Laurie Kingery is Back!

A warm welcome, Laurie. It's always a treat to have such a talented writer here on this blog! AND she's giving away a copy of her The Rancher's Courtship!
Comments and email addys will put you in the running.

Laurie, tell us about your latest release. The cover looks fantastic!

THE RANCHER’S COURTSHIP is the fourth book in my “Brides of Simpson Creek” series for Love Inspired Historicals. It’s Caroline Wallace’s story. Caroline had lost her fiancé in an influenza epidemic in THE DOCTOR TAKES A WIFE, book 2, and at the end of book 3, THE SHERIFF’S SWEETHEART, we see Caroline deciding to devote herself to the town’s children as a teacher, rather than risk her heart on love any more. Then Jack Collier arrives in town, trailing a herd of cattle, and with twin daughters who need a temporary home…

Oh, my goodness. That sounds great. What was the hardest part to write?

It’s always the middle. I have a great premise in mind, and of course, a Happily Ever After at the end, but when I reach the middle I always panic and wonder what I was thinking, HOW MANY WORDS ARE LEFT? and just what I’m going to do to get to the End. Of course, it always works out, but I leaned heavily on prayer and the advice of a trusted friend this time.

I think that's the hardest for most writers! lol. We all have choices of items that help us write. What’s yours? Can you give the readers a glimpse into your writing space? What’s your favorite writing reference tool?

I’m fortunate to have an office of my own complete with a desk, computer stand, and shelves for reference books and a chest of drawers for writing supplies—and a window that looks out on a maple tree. I’ve spent a lot of hours gazing out that window, watching the change of seasons. I always burn a candle while writing. My favorite general refence is Rodale’s SYNONYM FINDER and since I write books set in Texas in the 1800’s, Fehrenbach’s LONE STAR, a very comprehensive Texas history.

I love synonym finders. One of my favs too. If you had to choose one person to go with you for encouragement to a secluded cabin, who would that be?

My husband, because he wouldn’t expect me to entertain him. He’d be happy to go off and catch dinner in the lake (or shoot it, depending on the season) or at least grill a great pair of steaks or barbecued chicken.

What are you working on now?

The next book in the series, which will be Faith Bennett’s series. It’ll be called THE PREACHER’S BRIDE. Faith is an interesting person to have as a heroine of a Christian historical, because she doesn’t have any—faith, that is! It’s challenging to write an agnostic heroine, I’m finding, but I never want to write the same thing over and over again, so it’s fun. I’m hoping the readers will find her faith journey especially interesting, as well as her love story, of course!

What is one of the happiest moments of your life or an accomplishment that you’re especially proud of?

Happiest moments—when my two daughters were born, and when I married Tom. I’m proud of being nominated for a Carol award last year from ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) for a previous book, THE OUTLAW’S LADY.

How do you choose names for your characters? Do you do a lot of research on them?

I can’t say it’s terrifically hard in the western era because they used Biblical names a lot and generally common names for that era. But I do think it’s important—nothing will throw me out of another writer’s book faster than a name which is too modern, or has a modern spelling to it. Folks in the 1800’s weren’t into cutesy spellings, such as starting a name with “K” instead of the “C” it’s usually spelled with, if that makes any sense, and I don’t like names like that now. I have to really like a name before I’ll use it for a character, because I have to use it for a 75,000-word book—and longer, because these characters may appear in other books in the series.

I agree totally! Can you tell us some of your favorite books or characters that you cherish?

I confess I have a SERIOUS weakness for Roarke in JD Robb’s “in Death” series. Now, there is the perfect man—rich beyond words, yet nurturing of his heroine-wife at the same time. I’d like to be brave and bold like his Eve, too. I don’t write books with a lot of violence and gory detail, so these books are a nice vacation for me.

And fun things about yourself that the readers might enjoy knowing?

I made a book trailer this time for THE RANCHER’S COURTSHIP! You can see it on the home page of my website at http://www.lauriekingery.com/

I’m really thrilled with how it came out, and can’t recommend Paperbackflyers highly enough!!!

Is there one piece of advice that’s been especially valuable to you?

Write down the time you spend writing on a calendar that you see every day. That way you cannot fool yourself about how much time you are or are not writing. I use different colored dots to indicate the type of writing day I’ve had, too—red for when the story’s coming “hot,” yellow for average, and blue for when I just can’t get going or am interrupted a lot. I write down time spent in writing-related activities, like blog-writing and conferences, too, but they get a different kind of sticker. It’s a really kindergarten-style form of encouragement, but it works for me. And it’s proof that this isn’t just a hobby if the IRS suddently starts to question my commitment to this as my job—if advance and royalty checks aren’t enough. J

Oh, I like that. Never thought about posting it on a calendar, but I think I'll use that advice. I use a calendar for lots of other things; why not that? Thanks! Please share information where readers can check out and buy your books:

My website is http://www.lauriekingery.com/
My books are available in places like Barnes and Noble, Walmart, etc. as well as online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christian Book Distributors (CBD.com) and Harlequin.com

Thanks, Laurie!
Readers, comments and email addresses will give you a chance to win her book.

Blessings to all.