Great Summer Reads: Love on a Limb by Laurie Lewis

Laurie (L.C.) Lewis will always be a Marylander at heart—a weather-whining lover of crabs, American history, and the sea. She admits to being craft-challenged, particularly lethal with a glue gun, and a devotee of sappy movies. Her ninth published novel, her first romance novella, Sweet Water, was inspired by a visit to Oregon’s magnificent coastline, and time spent with Mother Eugenie, upon whom the character Mother Thomasine is based. 

Laurie’s women’s fiction novels include The Dragons of Alsace Farm (2016), Awakening Avery (2010), and Unspoken (2004), written as Laurie Lewis. 

Using the pen name L.C. Lewis, she wrote the five volumes of her award-winning FREE MEN and DREAMERS historical fiction series, set against the backdrop of the War of 1812: Dark Sky at Dawn (2007), Twilight’s Last Gleaming (2008), Dawn’s Early Light (2009), Oh, Say Can You See? (2010), and In God is Our Trust, (2011).

She is currently completing a political suspense novel planned for a summer 2017 release, a re -release of a romantic comedy, and she’s working on another historical fiction novel for a 2018 release. She loves to hear from readers.

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Matthew Grayken is young, successful, and dying, which is why he’s about to propose to a total stranger. He isn’t interested in love. He needs a caregiver, a companion, and someone to be his legal voice when he can no longer speak for himself.

Lonely, compassionate nurse Mikaela Compton is intrigued by Matt Grayken’s tender request, but when their friendly marriage turns into love, she rejects the inevitability of Matt’s death and prays for a miracle instead.

Mikaela succeeds in reigniting Matt’s will to fight, but his body is losing the battle, and her determination to save him causes her to betray the fundamental promise she made him--to help him die peaceably.

Their last hope at saving Matt's life will require a sacrifice from each of them, and force them to decide how far out on a limb they're willing to go for love.

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Author Interview:

         

1)     What is your favorite book that is not yours?     
             

a)      From  Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon. It's a
difficult, brilliant book.

2)     Do you write in multiple genres? Which genre is your favorite to
write? 

a)     Yes. I love the challenge of writing emotional but clean romance but I
do love the research of historical fiction.

3)     How young were you when you started writing?

a)     I can't remember a time when I didn't write. When I was a kid, I wrote
episodes of my favorite TV shows, casting me playing opposite my favorite teen
idols like Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy. 

4)     If you could meet any author, past or present, who would it be and
why?   

a)     I'd love to sit down with Nicholas Sparks. Anyone with that many bestsellers
would make a great mentor.

5)     How long does it take you to write a book, and what was your fastest
book to write?

a)      I'm slow. I usually plan for two
novels a year, but historical fiction novels take a full year at least because
of the research. I've been working on a WWII novel for over a year because the
research requires live interviews with the main character--an 88-year-old
French WWII survivor who survived the Nazi invasion of her small town.

6)     What is your favorite thing to do in the summertime?

a)     I love the ocean, so heading to the beach with family is my very
favorite thing to do in the summer. I love everything about the water--the
sound of the waves, the smell of the sea, it's movement and the way its color
changes with the sky. Ahhhhhh. . . .

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Great Summer Reads: Love at Lakewood Med by TJ Amberson

TJ Amberson hails from the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her husband and nutty cocker spaniel. Her most recent novels include The Kingdom of Nereth, The Council of Nereth, Fusion, and Love at Lakewood Med. When she's not writing, TJ can probably be found enjoying a hot chocolate, pretending to know how to garden, riding her bike, playing the piano, or surfing the Internet for cheap plane tickets.

  

With a love of writing in multiple genres, TJ Amberson strives to provide well-written, age-appropriate, and original novels for tweens, teens, and new adults.

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Savannah Drake would be thrilled about starting her final year of medical school if it weren't for one thing: she has to spend a month working in the emergency room with cold, aloof Dr. Wesley Kent as her mentor. 

