The Story Behind "What Remains True" (novel) by Nancy Naigle

Dear Reader friends,

Today, we're featuring my author friend Nancy Naigle and her NEW novel that releases today (May 3, 2022)!

Join me in wishing Nancy a "Happy BOOK Birthday" by leaving a comment for her at the end of this guest blog post.

Nancy is here today with the story behind her story and she's hosting a book giveaway! The winner will receive a signed, paperback copy of her featured novel. 

Enjoy!

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Story Behind the Story of What Remains True by Nancy Naigle:

Hey y’all! Nancy Naigle here, writing from my back porch in Patrick Springs, VA with a beautiful view of No Business Mountain. I’m so excited about my newest book release, What Remains True.

Just look at that cover! Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s even prettier in person. The blue is a warm, washed denim color which is just perfect with a rugged cowboy hero and a back drop of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In 2019, I released a novel titled Christmas Angels set in the fictional mountain town of Antler Creek, North Carolina. A beautiful setting along the barn quilt trail, the story had a cast of neighbors and merchants that absolutely stuck with me. I found readers loved it too, and so I was so excited when I had the chance to return to Antler Creek in this book written for WaterBrook Press.

I’ve been a long-time rodeo fan, traveling as far as Vegas to catch events including the National Final Rodeo for years. The sport is fast and exciting, and sometimes scary too. It’s so much easier to watch if you don’t have a personal relationship with someone out there competing! It’s also no secret that I had never ridden a horse until I was 52, but I fell in love with trail riding and the beauty of this world from the saddle—taking it all in from between the ears of a horse.

Those two things had me dreaming up a smart, competitive cowboy who is laser-focused on winning the national title this year. He’s not just a rugged cowboy though. This guy is smart, educated, has long-term goals and even bakes a mean strawberry pie. Sounds perfect, right? Well, he has his troubles too, and he and his parents have been estranged since he chose rodeo over the medical career he’d gone to college for to appease his father. Pair this “I only have eyes for rodeo” guy with a gal who is fresh out of a divorce from a husband who is bellyaching over his alimony check, and we have two people who have anything but love on their minds for sure.

Of course, life is always changing and these two are in for some interesting challenges along the way, but they have a wonderful community and friends around them to keep them on the road. I just love that about Antler Creek.

Fans of Christmas Angels will be delighted to see that Krissy, owner of Hardy House: Fine Linens & Gifts on Main Street, is back and we get to know her better in this book. Maizey is still doling out unsolicited advice at the Creekside Café, and Matt and Liz are still cozy at Angels Rest and doing up parties that the whole town gathers for too.

I found so much joy writing this story and the growth that both Adam and Merry Anna go through is beautiful. I can’t wait for you to join me in Antler Creek, and I hope you’ll let me know what you think after you read it, and I’d love to hear your ideas for another visit back.

I’m beginning to think of Antler Creek as my annual time-share vacation resort.

Join me!

Hop over to my website www.nancynaigle.com to sign up for my newsletter for updates about new books, sales, and the new movies on the way too! 

Visit www.nancynaigle.com/whatremainstrue today and read the first chapter of What Remains True FREE and download lots of fun goodies like bookmarks, barn quilts to color and even jigsaw puzzles and a word search.

Hugs and Happy Reading!

Love,

Nancy

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Author Bio:

USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle whips up small-town love stories with a dash of suspense and a whole lot of heart. 

She began her contemporary romance series, Adams Grove, while juggling a successful career as an SVP for Bank of America and life on a seventy-six-acre goat farm.

Now enjoying an early retirement from the financial industry, she devotes her time to writing, antiquing, cooking, trail riding on her Palomino, and the occasional spa day with friends. A native of Virginia Beach, she now calls the Blue Ridge Mountains home.

Nancy's 2021 release of The Shell Collector debuted in the top #20 on the ECPA Bestseller list.

Several of Nancy's books have inspired made-for-television movies. Watch Christmas Joy, Sand Dollar Cove and The Secret Ingredient on the Hallmark Channel and Hope at Christmas on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. Nancy wrote the novelization for the first three Hallmark Original Movies in the popular Christmas in Evergreen series too.

Sign up for Nancy's newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything going on with her story worlds.

Nancy also enjoys collaborating with other authors on projects like her humorous women's fiction, Seasoned Southern Sleuths Cozy Mysteries previously known as The Granny Series co-written with Kelsey Browning. Honey, these are not your momma's grannies.

