Genre: Christian, Historical
Her short story, The Quilting Contest, was Historical Fiction Winner of Family Fiction’s “The Story” national contest. Her novella, The Substitute Bride was a 2016 Maggie Award published finalist for Romance Novellas. Grand Exposé was a 2014 Maggie Award honorable mention for a novel set on Mackinac Island (now entitled My Heart Belongs on Mackinac Island: Maude’s Mooring, Barbour, July 2017). All three of her Christy Lumber Camp books were long list finalists for Family Fiction’s Book of the Year and The Fruitcake Challenge was a Selah Award finalist. Her novel, Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter (White Rose/Pelican, June, 2016) received a Starred Review by RT Book Reviews.
What is your favorite place to write? Do you ever write on the go?
My fave place is on my back deck, looking out on my parklike back yard. I also sometimes write in a back room that we use as an office. I rarely write anything on the go because it requires ALL of my concentration to write. I go deep into character, I write in character, I have music and scents that go with my story world, it is a whole experience while I am writing!
What period of history interests you the most? Does this influence your writing?
I love both colonial and turn of the century the most. So much was happening during these time periods. I think both were so full of CHANGE and excitement.
What was the hardest part of writing “Dime Novel Suitor” in Seven Brides for Seven Mail-Order?
What was the easiest?
Not being from Kansas, not having any connections to the place, not having any context to it was hard. I prefer to have a connection (like living in Virginia/Michigan and having ancestors from here and there). The easiest part was writing about the soldiers coming through. I loved doing that and I had a real sense of them.
Do you ever have a specific music playlist for when you are writing? If so, what are some songs you had on your playlist for “Dime Novel Suitor” in Seven Brides for Seven Mail-Order? If not, do you like complete silence when you are writing? Or do you like nature noises in the background, etc?
I always have music from the time frame playing in the background when I am writing! I learned this from Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck during one of the ACFW conferences. It is super important to get yourself into the mood. For this story, I had Civil War Era music playing. In particular, I love Timothy Seaman’s recordings. He’s from Williamsburg, Virginia, and I’ve heard him play many years ago on his dulcimer. I alternate between his music, YouTube from the era, and also Danny Gokey almost always has a contemporary song that fits my heroine’s or hero’s journey. For this one it was – Tell Your Heart to Beat Again.
Question: When you look at your own family’s genealogy do you see lots of siblings or just a few?
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May 30–Puddletown Reviews | Wishful Endings | Bookworm Lisa
May 31–Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen | Mel’s Shelves | Blossoms and Blessings
June 1–Singing Librarian Books | Heidi Reads… | Cordially Barbara
June 2–Cafinated Reads | Smiling Book Reviews | A Baker’s Perspective
June 3–aTransParentMom | Paulette’s Papers
I enjoyed getting to know a little about Carrie. Thank you Molly for sharing.
Aw thanks for coming and seeing us today! ❤
Hi MARY! Great to see you here, my friend! Just boxed up a copy of this book to send out to you! Blessings!
Oh, how lovely, the singing librarian book tour name is great!
Is it a romance? I’m into those right now… 🙂
Wish I could delete the above comment and start again… of course it’s a romance. Oops! lol Think I should go back to bed… maybe I’ll wake up with a brain that works next time… haha!
Hi Sassy! (Cute nickname!) yes these are all inspirational romances set in the same small Kansas town right after the Civil War! With husbands to spare once they placed their ads!
Thanks for hosting me on the Blog Hop, Molly! Blessings!
My grandma had nine children (7 girls & 2 boys) so yes, I had cousins growing up to play with 🙂 We have a very large extended family tree and I know I haven’t met them all. I have a great aunt (or maybe g-great) who does the genealogy for our family, and from the pictures I’ve seen, the families all had several children. We span quite a few generations 🙂
I love how an author “gets in the zone” when writing. Scent, touch, hearing, etc….it’s essential when reading a book to experience it all so it would make sense for the author to as well. Makes it more realistic! You sound like me Carrie, when I’m reading I have to have quiet! Otherwise I get too distracted with lots of things going on around me. What a fun author interview! Thanks for sharing a bit more Carrie!
Cafinated Reads, thanks for participating in the blog hop (and giveaway). I’ve had a lot of fun discovering new-to-me blogs.
That is fun, TRIXI! Cousins are so much fun. I feel badly for my kids now that they lost one of their two first cousins. I really do “need” to be surrounded by the senses associated with what I am writing, if possible. That’s one reason I’m looking forward to being up in Mackinac City for a whole month and spending a lot of time on Mackinac Island because I have another book, a novella “His Anchor” that will release in the First Loves collection in 2018.
I loved this author interview! A lot of times, which is pretty much all the time I’m reading a book of yours, when you mention a song…I will go to YouTube and look it up and listen! It helps me get into the storyline and to know more about the times the story is written in. I used to be able to multitask with the best of them, I could read and focus on other things around me. Not anymore! I need absolute quiet and no distractions now. It must be the aging process. Hehe
Looking forward to reading this book. Great interview! Thanks for a chance to win.
Hi SUSAN! I hope you’ll enjoy this collection! Blessings!
This novella collection looks so fun! I love the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the mail-order bride trope is one of my favorites, so I think this is a book I’ll really enjoy! Thanks for the giveaways!!!
This is a really different twist, HEIDI, and I hope you’ll enjoy the stories including Caroline and Barden’s !
This sounds like a fun read! 😀