginning writer and had obtained an agent to represent me, I sent a manuscript to her which she rejected with the comment that my characters were “cardboard characters.” That was tough. But she didn’t give up on me and my next book actually was the one that found a publisher.

The best might have been when my book, Love Comes Home, won the Selah Book of the Year in 2015. One of the judges said my story left her changed. Another time, a reader said she had been able to finally deal with the sorrow of losing a baby thirty years ago after reading that same book, Love Comes Home. It is a good feeling to know readers are touched by your stories. 

Any other genres you’d like to try? If yes, what and why?

Sometimes I think I’ve already tried them all. But actually, back when I was writing for young adults, I did consider and write several chapters of one of those another world fantasy ideas. Plus, I have also tried my hand at writing devotions with the thought of perhaps compiling a book of inspirational ponderings. I have yet to come up with enough inspirational thoughts for an entire book, but maybe someday. I don’t know that I have a why for either of those other than the answer I used to give my kids. Just because.

If you could go back in time and do something differently at the start of your career, what would it be?

I might try to see if I could write for the inspirational fiction market earlier in my career, but I doubt if I could have done that when I started writing. Back then, I don’t think Christian fiction was a separate genre. That specialized market evolved later when readers weren’t able to find the kind of books they wanted to read in the general market.

But everything I’ve done has been a learning experience so perhaps things worked out as they should have. You can’t go back and do things over anyway.

What is the most important piece of advice you’d like to give to unpublished authors?

Tell the story you want to tell. If you get rejections, and most writers do, don’t let that make you give up or stop believing in yourself. Just keep writing. Few get really good at anything without practice. So keep in mind that everything you write is practice.

Leave a comment, along with your contact information, and you could win a copy of MURDER COMES BY MAIL!

 

Doing a good deed never felt so bad

Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane doesn’t particularly enjoy being touted as the hero of Hidden Springs after pulling a suicidal man

back from the edge of the Eagle River bridge in front of dozens of witnesses—a few of whom caught the breathtaking moments with their cameras. But the media hype doesn’t last long as a new story pushes its way into the public consciousness of Hidden Springs’ concerned citizens.

Photos of a dead girl arrive in the mail, and Michael becomes convinced she was murdered by the man he saved. With a killer one step ahead, things in Hidden Springs begin to unravel. Now Michael must protect the people he loves—because the killer could be targeting one of them next.

 
 

A Day In The Life Of A Writer

People are always asking about my writing schedule. After all, I’m retired from medicine, so I must have lots of time to write. Of course, since my latest book, Medical Judgment, releases about now, one would expect a little time to be spent in getting out the word about it, but there should be lots of time for writing. Right? Read on.

Since we just got back from a trip to the Pacific time zone, my body hasn’t adjusted, so I slept a bit longer this morning, not awakening until after 6:30 AM. Kay and I watched the news and drank our coffee. Then each of us had an English muffin and bacon while we watched a sitcom we’d recorded.

Now to write, right? Not yet. I called our financial advisor who’s decided to take his own advice and retire! I needed to know what steps he’d taken to assure continuity with his clients. It took about twenty minutes, but I hung up satisfied (with the assurance we’d have a sit-down conference in a few weeks).

Now surely it’s time to write. Nope. I located the roofer we’d been talking with, and discussed a new roof for our house (even though the current one is only a few years old). Thanks, recent hailstorm. Welcome to Texas. I’ll meet with the roofer tomorrow, but it took another twenty minutes to set this up.

Then came completing a blog interview which will run in a couple of weeks, scanning through my email, looking at the sites I follow—all of which takes us past mid-morning. Still no writing.

Kay’s working at her son’s home (he’s moving a few blocks closer, and since he’s a single parent she’s helping out). I volunteered to get the few grocery items we needed, but before leaving I wrote a few checks so I could mail them at the post office on my way to get the groceries. Then I picked up Kay and we celebrated Monday with half a barbecue sandwich and some chips for each of us. Productive morning, but no writing.

