Missy Tippens guesting today! Enter to win a free book!

Hi Missy, so glad you're here!

Missy's bio:

Bio:
Missy Tippens is a pastor’s wife and mom of three who lives near Atlanta. After ten years of pursuing her dream, she made her first sale of a full-length novel to Love Inspired in 2007. She still pinches herself to see if it really happened! Her novels have been finalists in the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Contest, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence and the Bookseller's Best Award. Visit Missy at www.missytippens.com.

1. We read your bio and learned a little about you. Anything you want to share in addition to that?

Well, I’m a former microbiologist, turned stay-at-home mom, turned adjunct instructor at the local technical college. So I’ve had a variety of careers!

2. How long have you been writing? I started writing in 1995 when we got our first computer. :)
How many books do you have published? My 4th just came out.
How long did it take you to get published? Almost 12 years!

3. If you compared your writing style to any other Christian Fiction author, who would it be?

Oh, gosh, that’s too hard to answer! It could probably be compared to several of the other Love Inspired authors who write small towns stories with lots of emotion and a touch of humor.

Here's the back cover blurb:



When Faith Hagin sees widower cop Gabe Reynolds every day in her coffee shop, she can’t help but feel for the struggling single dad. She’s raised a teenager of her own—and sadly, knows what not to do. But thanks to his matchmaking preteen daughter, Chelsea, the whole town’s praying for Gabe to find a wife!

Even though Faith thinks she’s content being just friends, spending time with him and Chelsea starts to feel like a fresh start at having a family. And their love may be the answer to everyone’s prayers.





4. What made you want to write this story?

A Family for Faith is inspired by a man I watched on a flight from D.C. to Atlanta! I actually thank him in the acknowledgments. :) The man was a single dad across the aisle and up a row on the plane. I watched as he tried desperately to put a hair bow in his little daughter’s hair and just couldn’t get it in right. I knew I wanted to write a story about a single man with a young daughter who was hitting an age where she would need a mother’s influence. I had so much fun writing it!

5. What research did you have to do for this book?
I did some research about small town cops using Debra Dixon’s Dad’s book, When You’re the Only Cop in Town by Jack Berry and Debra Dixon. I also double-checked facts with friends who have cop husbands. Since it’s contemporary small town, I’m mainly writing what I know. :)

6. What are you working on now or going to write next?

I just turned in A House Full of Hope which will be out from Love Inspired in Feb. 2012. And now I’m working on another proposal.

7. I know you like to teach at writing conferences. What are some of the topics you teach on?

Yes, I enjoy teaching! I like to speak about persistence, The Moral Premise, the journey to publication, the first year after the first sale, and basic plotting.

8. What do you like to do for fun besides meet other writers for marathon writing sessions?

Oh, I do love to get away with writers! :) I also love shopping with my daughter, watching my favorite shows on TV, reading (of course!), date night with hubby, movies with friends, girls’ night out, and eating out every chance I get!

9. How can readers get in contact with you?

www.missytippens.com, and on Facebook (Missy Tippens Readers) and Twitter (MissyTippens).

10. Any parting comments? Wise advice for pre-published authors?

Keep writing! Don’t re-work the same story over and over. Just plow ahead. You’ll learn more with each story. Then when you do sell, you’ll have several stories to offer your editor for that second book contract!

Lynette, thanks for having me!

Thank YOU for being here. Sounds like a great story. Can't wait until I can sit down and read it.

All right, bloggers, now's your chance. Leave a comment to be placed in a drawing to win a copy of this fabulous book!

God Bless!

Winner of Renee Ryan's book!

Hi everyone, just wanted to say thanks for stopping by and entering to win Renee's book. And the winner is....

Courtney!

Thanks so much!
Lynette

Renee Ryan guest blogger today - come win a book!