Stay in touch with Nancy through social media and her newsletter.

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Blurb for Nancy’s book, What Remains True:

An uplifting novel about three months that may change three lives—and lead to love—from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle. 

Working at a little shop on Main Street in a small town is exactly the break that executive Merry Anna Foster needs following her divorce. She’s made a bet with her ex-husband that she can live on the amount of money she’s giving him in alimony. If she can do it, then Kevin will have to stop complaining and leave her alone. But after three months of this new life, will she even want to leave Antler Creek?

Adam Locklear, bull rider and owner of the local feedstore, is having the best year of his rodeo career. He’s also a bit distracted by the pretty new neighbor living in his old bunkhouse. But Adam has no time for matters of the heart. He’s got his future all mapped out, and that future doesn’t involve a woman just yet. It doesn’t involve parenting a little girl either. However, Carly Fowler still suddenly leaves five-year-old Zan—the daughter Adam didn’t know he had—in his care.

Is it possible that the future holds a life even better than what Merry Anna and Adam had each dreamed of? One that includes both tenderness and even love—not just for each other but for Zan too.

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Buy Nancy’s book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, indieBound, GooglePlay, iBooks, Kobo or Audible

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Connect with Nancy:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyNaigleAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NancyNaigle
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nancynaigle/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancynaigle/

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*United States of America Residents ONLY may enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below:

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Romantic Reads: A Change of Scenery

The Story Behind A Change of Scenery (book) by Davalynn Spencer

My start in the writing business was strictly nonfiction. As a crime-beat reporter for the Cañon City Daily Record, I dredged up the facts. As a features writer, I built human-interest stories around the facts. And as the religion-page editor, I laid out the page and added one of my photographs with an appropriate Bible verse and inspirational thought as a cutline. Again – facts, but from the Word of God.

However, at a small-town daily newspaper, reporters do what needs to be done whether it’s their gig or not. One of my ongoing assignments was to find interesting news items at the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center for the paper’s Back In Time series.

As some might say, that place was a gold mine. It still is.

Gold was a big deal in Colorado’s late 1800s, but prospectors didn’t find much of the precious metal around Cañon City. However, there is more than one type of gold, and while hard-rock miners were chipping away at gullies and washes in the high country, ranchers and farmers were making a go of it down here in the Arkansas River Valley because, well, miners have to eat.

One area north of town is still referred to as Garden Park – where vegetables grew in well-laid-out farms and countless dinosaur fossils were unearthed and fought over by rival university’s paleontology departments.

Fruit orchards still dot the Arkansas River basin, and ranchers still run cattle on the sweet mountain grass. Much of the area is as it was in spite of the 21st century’s noise and clutter.

Cañon City is an Old West town that just happened to survive because the founders built most of the buildings on Main Street from locally quarried stone. When places like Cripple Creek (over the hill at 10,000 feet) burned to the ground – twice – Cañon City lived on.

The place is ripe with history, and in my reporter days, I spent hours at the history museum reading amazing accounts of early life here. And the more I read, the more I envisioned some of the pioneers who settled the area and their Native American counterparts who were here first. The more I envisioned, the more I wanted to tell the stories, but not in a history book.

I learned during my middle-school-teaching days that students will devour historical facts if they are laced through an interesting novel. But so do adults. Historical fiction remains a selling market because, as I like to say, life wasn’t easier in the past but it was simpler. And simple is something people crave today – a respite from the mad go-and-show world in which we live.

My three novels in The Cañon City Chronicles are each set against backdrops of historical mile-markers from this area. And so is Book 4, A Change of Scenery. Silent pictures were a big deal here in the early 1900s, but they weren’t called silent pictures because pictures had never talked.

The flickers that “flicked” through nickelodeons were not referred to as silent pictures until “talkies” came along.

As I studied this era of local history, I was fascinated by what I read. Moving-picture companies paid ranchers top dollar to “rent” their cattle, horses, and ranches for filming. Even the ranchers themselves were paid day-wages – a whopping $5 per man per day.

Anchored in the rich historical facts, a story emerged in my heart of a rancher who was smitten by a big-city gal with the Selig-Polyscope company. The “what-if” nerve of a novelist began to throb, and A Change of Scenery played across my mind’s eye, starring two little boys from Book 3 in the Hutton-family saga known as The Cañon City Chronicles.

