It's Never Too Soon to Think About Christmas, Is It?

Vickie McDonough is another award-winning inspirational romance author I'm looking forward to sharing with you this week. She has had 16 novels and novellas published. Her Heartsong books, The Bounty Hunter and the Bride and Wild At Heart both placed third in the Top Ten Favorite Historical Romance category in Heartsong Present’s annual readers’ contests. (Congratulations, Vickie!)

Her stories frequently place in national contests, such as the ACFW Book of the Year contest and the Inspirational Readers Choice Contest. The first book in her first long fiction series, Texas Boardinghouse Brides, will release next year.

Vickie has also written books reviews for over eight years. She is a wife of thirty-four years, mother of four grown sons, and grandma to a feisty three-year-old girl. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, gardening, watching movies, and traveling. To learn more about Vickie’s books, visit her website: http://www.vickiemcdonough.com/

SDC: Lots of great info there, Vickie. Thanks for the wonderful update. What book or project would you like to tell us about today?

VM: Wild West Christmas is an anthology collection. It contains four novellas by four authors(Lena Nelson Dooley, Kathleen Y’Barbo, Darlene Franklin & me), and they all focus on the Ames sisters, who live on a ranch in the Texas Hill Country. Each sister has a special talent such as roping or tracking, and since there are no boys in the family, the sisters help run their father’s ranch.

My story is titled A Breed Apart, and my heroine is named Sarah. Her passion is training horses, and she’s an expert at it. Her father wants her to be more like her oldest sister and learn to tend the home, but Sarah hates being inside doing womanly things. When her pa hires half-breed Carson Romero to replace her, Sarah almost loses her identity. When cattle go missing soon after Carson’s arrival, she suspects him to be an outlaw. But as she watches Carson, she realizes he has a gift for working with horses and a unique style. Intrigued, she wants to know more. Is it possible for a man so talented to also be an outlaw?

SDC: Sounds GREAT! What inspired you to come up writing this genre?

VM When I was growing up, cowboy shows were big on TV, and I loved them. I also had a passion for horses, and even though I grew up in the city, I talked my parents into buying several different horses during my teen years. When I got older and had kids, I discovered Christian fiction and have been devouring it ever since. So when I started writing, it just felt natural to write historicals. I do have two contemporary stories published—one book and one novella—but my passion is historical Christian romance.

SDC: I might have asked you this before, but I think I will again, because others like to know. Are you in any Groups that help you in your writing? If so, tell us about them and the books you use for helps.

VM Yes, I’ve been a member of ACFW(American Christian Fiction Writers) since 2001, which is the year I first started writing. I credit this group for my being published. I learned how to write from their online classes and being in critique groups with other ACFW members. I’m also a member of several local writing groups, one which is an ACFW chapter called WIN (Writers of Inspirational Novels).

I learn better from hearing speakers teach about writing than I do from reading books, but two books that have helped me are Goal, Motivation, and Conflict by Debra Dixon and also Heroes and Heroines, 16 Master Archetypes. Can’t remember the authors to that one—there are three of them.

SDC: I'm not familiar with any of those. THANKS for the info. What advice do you have for other new authors coming into the field of writing?

VM: Don’t get too anxious to see your first book published. It takes time and lots of practice to become a good writer. Think how much education is required to become a lawyer or doctor. Writers tend to think they can just pump out a story and someone will beg to buy it. A book has to be marketable. The story has to have an audience. Study all you can about writing, attend conferences, take classes at your local community college, read writing books, study your favorite writers to see what they’re doing in their books, and study publisher guidelines before sending in a manuscript.

SDC: I couldn't agree more, Vickie. I also remember how I felt the day my first book came out. It didn't do for me what I thought it would at all. Because, like you say, you STILL have to have an audience! What do you think it takes to write a good book? Do you have any secrets?

VM For one, it takes a lot of hard work and time. It’s important to learn the rules of writing, such as the correct pov to use, how to show instead of telling, writing active vs. passive. Do I have secrets? Hmm…just keep writing. Practice. Finish a book, and then start another one. Get involved with other writers, whether online or locally. Just keep at it even if you get a rejection. All published authors get rejections. It’s part of the business.

SDC: Do you read other books besides inspirational? If so, how do they help you in your craft? If not, why not?

VM: I read mainly Christian novels, but there are a couple of historical authors I read who aren’t inspirational writers: Jodi Thomas and Linda Lael Miller mainly. They write such excellent historicals with a western flare and reading them helps me keep in the time-period I’m writing, and they give me a cowboy fix. They both are masters at writing creative methors.