Renee grew up in a small Florida beach town. To entertain herself during countless hours of "laying-out" she read all the classics. It wasn’t until the summer between her sophomore and junior years at Florida State University that she read her first romance novel. Hooked from page one, she spent hours consuming one book after another while working on the best (and last!) tan of her life.

Two years later, armed with a degree in Economics and Religion, she explored various career opportunities, including stints at a Florida theme park, a modeling agency, and a cosmetic conglomerate. She moved on to teach high school Economics, American Government and Latin while coaching award-winning cheerleading teams. Several years later, with an eclectic cast of characters swimming around in her head, she began seriously pursuing a writing career.

Renee sold her first book, EXTREME MEASURES, to Dorchester Publishing by winning the inaugural New Historical Voice Contest in 2002. She eventually reconciled her writing with her faith and began writing Inspirational Romances in 2006. She sold her first Inspirational manuscript to Love Inspired Historical in December 2006. Her first Love Inspired Historical will arrive in stores February or March of 2009.

When she’s not writing for Love Inspired Historical, Renee works part time as a regional makeup artist for an international cosmetic company. She lives with her husband, two children and one ornery cat in Nebraska.



Thanks, Lynette, for inviting me to blog with you today.

I’m here to talk about my latest release, Book Four in the Charity House series, THE LAWMAN CLAIMS HIS BRIDE.




Charity House is no ordinary orphanage, but rather a unique home for the by-blows/mistakes of prostitutes and gunslingers. By its very nature, Charity House lends itself to unique stories.

THE LAWMAN CLAIMS HIS BRIDE is no exception. The book reintroduces two familiar characters, Logan and Megan. Both have been along for the ride since Book One, THE MARSHAL TAKES A BRIDE.

Because my hero and heroine had been around from the beginning of the series I found myself faced with a large problem. Logan and Megan met and fell in love back in Book Two, HANNAH’S BEAU. But Megan was too young and Logan wasn’t ready to be a family man. Well, that’s what everyone said anyway. But no matter what they’re told, they can’t help loving one another.

The reader finds out in Book 3, LOVING BELLA, that Logan has taken a job in San Francisco to make a living worthy of his beloved. He plans to marry Megan as soon as he returns home. There is no doubt these two will end up together.

But therein lays the heart of the problem.

What fun is a romance novel where the hero and heroine are already in love before the book even begins? More importantly, how was I supposed to accomplish the daunting task of writing a full-length novel with zero romantic conflict? Can you say: Boring?
Under the circumstances, I did what any self-respecting writer would do. I started playing the “what if” game.

What if one or both of them is only in love with the idea of being in love? What if they’ve each built up the other in their minds to impossible proportions? What if a newly appointed US Marshal comes home to marry his one true love, only to find her in jail for murder?

Now I had the makings of a story.

But wait. There’s more. Another issue I wanted to tackle was the touchy subject of intimacy between newly married Christians. We in the church tell our youth that a strong physical attraction will translate into a strong sexual connection once vows are spoken, but not before. Never before. Christians, especially Christian women, are taught from a very early age that intimacy is bad, bad, bad. Unless, of course, inside the sanctity of marriage.

But isn’t that sending our girls a confusing, dare-I-say mixed message? For a bride’s entire life she’s taught that intimacy with a man is something to be avoided at all costs. “Don’t even think about it, much less do it,” she’s told. But then, on the night of her wedding, she’s supposed to flip some invisible switch and suddenly intimacy is a good thing.

Want to know how I, as a believing Christian and a mother of a teenage girl, addressed this very touchy issue in THE LAWMAN CLAIMS HIS BRIDE? You’ll have to read the book to find out. ☺

Renee Ryan writes for Love Inspired Historical and Love Inspired. Her fabulous editor is Melissa Endlich. For more information, you can visit Renee at renee@reneeryan.com

THANK YOU, Rene, for being here today. Readers, run out and get this book! It's awesome! Leave a comment and a way to get in touch with you and you might find yourself a winner of this fabulous story.