I won’t bore you with what followed. Let’s just say it was more of the same--lots more. Finally, late in the afternoon, I sat down at the computer to write. I noticed I had a new email, so I opened it. It was from Nancy Mehl, reminding me that I needed to compose this blog post and get it posted. So here it is.

But tomorrow, I promise I’ll work on my novel. In the meantime, keep an eye out for Nancy’s interview with me on this site in a bit over a week, where a random commenter can win a copy of Medical Judgment. 

Tweet with a single click: "A day in the life of a writer can be filled with non-writing activities." Click here to tweet.

A prescription for some hot new inspy suspense...

Someone is after Dr. Sarah Gordon. They’ve stalked her, then set a fire at her home, and she has no idea what will come next. Her late husband’s best friend and a recovering alcoholic detective are trying to solve the mystery before it’s too late, but both appear to be vying for her affection as well. Sarah finds herself in constant fear as the process plays out. The questions keep mounting. Who is doing this? Why are they after her? What will they do to her? Will it mean her death? And, meanwhile, whom can she trust?

http://www.amazon.com/Medical-Judgment-Richard-Mabry-M-D/dp/1630881201/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462885305&sr=8-1&keywords=Medical+judgement

INTERVIEW with Author Jodie Bailey

Jodie Bailey is the author of the CBA bestseller and Selah Award winner Quilted by Christmas from Abingdon Press.  Her second novel, Crossfire, from Love Inspired Suspense won a 2014 RT Reviewers Choice Award and was an RT Book Reviews Top Pick. She is passionate about telling a great romance while sharing with readers how faith in Christ can lead to freedom.  She is a (retired) Army wife, a mom, and a former schoolteacher who loves the Outer Banks of North Carolina and long cruises on the Harley.

I'm so glad you're able to join us. Sort of like a coffee chat (only I don't drink coffee.) You don’t drink coffee?!? What is wrong with you?!?

I've often wondered the same thing! LOL! I haven’t read Compromised Identity yet, though it’s on my to-read list. Is it connected to your earlier book,  Smokescreen?

Smokescreen and Compromised Identity are part of a three-book series about a covert military unit that hunts down terrorists who are using the internet to fuel missions in the real world. The third book, Breach of Trust, comes out in September and, interestingly enough, it was born when readers started asking for the story of Tate Walker, a minor character from the first two books. Apparently, people were interested!

I don't blame them. I love it when we get to hear more of the story about other characters! You’ve gotten some glowing reviews from RT Book Reviewers and Best Reads. In fact, Best Reads added, “She should be reported for cruelty to her characters.” Ha! I had to laugh at that! But I’ve always heard that authors are supposed to chase their characters up a tree and then throw rocks at them. So how do you decide what “rocks” to throw at your characters?

It all depends on what that character’s weaknesses are. I tend to be a character-first writer, who knows the characters before the plot. All of us have something we fear, deep down inside. The trick is to find that fear, that weakness, in a character and then exploit it as much as I can. Come to think of it, that makes me sound like you should never want to have coffee with me.

Hahahaha! I'll be careful! Do your characters ever “favor” someone you’ve actually met?

I never purposely use people I know as characters, but traits do come in. My husband is a soldier, and one of his expressions or mannerisms will pop up every once in a while. Things people have said or done occasionally creep in. When I wrote Quilted by Christmas, it was shortly after my grandmother died and the grandmother in that book, Jemma… Well, the more I wrote, the more pieces of my grandmother showed up in her, and the more I wrote Jemma’s best friend, the more she became like my other grandmother. It was never on purpose, but it just kept happening. I grieved and celebrated through that book.

What a wonderful memory, though. I’ve read that the heroes or heroines of a book have some part of the author within them. Do Jessica and Sean have anything about them that is definitely you?

