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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.

Purchase a copy of Fairest of Heart.

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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.

Enter for a chance to win one of three copies of Fairest of Heart*

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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: Stephenia H. McGee

Writer’s Desk with Stephenia H. McGee

Stephenia H. McGee is the award-winning author of many stories of faith, hope, and healing set in the Deep South, including The Secrets of Emberwild. When she’s not reading or sipping sweet tea on the front porch, she’s a writer, dreamer, husband spoiler, and busy mom of two rambunctious boys.

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

More about The Swindler’s Daughter

A surprise inheritance. A cache of family secrets. A choice that will change her life forever.

Lillian Doyle has lived her entire high-society life with her widowed mother, believing her father died long ago. But when news arrives that her estranged father only recently passed away—in jail—Lillian is startled to find that the man has left a business and all of his possessions to her, making her a rather unusual heiress.

When she goes to take possession of her father’s house in a backwoods Georgia town, the dilapidated structure is already occupied by another woman who claims it was promised to her son, Jonah. In her attempts to untangle the mess, Lillian will discover not only a family she never knew she had but a family business that is more than meets the eye—and has put a target on her back.

To discover the truth and take hold of the independence she’s always dreamed of, she’ll have to make friends with adversaries and strangers—especially Jonah, the dusty and unrefined cowboy who has secret aspirations of his own.

Purchase a copy of The Swindler’s Daughter here.

Q&A with Stephenia H. McGee

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

SHM: I like the color gray. I painted rooms in shades of gray at my house. I’m currently wearing a gray shirt and a gray jacket. I’m not sure there’s a more boring color than that, but hey, I still like it.

TG: Where did you get the inspiration for The Swindler’s Daughter?

SHM: I can’t tell you too much about that without giving away some of the revelations in the story, but let’s just say I found a fascinating article about a discovery they made in an old house and I thought, “Wow. That’s neat. I wonder…” and the entire book bloomed from there.

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

SHM: I do my best writing in the morning, so I try to make it a habit that after my morning coffee and Bible study, the first thing I do (after returning home from taking my boys to school) is to get to work on my book.

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

SHM: I think consistency is key. Not every day comes with a burning desire to write. Some days are just hard. But if you consistently put aside time to write and make a habit of doing it on a regular basis, then before you know it you have a book in hand!

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

SHM: I’m usually sipping coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon while I write or edit. I try not to snack while writing. It tends to leave me with a sticky keyboard!

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?

SHM: I set the manuscript aside and go for a walk or do a few chores around the house. When I get my body moving and allow my brain to work on the story in the background, I can usually come back to work with a fresh idea.

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

SHM: I like to edit as I go. I usually write a chapter, go back through it to flesh it out, and then send it to my critique partner. Once I’ve worked through her notes, it’s an official “rough draft” chapter. I don’t go back through those until I’ve finished the story. Then they get another round of editing before the manuscript goes to my first editor.

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

SHM: The need to tell the reader everything all at once. I used to teach creative writing, and I would often see large information dumps each time the writer introduced a new character.

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

SHM: Jerry Jenkins said something along the lines of “there comes a point when you are no longer making your story better. Only different.” I’m paraphrasing, but that’s something I heard at my first writer’s conference that stuck with me. It’s a bit of advice I still turn to whenever I get paralyzed by perfectionism.

TG: What is coming up next for you?

SHM: After my release of The Swindler’s Daughter in May, I have a 1920s showboat story set on the Mississippi River coming out in October titled The River Queen.

Win a signed paperback of The Swindler’s Daughter and a signed paperback copy of The Secrets of Emberwild.

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Writer’s Desk: Leslie Gould

Writer’s Desk: Leslie Gould

Leslie Gould is the #1 bestselling and Christy Award–winning author of over forty novels, including the SISTERS OF LANCASTER COUNTY series and the PLAIN PATTERNS series. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history, an MFA in creative writing, and has taught writing on the university level. Leslie enjoys traveling, studying church history, and hiking in the beautiful state of Oregon, where she lives. She and her husband, Peter, have four adult children and one grandchild.

