Serious Wednesday: Welcome to Valerie Comer!

Welcome to Valerie Comer,

a talented and award-winning author.

It's a real pleasure to welcome her to

Sunnybank Secrets!

Valerie is giving away ONE Ebook to some very fortunate person.

YOU could be that person!

Here's the deal:

*Comment

*leave your email addy

*Check back on a Wednesday within two weeks for the winner's name.

If YOU win, then you must reply on here, or PM me on Facebook.

***

Hi Carole! Thanks for inviting me to your blog. I really appreciate coming here and meeting your readers. Hi, everyone! I hope you love reading Christian contemporary romance as much as I love both reading and writing it!


Why do you enjoy writing romance?
I love finding small ways of mirroring the greatest love story of all: God’s passionate love for you and me. He woos us, He anticipates our needs, He gave up everything to make our relationship with Him possible. Christian romance novels can reflect aspects of that, and it’s an honor to write them.

I love reading them as well, mostly for the same reason!


Where do you get the ideas for your books?
I’m sure you find this, too, Carole — once you start watching out for ideas, they’re everywhere, like pollen in springtime! Several of my series are focused on characters who farm, garden, or otherwise participate in the local food movement. It’s always been my way of life, and I enjoy writing about it and inspiring others.

So that way of life is the backdrop for the Urban Farm Fresh Romance series, and I’ve explored various aspects of it in each of the books. Some of the stories are more focused on the lifestyle than others, but I’ve looked at goats in the city, community gardens, teaching gardening in schools, organic produce subscription services, etc.

The romance is always the center, not the “food thing.”


Which character in your new release most interested you while you wrote? Why?
The heroine! Kenna came into the series way back in Book 4, married to a much older man, an alcoholic, who passed away in that story. Her late husband was actually Book 4’s hero’s father! And I wondered why a woman like her, a nurse, would stay with an alcoholic for the six years of their marriage, and what would happen to her after his death.

So now it is Book 9, several story-years later, and it became her turn. Kenna is determined to stand alone and never marry again, but takes on in-home care of an elderly woman who’d broken bones in a fall. Her client’s grandson, who just opened a restaurant and lives in Grandma’s basement, is frustrated because the nurse can’t cook… and he can’t nurse. Ah, a match made in fiction heaven!


How do you create your characters?
They partially create themselves, as Kenna did above. She strolled on as a throw-away character that refused to leave the set completely. By the time I got to her story, she already had several physical and personality traits in place.

But honestly? I’m a Myers-Brigg fan! So I took what I knew of Kenna and ran it through the MBTI testing, then did the same with the chef hero, Tony, who’d also been a secondary character in some previous stories. I rubbed my hands in glee to discover they were the same personality type then thought of all the ways they could grate on each other’s nerves.


Are there spiritual themes you like to write about?
Yes, there are certain themes that crop up over and over again. Second chances are big in my stories, because how many times have we messed up and needed God’s forgiveness? Too many to count. Another recurring theme is belonging. Just as the characters are seeking that perfect relationship where the other person accepts them as they are and loves them anyway, we’re all searching for that on a deeper plane, too. Only Jesus can satisfy that longing deep inside.


When is your next book due out and can you tell us about it?
Lavished with Lavender releases June 23. It is Book 9 in a series and, while there are cameos from previous characters, it can definitely stand alone.

About the book:
Nursing the neighborhood matriarch through her convalescence from a nasty fall gives Makenna Johnson the break she needs from the head nurse on her ward. The family is plenty involved. Maybe too much so, since it includes a disapproving grandson who lives in Marietta’s basement.

If chef Tony Santoro weren’t so busy launching his new restaurant, he’d take on Nonna’s care himself, but it isn’t possible. If only the nurse was more obsessed with decent meals and less obsessed with polishing baseboards, he’d rest a lot easier.

How can two driven professionals who clash over Marietta’s care — and everything else — ease up enough to see one another’s hearts?

Find it on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084JBLN93/ 

What is it about this book that means the most to you?

Something in Kenna’s journey that takes her from being obsessively standoffish to finding her worth in Jesus and a love in Tony was very rewarding to write. She was a broken and bitter character at the beginning. It can be difficult to build reader empathy with a woman like that, and when a writer is in the middle of writing it, it’s hard to know if you’re pulling it off.

I always hold my breath when I hit send to my beta readers. Will they love the story as much as I did? Or will this be the one where they tell me to go back to my computer and try again, or worse yet, take up crocheting instead?

So when a beta reader messaged me to say that though she’d read every single one of my books before this, she may just have found her new favorite… that just blessed my socks off.

Bio:  

Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner. She writes engaging characters, strong communities, and deep faith into her green clean romances.

Valerie’s life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary Christian romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie grows much of her own food and is active in the local foods movement as well as her church. She only hopes her imaginary friends enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.

Social Media:

Website https://valeriecomer.com

Facebook https://facebook.com/valeriecomer.author

Pinterest http://pinterest.com/valeriecomer

Follow on Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/valerie-comer

Follow on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Valerie-Comer/e/B005GQYH5M/