Even though I write romance, I love a good fantasy novel every now and then. And Dawn Ford writes a good fantasy novel (or six). She has two different series for different age groups, and they're both wonderful. I can't wait for you to learn more about them as we chat with my friend Dawn in the monthly author interview today.

How do you find a balance between the light and dark in your fantasy stories?

The balance between light and dark was the central theme to my current series’ overarching story and character arcs. Our heroes are charged with the mission to balance good and evil—light and dark, in their story world that is being besieged by an evil pied-piper character. Each book in the Band of Unlikely Heroes four-book series focuses on one hero/heroine and their struggles to overcome both their own shortcomings and fears. In the end, it will take them all, working against the big bad, to set the balance of good back into place and dispatch the evil that has been plaguing their kingdom for generations. I kept the ending in mind as I wrote the darkest scenes, pulling the guts out of my characters and then helping them learn invaluable lessons along the way—becoming an indomitable force when they finally come together. Light always wins over the dark, good triumphs over evil.

Writing Home was my fourth book, and it released in 2021. Four years ago, January. It's still one of my favorites, although every one of my books is my favorite in some way or another.
Needless to say, it broke my heart when I found out the publisher who had released Writing Home was dying at the end of last year. Writing Home still has one paperback copy on Amazon, and that is all. But, I'm working on republishing it. Because it's still a really good story. And because I have an amazing friend who knows how to do all these publishing things and is willing to help me figure this out.

Do you ever think about how people eat in other areas of the United States? Or world? Guest Author Jennifer Chastain is chatting with us today about some food that has inspired her latest story. It sounds yummy to me. See what you think. And keep reading all the way to the bottom for a free short story from Jennifer too!

Lethal Connections is the third book in my Targeted for Elimination series. The adventure begins on the Big Island of Hawaii and finishes in my fictional town of Providence, NC, just outside of Charlotte.
Even as a young girl I’ve always been fascinated by the Hawaiian Islands. The flowers, the food, the culture, it was so different that my small dairy farming community that I grew up in. Visiting Hawaii or even one of the smaller islands, such as Maui or Kauai, is on my bucket list.
When plotting this story, as well as the others in the series, I thought, “what better setting than to start a romantic suspense book?” From the mountains, to the beaches and everything in between, there were a lot of options to use as a backdrop, as well as create danger around every corner for my hero and heroine.

Have you ever read a romance set in an antique shop? I've read a few, and I loved them all. But especially this new story by my friend Heather Greer, part of our Pets Amore collection. The shop in her story comes from personal experience, but not from actually owning a shop herself. See what I mean.

​It doesn’t matter how different a character’s personality is from mine, there is usually a little bit of me in every story I write. Usually, that means someone bakes at some point in the story.  Doesn’t matter if it’s cupcakes or cookies or a pie. Treats will be baked.
For Pegboards, Parrots, and Pickup Lines, my story in the Pets Amore novella collection, I decided to go a different direction. I do have more I enjoy doing than baking, and I thought it was time to work some of those things into my stories too. 

I don't know if you believe God puts certain people in your life or not, but to me, Sarah Anne Crouch is living proof. She and I became fast friends when my family moved to TN, and we've stayed close despite her family moving to Arkansas a few years ago. Now, not only are we good friends, we're co-authors in several novella collections. And, just recently I blessed to become her content editor. Needless to say, she's pretty special, and I'm thrilled to share her with you today in this author interview.

Sarah, congratulations on a new release coming soon. I know your series was hung up in some red tape for a while. How does it feel to finally have more books coming out in this series?
It's such a relief! I have a few kind friends who ask me almost every time they see me “When is your next novel coming out?” For the longest time I didn’t have a good answer to that question. And then, for a few months, I had no novels out because the first one was out of print. Now I can tell everyone to hop on over to Amazon!

Shady Springs is a town you've made up to base these stories in. Did you base it on any real towns? What inspired you to make it how you did?
Growing up in Arkansas, I always felt the state was underrepresented in fiction. I don’t know if that’s true or just my personal bias. From the time I was 12 until I graduated college and got married, my hometown was Prairie Grove, Arkansas. It’s a growing community now, but had fewer than 3,000 residents when we first moved there. Shady Springs is very much the Prairie Grove of my childhood with a few tweaks. 
I loved my hometown so much—I still do. It was my first experience with living in a tiny place where everyone knew each other. That dynamic makes for really interesting fiction, I think. Plus, Northwest Arkansas is a beautiful setting.​

Do you ever wonder how much of an author's real life actually ends up in her stories? Well, Beth Westcott, one of my fellow authors from the Pets Amore collection, is here to chat about just that today. Her story is delightful and I can't wait for you to learn more about it (and her).

​At one time, I thought I’d become a schoolteacher but didn’t.  Perhaps, if I lived my life over, I’d earn my teaching degree. I taught one year in a Christian school, homeschooled for twelve years, and substituted as a teacher’s aide for a couple of years in public school. I also taught Sunday school classes and Bible clubs.
Brianna Kinney loves teaching her third-grade students. However, when her school downsizes, she loses her job.  Twenty-seven years old, a widow, and now without employment, Brianna desires change. She moves to Juniper Falls and becomes a bookstore clerk. Although she enjoys her new job, she misses her students. Maybe one day she’ll teach again.