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Writer’s Desk: Karen Witemeyer

Q&A with Karen Witemeyer

For those who love to smile as they read, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Voted #1 Readers’ Favorite Christian Historical Author in 2023 by Family Fiction Magazine, Karen is a multiple award-winning author and a firm believer in the power of happy endings. She is an avid cross-stitcher, tea drinker, and family board game player who makes her home in Abilene, TX with her heroic husband who vanquishes laundry dragons and dirty dish villains whenever she’s on deadline.

Connect with Karen on her website, Facebook, BookBub, sign up for her newsletter, and join her Facebook Group, The Posse

More about Fairest of Heart

Once upon a time in Texas . . .

Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow. When she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress whose troupe is leaving Chicago to tour the West, she hides her figure beneath shapeless dresses and keeps her head down. But she still manages to attract the wrong attention, leaving her prospects in tatters–and her jealous mistress plotting her demise.

After his brother lost his life over a woman, Texas Ranger Titus Kingsley has learned to expect the worst from women and is rarely disappointed. So when a young lady found in suspicious circumstances takes up residence with the seven old drovers living at his grandfather’s ranch, Titus is determined to keep a close eye on her.

With a promotion hanging in the balance, Titus is assigned to investigate a robbery case tied to Penelope’s acting troupe, and all evidence points to Penelope’s guilt. But Titus might just be convinced that the fairest woman of all has a heart as pure as her last name . . . if only he can prove it.

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Q&A with Karen Witemeyer

TG: Everyone always asks for an interesting fact, but we’re going to flip the question. What is one boring fact about yourself?

KW: I’m in bed by 10:30 every night. Sometimes I even fall asleep in my recliner before bedtime.

TG: Where did you get the inspiration for Fairest of Heart?

KW: Fairest of Heart is the first book in my new TEXAS EVER AFTER series, which will feature retellings of classic fairy tales with a Western spin. I’ve always adored fairy tales—the romance, the adventure, the battle between good and evil. Those elements find their way into all of my stories in one way or another, so why not pay more direct homage to the happily-ever-after tales I’ve adored since childhood? As you might have guessed, Fairest of Heart is a Western retelling of Snow White. A Texas Ranger hero, a beautiful heroine battling hardship, seven retired drovers at the Diamond D Ranch, and a villainess with a fondness for mirrors come together in this fun reimagining of a classic tale.

TG: Do you have any habits or rituals as a writer?

KW: I like to wear bookish socks when I write at home. Half of my sock drawer is filled with socks that have books or cowboy designs. They make me grin and get me in the mood to write.

TG: What habits would you encourage someone to take up to be a more productive writer?

KW: Set mini deadlines and make yourself stick to them. Find out what type of deadline works for you. Many authors use daily word count goals, but since I still work at a full-time day job, I need more flexibility. I’ve chosen to set more flexible weekly goals. I write one polished chapter a week. Having a weekly goal instead of a daily goal allows me the flexibility I need while still keeping me on track.

TG: What do you snack on or drink while writing?

KW: I’m a hot tea gal. I drink various blends of Murchie’s Tea imported from Victoria, British Columbia. My daughter and I visited the historical seaport town several years ago, and I fell in love with Murchie’s Tea. My two favorites to drink while I’m writing are their original 1894 blend, named for the year their shop was established, and their Editor’s blend. Might as well have some literary inspiration in tea form while I work.

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?

KW: One thing I love to do is get my readers involved in the creative process. I have a fan group on Facebook called The Posse, and I will often brainstorm with them. Sometimes I’ll pose a story question and ask for their ideas. Other times I seek their help with characters or titles. Many times, I’ve found a spark in one of their comments that starts the creative juices flowing.

TG: Are you an “edit-as-you-go” writer or do you wait until the very end before you do any editing?

KW: I am definitely an edit-as-I-go writer. I am a methodical writer with strong perfectionist tendencies, so I constantly polish as I write. I send each chapter to my critique partners as I finish it, so I can adapt on the fly instead of waiting until the book is done to fix things. I write one very slow, careful draft.

TG: What would you say is the most common mistake new writers make?

KW: Explaining too much about who the characters are before jumping into the action of the opening scene.

TG: What is the best piece of writing advice you’re ever received?

KW: Resist the urge to explain. I’m an explainer by nature, and I’m often tempted to make sure my reader “gets” what I’m trying to show in a scene or emphasize a theme. However, readers are savvy. They don’t need me to explain things to them. If I’m doing my job by showing things in a compelling manner, they’ll get it.

TG: What is coming up next for you?

KW: Book 2 in the TEXAS EVER AFTER series. I’m currently working on rewrites for If the Boot Fits, a Western Cinderfella story that I can’t wait to share with readers.

