Her Life Story is One of Those You Could Almost Write Your Own Story About!

Miralee Ferrell grew up in small town America, married her high school sweetheart, and has been married for 37 years. They raised two beautiful children and worked together on a variety of businesses over the years. They live on 11 acres in the breathtaking Columbia River Gorge in southern Washington State, where they love to garden, play with their dogs, take walks, and go sailing. Miralee also rides her horse on the wooded trails near their home with her grown daughter who lives nearby.

Her third historical romance with Summerside Press in their Love Finds You series released Feb 1, 2011. All the Love Finds You novels stand alone, and take place in a real town in America. Miralee’s first two are set in 1877, Love Finds You in Last Chance, CA, and 1902, Love Finds You in Bridal Veil, Oregon. Her newest, Love Finds You in Tombstone, AZ, is a spin off from a secondary character that readers met in Last Chance, a woman by the name of Christy Grey.

Miralee serves as president of the Portland, Oregon, chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers and belongs to a number of writer’s groups. She also speaks at women’s groups, libraries, and churches about her writing journey.

You can learn more about Miralee as well as see pictures from the real places she writes about by visiting her web site at www.miraleeferrell.com.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: Thank you so much for being detailed about your life, Miralee. It helps us all get to know you better. After you tell us a little about your book, tell us what gave you the urge to write in the first place.

Miralee Ferrell: Love Finds You in Tombstone, AZ, was a joy to write. The spiritual thread is a strong one, although never intrusive into the story line or ‘preachy’, but rather depicts God’s redeeming love for his fallen children.

Miralee Ferrell:  After my kids graduated and started lives of their own, I began praying about filling the time I’d once poured into my busy family. In 2005 the Lord gave me an answer. While at an evening church service the special speaker prayed with me, and stated that he believed God was calling me to write. Not only write, but that my work should be published. Two years later my debut novel, The Other Daughter released and since then four books more have followed.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: How wonderful! It's like a story in itself, Miralee. Growing up, who would you say had been the biggest influence in your life with your writing today?

Miralee Ferrell: I think for my more recent novels I’d have to say Zane Grey. I read every one of his westerns during my teen years and loved them. He had an amazing ability to transport the reader into the setting he’d chosen, as well as the old west era. He combined setting with action, strong heroes and heroines, and almost always a romance. I have a strong love for anything western, and he heightened it to a greater degree. When I started writing a few years ago I didn’t dream I’d ever venture into romantic westerns, but believe I’ve truly found my niche.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: That's great. Do you ever place your settings from an area that you've been or from the area in which you live now? Or do you venture out to other areas? How do you do research on different areas for setting purposes?

Miralee Ferrell: My two contemporary books, The Other Daughter and Finding Jeena, are both set here in the Columbia River Gorge where I live. The first was set on the WA side of the river, the second on the Oregon side, but since I grew up here it was easy to portray those settings. It was a bit more of a challenge with two of my Love Finds You novels. The easiest was set in Bridal Veil, OR, only about 40 minutes up the Gorge from my home. I spent several hours with a local historian who shared intimate details of the (now) ghost town and its inhabitants, as well as showing me the accurate locations of all the town buildings, and giving me books with records and photos of the town during 1902.

For the books set in Last Chance, CA and Tombstone, AZ, my husband and I flew into nearby cities and drove to the towns. Last Chance has long been a demolished ghost town, with very little but the cemetery, a few fence posts, basement excavations and one old shack remaining. A Forest Service archaeologist offered to drive with us the 2 hrs up into the Sierra Nevada mountains to help us locate the site and gave me wonderful historical data about the area and town.

Tombstone was much easier, as there are tons of books, photos and historical data about the town and characters that inhabited it during my time period (1880’s). But I did travel there so I could experience it for myself, and I share many details of the town, my research and who’s really ‘real’ among my characters, at the end of the book in the author notes. Warning…there are spoilers in my notes, so don’t read them until you finish the book!

Shirley Kiger Connolly: I have a large Victorian style ladies bath that inspires me when I go in and stand at my antique brass sink. In that room, I sometimes light a candle while I put on my makeup and gaze romantically at my period-style wallpaper and claw foot tub. It makes it more fun to put on that makeup and fix my hair, but I think that and my few minutes of talking to the Lord also gets my creative juices flowing for some of my writing. Now, where do you get inspired and why?

Miralee Ferrell: I’d have to say most of my inspiration comes two places—in bed when I’m almost asleep, and I’m forced to get out of bed to write an entire scene, or at least jot down notes about something a character is shouting at me not to forget. Or, if I’ve hit a roadblock in my story and don’t know where to go, I can typically take a long walk through our wooded area on a logging road, and ideas will once again start to flow.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: What was the last book you read and what did you learn from reading it?

Miralee Ferrell: I’m currently reading one for endorsement for Linda Windsor and it’s truly amazing. It’s the second in a trilogy set in the days of King Arthur. Her use of language, setting, and character development have me enthralled. I haven’t read her first one, but can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Shirley Kiger Connolly: We learn a lot from reading the books of others, don't we. Where do you go from here, Miralee and where can our readers find you and your books?