When her first day in the ER proves to be a humiliating disaster, Savannah is ready to swear off emergency medicine forever. Gradually, though, she finds that the unpredictable, emotional experience of caring for patients in the emergency room is affecting her far differently than she expected--and Dr. Kent turns out to be anything but the arrogant attending physician that she assumed him to be. 

But just when Savannah finally admits to herself that she is falling for Dr. Kent, she learns that things at the hospital are not all what they seem. 

Faced with a seemingly impossible choice, Savannah must decide between her future career and everything that she has come to care so much about.

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Author Interview:

1.      What is your favorite book that is not yours?

Les Miserables

2.      Do you write in multiple genres? Which genre is your favorite to write?

Yes, I write books of several genres. Exploring different voices and styles is one of my favorite parts of writing. So far, I have published a young adult historical fantasy (THE KINGDOM OF NERETH), a young adult contemporary lite sci-fi (FUSION), and a clean medical romantic comedy for adults (LOVE AT LAKEWOOD MED). I am currently finishing a young adult paranormal romance (BETWEEN), writing the sequel to the historical fantasy (THE COUNCIL OF NERETH), and starting another rom-com. I wrote a little more about the pros and cons of being a multi-genre author on my blog: http://tjamberson.com/index.php/2018/04/07/take-the-risk/

My favorite genre to write: I don't have a favorite - I love them all!

3.      How young were you when you started writing?

Early elementary school

4.      If you could meet any author, past or present, who would it be and why?

L.M. Montgomery - I grew up reading her novels

5.      How long does it take you to write a book, and what was your fastest book to write?

 Varies widely! A few months to a couple of years. My fastest book so far is in progress right now (a romantic comedy)!

6.      What is your favorite thing to do in the summertime?

A long walk on a sunny day

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Great Summer Reads: The Gentleman Physician by Sally Britton

"Sally Britton is sixth generation Texan, received her BA in English from Brigham Young University, and reads voraciously. She started her writing journey at the tender age of fourteen on an electric typewriter, and she’s never looked back.

Sally lives in Arizona with her husband, four children, and their dog. She loves researching, hiking, and eating too much chocolate."

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“I didn’t really understand what love was. 

I didn’t know what it meant, that I should’ve fought harder for it.”

Banished from home by her angry father, Julia Devon travels to Bath to fulfill her role as family spinster by assisting her cousin, Lady Macon, in caring for her dying husband.

Nathaniel Hastings’s life runs in a predictable pattern, until a routine visit to one of his ailing patients brings him face to face with Julia, the woman who broke his heart five years before in London.

Julia and Nathaniel find themselves unlikely allies as they work together to tend to the family’s needs, fend off Lady Macon’s scheming brother-in-law, and avoid confronting the pain of their shared past. But could this accidental meeting be their second chance at love?"

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Author Interview:

1.      What is your favorite book that is not yours?

My FAVORITE book is probably The Princess Bride by William Goldman 

2.      Do you write in multiple genres? Which genre is your favorite to write?

At the moment, I'm only writing regency novels, but I plan to put out a Western Romance series and possibly a heist trilogy. They're all fun to write, but any story I dream up always has a huge element of romance involved. So romance is my favorite. 

3.      How young were you when you started writing?

The first story I remember writing, I was about fourteen years old. But I was making up stories and telling them to my sisters at bedtime long before then. 

4.      If you could meet any author, past or present, who would it be and why?

I would love to meet L. M. Montgomery. She wrote the Anne of Green Gables series, and The Blue Castle. Those books were such a huge part of my childhood and my desire to be a writer. I felt like Anne most of the time, too. I used big words, I was smart but smart wasn't always good. I'd just love to chat with her about how much her books meant to me and find out more about her. 

5.      How long does it take you to write a book, and what was your fastest book to write?

I can write a 60,000 word novel in a month. I'm more comfortable with a 6-8 week timeline, though. The fastest book I ever wrote is actually out in the world, His Bluestocking Bride. I wrote it in a month, but it took me a few weeks to clean it up after that rush job. And I put it off for almost a year. 

