Love is in the Air: Author interview with Rose Allen McCauley

Let's welcome Rose Allen McCauley, romance author, to the blog today!

Rose is here to talk about her soon to be released book Surrender to Peace.

Here's a picture of Rose's book cover:

And here's the interview with Rose (words by Alexis in bold, words from Rose not in bold)...
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Alexis: What category of Christian fiction do you write?

Rose: Romance is the category I am published in, and I also have a proposal being shopped by my agent in the small-town women’s fiction genre.

What is the name of your latest book and what is it about?

Surrender to Peace is about learning to surrender all to the Lord. Like most books I write, this is something the Lord is teaching me in my own life.

Who is your leading lady in your latest book? Describe her personality, flaws, desires and dreams.

Joy Worth is a travel agent who travels to Puerto Rico on her “honeymoon for one” after her ex-fiancé broke the engagement a week before the wedding. She longs to hear God’s voice again. Marriage and a family have always been her goal, but she is now losing hope.

Who is your main man in your latest book? Describe his looks, strengths and weaknesses.

Benigno “Ben” Cook is a handsome park ranger at El Yunque National Forest. He is a strong Christian and very caring. Can he point Joy back to the One who gives her joy?

What do you hope your readers will take away from your latest book?

That God gives His peace to those who surrender all to Him.

Share your journey to publication.

I had lots of stories and characters living in my head during the decades I taught school, but never enough time to write them down. After retiring, I wrote for over ten years before my first fiction was published by Barbour (Nick’s Christmas Carol in Christmas Belles of Georgia, Barbour, 2011) And just this week I got a call from my agent that a novella I submitted for their Courageous Brides collection has been contracted by Barbour Publishing, to be released in July 2016. Yippee!

When did you “know” you were a writer and how did you start to pursue it?

I have bits and pieces of stories and characters I wrote down years ago, but they didn’t all come together until I retired from teaching.

Do you have an agent? Share that story too. 

Yes, Tamela Hancock Murray. We met at one of the first ACFW conferences I ever attended, but she just became my agent about a year and a half ago. I consider her my friend, cheerleader, and encourager who always keeps me up to date on the market and what different publishing houses are looking for.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Always pray and seek God’s will, join ACFW, and continue to write and make connections in the writing world.

If you were not a writer, what would you do?

Have more time to read and scrapbook!

Paint a picture of your writing space. What makes it special to you?

I am typing this interview in my “office” which is a cluttered desk in the corner of my dining room, so the desk, my bookcase and the corner of the dining room table that I have to clear off whenever we have a big family dinner are my writing space right now. BUT, we are moving in a couple weeks, and in the new house I will have my own small, but personal office, so it will be very special to me after over ten years of writing without a space to call my own!

Growing up, who was your favorite Christian author?

So many. I loved Leon Uris’ Biblical and historical fiction. Why? His writing made ancient worlds come alive for me.

Every creative has a muse. What’s yours?

My mind, which oftentimes can’t be turned off. It’s like one of the “wheels within a wheel” in Ezekiel which went in many directions! I have to let the thoughts go where they wish, then take the ideas and try to put them in some semblance into a story that makes sense!

What is the most stressful part of being an author?

Trying to manage the writing, editing, blogging, marketing, etc. all at once. I am still in the learning stages of becoming more organized to be able to fit in all the necessary parts.

What is the most rewarding part of writing books?

Knowing I am pleasing God by being obedient to His call to write and also letters or emails from readers who are blessed by something I wrote.

If you could be a fictional character, who would you be? Why?

I don’t want to be anyone but the person God made me because it is so fun and fulfilling!

Complete this sentence: What I love the most about springtime is _________ because _________________.

What I love the most about springtime is longer days because my husband and I have more time to walk in the evenings before dark.

Thanks for the interview, Rose! And thank you for offering to give away one e-book copy of Surrender to Peace. Please leave a question for my readers to answer which, along with filling out the Rafflecopter widget, will qualify them to enter the contest.

Rose's question: What is your favorite thing about small towns and/or books set in small towns?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Author bio:

Rose has been writing for over ten years and was first published in several non-fiction anthologies and devotionals which are listed on her website/blog at www.rosemccauley.com

A retired schoolteacher who has been happily married to her college sweetheart for over four decades, she is also mother to three grown children and their spouses and grandmother to five lively kids!

Although Rose grew up in the largest city in Kentucky, she has lived on a farm of almost four hundred acres for the past forty-two years, but is in the process of moving to a small town in KY.

She loves to read and write small town stories. If you have a small town story you’d like to share, please stop by her website and leave a comment. She would love to hear from you.

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Connect with Rose:
Facebook - http://on.fb.me/1LrXNoS
Twitter - @RoseAMcCauley
Website - http://rosemccauley.com/