Connect with Leslie on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Bookbub, Goodreads, and sign up for her newsletter here.

More about A Brighter Dawn

Ivy Zimmerman is successfully navigating her life as a young Mennonite woman, one generation removed from her parents’ Old Order Amish upbringing. But when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, Ivy’s way of life is upended. As she deals with her grief, her younger sisters’ needs, the relationship with her boyfriend, and her Dawdi and Mammi’s strict rules, Ivy finds solace in both an upcoming trip to Germany for an international Mennonite youth gathering and in her great-great-aunt’s story about Clare Simons, another young woman who visited Germany in the late 1930s.

As Ivy grows suspicious that her parents’ deaths weren’t, in fact, an accident, she gains courage from what she learns of Clare’s time in pre-World War II Germany. With the encouragement and inspiration of the women who have gone before her, Ivy seeks justice for her parents, her sisters, and herself.

Get your copy of A Brighter Dawn here.

Q&A with Leslie Gould

TG: What is your writing process like?
LG: Once I have an idea, I diagram my main characters’ arcs and the overall story arc. Then I write a 30–40-page outline of the story, chapter by chapter. The beginning of the writing process starts out slowly—I’m happy if I hit around two thousand words a day—but I gain momentum as I go, and toward the end of the project I’m writing eight thousand words a day.

TG: What is your writing kryptonite?
LG: Anxiety is my kryptonite. If I’m not careful, it can shut me down. I do my best to trust the story will come together. But I also try to be as proactive as possible. If I’m feeling anxious about my word count or don’t feel as if the story is off to the start I need, I’ll go away for a few days and power-write. By the time I get to rewrites, even if I have a ton to do, I have faith the story will come together. But the beginning stages of a story are sometimes difficult for me.

TG: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
LG: Find a mentor as soon as possible! Established writers love to help upcoming writers!

TG: What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
LG: Tuition for my MFA! One of the classes I took inspired an entire bestselling series, a second class inspired me to do freelance editing, and a third class gave me the tools to teach writing myself at a local university, which I really loved.

TG: What did you edit out of A Brighter Dawn?
LG: I ended up deleting a character named Autumn, who was a distant cousin of my protagonist, Ivy. The purpose of Autumn was to provide more backstory about Ivy’s secretive parents, but it soon became obvious that I had more story than my word count would allow. Thankfully, I’d only written one scene with Autumn in it when I realized my problem, but I still feel bad about cutting her. I love the name, and she was wearing a butter-yellow dress.

TG: What is the most difficult thing about being an author?
LG: Balancing life and deadlines! I always make time for family and the Lord no matter my deadlines, but I can get pretty obsessed with the story toward the end of the process, and things like friends, exercise, housework, and grocery shopping can fall off the rails.

TG: What is the first book that made you cry?
LG: To Kill a Mockingbird when I was ten. I’m the youngest of four kids born in five years, so I tended to read what my older siblings were reading. When I finished To Kill a Mockingbird, I was so mad that I cried. And so sad, so I cried more. It’s a story I’ve read over and over through the years, and it still makes me cry.

TG: What is your favorite underappreciated Christian novel?
LG: I’m really loving anything by Susie Finkbeiner right now, though I don’t think she’s underappreciated—she’s award-winning! But she just recently landed on my radar. She writes beautiful literary fiction with a super strong voice and character development. She also writes about the 1960s and 1970s, two of my favorite decades to read about, and she includes threads about war and veterans, two topics I explore in my own novels.

TG: As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot?
LG: I’d have to say a house cat. I’ve had cats my entire life. Some have been my muse. Others have been my bane. But I can’t imagine my writing life without a cat in the middle of it. Just like a house cat, it might seem that I’m sitting around not doing much—but I really am. I’m either plotting, working out a problem, writing, researching, or reading.