This is true! If we’re doing it right, there is some part of us that bleeds onto the page. When I was younger, I suffered from panic attacks. I got to be well acquainted with fear until God delivered me from that. Sean is battling fear that he is trying to hide from others, and I drew on my own experiences for some of his. Jessica has some insecurity that digs at her, and she loves to cook, which I love to do when I have the time! She makes bruschetta chicken for Sean in the book, which is something I really enjoy.

That sounds delicious! Since your setting and characters are all military, how did you research? Do your military connections share any stories that you pass on?

My husband retired from the Army after 22 years, and I spent 15 years volunteering with the military, teaching and working as an FRG leader. I got to know a lot of soldiers and their families, and I got to experience all of the things the Army throws at a family. So, so much of those experiences come into play. The military really is a whole other world with its own vocabulary, and those things come out in the stories. And yes, stories I’ve heard and things I’ve seen have made their way into books here and there. For one story, I knew no one who did the job my character did, so I put out plea for help and a friend hooked me up with a friend who called another friend who got me a visit with the one person in a 300-mile radius who did this job. Not only did they give me insight into the job, but they brought in some friends to help me plan the crime that the book centered around. THAT was a lot of fun.

What a blast! Good to have those connections! What does your day look like? Do you have children, pets, hubby at home, an office, or another job? How long do you write, roughly, each day, and then what do you like to do?

My husband, my daughter and I share our home with two dogs, one of whom is quite… vocal. Quite. Vocal. I spend anywhere from four to six hours writing each day, depending on the day and the scene. I spend my mornings first with Jesus, then with my treadmill, and then with my computer. Four afternoons a week, I advise the yearbook staff at my daughter’s school. The staff is made up of some of my former students, and it gets me out of the house to hang out with some amazing kids who challenge me and keep me from getting too deep in my head.

You just gotta love teenagers! Don't you? What else do you love, or should I say, which do you prefer?

• Beach or mountains                           Beach!!!!!
• Coffee, tea, (hot or cold) or soda       Sweet tea, though I try not to drink it often.
• Movie theater or DVD at home         DVD at home. My couch is my friend
• Dogs or cats                                        I love my dogs! But I’ve loved the cats we’ve had too.                                                                           But I think dogs edge out cats.
• Scrapbooking or gardening               I used to be an avid scrapbooker. Then I ran out of time!

Jodie, thanks so much for "swinging by and saying Hi!" I so enjoyed getting to know you and hope that Compromised Identity has an outstanding month! Can't wait to read it! Jodie is giving away a copy of Compromised Identity AND Smokescreen. Enter to win by leaving a comment with your email address!

Here's the short version of Jodie's newest, Compromised Identity.

Staff sergeant Jessica Dylan confronts a female soldier in the act of stealing her laptop—and almost pays with her life. But a blue-eyed mystery man rushes to her aid just in time, and Jessica learns the handsome army staff sergeant has been investigating her. Sean Turner believes a ring of cyberterrorists who’ve been attacking military bases are now specifically targeting Jessica. And he’s determined to figure out why they are tracking her every move. As the threats against Jessica escalate and attempts are made on her life, Sean vows to stop the hackers. Yet the heart-scarred soldier is set on keeping an emotional distance…especially when they discover what the terrorists are really after.

Learn more about Jodie and her books at www.JodieBailey.com 

TALES OF A WRITER IN TRAINING

By E.E. Kennedy

There’s an old suitcase tucked away in a corner of my house that contains about a thousand photos. Any day now, I’ll get around to sorting them out according to era and family and putting them in orderly albums. Meanwhile, they remind me that I’ve been compiling stories all my life; I just didn’t realize it.

One of the pictures is of me in a swimsuit at the beach on Lake Champlain, near my hometown of Plattsburgh, NY. I’m about thirteen and very careful to stay out of the water. Why? Because the last time I was in the Lake, somebody in my church youth group had playfully thrown me in, and I’d inhaled about two quarts of water. I emerged, sputtering and angry and declaring that I hated swimming. I hated it so much that I failed the swimming test at the end of my senior year and was given a diploma that didn’t have a little gold seal on it. I didn’t care.