Miralee Ferrell: I’m waiting for a contract to come in the mail right now for another LFY novel. I can’t disclose when it will release yet, but it from all appearances it will be later this year. And I can tell you it will be another old west romance, with plenty of action and adventure. You can find out more about me and my books on my web site, including photos I’ve taken on location at the towns I’ve written about. Go to: http://www.miraleeferrell.com/  

Shirley Kiger Connolly: I know there are a lot of readers who love what you write, myself included. Since you've generously offered to share your newest book with us this week, how would you like for our viewers to ask YOU, the writer a reflective question? Most of the time I have the authors I interview think of a question for our viewers. I thought I'd take a different route with you, Miralee. 

Miralee Ferrell:  I’d love to have them ask me anything they’d like to know, especially if there is anything I’ve shared here that has sparked a thought or question.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: That sounds good. So, this time, we will ASK YOU something. In the meantime, thank you so much for joining us at A Pen for Your Thoughts.

Okay. Now we turn to you readers, and writers, and passersby. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK AUTHOR MIRALEE FERRELL THIS WEEK? REMEMBER, YOU CAN ASK HER ANYTHING! I WILL USE YOUR CREATIVE QUESTION TO HELP ME DRAW A NAME IN A FEW DAYS. You never know. I just might draw YOUR name. Be sure to leave us your email address.

Congratulations to Sandra Elzie of McDonough, GA. Woo Hoo! You just won Miralee's book. Be watching for it in the mail. Be sure to let us know what thought once you read it. She'll appreciate that. And THANK YOU for following A Pen for Your Thoughts. It's a joy having you drop by. God Bless

When That Spiritual Thread Makes All the Difference

Meeting author Cara Lynn James, and hearing how she writes her books, is perhaps a bit like threading a needle for that unforgettable tapestry you want everyone to remember forever.

Full-time Author Cara Lynn James lives in northwest Florida with her husband, son, daughter, four year old grandson and papillon named Sparky. She's been a Naval officer for eight years, a bookstore owner and home school mom.

SDC: Before we get going, Cara, I often ask this to other authors and would like to ask you the following question as well. What would you say your theme scripture is as a writer? One that explains your vision and makes it plain to the readers why you write.

Cara: I don’t have one particular scripture that guides my writing. But I do have a Christian theme which influences the spiritual thread in all my books. I think our Christian beliefs should be lived in all aspects of our every day lives and not confined to Sundays. It’s who we are. We can’t compartmentalize our faith and bring it out only when it’s convenient.

SDC: We sure can't. Tell us about your publisher and your experiences in working with them. Also fill us in on what you have coming out soon.

Cara: Thomas Nelson is my tremendously supportive publisher. They have fantastic editors and great publicity and marketing department. The best thing is whenever I contact them they reply really quickly. I’m so impressed with their professionalism and how much they care about their authors. They’re very patient with me!

Love on Assignment came out January 11th. The last book in the Ladies of Summerhill series, Love by the Book, will be released in July 2011. All three books (Love on a Dime, Love on Assignment and Love by the Book) are set in Newport, Rhode Island during the Gilded Age. Right now I’m working on a stand alone historical novel also set at the turn-of-the-century, but located in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of New York state.

SDC: I love stories written during Regency period, and around the time of the War Between the States. And the Gilded Age, I believe, is like reading the topping of the cake. Though this next question might seem similar to the first one I asked you, let's get a little more detailed. How do you thread faith, love, and hope along with the reality of life together in your stories?

Cara: My characters’ faith has to inform how they live their lives and deal with their problems, large and small. In Love on Assignment my heroine Charlotte isn’t a Christian at the beginning of the story, but in the middle she accepts Christ. This changes her entire philosophy of life, including how she treats others. She realizes she can’t lie for her own gain any more. Her spiritual problem is at the heart of the story. How she solves it and relates to the hero are the most important aspects of the book. Coming to faith shifts everything in Charlotte’s life and it’s not easy for her.

SDC: How long did you have to wait before getting published the first time?

Cara: I wrote about 6 ½ years before I received ‘the call.’ During one of those years I had two major surgeries, so I didn’t write very much. But I ‘practiced’ writing all my life, although I never took it seriously until my children were grown and I had more spare time. I’m glad I didn’t get published any sooner since I really wasn’t ready.

SDC: Right now as I write down my questions, I have a candle lit at the corner of my desk. Just the scent gets my creative juices flowing. But I have a difficult time sitting in this lonely office for too long a time before I have to get up to go say hello to my husband. Does a room, or special place or thing, play any part in your story writing, and if so, how?

Cara: I can’t write with music on or TV or people talking. I like solitude—except that I like the sound of birds chirping just outside my window. They’re noisy, but to me it’s a soothing sound. I write on my sun porch or in my bedroom. I have books and a desk in both places. Neither place gives me enough privacy, but I take my laptop and switch back and forth.

