Special Giveaway and Author Interview: A Heart Revealed

Welcome back to Writing for Christ Julie Lessman, I am excited to have you here for a second time. J What has changed in your writing life since you were last here?

Thanks, Case — SO good to be here!  And quite a bit has happened since last time, actually. For starters, I have a new book releasing in … FIVE DAYS … and it’s a particularly special book to me because YOUR name will be in it as the winner of my contest to have a character named after them in my next book! A Heart Revealed, book 2 in “The Winds of Change” series, is the story of the oldest O’Connor brother, Sean O’Connor, a confirmed bachelor, and his sister’s best friend, Emma Malloy, a battered married woman. Here’s my own personal blurb:

The ring on her hand belongs to one man …

but her heart belongs to another.

As a battered woman, Emma Malloy fled Dublin for Boston ten years ago, seeking shelter for a heart badly bruised by both her husband and guilt. But when she falls in love with Sean O’Connor, a man who wrestles with demons of his own, fear and shame almost destroy her … until she is finally set free by a heart revealed.

Secondly, I have finished book 3 in the “Winds of Change” series, A Trust Restored (working title), the youngest O’Connor brother, Steven’s story, to be released in Sept. 2012. This will be the final installment in the 6-book O’Connor saga until I write Marcy and Patrick’s prequel down the road.

Finally, I have a new 3-book series set in 1900 San Francisco called “The Cousins McClare, with book 1 releasing April of 2013 and the subsequent books out at nine-month intervals rather than yearly. It chronicles the stories of three cousins from a wealthy political family in 1900 San Francisco and the unlikely men with whom they fall in love. From the glitter and glamour of San Francisco’s Nob Hill, to the seedy dance halls and gambling dens of the Barbary Coast, The Cousins McClare is a study in contrasts between the haves and have-nots, and barriers between rich and poor that only faith can transcend.

What recent read stood out to you as truly spectacular?

You mean other than Seeker books??? Oh, honey, you can’t limit me to just one! Some of my recent favs are Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs, Deeply Devoted by Maggie Brendan, The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall, Beyond All Measure, by Dorothy Love, Spring for Susannah by Catherine Richmond, A Bride’s Portrait of Dodge City, Kansas by Erica Vetsch and Secrets of the Heart by Jillian Kent. Seriously, each of these books was truly wonderful with several absolutely outstanding.

Do you have favorite authors?

Doesn’t everybody? I want to go on record right now as saying that I generally read all of the Seeker books,(http://seekerville.blogspot.com) and I am ASTOUNDED at the talent in this group, seriously. What a gifted group of authors!! As far as long-time historical romance favorites other than the Seekers and newer authors? I absolutely LOVE Liz Curtis Higgs, Francine Rivers, Laura Frantz, Tamera Alexander, MaryLu Tyndall, Sharlene MacLaren, Julie Klassen, and Deanne Gist, to name a few. And if you’re talking Women’s Fiction, Patty Lacy is absolutely outstanding—I will read anything she writes. I don’t read a lot of YA, but both Melanie Dickerson and Michelle Hutchison’s “Second Glance” series are awesome! Ironically, I just endorsed Cindy Woodsmall’s new book, The Harvest of Grace—one of my very first Amish books—and it blew me away. Loved it!!

What do you find the most enjoyable part of writing or connecting with readers?

The most enjoyable? Oh, easy—writing love scenes, of course! I like tension, lots and LOTS of romantic tension, so when I write those scenes, my keyboard is smoking because my fingers fly. In fact, one of my friends wanted to know why I couldn’t just write a nice, “sweet” love scene. Duh, because I would fall asleep! J Even my husband noticed the fast and furious pace of my love scenes—he said he would be meandering along in a nice, easy passage and then, bam! A love scene would hit, and before he knew it, he was 20 pages down the road!

As far as the most enjoyable part of connecting with readers?  Definitely hearing from women whose passion for God has been stirred because of something I wrote. Okay … just typing that sentence brought tears to my eyes because I cannot believe I have a job where I can woo people to the very God who took me from the darkness into His glorious light!

What do you find the most ideal atmosphere for writing? Do you ever get those surroundings? J

The most idea atmosphere for writing is RIGHT where I am now as I type this very interview—settled into comfy furniture on my lower deck, feet up and a glass of hazelnut coffee by my side while a gentle breeze blows from the ceiling fan overhead. Laptop in my lap, I stare into GORGEOUS woods where shafts of sunlight beam like the hand of God, dappling the leaves with His grace and beauty. Every now and then, my husband comes down to sit with me on his breaks, which I have to admit, makes it ALL the better! J

Okay, something fun for those writers out there: In what point of your writing career did you surprise yourself by writing the most words ever in the shortest amount of time?

That would be when I wrote A Passion Redeemed, 480 pages in approximately one month (actually two months working my part-time day job). For me, Mitch and Charity’s story literally flew from my fingers, and when my critique partner read it, she told me that I “hit my stride” in this book, with which I agree. The bad news? I haven’t written a book that quickly since. : /

Thanks for being here again! It has been a joy and we wish the very best with your novels.

Okay readers, here is your chance to enter to win Julie's latest novel, A Heart Revealed.

Please leave an email address. If I draw your name and there is no email, you will not win!

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And an EXTRA one:
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Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged items for said prize.

Thanks for coming by to enter! Contest ends on September 9th.