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Don’t miss Karen Witemeyer’s Chat Monday, June 5th at 5:30 PM CT on the Avid Readers of Christian Fiction Facebook Group! Click below to join the group + watch the LIVE!

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Writer’s Desk: Jessica R. Patch

Writer’s Desk: Jessica R. Patch

Jessica R. Patch is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author known for her dry wit, signature twists, and complex characters. She loves reading true crime books, discussing cold cases over chips and salsa with her girlfriends, and hunting down serial killers in her romantic suspense novels and psychological thrillers.

Jessica loves to encourage and inspire people to forward living through her Patch of Hope devotions in her monthly email newsletter and in her Forward Friday devotional blogs. You can join the Patched In community at her website: www.jessicarpatch.com.

She resides in the Memphis area with her husband, two young adult children, and her spoiled tri-color Shetland Sheepdog. Jessica is represented by Rachel Kent of Books & Such Literary Management.

Connect with Jessica on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and BookBub, and sign up for her newsletter here.

More about A Cry in the Dark

Deep in the Kentucky hills, three women have been found brutalized and murdered.
But the folks in Night Holler have their own ways and their own laws.
And they’re not talking…

Led to an isolated Appalachian Mountain town by a trail of disturbing murders, FBI special agent Violet Rainwater’s determined to catch a serial killer with a twisted agenda. With locals refusing to reveal their secrets, Violet’s only ally is Detective John Orlando. But even John has an ulterior motive—he’s convinced this case is connected to his wife’s murder.

As they dig deeper, Violet uncovers a link to her own unresolved past. For years she’s worked the cold case of her mother’s abduction, which had led to her birth. The need to look into the eyes of the sinful man who fathered her consumes Violet. Until she can, she’ll never have peace. Because she’s terrified she might be exactly like him.

In this chilling novel, when the present collides with Violet’s mysterious past and John’s tragic loss, they must unravel the warped, sinuous connections before the killer strikes again. But solving the case might not be nearly as terrifying as the possibility that Violet’s finally found her roots…

Purchase Your Copy of A Cry in the Dark.

Q&A with Jessica R. Patch

TG: Everyone always asks for an interesting fact, we’re going to flip the question. What is one boring fact about yourself?
JRP: I am a homebody. I’d rather putter around my house than go out. I think my readers believe I’m off stalking people and interviewing serial killers (I have done one of those things). Nah, I’m home in yoga pants, with unwashed hair, and watching Parks and Recreation for the 9 billionth time.

TG: Where did you get the inspiration for A Cry in the Dark?
JRP: I wanted to explore providence and connect Violet’s past with one of her present cases. I read a passage in my daily Bible reading about the blind groping in darkness and a killer clicked as well as the spiritual theme of the story, then I watched a video about a holler and I knew it needed set in the Kentucky hills.

TG: Do you have any habits or rituals as a writer?
JRP: Not really, but I do need my office cleaned and clutter-free to write well. I write 5-6 days a week. I would count that as a habit.

TG: What habits would you encourage others to take up to be a more productive writer?
JRP: Find the time of day that you’re most creative and fresh, then guard that time. It’s your job. Treat it as such. Schedule your errands and fun stuff around your prime work time. There are always exceptions, of course.

TG: What do you snack on or drink while writing?
JRP: I don’t. If I’m eating or drinking I can’t write!

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?
JRP: I don’t really get what I’d call writer’s block. But sometimes I write a scene into a corner and I’m unsure of how to get unstuck. Normally, I vox (walkie-talkie app) another author friend or two and talk it through. Usually, that works! Or I take a long hot shower because many good ideas hit in the shower.

TG: Are you an “edit-as-you-go” writer or do you wait until the very end before you do any editing?
JRP: I wait until the very end.

TG: What would you say is the most common mistake new writers make?
JRP: Honestly, I think new writers get all up in their heads with craft rules. I’m all for reading craft books and getting better, but you can read too many at one time and then your story suffers because you’re so worried about breaking rules or not following them. By all means, read craft books! But allow yourself to imagine and dream and write what you want to write and how you want to write it. Then revise and send it to trusted beta readers, crit partners, or your agent. I only read craft books between my writing the first draft and before I edit. It sparks ideas and doesn’t suck away my own personal voice, style, and imagination.

TG: What is the best piece of writing advice you’re ever received?
JRP: Write what you want to read.

TG: What is coming up next for you?
JRP: The third and last story in the Strange Crimes South Division is plotted and ready to write. That will be Tiberius Granger’s story. And I have a book coming out with characters from Her Darkest Secret as the heroine and hero! It releases this summer in a collection, but I’m not sure which volume I’m in yet so… TBD.

