Today, I'm interviewing a sweet author I had the pleasure of meeting back in June at the writers' retreat I attended. Her name is Candace West Posey, and her first book has just released. She's an Arkansas girl with a heart for God and stories, so read on to learn more. Candace, congrats on the release of your first novel. When did you first decide you might like to be an author? Thank you so much for having me, Amy! I’ve always loved to read. L.M. Montgomery and Janette Oke were my earliest influences. When I was twelve, I wrote my first short story “Following Prairie River.” I knew then I wanted to write stories. Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind your novel? Where did the original idea come from? My grandpa and granny were the first storytellers in my family, and they told me so much about their family history in the Ozarks. Lane Steen wandered into the valley of my imagination with a purple bruise across her cheek. What happened to her? Over the next year, I followed her through the fictional town of Valley Creek and wrote her story. The stories my grandparents told me had a huge impact on the story, especially my great-grandmother’s history. She had a physically and verbally abusive step-mother and a father who abandoned her when she was around twelve. Her strength to overcome inspired me. You talk about the influence of your grandparents, but what about your parents? We're both preacher's kids, and I know that's played a huge influence on my story ideas and the way I look at life. Do you find the same is true for you? How did that background shape your creativity? Absolutely! Being a preacher’s daughter enabled me to know people from many different walks of life. Every life is a story, and I’ve seen the Lord’s hand in so many people’s stories throughout my life. Also, my parents still teach me so much, and their gentle influence flows through characters like the preacher, Edith, Lorena, and Mr. Wallace. Nice. You started out writing poems and short stories and plays. Was it easy to transition from that to writing a full-length novel? The transition really wasn’t that hard for me. I had doubts and a lot of dry spells, but I was excited to try this new adventure of writing a book! I wanted to see if I could really do it. Do you still write any of the shorter prose? Is the shorter or longer easier in your opinion? I haven’t written a short story in a while, but the reason is that I rarely have the time. It’s hard to say which is easier—shorter or longer prose. Both challenge me in different ways. If I had to choose, I’d say longer is harder. One final question that I ask all my authors: Can you share something with us about you that very few people know? Sure! When I was fourteen, I started working at a flying service—crop dusters. I worked there through high school and college, until I was twenty-eight. It was one of the best experiences of my life! Whoa! I love watching crop dusters. The crazy patterns they fly always fascinates and terrifies me. Thanks for sharing! If you'd like to know more about Candace and her new book, Lane Steen, keep reading. How can Lane let go of the past when she is forced to confront it? Kidnapped by her father at two years old, Lane Steen never imagines she is living a lie until a new schoolteacher, Edith Wallace, comes to Valley Creek. Yet Edith is more than a schoolteacher. She is part of the past—a past hidden in a mysterious dream that has haunted Lane since childhood. At sixteen, Lane yearns to escape from her embittered father’s hatred that engulfs her home. The schoolhouse is Lane’s only escape. Carefully, Edith works to earn Lane’s friendship, but love and trust doesn’t come easy for a heart plagued by hate. But then the truth shatters Lane’s world. The truth sends Lane on a turbulent search into the past. Leaving Valley Creek behind, Lane reunites with a family she cannot remember—a family that surpasses her wildest dreams. Despite her newfound joy, her hatred for her father only deepens. Although she desires to experience the faith of her family, Lane can’t cast away one thing she holds closely: the hatred that helped her survive. Digging into her father’s unbelievable past, she confronts the story behind her father’s ruin. Will she always be bound by hate? Yet something even stronger binds her. Something stronger than her family, something stronger than her will. She is bound to Valley Creek, the place of her stormy childhood, the place of the man she loves, but more importantly, the place of God’s calling. Ironically, she finds love, purpose, grace, and forgiveness in a place she’d sought all her life to escape. Interested? Click here to purchase. Candace West was born in the Mississippi delta to a young minister and his wife. She grew up in small-town Arkansas and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Monticello. When she was twelve years old, she wrote her first story, “Following Prairie River.” Since then, she has dreamed of writing Christian fiction. Over the years, she has published short stories as well as poems in various magazines. Since her teenage years, she has written many church plays. In 2018, she published her first novel Lane Steen. By weaving entertaining, page-turning stories, Candace hopes to share the Gospel and encourage her readers. She currently lives in her beloved Arkansas with her husband Aaron and their son Matthew along with two dogs and three cats.
Connect with Candace at: www.facebook.com/inspirationalnovel www.candaceweststoryteller.com www.twitter.com/candacewest111 www.instagram.com/candace.west.posey.10
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This is a place for me to tell you about what I'm writing, talk about the process or where some of my ideas came from, or even have other authors come in and talk about their books.
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