Sometimes people ask me if there's any of my life woven into my stories, any reality. Of course there is. It would be rather impossible to write something and not have a little bit of personal experience come through. So much of my life has shaped me and the way I think, and that comes out in everything I do, including my writing.
Naturally, I include other little things on purpose too. For instance, in my latest story, For Better or For Granted, I included our wedding vows. No, we didn't write our own vows. I guess we could've, but neither of us had any desire to do that. Instead, I remembered some vows my Dad had used with another couple a few years before we married. And I remembered loving them. So, I asked him if he could dig them out for us to see if we wanted to use them. And I still loved them.

If you guys have followed me for long at all, you know I write romance. No suspense. No mystery. Just straight-up romance. Which means no bad guys, usually.
That being said, for some reason, "bad guys" keep creeping into my writing lately. Last year, when I was writing my fairy tale retelling, of course I had to have a villain. ;) And it was really fun having someone to blame a lot of the heroine's problems on.
But my latest book, For Better or For Granted, is not a fairy tale. It's about as opposite as you can think of because it's about a happily ever after that's falling apart. So, why would it need someone to make it worse?

Would you read a book about birding? Well, if the answer is yes, I have a guest author today who has just the thing. If the answer is no, read on anyway. You might be more interested than you think. ;)
Welcome, guest author, Jen Dodrill, as she chats about her new book, Birds Alive.

Erma Bombeck once said, “It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.” And that’s what writing is all about—being courageous."
I still remember the first contest I entered – over fifteen years ago! I was crushed when I received my scores. No one knew I entered, and I didn’t want to tell them how badly I did. I am proud of myself for being courageous back then.
Writing a book and then sending it to an agent or publisher is sort of like having a baby and leaving it with someone you don’t know. It's intimidating and nerve-wracking, and you question every decision you’ve ever made.

School nurse by day. Lonely by night.
Genevieve Stewart loves her job and the high school where she passes out bandages, sends home sick kids, and updates shot records. It was her dream job. And it got even better when Scott started paying attention to her five years before.
Having him drop by her office to bring her coffee, chat for a minute, even steal a kiss--it was ideal. How many other women were blessed to see their love during working hours? Needless to say, she figured life after marriage would be even better. But it isn't.

I met Ellen Withers several years ago, though not in person. That happened November before last. Then, I was blessed to be one of her content editors. And I've been able to see her again since then. And y'all, she's so fun. She's a sister Scrivenings Press author and now a dear friend. I'm thrilled to have her for my author interview this month because I know you're going to love her too. Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for information about her new book!

Ellen, most of your stories are done in split-time, where part is set in present day and part in the past. Which is harder for you to write? Why?
 
It’s harder to write the historical portions. You have to do a lot of research. Clothing, shoes, transportation, and speech/dialogue are all different from current times. Sometimes I have to research whether a word I want to use even existed at the time. I enjoy the historical work because we can learn so much from history. Some of the trials and tribulations in history still apply to our problems and feelings today.

​As you've done research for your stories, what's something fun you've discovered that you never expected to learn?
 
Two things uncovered in research were unexpected. The Union Army occupied Mexico, Missouri for the entire duration of the Civil War because the railroad lines that ran through town were critical to hold the entire upper half of the state of Missouri for their cause. Because Missouri was a border state, almost divided equally between Southern sympathizers and Union loyalists, nearly half of the state resented the Union presence. Ulysses Grant was in town for about 6 weeks in 1861 as a Colonel. When he arrived, he put a stop to the Union soldiers stealing from local farmers and making citizens declare their loyalty to the union at gunpoint. The locals, leaning both Union and Southern, adored him because of instituting those two changes.
 
In a historical part of Show Me Deceit, a main character goes on an errand to the root cellar and gets frightened by a snake skin (not a live snake). In my research, I discovered live snakes were often found  in root cellars in the summer. In the winter and spring, they would find snake skin that would scare them into thinking the snakes were still there. I wanted that scare to happen to my main character. It showed her character and enriched the story. I think we forget how lucky we are to live in a time with modern conveniences.