TG: Which book that you’ve written is your favorite?
LG: Beyond the Blue, my second novel, was inspired by our emotions after adopting our youngest daughter from Vietnam and has stayed my favorite all these years. It’s told from both the birth mother’s and the adoptive mom’s points of view. It was challenging to think through a birth mother’s story, along with the journeys of the children in the story. Adoption is a complicated paradox. It’s both intense loss and the beginning of something new, all woven together with incredibly high stakes.

TG: Which of your books was the most fun to write?
LG: Courting Cate, the first in my COURTSHIPS OF LANCASTER COUNTY series. Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew was my inspiration, and Cate is one of those characters who showed up from the get-go and didn’t stop until the very last page. It was such a fun story! And it came at the perfect time in my life. While I wrote it, my husband was commanding a field hospital in Afghanistan in the middle of a war zone. I’d Skype with him every morning—which was his night—and then do my best to put my worries aside and spend a few hours with Cate. She was a great distraction!

TG: Which was the most difficult and why?
LG: Scrap Everything, my third book, was my hardest. My mother—who was my first reader, my biggest prayer warrior, my biggest encourager, and my biggest fan—was dying of cancer but asking for more chapters to read so she could finish it before she died. It was a really painful time.

TG: Finally, what is coming up next for you?
LG: I’m in the middle of the editorial process for This Passing Hour, the second in my dual-time AMISH MEMORIES series. Both the contemporary and historical threads take place in Lancaster County, mainly on the same farm, but seventy-two years apart. During the historical thread, German World War Two POWs are working on the farm and attempting to wreak havoc, threatening its survival. During the contemporary thread, a disabled Afghanistan veteran is injured on the property and threatens to sue. Brenna, the main character in the contemporary series, learns from her great-great-aunt Martha’s story, as Brenna tries to figure out her place in her current life—and in her future.

Win one of three copies of  A Brighter Dawn

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Don’t Miss My Conversation with Leslie!

(click the graphic below to watch!)

*Note: due to the cost of shipping, winners of the paperback must have a US address.

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Writer’s Desk: Christen Krumm

Writer’s Desk: Christen Krumm

Christen Krumm is the author of the YA romcom, It Happened at Christmas and her adult fiction debut On the Golden Cliffs. She probably drinks too much coffee and creating stories is her favorite. During the day she runs CK Productions — a virtual assisting business specializing in author assistants and podcast production. Her favorite color is green (or black). She likes big glasses, happy mail, and pretends she likes to run (she doesn’t). She lives with her husband and three wildings in a small Oklahoma town.

Connect with Christen on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Bookbub, and sign up for her newsletter here.

More about On the Golden Cliffs

One wrong post has sent influencer Lyla Taylor’s social media empire crashing to her feet. To save it, she’ll have to escape to rural Montana. Six weeks in a high-end spa won’t hurt…except, she’s not booked into a spa, but at a rustic Amish B&B. Suddenly, her roommates are raccoons, and her daily activities include hanging laundry. Thanks, but no thanks. Lyla is ready to hit delete and head back to civilization.

Amishman Reuben Milner has a secret…one that could destroy his world. For now, however, he’s kept his life as a novelist under wraps, focusing on providing for his family after the tragic passing of his father. Renting the dawdi house seems the right move—until the wrong woman moves in. However, she comes up with ideas to help improve their B&B, and that, along with her feisty personality, is something Reuben can’t ignore. Even if the elders want him to focus on joining the church and finding a wife.

When going home isn’t an option, Lyla decides to help the Milners spruce up their rental. It does help distract her from her problems online. The more Lyla works on the rental with Reuben, the more she wonders if returning to her former life is worth it. However, is it the simple life that Lyla’s heart longs for—or a particular guarded Amishman with secrets of his own?

And when those secrets are discovered, what will it cost them both?

Get your copy of On the Golden Cliffs here.

Q&A with Christen Krumm

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

CK: In college, I always wore flip-flops — no matter the weather. Now it’s Birkenstocks. I wear the same pair until they are falling apart and my husband reminds me that I need to buy new ones.

TG: Where did you get the inspiration for On the Golden Cliffs?