6.      What is your favorite thing to do in the summertime?

My FAVORITE thing to do in the summer is lay around and be lazy! Isn't that awful? But the year is always so busy and full. I like slowing life down, relaxing, making lots of trips to the library and the pool. 

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Great Summer Reads: All the Way to Italy by Flavia Brunetti

Born just outside of Rome, Flavia Brunetti grew up bouncing back and forth between Italy and California, eventually moving back to the Eternal City and confirming her lifelong commitment to real gelato. 

Flavia holds a Master of Arts degree in Government and Politics from St. John's University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from John Cabot University.
Today she travels the world working for an international humanitarian organization and spends her free time writing and wandering around her beloved Roma in constant search of bookstores and the perfect espresso. 


You can find her city blog on Rome at whichwaytorome.com and her portfolio of published writing at flaviinrome.com.

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Until her dad died, Little considered herself a Californian. Now, thanks to half a letter, a symbol she can't quite remember, and writer's block, she finds herself back in Italy, the country of her birth. In a headlong rush to return to her beloved San Francisco, Little will travel throughout Italy, enlisting the help of the aunt who raised her, friends old and new, and the country itself, in her search for the answers she needs.

This is the powerful story of those in search of a balance between wanderlust and the necessity to come home, a reminder that although we may be fragments, we are never a lost cause.

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Author Interview:

What is your favorite book
that is not yours? This is a really tough one to answer, but if I
absolutely have to pick one, I’ll have to go with American Gods by Neil Gaiman,
if only because of how very much it changed how I thought a book could be
written.

Do you write in multiple
genres? Which genre is your favorite to write? I guess I could say I write in
multiple genres, in that I write however I feel at the time, and that doesn’t
always fall into the same category (I’d even say All the Way to Italy isn’t
easily categorized into just one genre, but I think that’s true of most
books!). I think my favorite form of writing at the moment is flash fiction,
those short snapshot moments – if that doesn’t count as a genre, can we make it
one?!

How young were you when you
started writing? This may sound like a cliché answer, but as far back
as I can remember, I wrote things down. My aunt even has a short poem I wrote
as a little girl where I lobbied for more substantial dessert. Sweets and
writing: two of the greatest loves of my life!

If you could meet any author,
past or present, who would it be and why? Pat Conroy. I find him to be
such a gargantuan talent, a writer of books I absolutely gobbled up and
continue re-reading throughout the different periods of my life. His writing
moves me so deeply that I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve cried at the sheer
beauty of a line, or a paragraph, a sentiment expressed. He was a brave writer,
unafraid of standing up for what he believed in also through his pen, and was
also a fascinating man because of how much he used his family, over and over,
in all of his books, as though writing were his way of externalizing what he
was trying to understand inside. A great friend of mine once described his
book, The Prince of Tides, as “jewels in your mouth,” and I never forgot that apt
description. He also wrote my favorite line in the entire world: “My wound is
geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call.”

How long does it take you to
write a book, and what was your fastest book to write? All the Way to Italy is actually my very first
book! It took me more than three years of actual writing and re-writing and
editing and then more re-writing, but the concept had been playing in my head
for years before that.

What is your favorite thing to
do in the summertime? What a wonderful question! Sit by the sea with a good
book, good friends, and good food.

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Great Summer Reads: The Dragons of Alsace Farm by Laurie Lewis

Laurie (L.C.) Lewis will always be a Marylander at heart—a weather-whining lover of crabs, American history, and the sea. She admits to being craft-challenged, particularly lethal with a glue gun, and a devotee of sappy movies. Her ninth published novel, her first romance novella, Sweet Water, was inspired by a visit to Oregon’s magnificent coastline, and time spent with Mother Eugenie, upon whom the character Mother Thomasine is based. 

