Every now and then, you "meet" someone online and then have the blessing of getting to meet her in person, too. Kathy Cretsinger and I "met" through a Christian Writers' email group almost eighteen years ago. And back in 2018, we got to meet in person at KenTen Writers' Retreat. She's a blessing to many, and has helped quite a few authors see their dreams come true. I hope you enjoy getting to know her a bit more, too. Keep reading.


Kathy, I know macular degeneration has taken a lot of your eyesight over the last few years. What keeps you from getting discouraged and giving up on writing?
 
KC: Oh, I do get discouraged, but I have friends who have the same condition, and we talk. My father had Dry Macular Degeneration also, and I am encouraged that he didn’t stop. If I stopped doing any of the things I like to do, I’d die. You must keep going and going. I also have a device that helps me see. It’s IrisVision, and it enlarges things for me to read, watch tv, and a lot of other things. I’ve even taken it to football games to watch my grandson. Finding the IrisVision has made a big difference.
 
In the last couple of years, you've started a cozy mystery series. What made you switch from writing mostly romance to mysteries?
 
KC: I’ve read cozy mysteries for years. I love the shortness of the books and the quirky characters. I also like to write in first person. Most cozy mysteries are in first person. You don’t have to keep up with three other points of view.
 
When people "visit" Shady Valley in your books, what can they expect to find?
 
KC: First you will find mountains. The Appalachian Trail runs through the top of Holston Mountain, and it is beautiful in each season of the year. The people are friendly, and we’re related to most of them. The quiet of the mountains and the gurgling of the streams makes Shady Valley a peaceful place to spend some time listening. You will also find bears. There is only one restaurant, one country store, and a new Dollar General Store. At the restaurant and the country store, you pay with cash or check. I’m sure Dollar General Store uses credit cards, but nothing else does. I love it! 

Sometimes, you discover an author and read every one of her books you can get your hands on. Because they're that good. Janet Ferguson is one of those authors for me. I found her through a freebie on one of her stories, won another one in a giveaway, and then I was hooked. Her tales are sweet and fun, with characters to root for and settings you want to visit. And today, I get the pleasure of introducing Janet to you. Make sure you read all the way to the bottom to find out more about her newest book set to release later this month.

​Hi Janet, most of your recent books have been set near the coast in Georgia and the gulf (including my favorite--St Simons Island, GA). Do you have a favorite beach you've visited? Why? 

It’s so hard to choose just one! I’ve loved all of them. The beach I end up going to most often is Fort Morgan, Alabama. It’s fairly close—four hours or so—and it’s a little less crowded and less commercialized on the peninsula. I usually go in the fall, and the temperatures are mild, but the Gulf is still warm. The butterflies migrate through the area sometime in October. Sometimes, I’m blessed to be there to see them.
 
Ooh! I need to check that beach out. It sounds amazing, and I love butterflies. What is it about the beach that makes you long to set stories there?
 
I love the beach. It’s like God opens a treasure chest and sprinkles prizes around for us to find. Shells, porpoise, heron, sand dollars, starfish, sunsets, the ocean breeze, sea turtles, glowing jellyfish, the stars, and the waves as constant as His love, and so much more.

Every wonder how much of their own lives authors weave into a story?
I have said several times now, No Place Like Home is sort of my "what might have been" story. I made my main character a preacher's daughter and basically gave her my past. But also changed it a little. For instance, I don't have a twin--my sister is two years younger.
But a lot of what you find out she went through growing up, it's based on my memories and reality. And it wasn't always good things.
The differences? Adrian gave up on her faith--in God and His people. I did not.
Anything else based on reality in my book?

Why Memphis? 
Surprisingly enough, I was chatting with some other authors in a Facebook group not too long ago and mentioned my book was set in Memphis. And they were surprised. I guess no one thinks of Memphis when they think romance ... or something.
​So, why did I choose such a place?

Ready to meet another character from No Place Like Home? How about Gray?

No Place Like Home releases in just a few weeks. In fact, the ebook should go on pre-order this week. That means it's time for me to start introducing characters. And let me tell you, this one is near and dear to my heart for multiple reasons. See what you think.

Preacher's kid Adrian Stewart abandoned God as soon as she moved out of her father's house. After all, hadn't God abandoned her over and over again? How could she trust Him or any of His people after growing up in such an unstable past?
Moving every few years may not have given her a strong faith, but it has helped her adjust to her chosen job--software trainer. She travels for months at a time, working with home-health companies who need the computer program she helped design with MidSouthLogIn. Spending all those nights in a hotel room doesn't bother her as long as she has her personal coffee maker, her collection of old musicals, and a few books and pictures. What more could she want?

I've mentioned before how blessed I am by getting to know other authors. Well, let me tell you. The one chatting with me today is a peach! Liana George is a fellow Scrivenings author, and she's here to talk about her debut novel, Perfectly Arranged. Read on, because you're going to enjoy this one.

Congratulations on your first book! From the moment you first got the idea to write this story, how long did it take to get here?
 
Thanks! I first got the idea for the book in 2007-2008 while living in China. I was asked to research an address on a business card for a family friend. I never did locate the property but always wondered what was there. Thinking it would make a good story one day, I tucked it away in my writing idea notebook. Sometime in early 2017, I finally figured out how to make a book out of the idea and started writing my novel in December 2017.
 
I know you've got two more books coming out in this series (and I'm so excited to read them and see what happens). Did you originally mean for this to be a trilogy, or did it take over and grow more than you thought it would? 
 
I’d always planned on it being a trilogy, but I never saw the story going the way it has, especially for books 2 (Perfectly Placed) and 3 (Perfectly Matched). But that’s the beauty of a story! It takes the author in the direction it wants to go sometimes, and we just have to go with the flow.

If you've followed me for any amount of time at all, you know Heather Greer and Erin Howard are two of my writing sisters. We have our YouTube channel, Once Upon a Page, which has been going for two years now (almost 100 episodes!). And for the second year in a row, we organized a retreat for other writers to join us for three days of writing, encouragement, and fun. Last year was a blast (here's my post about it), but this year was even better.

First of all, we doubled in how many people attended, which was amazing. We had authors from TN, KY, IL, and AR, too. And it was a blast getting to know them and hear about their stories.
The weather was warm and mostly sunny, so we could spend time outside as well as inside. All the devos and talks were uplifting (I can say that because I led two of them--ha!).
And we actually got some writing done as well as recording more videos for the YouTube channel.