SDC: I'vew never read Jodi Thomas, but I, like you, really enjoy Linda Lael Miller. She has a wonderful way with words. If you were to ask a reader what they were looking for in a book. Would you take her or his advice to come up with a premise?

VM It would depend on what that premise was. I can’t write about everything and don’t want to. I know little about doctors or hospitals, or lawyers and court. Have you heard: “Write what you know?” That’s what I did, especially at first. However, I have started moving out of my initial comfort zone and written about some locales that I know little about, like North Dakota. I did a lot of studying for my proposal for a three-book series, and when it sold, my husband and I took a trip up there. We just got back from another research trip to South Carolina, where I’ll be setting a series that will debut next year. So, I guess my answer to your question would be that it depends on what the reader wanted.

SDC: Where can your books be found?

VM: The easiest place to get my books is online at http://www.christianbook.com/ or http://www.amazon.com/ If anyone would like an autographed copy, they can email me at fictionfan1@cox.net  for information. Sometimes you can find my books in Christian bookstores and occasionally at Wal-Mart.

SDC: What other question would you ask of a reader that might help you in the writing of a book? Why don’t you ask it now? (Since you are offering to give out a book as a donation to one of our guests, we’ll use it as a thought for them to reflect upon. Okay?)

VM  I’d love to know what readers expect when they read a Christian historical romance. Do you expect lots of action or a more laid back story? Do you like some sensuality in a Christian romance or prefer to keep the romance very light? Do you have a favorite setting for historicals?

One more thing, I’ve mentioned my book Wild West Christmas, but I’d also like readers to know that I have another Christmas book out called A Blue and Gray Christmas. It’s also four novellas by four authors (Carrie Turansky, Tamela Hancock Murray, Lauralee Bliss, & me) and the stories are set during and shortly after the Civil War.

I’m in the process of setting up an email mailing list so that I can send out a quarterly newsletter and announce new releases. If you’d like to be on my email list, please send me a note at fictionfan1@cox.net  with your email address.

Thank you for joining us at A Pen for Your Thoughts!

Thank you so much for allowing me to be a guest.

For the rest of you. See the wonderful thoughts Vickie's given us to ponder. I look forward to reading your responses. Don't forget to leave your email address. And I hope it is YOU I select to win a book.

A Pen for Your Thoughts congratulates Cherie Japp of Pensacola, Florida who has won a copy of Vickie McDonough's Christmas Book. That's awesome, Cherie. I know you'll love it!




Pensacola, FL 32526

There's only ONE Melanie.

I've been getting a sneak preview of this. I hope you are too.

Melanie Dickerson is an award-winning author who earned her bachelor's degree in special education from The University of Alabama. She taught children with special needs in Georgia and Tennessee, and she taught English in Germany and Ukraine. Now she spends her time writing and taking care of her husband and two daughters near Huntsville, Alabama. Visit her on the web at http://www.melaniedickerson.com/.

SDC: As my roommate last year at the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Conference and a dear friend, I’m excited, Melanie, to be able to share you with the world in the next few days. Fairy Tales do come true, I see. Tell us about yours, Melanie.

MD: Hi, Shirley! Thanks so much for having me on your blog! Long time no see! ;-)

The last year has been very much like a fairy tale! First there was the villain in the form of crushing rejections and a bleak outlook as far as this book was concerned. Then there was the “magical” meeting with my fairy godmother—I mean, my future agent—at the ACFW Conference last year. And I felt like Cinderella going to the ball just being at that conference, since I got a scholarship at the last minute! Then, just when I was beginning to despair again, I got the call in November saying Zondervan was going to publish my book! They pushed the wedding—I mean, the release date—up to September 3rd so that I could participate in the booksigning at this year’s ACFW Conference! Yes, it’s definitely been like a fairy tale dream come true!

SDC: I know you really went through a lot to find that perfect publisher for you, Melanie. What made you believe so strongly that you had a story worth picking up?

MD: I kept believing in this story, even after three years of trying to find a publisher, for lots of different reasons, but mainly it boiled down to the fact that this was my favorite story. I’d written four books, and although I love all my stories and characters, this was the one that just clicked when I was writing it. Everything seemed to fall into place so perfectly. The plot pieces fit together, the characters were so vivid to me, and I just loved it. I truly believed it was going to get published—eventually! And, this will sound weird to some people, but I felt like God had told me it was going to get published, and by a major publisher, although he never told me when!