Laurie’s women’s fiction novels include The Dragons of Alsace Farm (2016), Awakening Avery (2010), and Unspoken (2004), written as Laurie Lewis. 

Using the pen name L.C. Lewis, she wrote the five volumes of her award-winning FREE MEN and DREAMERS historical fiction series, set against the backdrop of the War of 1812: Dark Sky at Dawn (2007), Twilight’s Last Gleaming (2008), Dawn’s Early Light (2009), Oh, Say Can You See? (2010), and In God is Our Trust, (2011).

She is currently completing a political suspense novel planned for a summer 2017 release, a re -release of a romantic comedy, and she’s working on another historical fiction novel for a 2018 release. She loves to hear from readers.

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Fears and secrets are the dragons we each must face. . . 

In need of his own redemption, Noah Carter finally confronts his childhood hero, the once-beloved uncle who betrayed him. Instead of vengeance, he offers forgiveness, also granting Uncle John a most curious request—for Noah to work on the ramshackle farm of Agnes Deveraux Keller, a French WWII survivor with dementia.

Despite all Agnes has lost, she still has much to teach Noah. But the pair’s unique friendship is threatened when Tayte, Agnes’s estranged granddaughter, arrives to claim a woman whose circumstances and abilities are far different from those of the grandmother she once knew.

Items hidden in Agnes’s attic raise painful questions about Tayte’s dead parents, steeling Tayte’s determination to save Agnes, even if it requires her to betray the very woman she came to save, and the secret her proud grandmother has guarded for seventy years.

The issue strains the fragile trust between Tayte and Noah, who now realizes Tayte is fighting her own secrets, her own dragons. Weighed down by past guilt and failures, he feels ill-equipped to help either woman, until he remembers Agnes’s lessons about courage and love. In order to save Agnes, the student must now become the teacher, helping Tayte heal—for Agnes’s sake, and for his. 

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Author Interview:

1.     What is the thing you struggle with the most while writing? And how do you defeat it?

a.     Self-doubt is my biggest nemesis. The little voices tell me there are more critical things to do than write. And there clearly are, but then I  tell myself that the books authors write help others to push their own hard things back for a while, and then I feel good about hitting the keyboard again.

2.     What kind of music do you listen to while you write?

a.     I’m inclined to listen to soft music—Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Alex and Sierra, and David Archuletta.

3.     What is your favorite part of writing? O

a.     h wow, there are so many delightful things. Creating interesting characters is fun. Sometimes I just laugh my head off at their idiosyncrasies, and sometimes they become part of you. I love seeing complex threads come together seamlessly. That’s when you know your story is tight and comes full circle. Typing THE END feels great because you met your goal. And the best part is hearing back from readers when they tell you your book touched them in some way. That’s immeasurably wonderful!

4.     Which of your personality traits did you write into you characters? (Deliberately or accidentally)

a.     All my characters have some part of me in them. It’s how I can relate to them and help them grow. Tayte from “The Dragons of Alsace Farm,” is very much me. She wants to do what’s right, but she has a tendency to be a steamroller. I think I do a pretty good job of reigning that trait in, but it’s there.

5.     Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

a.     There are a few. First and foremost, I hope “Dragons” inspires readers to have the hard conversations with their aging loved ones early. There is so much guilt in managing an aging loved one’s life, and it triples when that loved one has dementia. Knowing their wishes and working out a plan before it hits, relieves so much of that guilt. Secondly, I hope readers feel the power of redemption in the book, that we all need to  be, and can be redeemed from even our biggest mistakes.

6.     Do you have any advice for other writers?

a.     Get started. Get a notebook to jot down things that inspire you—character treats of people you meet, places that wow you, fun words and names, story ideas, etc. Make a character bible for each of your characters. Know them and what they like look so well that you can see and hear them as you write. Outline your story. It’s awful, and the creative part of our brain hates doing it, but it will make your story stronger, and you’ll write more quickly with better continuity.

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