Faith is always a character in my stories – an aspect that directs lives the same way it does in real life. This book has no preaching but plenty of wisdom shared by truth-speaking characters. God and His peace and presence weave through the book the same way they do in my daily life: intimately, steadily, tenderly.

Tragedy takes its place on the stage, just as it does in our lives. But how a character handles it determines how that character develops. Again, an aspect that mirrors the reality of our lives.

And isn’t that what fiction is all about? Mirroring reality. I hope you’ll read A Change of Scenery and be blessed by the challenges, heartaches, and blessings that adorn this tender Western romance.

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Author Bio:

Davalynn Spencer is a Publisher’s Weekly and ECPA bestselling author and winner of the Will Rogers Gold Medallion for Inspirational Western Fiction.

She is the wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters and the author of sixteen titles, both contemporary and historical. She blogs monthly for Christian Authors Network, contributes to the American Christian Fiction Writers blog, and writes her own weekly inspirational blog.

Davalynn appears on the area radio broadcast, Write Time Radio, and teaches writing workshops when not wrangling Keeper the Cowdog and mouse detectors Annie and Oakley. 

Connect with her at https://www.davalynnspencer.com

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Blurb for A Change of Scenery:

Inspirational Historical Western Romance

 

A hidden fear. A daring challenge. A liberating love.

A motorcar accident on a rainy Chicago night steals Ella Canaday’s fiancé as well as her ability to ride. Clinging to the remnants of her independence, she cuts her hair and her ties with her wealthy father and takes a train west as the seamstress with a moving-picture company. 

Colorado offers the change of scenery she needs. But she doesn’t expect the bold cowboy who challenges her to reclaim both the loves she thought she’d lost forever.

Cale Hutton needs the money the moving-picture company is paying for use of his cattle and horses, but he’s not keen on some city gal gettin’ in the way at the ranch. Between the filming crew by day and a rogue cattle-killing bear by night, his attention snags on the little bob-haired seamstress. Something about her easy manner around his horse sets his mind to find out what she’s hiding and why she has such a pull on his heart.

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Buy Davalynn’s book, A Change of Scenery:

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1064987

Davalynn's website: https://davalynnspencer.com/books/a-change-of-scenery/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RWJBTWG/

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Connect with Davalynn:

Quarterly Author Update and free e-book: http://eepurl.com/xa81D

Blog: https://davalynnspencer.com/subscribe/

Website: https://www.davalynnspencer.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDavalynnSpencer

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/davalynn-spencer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/davalynnspencer

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5051432.Davalynn_Spencer

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/davalynnspencer/boards/

Amazon Author: https://amazon.com/author/davalynnspencer

CAN: http://christianauthorsnetwork.com/davalynn-spencer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davalynnspencer/

My Blog's 10th Year Birthday Bash: Davalynn Spencer's book giveaway

Welcome to the 10th day of my blog's birthday bash!

Please welcome my author friend Davalynn Spencer.

She's here to giveaway two of her books!

Enter the book giveaway contest via the Rafflecopter widget the end of this blog post. Only residents of the USA are eligible to receive a signed paperback copy of this author's books. International residents will only receive ebook copies due to costs of mailing books outside of the USA.

Let's learn a little bit more about Davalynn and her books ...

Author Bio:

As the wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters, Davalynn Spencer has enjoyed a front-row seat on cowboys and their lifestyle. 

She writes Christian romance with a Western flair, both contemporary and historical, winning the Will Rogers Gold Medallion for Inspirational Western Fiction, and seeing two of her historical novellas on the ECPA and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller lists. 

Her countless nonfiction pieces have appeared in Prorodeo Sports News, American Cowboy, Western Horseman, The Upper Room, Power for Living, The Quiet Hour, The Christian Standard, and other periodicals. 

She’s also fairly certain her previous career as a rodeo journalist and award-winning crime-beat reporter prepared her for her life #lovingthecowboy in Colorado. 

When she’s not writing, teaching writing workshops, or playing the keyboard on her church worship team, she’s wrangling Blue the Cowdog and mouse detectors Annie and Oakley. 

Connect with Davalynn at https://davalynnspencer.com/

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Back Cover Blurb for An Impossible Price:

Christian Historical Western Romance 

He has to choose – keep his secrets or the woman he loves. He can’t have both.

With no husband of her own, midwife Sophie Price lives to keep others calm in their hour of need. But when a handsome horse handler steps off the train with a fiery stallion, he brings anything but calm as he looks her dead in the eye and clear through to her soul.