CK: I originally pitched On the Golden Cliffs as Sister Act meets an Amish community, but with lots of romance. Once we dug into the plot, we decided that it erred more on the romantic suspense side of things instead of Amish romance. I toned it down just a bit and ended up with what On the Golden Cliffs is today.

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

CK: Don’t be like me and procrastinate so long that your deadline is so tight that you have no choice but to get all the words down as fast as physically possible. You end up productive, but it’s a little more painful.

Instead, pick a word count (mine is currently 1,000) and write that every day. Maybe you’re working on a project on deadline, maybe you’re working on something new, or maybe you’re just writing to discover what you’re writing next. Whatever your word count, do your absolute best to always hit that number.

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

CK: There’s generally some form of coffee always around (generally that’s black and hot) and water. As far as snacks go, I really like popcorn, but also try not to eat at my computer while I’m writing — when it’s time to eat, that’s generally a good time to take a much-needed break.

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?

CK: I talk it out. My poor critique partners have hours of me rambling only to talk myself out of the corner that I’ve written myself in.

And sometimes my writer’s block just means the project I’m working on isn’t ready to be written yet and just needs to simmer a little longer (for those projects that aren’t on deadline).

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

CK: I’d love to be able to edit as I go, however, most of the time I procrastinate so long that by the time I sit down to write, there’s only time to write — and then edit at the end — before I turn it in.

TG: What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

CK: Don’t freak out and delete everything you’ve written because you think it’s bad. Most of the time, you’re just too close to it (and your deadline).

TG: What is coming up next for you?

CK: I’m currently working on two more Big Sky novels to release next year!

Don’t Miss Our Conversation

Where we chat about On the Golden Cliffs + drop some exciting news! Click the graphic below to watch!

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Writer’s Desk: Alyssa Roat

Writer’s Desk: Alyssa Roat

Alyssa Roat lives in the cornfields of Indiana, but she hopes to soon discover a portal to a fantasy world where she will run a bookshop for magical creatures. Stay tuned. For now, she is a multi-published author and has worked in a wide variety of roles within the publishing industry as an agent, editor, writer, and publicist. She has two black cats who allegedly have never been fed in their lives and occasionally help her write by walking across the keyboard.

Her name is a pun, which means you can connect with Alyssa on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, BookBub, and sign up for her newsletter here.

More about Wraithwood

An estranged uncle, a mysterious mansion, and Arthurian legend—together they lead to a world of magic and bloodthirsty wizards who want teenage Brinnie dead.

Brynna “Brinnie” Lane has always lived a quiet life under the watchful eye of her hovering mother—until she’s sent off for the summer to live with an uncle she didn’t know she had. While her parents get to travel across the globe, she’ll be spending three months in the middle of nowhere: upstate New York. It looks like she might spend the entire summer friendless with her nose in a book.

However, she soon finds that Wraithwood Estate, her uncle’s creepy old mansion, holds as many secrets as the man himself. When Brinnie is warned not to explore any of it, her curiosity only grows. As unnatural events take place and Brinnie hears whispers of a hidden war, she must unravel the truth about her family’s mysterious past if she wants to survive.

Something terrible happened at Wraithwood thirty years ago, and Brinnie is determined to find out what—even if it means confronting the possibility that magic is real.

Get your copy of Wraithwood here

Q&A with Alyssa Roat

TG: Everyone always asks for an interesting fact, we’re going to flip the question. What is one boring fact about yourself?
AR: Like most individuals, I brush my teeth twice daily. Sometimes more, if I’m feeling adventurous.

TG: Where did you get the inspiration for Wraithwood?
AR: I grew up reading lots of old British children’s fantasy—Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising, E. Nesbit, Diana Wynne Jones, Brian Jacques, and of course Narnia. I loved the mix of whimsy, danger, darkness, and hope, and the sense of the fantastical in the everyday. One day, for my own enjoyment, I sat down to write something similar in tone. Things got a little out of hand, and I ended up with a YA contemporary fantasy trilogy. But it all started with the idea of a mysterious mansion, an estranged uncle, and a summer filled with strange, possibly magical mysteries.

