We're nearing the end of my big Book Lover's giveaway...but we're not there yet! We still have a few more amazing books to add to your box, and I am in the mood to curl up with any one of these and get lost for a few hours! (Anyone else ready to escape the daily grind?)
Today, I am excited to introduce you to my friend, Katie Ganshert. Katie and I met at this year's ACFW Conference, and we were both debut authors this year, so we had a lot to talk about. PLUS, I found out Katie lives not all that far away from me, which made me even happier. So, I'm thrilled to share a little about her book and her process with you:
Courtney: Where'd you get the idea for your book?
Katie: Sleep deprivation. When I wrote Wildflowers from Winter, my son was a wee little infant and in the throes of nursing. I remember being up with him in the middle of the night and the voice of this twelve year old girl came into my head. I couldn't get it out so I wrote the prologue. Being a writer is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia, you know. ;-) Anyway, at the same time, I was thinking a lot about my best friend growing up and how we'd lost touch, but even so, I still felt so connected to her because of all the memories we share. I decided I wanted to write a story that explored the bonds of friendship. So I took this orphaned prologue and this idea about friendship, squished them together, threw in a handsome farmer, and voila! I had my novel.
Courtney: Do you have any "rituals" you do when you write?
Katie: Check Facebook a million times. Check email a million times. Check Twitter a million times. Get coffee. Get a snack. Check Facebook and email and Twitter again. Then start writing. Can you tell the blank page intimidates me?? I think if I could figure out how to cut through all the procrastination, I could write twelve books in a year.
Courtney: Favorite writing snack and/or beverage?
It used to be Diet Coke, but I've nixed that from my diet and now go with coffee. I never used to like it, but then I discovered all those delicious flavored creamers like salted caramel mocha and pumpkin spice latte and now I have to keep myself away from the coffee maker. AS far as snack, I'm a big fan of frozen chocolate chips and goldfish crackers.
Did she just say "salted caramel mocha?" Yum.
Courtney: How would you describe your writing style/books?
Katie: Oh, I'm the worst at trying to describe myself in any shape or form. So how about I cheat and take other people's words? A lot of my endorsers have called my writing style lyrical, which sounds all musical and pretty. Some people say I write women's fiction. Some people say I write romance. There are definitely strong components of both. I like writing stories with a meaty emotional journey for the main character, which is very reminiscent of women's fiction, but I also love the giddiness that comes with a good romance. So I include both!
Courtney: Something people don't know about life as a writer?
Katie: Hmmm.....I'm stumped. Maybe that it's 95% waiting and rewriting. 5% creation. And that 5% is being generous!
You can find out more about Katie on her BLOG or at her WEBSITE.
And yes, Wildflowers in Winter will be part of the Big Book Lover's Giveaway, so this is where you want to leave a comment to get yourself entered to win all of the books featured this week! That's a lot of books (and we're not even finished yet!)
For more chances to win, simply do a good deed a spread the word to your friends. Blog, Tweet, Facebook or Pin this giveaway and then come back and leave another comment for each one you do. Four more chances to win!
What've you got to lose? It's Christmas...you might as well get a present for yourself, right? :)
Also, remember A Sweethaven Christmas is only $2.99 for your Kindle, Nook or iPad for a limited time. I hope you'll pick up a copy today!
