Hi all! Today, I'm pleased to introduce you to a new-to-me author. The joy of working with several different publishing groups, is I get to meet and know several different authors, too. Today, I'm chatting with a fellow Anaiah Press author, Sara Beth Williams. Read on because she's pretty fun! Sara Beth, welcome to my blog. I love getting to know other authors on here. To start, can you tell us what inspired you to start writing? I’ve been writing since junior high. I’ve written poetry ,and copy cat stories, kids' stories, and YA stories. Then later, as I matured, and began reading Christian Romance, specifically Hallee Bridgeman’s Jewel series, I fell in love with the genre and thought to myself – I can absolutely write this. Nice! What are some ways that your stories stand out from other romances (yes, I know this is a hard question--especially since I write romance, too)? I love to write characters who are authentic and deep and messy. My characters deal with a lot of family drama. I also stray from writing about rich characters. My third book releasing in March, 2021, also delves into a little bit of mental illness. Those characters sound like the kind I like to read about. With two kiddos at home, something I always find I'm having to work towards is making sure I have a balance between focusing on work and focusing on family. Have you found any tips that you could share for how to keep the balance? How do you find time to write? It is hard! I am right there with you, with two young girls of my own. I do my best writing at night. I tried to do it early in the mornings, but find I’m either too tired, too distracted, or it simply doesn’t work in my schedule. But I write down my ideas anytime of the day in a notebook. Then I make time to sit and (try to) write and plan for at least an hour or two a night. It’s also extremely important to take time to be with your spouse and family. Every Friday night we do a family movie night. Unless I am on a deadline or have other work responsibilities, I try to spend at least one weekend night completely with my husband, just hanging out together to read, or watch TV or whatever. That sounds like a great plan! Both of your first books are set around college-aged characters. What led you to choose that age-group to write about? Would you ever consider branching into another? To answer the second question, yes! I have thought about writing stories for the Young Adult genre, and I have thought about writing stories with older characters (30s? 40s?) To answer the first question – the beginnings of When Hearts Collide began as a YA, but the more I wrote and finalized the story, the older the characters felt. I knew there needed to be a longer passage of time s well. (that won’t make sense unless you read When Hearts Collide lol) I also wove in a lot of personal college experiences (vaguely) and so because I’d recently finished college, it was easy to recall such experiences and interweave them into the storyline. What do you have coming up book-wise? What projects are you working on now? My 3rd book, Anchor My Heart, comes out in March 2021. This is the conclusion (for now) to my contemporary romance series and I love this story so much, I cannot wait for you all to share in Matt and Tara’s journey. You can follow me on Bookbub and Goodreads to make sure you don’t miss out on any book release updates. https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sara-beth-williams https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18403465.Sara_Beth_Williams And one final question which I ask all my authors. Can you tell us something not many people know about you? I love to create and apparently have a knack for visual and kinemetric learning, which comes in extremely handy while balloon twisting! I learned how to balloon twist when I was 18 and fell in love with it. I’m a sucker for anything I can do that brings joy and excitement to kids and adults too! Well, that's just cool! Thanks so much for stopping by and chatting with us today, Sara Beth. Want to know more about Sara Beth and her books? Keep reading! Sara Beth Williams is a wife, mother of two daughters, and temporary caretaker of a lovable old lady pit and a spunky Pomeranian-Shih Tzu mix. She lives in Northern California. When she's not held hostage by the keyboard, she enjoys music, teaching, reading and spending time with her family. She is all about connecting with readers! Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Bookbub and AllAuthor. Second Chance Novels: #! When Hearts Collide #2 A Worthy Heart #3 Anchor My Heart: COMING SPRING 2021 Where to find Sara Beth Williams Amazon / Goodreads / Bookbub Facebook / Instagram / Twitter Website / Newslette A Worthy Heart by Sara Beth Williams A Second Chance Novel #2 A 2020 SELAH AWARD FINALIST Joel Bennett has always known Serena Hayes as his sister's gregarious best friend. In the three years since Lacey began college, Serena became a regular houseguest, but lately, she's absent more than not. When Joel discovers she's in an abusive relationship, protectiveness from within roars to life. With only a part-time job to support her and nowhere to go, Serena fears leaving her current relationship would jeopardize her chances of graduating college. After a brutal attack leaves her no choice, she courageously moves out. On her journey toward regaining confidence, self-worth, and independence, Joel falls in beside her, encouraging her. The way he emulates Godly love and compassion draws her close--not just to him, but to the God who can satisfy her longing for love better than any man, Attraction sizzles between them, but events from their pasts cast shadows of doubt. When the unthinkable happens, can Serena open her heart to a second chance at love, or is she destined to be alone? Excerpt from A Worthy Heart: Chapter 1 “Serena!” She lifted her gaze at the sound of her name and scanned the lines of halted and slow-moving cars for the source of the voice. Doesn’t sound like Chris. She needed to find her phone. By now’ he might already be at the birthday party, wondering why she hadn’t arrived. Then she identified the source of the voice. Tall and lean, clad in black slacks and a collared shirt, jogging along the bike lane past the stalled traffic was Joel Bennett. Her best friend’s brother. The same best friend whose birthday party was happening right now. What’s he doing here? Why isn’t he already at the restaurant with Lacey? Panting, he stopped in front of her. “Serena, are you okay? Are you hurt?” She sniffled and swallowed the emotion clogging her throat. He was the last person she wanted to see her cry. “I’m fine. My car…not so much.” Without warning, she found herself wrapped in his arms. For a brief moment, she allowed her eyelids to sink closed and laid her forehead against his chest. Then she thought better of it and quickly stepped out of his embrace. What am I doing? I have a boyfriend. Who would flip out if he saw me hugging another guy! “You sure you’re all right?” Buy on Amazon Add to Goodreads FREE on Kindle Unlimited
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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.
Categories
All
Authors I Love to Read (in no particular order)
Archives
April 2024
|