Clay Ferguson returns to the place he once called home, hunting a fresh start and the one woman who could draw him back. If he can hide his battered heart and the brutality of his past, maybe she’ll take another look and give him a second chance.

Both bear scars from their fathers. Both fight for life. Together, they may learn that love is worth its impossible price.

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Back Cover Blurb for Just in Time for Christmas:

She’s seventeen with a ranch to run, a fear of heights, and a cowboy intent on stealing her heart. 

Abigale Millerton leaves a Denver girl’s school and returns to her grandparents’ high-country ranch to find the boy she’d grown up with not a boy any longer—and butting in on her challenge with local timber thieves. If he’d stop telling her what to do, they might get along.

Seth Holt has loved Abigale since before he knew better. And now that she’s back in the high country, she’s still as bull-headed as ever. But Seth can match her, and he’s determined to keep her out of harm’s way and in his line of sight. Trouble is, he’d rather keep her in his arms.

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Connect with Davalynn:
Quarterly Newsletter sign-up and free e-book: http://eepurl.com/xa81D
Blog: http://davalynnspencer.com/subscribe/
Website: https://www.davalynnspencer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDavalynnSpencer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/davalynnspencer
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5051432.Davalynn_Spencer
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/davalynnspencer/boards/
Amazon Author: https://www.amazon.com/Davalynn-Spencer/e/B002EZUEZK

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/davalynn-spencer

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Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below: 

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14 Days of Sweet Stories: Pamela's book, "Second Chance Love"

Interview with Pamela S. Meyers, author of Second Chance Love: 

Alexis: Why did you choose a rural location in Illinois for the setting of this story?

Pamela: I’ve attended the Pioneer City Rodeo in Palestine, IL every Labor Day weekend for over ten years and it’s such a fun weekend. It’s about a five-hour drive from Chicago and I needed a rodeo within a day’s drive of the city.

Alexis: Does the entire story happen over one weekend? Explain the time span. 

Pamela: The story happens mostly the week leading up to Labor Day and then moves ahead about a month or so as it wraps up. The actual rodeo event covers Friday through Sunday and the festivities end with a Labor Day parade on Labor Day. To give them more time together than a three-day weekend I have Jace arriving there early to prepare for a rodeo clinic he’s to teach to kids and Syd’s boss sends her down there then to convince him to make the right legal decision. It’s still a fast few days, but they spent time together two years earlier. Jace is Sydney’s boss’ nephew and the boss asked Syd to show him around Chicago while he was in town. They were strongly attracted to each other that one day, but went their separate ways and now, they are suddenly together again.

Alexis: Tell us about your story’s heroine Sydney Knight. Why did you choose Chicago as the place where she hails from? What is it about Sydney that makes her special? What are her hopes and dreams?

Pamela: I live in the northwest burbs of Chicago and know it well. It’s also a city young professionals flock to for work and socializing. Syd has dreams but they have been blunted by the loss of her dad in a horse accident when she was in high school and being dumped by her groom on her wedding day. These setbacks have caused her to shelve her original dreams and become a lawyer like her dad was. She’s determined to keep her focus on advancing in her job, despite the strong attraction she feels with Jace McGowan.

Alexis: Why did you choose that particular rodeo? 

Pamela: You know the adage, “Write what you know.” Because I’ve attended the Pioneer City Rodeo so many times, I’m very familiar with it. But, it’s more than that. Located on the Illinois prairie about five hours south of Chicago, the town of Palestine is like taking a step back in time. Main Street is lined with storefronts that date back to the late 1800s in some cases, and everyone knows everybody else. It’s so small there isn’t even a hotel or motel and visitors to the rodeo must find lodging in nearby Robinson about five miles away. Also, cell phone service is spotty. A perfect setting for a couple who seems to have nothing in common to discover they have more in common than they thought. No distractions.

Alexis: Tell us about your story’s leading man Jace McGowan. Why did you choose Texas as the home of your bull-riding hero? What makes him strong? What makes him weak? What are his life goals?

Pamela: Isn’t Texas where all the cowboys live? LOL. Seriously, I have a lot of friends who are Texans and many bull riders come from Texas and Oklahoma. I wanted him to live on a large ranch and Texas just seemed to fit. Jace is strong in his resolve to keep the family ranch going despite his dad dying a couple years ago and leaving the finances of the ranch in bad shape. He’s always been a strong guy, both physically and mentally, but his newfound faith in Christ has made him strong spiritually in a way that passes physical or mental strength. His greatest weakness is impulsivity, something he has to work on.