TG: Do you have any habits or rituals as a writer?
AR: I wish I could say I did, but life tends to be so busy, I write whenever and wherever I can. I tend to do my best writing late at night, laptop in my lap, snuggled in bed while everyone else is asleep. The liminal space of the late night, when time ceases to have meaning and I feel like the only soul in the world, provides a low-pressure environment ripe for creativity.

TG: What habits would you encourage others to take up to be a more productive writer?
AR: Whatever works best for you! Some people do well with goals and deadlines. Some thrive on short writing sessions daily, while others do better writing for hours uninterrupted once a week. Find what works best for you and do that.

TG: What do you snack on or drink while writing?
AR: Coffee. I love my coffee.

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?
AR: Usually, I look at my looming deadline, realize I don’t have time for writer’s block and push through. Publishers are great for that!

TG: Are you an “edit-as-you-go” writer or do you wait until the very end before you do any editing?
AR: I edit as I go, and sometimes circle back to edit certain sections if I come up with something in a new section and want to foreshadow or change an element. It tends to make for a much easier edit once the first draft is complete.

TG: What would you say is the most common mistake new writers make?
AR: Focusing too much on one story. It often takes many finished manuscripts before your writing voice is honed and ready to share with the world. Don’t be afraid to set aside your book baby and work on other projects. You can always come back to it later once you have more experience, other publications under your belt, and/or some time away to look at the project with fresh eyes.

TG: What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
AR: Learn the rules before you try to break them—be that in genres, tropes, sentence structure, wording… Beginning writers break the rules because they don’t know any better. Good writers follow the rules. And great writers know when to (sparingly) break the rules on purpose. (And the best way to figure out what those rules are is to read current books in your genre—lots of them!—that have been recently published.)

TG: What is coming up next for you?
AR: After the third and final book in The Wraithwood Trilogy releases in March 2023, Hope Bolinger and my fourth and final book in the co-authored Roseville Romances sweet Christian romance series with release in August 2023, and our chat fiction YA novel based on Greek mythology, Dear Hades, will release October 2023. After that, for the first time since graduating from college three years ago, I won’t have any more books under contract. I’m looking forward to taking some time to really dive into my love of speculative fiction and experiment with my writing.

Win a copy of Wraithwood

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Don’t miss my conversation with Alyssa! Click the graphic below to watch on YouTube!

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Writer’s Desk: Mary Connealy

Writer’s Desk: Mary Connealy

Mary Connealy writes romantic comedies about cowboys, always with a strong suspense thread. She is a two-time Carol Award winner, and a Rita, Christy and Inspirational Reader’s Choice finalist. She is the bestselling author of 75 books and novellas. Her most recent book series is WYOMING SUNRISE. Mary has nearly a million books in print.

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

More about Forged in Love

When sparks begin to fly, can a friendship cast in iron be shaped into something more?

Mariah Stover is left for dead and with no memory when the Deadeye Gang robs the stagecoach she’s riding in, killing both her father and brother. As she takes over her father’s blacksmith shop and tries to move forward, she soon finds herself in jeopardy and wondering–does someone know she witnessed the robbery and is still alive?

Handsome and polished Clint Roberts escaped to western Wyoming, leaving his painful memories behind. Hoping for a fresh start, he opens a diner where he creates fine dishes, but is met with harsh resistance from the townsfolk, who prefer to stick to their old ways.

Clint and Mariah are drawn together by the trials they face in town, and Clint is determined to protect Mariah at all costs when danger descends upon her home. As threats pursue them from every side, will they survive to build a life forged in love?

Purchase a copy of Forged in Love here.

Q&A with Mary Connealy

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

MC: Wow, Tricia, everything about me is boring. It’s hard to pick just one fact. I pretty much sit around with my laptop open all day every day. I think if my husband ever came inside and didn’t see me sitting in that same recliner, he might call 911 and report me as a missing person.

TG: Where did you get the inspiration for Forged in Love?