SDC: What audience do you enjoy writing the most for, and why?

MD: I love writing for the young adult audience. They have very strong opinions about what they like and dislike, but they’re also so enthusiastic! They truly savor a story and characters, and it’s very satisfying when they “get” you!

SDC: I've been reading your brand new book and I can see where it fits almost anywhere! How realistic is your kind of writing? And what was the key to getting started and staying with it?

MD: I try to be completely realistic. Even though a lot of people have seen the cover of my book, read the back cover blurb and come to the conclusion that this book is a fantasy, it’s not. I believe everything that happens in my stories could have actually happened. I do lots of research and try to get all my facts right. And I try to make sure characters’ actions and feelings are justified, that that person would actually do that deed or say that line of dialogue in that situation, according to human nature and their personality and their past experiences, which have shaped them.

SDC: I think it's important to be ralistic too, or at least as much as one can be. How did you select your favorite characters in this story, Melanie? How would you do so in any story?

MD: The characters and the story usually evolve together. The story determines the characters, to some extent, and vice-versa. The character can change the story, but in my mind they are always meshing. I don’t know if that makes sense! But I like to have a heroine that I can truly like and sympathize with, and a hero who is truly heroic.

SDC: Why do you think it’s so important to write for a Christian Market? And do you believe your book would be well read by a secular audience as well?

MD: I love writing for the Christian market, but I would have also been happy if this book had been picked up by a secular publisher, as long as they would have allowed me the freedom to let my characters stay true to their faith in God.

I do believe my book will appeal to a secular audience. It appeals to fans of fairy tale retellings, and if my book happens to be the first Christian book they’ve read, I just hope they will be intrigued and will enjoy it. 

SDC: I'm glad to hear that you are open to both. So many aren't for some reason. How does romance play a part in your book? And how did you deal with that?

MD: Romance is a major part of the plot. In fact, I didn’t realize I was a romance writer until I got the idea for this book! But the fact is, God invented romance, it’s a part of our lives, and young people, my target audience, will encounter it and will need to know how to be wise in that area. I wanted to show a healthy way to fall in love, and I wanted to show that you can’t always trust your feelings or your friends. You have to trust God and his plan for you. And, don’t go for the playboy who flirts but then isn’t committed. Marry the good guy who’s stable and loves God!

SDC: What kind of reading material do you look to that you believe helps you with your style of writing?

MD: You know, I don’t really think what a writer reads influences that writer’s style very much. I know a lot of people say it’s very important what you read, but it’s really hard to say where a person’s style comes from. I took a very long hiatus from reading fiction, and so when I started writing again, and started writing this book, I hadn’t read much popular fiction. When I was growing up I read so many classics, and read some secular romances as a teen, but did my style come from those influences? It’s probably impossible to say.

SDC: We are thrilled that you are willing to donate a copy of one of your books to one of our readers. Will you give us a short excerpt from your book to entice our interest?

MD: In this historical romance loosely based on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, a woodcutter's daughter becomes the town healer's apprentice. Rose's job is to care for the sick and injured in Hagenheim Castle. But she gets sick at the sight of blood and is more suited to making up stories than sewing up wounds. She is determined to overcome her weakness and prove herself a competent healer, or she faces marrying a disgusting old merchant her mother has picked out for her.

Lord Hamlin, the future ruler of the region, is injured and Rose must overcome her squeamishness to save him. He is everything that is noble and good, but loving him is forbidden. He is already betrothed to a mysterious woman in hiding. With two noble-born brothers vying for her affections, Rose learns that the people of Hagenheim are not always who they seem.

SDC: After you tell the readers where they can find your books and look you up, what question you would like one of our visitors to answer to help me select a winner?

Please find me at http://www.melaniedickerson.com/  and say hello! I have a lot of information there, including the wonderful book trailer Zondervan had made for my book. It’s like a little movie! Please check it out.

So, I want to hear from you. Have you ever had a dream come true, a goal you’ve worked for, or something you’ve dreamed of happening coming to fruition? Maybe it was getting married, or landing a dream job, or graduating from college. Do tell!

READERS: Be sure to answer Melanie’s question above to try to win a copy of her book! We're looking forward to hearing from you., And you DON'T want to miss out on this one!

Casey Herringshaw of Burns, Oregon, says she is thrilled and excited to have won a copy of Melanie's debut book. Congratulations, Casey. Be watching for it after Melanie returns from the conference.