Alexis: What was the most challenging aspect of writing this story? Why? 

Pamela: Making my protagonist (the one who needs to change the most) likable at the beginning of the story always challenges me. I was so intent on showing all Syd’s flaws from the get-go that I “forgot” to show her softer side. Part of the problem, too, was that I hadn’t correctly nailed down what was driving her resistance to see where a relationship with Jace would go. Once I had that figured out, everything else fell into place. 

Alexis: What was the most rewarding part of writing this story?

Pamela: Being able to vicariously go to the rodeo I enjoy so much and relive that experience on a daily basis while I was writing was a blast. On a deeper note, seeing my characters deal with their issues, both spiritual and practical, and overcome them. 

Alexis: What was your go-to snack or beverage when writing this book? 

Pamela: Anything chocolate and Diet Coke. Although since writing the story, I’ve been trying to cut back on Diet Coke and I’ve discovered a fruit flavored sparkling water at Aldi’s that I drink more often than the soft drink these days. 

Alexis: If you could spend a weekend with Sydney and Jace, what would you all do together? Why?

Pamela: I would love to travel to Jace’s family ranch and spend a couple days there. Of course, Sydney would have to come with me. Since we both live in the Chicago area, we could fly to San Antonio together and Jace could show us around the ranch, maybe take a trail ride. Then I’d like to go into San Antonio and go to the River Walk I’ve heard so much about. I’ve been to Teas several times but never to San Antonio.

Alexis: Complete this sentence: When I wrote "the end" to this story, I thought _______________________ because _________________________.

Pamela: When I wrote “the end” to this story, I thought it was time for the sequel because Clint and Lacy’s story needs to be told next. I’m working on the plot now!

Alexis: Thanks for the interview, Pam! God bless you!

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Author bio: 

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago with her two rescue cats. 

Her novels include Thyme for Love and her historical romance Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Her novella What Lies Ahead is part of a novella collection called The Bucket List Dare, which is now available at Amazon in both print and Kindle formats. 

Second Chance Love from Bling!, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, releases in January 2017. When she isn’t at her laptop writing her latest novel, she can often be found nosing around Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.

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Blurb for Pamela’s book, Second Chance Love: Chicago lawyer Sydney Knight and Texas bull rider Jace McGowan have nothing in common but everything to lose when they are thrust together during a weekend rodeo in rural Illinois. Neither one of them would have imagined two years ago that the deep attraction they sensed during a day-long outing would resurface when Sydney’s boss assigns her to Jace’s legal case.

Sydney has been through a world of hurt since losing her dad when she was sixteen, then being dumped the morning of her wedding. She’s sworn off romance and instead devotes her time toward a partnership in her father’s law office.

Jace has found faith in God and wants out of his sponsor contract with a risqué restaurant chain that requires him to pose with scantily-clad women. He’s about to bail on the contract and pay steep penalties—something he can ill afford, given that his deceased father left the family with unpaid taxes.

Sydney is determined she’ll get Jace out of his contract and return to Chicago with her heart intact, but Jace is just as determined to help her see they are meant to be together. Can a city girl with roots deep in Chicago and a bull-riding rancher with roots deep in Texas give themselves a second-chance love?

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Buy Pamela's book on Amazon

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Connect with Pamela:
Website - www.pammeyerswrites.com
Blog - www.pamelasuemeyers.com
Facebook - www.facebook.com/PamelaSMeyersAuthor/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/pamelameyers

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Enter the book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below: 

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A Prelude to Christmas: Mary L. Ball's story about love in the valley

Welcome our guest to the blog, Mary L. Ball. She's here to talk about her novel, A Love Valley Christmas, and she's agreed to give away a copy of her book! Enjoy!

Here's the blurb for A Love Valley Christmas: Step off the pavement, onto a dirt road and join our fictional characters celebrating Christmas in Love Valley North Carolina, a real western community.

When Susie Aleman isn’t running Spurs, a mercantile in Love Valley, she’s raising her sixteen year old son, Zam. She’s content with life, and relies on no one but God. Then Ty Porter moves to Love Valley and stampedes into her heart.

Ty Porter has given up on women. All he wants is a fresh start, and a new pair of cowboy boots. That is until he meets Susie.
As Christmas Eve rolls around can he convince Susie that love after thirty-five is worth the risk? 