MC: I started plotting this novel when I found out that Wyoming was the first state (then a territory) in the Union to grant women the right to vote. Then I discovered it wasn’t just the right to vote; all sorts of other rights were given to women, like the right to run for elected office or be appointed to office. And the first woman justice of the peace in the U.S. was from Wyoming. This inspired me to have one of my heroines be the second justice of the peace in the country.

As I continued my research, reading about all that went on in Wyoming was fascinating. They became a territory in 1868—with women voting—and yet they weren’t allowed statehood for another thirty years. With other states being granted statehood in only a few years, why was this? Because the U.S. government refused to let Wyoming in unless they took away the vote from women.

But Wyoming adamantly refused to strip that vote from women, so year after year they were denied statehood. When they finally did get it, the women maintained their right to vote because Wyoming would not budge. The whole history of this was great reading.

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

MC: Yes, 1,000 words a day, 7 days a week. I often write late into the night. But being an insomniac isn’t a problem—it’s my superpower.

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

MC: Write every day. I write 1,000 words, but the trick is to open that book document. Write the first sentence. Yes, you’ll miss days and goals, yet the days you miss should be the exception and not the rule.

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

MC: I usually have a can of Diet Pepsi or a mug of Oolong tea beside me. But I often let the soda get warm or the tea get cold because I forget about it.

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?

MC: I’ve never had writer’s block. This reminds me of something Daniel Boone was rumored to have said: “I’ve never been lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.” I just keep writing, even if I’m not sure where I’m going. I then go back and fix it, all within the 1,000-words-a-day parameter.

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

MC: I edit as I go, then go back and edit again, and then usually once more.

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

MC: Adding too much backstory, not starting the novel right when the action starts but instead writing all about what leads up to the action.

TG: What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?

MC: The best writing is rewriting. I love the revision process.

TG: What’s next for you?

MC: This year it’s been the three books of the WYOMING SUNRISE series: Forged in Love, The Laws of Attraction, and Marshaling Her Heart. I just signed a contract for three books for Bethany House for next year, too. Plenty to keep me busy.

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Writer’s Desk: Tricia Goyer

Writer’s Desk: Tricia Goyer

Tricia Goyer is an award-winning author and podcaster, wife, mother and grandmother, family lifestyle expert, and national speaker. She has written more than eighty books, which have sold over three million copies. She is considered a leading authority on relationships, family, and faith topics. She has been featured in publications such as USA Today, The Washington Post, and the New York Times, and has appeared on numerous media outlets.

Connect with me here on my website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and sign up for my newsletter here.

More about Beyond the Gray Mountains

Marianna Sommer always dreamed of a simple Amish wedding, but there’s nothing simple about marrying rock star Ben Stone. She loves him—but what about her traditions? Worse, suddenly Ben has questions—the kind that have him putting their wedding on hold.

Ben loves Marianna, but he has regrets—and fears—that are suddenly getting in the way of his happy ending. He doubts he’s going to “hear from God” in the high mountains like Marianna’s father suggests. But sure, he’ll go…

But he might not return. Because high on the continental divide, trouble finds them. Now, it’ll take a miracle for Ben, Abe, and Abe’s brother, Ike, to make it down alive. Maybe Ben will hear from God after all…but if he does, can he become the man he needs to be to save them…and keep Marianna’s heart?

When a runaway horse with a bloody saddle shows up, not only is the media alerted, but Marianna fears she’ll lose them all—her uncle, her father, and her beloved Ben. Suddenly she doesn’t care what the wedding looks like…as long as Ben makes it home.

But is there more to Ben than she knows? And when she discovers his secrets, what sacrifices will she make to save…and marry…the man she loves?

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Preorder a copy of the next two books in the series, here.

New to Big Sky? Start here! 

Q&A with Tricia Goyer

When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

I first started writing in 1994. I was only 22 years old and pregnant with my third baby. While sitting in the church nursery one Sunday chatting with a friend, Cindy, I got the epiphany that I wanted to become a Christian writer. Cindy was also a young mom. We got to know each other, and Cindy told me about her writing dream. Something struck a chord in me. I had grown up loving to read, but I never considered writing. We encouraged each other. We attended our first writer’s conference at Mt. Hermon in Northern California. Since that time, I’ve written over 80 books. It’s been a long road, but I have been so blessed to be able to walk it with wonderful friends, family, and mentors along the way.