It’s not much of a surprise, therefore, that my character Amelia (in the Miss Prentice mysteries) has a similar phobia. It’s a kind of running joke about her; she can’t escape it. Even when she participates in summer stock theater, she finds herself unceremoniously shoved into a swimming pool. Someday, I must arrange to give give Amelia swimming lessons, as I had in college, so she can at least learn how to do the “dead man’s float.” (Not a bad mystery title, that!)

Also in college, I learned that being inoculated doesn’t necessarily protect you from contracting whooping cough (medical name: pertussis). It was already an antique disease when I caught it. The nurse at the university medical facility remarked when hearing the diagnosis, “It can’t be that. Nobody gets pertussis anymore!” But it was whooping cough, all right, complete with all the trimmings: intermittent bouts of coughing that seems to drive the air out of your lungs and violent jerking of the muscles around the ribs, not to mention fever and weakness. Not a fun experience, though I did recover completely. At the time, I remember thinking, I know why this is so deadly for babies and small children. You have to stop struggling against the cough, wait until the coughing stops and tell yourself that you’ll breathe eventually. It takes will power. Children don’t know how to do this and they panic, putting added stress on their little bodies.

As I wrote my Christian romance novella, The Applesauce War, I needed to portray a serious disease that could threaten my heroine in the early years of the 20^th Century. I didn’t know much about consumption (tuberculosis) or typhoid, but all of a sudden I remembered, I did know about whooping cough! Verity’s symptoms begin in the middle of a crisis in her family. She’s helping to get in the apple crop, standing on a ladder, when she faints and is caught by the hired man. During her many long days in bed, as her family and sweetheart pray earnestly for her, she also realizes how a disease like this could mean death to an infant, just the way I did. She recovers slowly, as I did, and there’s a happy reconciliation of all differences at the end.

Also in that suitcase is a pair of little rubber figures (see photo), the last vestiges of a large family of small dolls I called my “little babies.” Each set included parents, a baby, a little boy, a teenage girl wearing saddleshoes and even a cocker spaniel. I had several sets of these all-pink rubber people and I adored them. Daily, I would pull out my shoebox full of them and enact stories in the little cubbyholes of my mother’s writing desk. I remember talking in different voices: squeaky for the children and deeper for the father and mother. One mom figure and one dad figure are all I have left. I love these two, largely because in their outdated formal wear and their ballroom dancing pose, they remind me of my parents. Also, because they remind me that I have been writing stories—albeit in my head—from my earliest years.

Experiences, all kinds, even terrible ones, can be treasures for a writer. Think of some of your memories. I’ll bet there’s a great story in at least one of them!

~~

Ellen Kennedy, aka E.E. Kennedy, is the author of the Miss Prentice mysteries about a high school English teacher. The titles include: Irregardless of Murder, Death Dangles a Participle, Murder in the Past Tense and Incomplete Sentence. She is working on the fifth, The Village Idiom. You can read sample chapters from all the books at www.missprenticecozymystery.com
Her inspirational short story, "Walk with a Stranger," is at http://twjmag.com/behind-the-mystery/walk-with-a-stranger
~~
Leave a comment and your email address and you'll be entered to win an e-copy of the newest Miss Prentice mystery, Incomplete Sentence!

 

Hot new inspy suspense for May!

Seaside Secrets Dana Mentink(May 2016) 

Can Navy Chaplain Angela Gallagher and Dr. Dan Blackwell sift through a web of lies to find the truth about the past without losing their lives? 

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  The Valley of Dry Bones: An End Times NovelJerry B. Jenkins(May 2016)

  A clash of cultures, ethnicities, religions, and politics trigger terrorism blamed on a deadly drought that pits friend against friend with the future of the country at stake.
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  Traces of Guilt (An Evie Blackwell Cold Case)Dee Henderson

  (May 2016) 

  
  

  A riveting cold case mystery from Dee Henderson.