Will Susie lead Ty to see that the Lord can be trusted?

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Interview with Mary L. Ball, author of A Love Valley Christmas:

Alexis: Is Love Valley, NC a fictional town or real one? What was your inspiration behind choosing this community as the background for your book?

Mary: Love Valley, North Carolina is very much real. It’s a small town nestled in the mountains north of Statesville, NC, a little over an hour drive from me. The quaint community thrives on its western atmosphere. The main road in town is dirt. It offers hitching rails so visitors can secure their horses while they shop at the country store, tack shop, general store, hardware store, and the blacksmith shop. The town has restaurants, saloons, and a few other businesses. The residents of Love Valley (about 120) live there year round. Just like other small town they have access to modern amenities.

Prism Book Group (my publisher) sent out a call for Cowboy Christmas novellas and when Joan (editor-in-Chief) said that they could be old west or contemporary. I thought it would be fun and wanted to be included. I’m glad that I could write about a contemporary cowboy because I’m not an author who writes westerns. 

Alexis: Susie Aleman is your story’s heroine. Tell us about her. What does she like and dislike? How does she look and act? What are her deepest fears and what brings her the greatest joy? 

Mary: She’s of average height and build. She’s a conservative woman with shoulder length dark blond hair who takes pride in her son and her merchandise business that she calls, “Spurs.” Her joy comes from enjoying the accomplishments made in running a business and raising a son. She is happy to be part of the community and her church. Still, there are times when she misses not having a good man to confide in. 

Alexis: Susie is content with her life until Ty Porter comes to town and creates a longing in her heart she never knew she had. Can you give us insight into how Ty affects her without giving away your story’s plot?

Mary: Ty’s a handsome cowboy and has a way with words. She is immediately drawn to his polite charm. He likes to call her “Pretty lady.”

The first time they meet is in her store: With a glide in his step he approached the front and laid the shoebox on the counter. She rang his sale, he handed her cash, grinned and lifted the rim of his wide brimmed hat. “Ma’am, nice store.”

“Thanks.” Susie returned his smile. Her breath caught as she looked into eyes which reminded her of the candy bar she’d eaten earlier. 

Alexis: It looks like Susie is going to learn a lesson or two in this story. Can you share one (of the lessons)?

Mary: Love can come back into your life at any age. This is a hard lesson for her to understand. It involves her letting go of her past. 

Alexis: Tell us about your story’s hero Ty Porter. What makes him tick? What makes him smile? Why did he, before meeting Susie, give up on women?

Mary: Ty is a country man who likes horses and roping. He is happiness in the outdoors. He enjoyed the fast life before he moved to Love Valley and is determined not to fall prey (again) to the traps of partying and staying out at all hours with women. To keep the promise he made to himself he plans to live a quite rancher’s life alone. 

Alexis: What kind of “fresh start” is Ty looking for and how does he find it in Love Valley?

Mary: He moved away from his past to become a better man.

Alexis: It looks like Ty and Susie are dealing with complications and progress in their individual faith journey with God. Can you share details on their struggles and breakthroughs?

Mary: Susie struggles with believing the Lord can change a person. Ty deals with commitment issues as he learns about God’s plan. 

Alexis: What special message do you have for your readers in this book? 

Mary: I believe 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) sums it up: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Alexis: If you could play counselor to Ty and Susie, what would you tell them and why?

Mary: I would tell both of them to let go of the past and look to the Lord for help with their future. I think each of us have a place in the past that we visit too often. Sometimes, that hinders us from leaning completely on God and moving forward. 

Alexis: Thanks for the interview, Mary! Do you have any closing thoughts?

Mary: Alexis, thank you for having me on your blog. I look forward to meeting your readers and wish everyone a wonderful Christmas.

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Author bio: Mary L. Ball is a multi-published author. She resides in the heart of North Carolina. When she isn't working on her latest story, she enjoys fishing, reading, and singing with her husband at church functions.

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Buy Mary's books:

Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Smashwords

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Connect with Mary:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/gracefulbooks/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/inspires4mary
GoodReads - https://www.goodreads.com/Marywrites

Mary’s singing ministry site: http://heirsofsalvation2.webs.com
Website- http://www.marylball.com
Blog - http://www.marylball.com/blog-monthly-smiles

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Fill out the book giveaway contest entry form on the Rafflecopter widget for your chance to WIN a copy of Mary's book: 

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