SDC: How does your family and the ministry with your church correspond with your time to write and do research for your writing?

Cara: I try to balance all my activities. My family, especially my husband is very cooperative and supportive. We help our daughter take care of our four year old grandson, so I have to devote a lot of my time to the little guy. But he’s learning when I have a deadline, I really do have to write. So I’ll make sure to spend some time with him first. I give him ‘quality time’ and my husband gives him both ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ time.

SDC: Family support makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it? What question would you like one of our viewers to answer that would help me select the winner of your newest book coming out?

Cara: What do you think of love stories which don’t have happily ever after endings? Do you like to read them?

SDC: Good question, Cara. Thanks.
It’s been a real pleasure having you here at A Pen for Your Thoughts. Please include your URL and where people can find your books.

Cara: Please stop by and visit me at http://www.caralynnjames.com/  and Seekerville.

Cara has put forth a great question for all of you folks coming by.
Please take a few minutes to respond to her challenge above.
I hope I draw you name in a few days. (Don't forget to include your email address.)

Cara: My books are available at local bookstores and through http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.christianbook.com/

Congratulations to our winner, Casey Crow of Mobile Alabama. Be watching for your book. And thanks for being a part of A Pen for Your Thoughts.

How Do We Know That We Know?

Anyone who enjoys writing might or might not be in a dilemma about what they want to write next week or five years from now. And if you happen to be a reader, and not a writer at all, what makes you think that you know exactly what you'll enjoy reading until you have actually read it?

Author, Linda Strawn has offered to contribute her take on genre writing. Hopefully, it will help you in selecting your next juicy book, whether it's putting your own words down on a page that will draw the reader in, or casting your eyes on the story or book type that just happens to tickle your fancy.

FINDING A GENRE THAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU

Writing Tip

By Linda Strawn

When is a novel born? For most authors stories are often sparked by an event, something someone said, or even a dream, and is brought to life by their active imaginations. These tales can swirl around in our minds for days, weeks, months, or even years before we transfer them to paper. But before these muses are worthy of becoming the written word, we need to determine how they are to be presented.

Genre, a French word defined by Merriam-Webster as a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content, is how we package our stories. Unlike a gift that is ready for giving, our writing must be “packaged” before it’s complete. The best time to choose a genre is before we begin to write, but how do we know which one is best for us?

The Why Factor

 

To begin, we must ask ourselves why we write. Is it to instruct or entertain? At the same time, we need to establish whether our future novel is non-fiction or fiction. Non-fiction is based on facts. History, science, how-to, and self-help books fall under this category. Determining which non-fiction genre to write in is limited to your expertise. The non-fiction genre, for the most part, is pretty easy to figure out.

Fiction . . . well, that’s another story.

The Which of the Matter

The list of fiction genres is long and constantly changing. Determining which fiction genre to write in is not so clear-cut. Some new authors find that they won’t pin down their genre until they’ve nearly completed a novel, but by then it might be too late. If you plan to write a marketable book, it helps to know the definition of each genre and what genre is currently popular. Since the publishing market changes almost as often as the seasons, we need to educate ourselves on what’s selling and what publishers are looking for.

I’ve listed many of the more common genres and their definitions in my blog. If you’re interested in taking a look, here’s the link: http://www.lindastrawn.com/thecountryauthor/2010/07/26/whats-your-genre/

To Everything There is a PURPOSE

Once you have a clear understanding of genres, ask yourself these questions:

1) What is my mission?

2) Who is my target audience?

1) What books do I like to read? Authors tend to write the types of stories they enjoy reading.

2) What are my interests? Do you like police work, art, movies? Do you have an interest in certain cultures, traveling, or the outdoors? It’s far easier to write about the things you like than it is the things you have no interest in.

3) What are my skills? Are you a professional? Do you have experience in the fields of medicine, law, or education? Base your writing on what you know. Share your skills with others. You can be sure there are readers out there who’d love to learn about a field they know little to nothing about.

Sustaining that Momentum

You may find that several genres fit your writing style, but most experts advise that new authors settle on only one. Don’t be tempted to flip-flop. Consistency will help you establish a platform, and having a platform helps to get your name out there. It’s a means for readers to connect with you, and often will make publishers take notice. After you’ve sold a substantial amount of books and become well-known in the publishing industry, your credibility will allow you to branch out into other genres without losing momentum, or your readership. Still, even the most celebrated authors have one specific genre they write in. Consider Stephen King for a moment. We all know he’s the king (no pun intended) of thrillers, but can you imagine him writing mushy romance? He probably could if he wanted to, but it might make some of his die-hard fans cringe.

Find one genre you enjoy and stick to it.

Happy writing!

Copyright 2011 - Linda Strawn

SINGING WINDS

http://www.lindastrawn.com/

http://www.lindastrawn.com/thecountryauthor


We're anxious to hear from you.
Are you a writer: What genres do you prefer writing in and why?
Are you a reader: What genres tickle your fancy most and why?