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Writer’s Desk: Jamie Foley

Writer’s Desk: Jamie Foley

Sci/fi-fantasy author Jamie Foley loves strategy games, gardening, and making lembas bread. She’s terrified of red wasps and uses them for lightsaber training. When she’s not writing, she’s working for Enclave Publishing or the Christian Writers Institute, typesetting, or drawing maps to Cair Paravel. Her husband is her manly astronaut preacher muse. They live between the Texas Hill Country and the family cattle ranch, where their hyperactive spawnling and wolfpack roam.

Connect with Jamie on her website, Instagram, Facebook, and BookBub, and sign up for her newsletter here.

More about Silverblood

The Jade Witch sacrifices everything to save her people from one enemy—by forging an alliance with another.

A desperate chieftess.

Brooke’s treetop city is a charred husk of its former glory. Her people demand revenge against the Emberhawk tribe, blind to the larger threat: the ravenous Malaano Empire. Determined to subvert a bloody war, Brooke accepts a marriage alliance she knows she’ll soon regret.

Meanwhile, an Emberhawk prince is seeding a rebellion, and if Brooke’s secret support can re-forge the Tribal Alliance, they just might stand a chance against the Imperial threat.

A hollow assassin.

Lysander is a former slave who has forgotten how to live free. After being forced to abdicate his throne, losing his loved ones and his hearing, he feels he has nothing to live for… Unless he can convince Brooke to teach him the magic of thought-speak, with which he could hear far more than his ears ever could.

A stolen throne.

Ryon’s fractured heritage catches up with him and threatens to tear him away from Kira. As they maneuver to protect Imperial princess Vylia, their worst fears come true… along with nightmares they never dared to dream.

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Q&A with Jamie Foley

TG: Everyone always asks for an interesting fact, we’re going to flip the question. What is one boring fact about yourself?
JF: I don’t like coffee. Or cake. But I like coffee cake.

TG: Where did you get the inspiration for Silverblood?
JF: I was fascinated to learn about Native American tribes and their many differences. I’ve found that a lot of modern people think of Native Americans as a single people group when in reality, there were hundreds of tribes with different cultures, languages, and hostilities.

The Katrosi Revolution series explores what tribal politics might have looked like during the American Revolution. Which tribes would have allied with the rebel settlers to fight the British, and vice versa?

Except the tribes have fire magic and the Queen of England is a water elemental who fancies herself a goddess. Naturally.

TG: Do you have any habits or rituals as a writer?
JF: My favorite place to write is a balcony with a good view, whenever I can find one. I have been known to sneak out of bed to write on hotel balconies when the only thing moving is the midnight breeze.

TG: What habits would you encourage others to take up to be a more productive writer?
JF: Try pre-writing, where you imagine a scene beforehand and jot down notes about the setting, the mood or theme, dialogue, character feelings, beats, and/or important points for story progression. I find I write twice as fast when I’ve pre-written, and it makes my first draft much cleaner!

TG: What do you snack on or drink while writing?
JF: Water in an oversized sparkly resin mug. I’m a tomboy, so I imprison all my sparkles on my mug.

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?
JF: I find that other creative ventures help me overcome writer’s block. I’ll give myself permission to take a break and switch to painting, sculpting with clay, building a new garden bed, planting new seeds, or trying out a new cooking recipe. Or I’ll work on worldbuilding a different story that I had simmering on the back burner. Then I can return to my original story rested and rejuvenated.

TG: Are you an “edit-as-you-go” writer or do you wait until the very end before you do any editing?
JF: I’m a perfectionist, so I try to make my first draft as clean as possible. But once I finish a chapter, I try not to look at it again until I finish writing the whole story. It took me years to develop the discipline to stop editing as I went because it took me so much longer to finish a manuscript!

TG: What would you say is the most common mistake new writers make?
JF: Thinking that it’s all about their debut novel. We would never expect someone’s first painting to be a masterpiece or their first song to be concert-worthy. Why do we assume that a new writer can crank out a bestseller without any experience or practice?

If you’re a hobby writer, that’s fine! But writing as a career is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes—that’s how we learn. Just write what you’re passionate about, surround yourself with a team of professionals, and proceed with humility as you seek to learn from the best. Dedicate yourself to excellence, and dedicate the glory to God, and in time, you will produce something worthy of praise.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23-24 NIV

TG: What is the best piece of writing advice you’re ever received?
JF: An editorial letter for Emberhawk that was full of helpful lessons from Catherine Jones Payne at Quill Pen Editorial. Top-notch editing can be expensive but it’s so worth it, y’all!

TG: What is coming up next for you?
JF: I’m working on a new Christian fantasy duology with strong spiritual threads of light versus darkness, inspired by the story of creation. At the same time, I’m working on finishing The Katrosi Revolution series with book 3, Lotusfall. Books are taking me longer to write nowadays since I work so much for Enclave Publishing, but I hope my upcoming stories will be worth the wait.

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