About the Book:
AJ Sullivan never wanted the homestead. Inherited as a punishment from his grandfather, it has sat empty for fifteen years and fallen into ruin. He’s glad to finally unload it. But a clean break isn’t possible when he can’t get the young widow Shelby off his mind.
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Welcome to Misty Willow, a place that will have as great a hold over the reader as it does over its inhabitants.
Author Mini-view:
We have another author mini-view and giveaway on the books this week and the lovely Johnnie Alexander is joining us. Let's get this interview started!
Tell us a bit about yourself and your writing. (How did you get started? How many books have you written? Where are you on your writing journey?)
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I wrote about my writing journey when Anna featured my historical novel Where Treasure Hides a few months ago. After it was published, I returned to a story I first started as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) way back in 2005.
I’d gone back to this story several times because of its deeply personal premise. It’s about someone who desperately wants to raise her children in the house where she herself experienced such happy memories. I had lived in a house like that as a teenager, and I would have loved to raise my children there. Circumstances didn’t allow that, but I poured my own desire into my protagonist. We had little else in common, but we did have that—the love for a 19th century brick house that had been abandoned for a time.
When I sent the proposal to my agent, she suggested creating a series. I added a few paragraphs for a couple more stories to the proposal and a few months later signed a contract with Revell.
Where She Belongs is the first story in the Misty Willow Series. The second, When Love Arrives, releases in September, and I’m busy writing the third story which releases next year.
My first novella, The Healing Promise, will be included in Barbour’s Courageous Brides Collection which releases in July.
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What is your favorite Bible verse?
I have more than one so I’ll share a different one this time than I did before. These verses are a theme in Where She Belongs and my heroine’s favorites, too.
He brought me into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me (Psalm 18:19, NIV).
I will be glad and rejoice in your love . . . You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place (Psalm 31:7-8 NIV).
The promise of God setting my feet in a spacious place resonates with me during tough times.
What have you read lately that you would recommend?
The last novel I read was The Pawn by Stephen James. I have the next book in that series on my Kindle, but I’m afraid to begin it. Once I do, I won’t want to put it down. And I’ve got my own book to get written first!
What book are you featuring today?
Where She Belongs is about Shelby Kincaid, a young widow who dreams of raising her children in the place where she most felt loved and cherished. Sadly, the house that once belonged to her grandparents has stood empty and desolate for about fourteen years. The current owner, AJ Sullivan, is glad to get rid of the house which he inherited as a punishment from his grandfather.
As Shelby’s and AJ’s lives intertwine, they discover how their grandparents’ long ago decisions have affected them both in good ways and sad ways.
If you could tell people who are going to read/have read your books one thing, what would it be?
Be aware of the memories you’re creating for those you love.
About the Author:
She also has won Best Novel and Best Writer awards (Florida Christian Writers Conferences), and Bronze Medalist (My Book Therapy Frasier Contest). She volunteers as a category coordinator for the ACFW Genesis Contest, judges various contests, and serves as marketing director for the MidSouth Christian Writers Conference.
A graduate of Rollins College (Orlando) with a Master of Liberal Studies degree, Johnnie treasures family memories, classic movies, road trips, and stacks of books. She lives in the Memphis area with a small herd of alpacas and Rugby, the princely papillon who trees raccoons.
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