Where did you get the inspiration for the Big Sky Amish collection?

I remember first reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder in sixth grade. As one who struggled with reading as a child, everything changed when I read that book. I was swept away by the close family ties and their simple life. I wished I could walk across the prairie with Pa or ride along in a covered wagon.

I didn’t consider writing about “the simple life” until an editor asked if I’d like to write Amish fiction. I prayed, and I pondered the idea. I also met with friends who had moved their Amish family from Indiana to Montana. I was hooked as I learned more about the Amish community in Montana!

Beyond the Gray Mountains is the first book in the Big Sky Amish Series, but it follows the storyline of my Big Sky series. The books in that series are Beside Still Waters, Along Wooded Paths, and Beyond Hope’s Valley.

The true story of Ora Jay and Irene Eash, who left their Amish community after losing two daughters in a buggy and semi accident, was the basis for Beside Still Waters. The couple started a new life in a small Amish community in Montana. Ora Jay and Irene faced many challenges and hardships in adjusting to life in this new place. Still, they also found strength and comfort in their growing relationship with God.

I learned Ora Jay and Irene’s story through my daughter Leslie. After hearing their story, I was amazed by their resilience and how their deep faith bloomed even during difficult times. I worked closely with the couple to ensure I captured the Amish community in West Kootenai well. With Beyond the Gray Mountains, I was excited to return to West Kootenai and continue the story of Ben, Marianna, and their family and friends.

I’m also incredibly excited about a unique setting I added to this book.  In Beyond the Gray Mountain, some of my characters venture into the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana, which covers 1.5 million acres. This harsh and secluded location in the Rocky Mountains has wooded trails and cliffs, lakes and rivers. I knew this would be a unique and exciting setting for this novel. (Not to mention the grizzlies, wolves, elk, mountain goats, and moose that live there—one of which shows up in this novel!)  My even characters even see the Chinese Wall, a 12-mile-long, 1,000-foot-high cliff—one of Montana’s most stunning features.

I’ve always wanted to hike, fish, camp, and watch animals in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and I ventured there through the pages of this novel. Also, one of my friends, Rebecca, was an outfitter in the Bob Marshall for twenty years, and she made sure I got every detail right. I hope I can someday venture into that wilderness on horseback in real life!

Anything that you’ve never been asked before but wished you had been?

Does this question work? “Hey, Tricia, I have a condo at the beach. Would you like to use it to get away to write for a while?” Yeah, I didn’t think so.

What did you do before you were a writer?

Well, I was a very young mom! I attended my first writers’ conference when I was 22 and pregnant with my third child. I started writing and homeschooling around the same time. I suppose the “before” was high school. 🙂

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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…

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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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Writer’s Desk: Jen Turano

Writer’s Desk: Jen Turano

Named one of the funniest voices in inspirational romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA Today bestselling author, known for penning quirky historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books have earned Publisher Weekly and Booklist starred reviews, top picks from Romantic Times, and praise from Library Journal. She’s been a finalist twice for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards and had two of her books listed in the top 100 romances of the past decade from Booklist. When she’s not writing, she spends her time outside of Denver, Colorado.

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

More about A Match in the Making

Miss Gwendolyn Brinley accepted a temporary paid companion position for the Newport summer season, believing it would be a lark to spend the summer in America’s most exclusive town. She suddenly finds her summer turning anything but amusing when her employer expects her to take over responsibilities as an assistant matchmaker. Tasked with the daunting prospect of attaining advantageous matches for her clients, Gwendolyn soon finds herself in the employ of Mr. Walter Townsend, the catch of the Season, but a gentleman Gwendolyn finds beyond irritating.

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Q&A with Jen Turano

TG: Everyone always asks for an interesting fact, we’re going to flip the question. What is one boring fact about yourself?
JT: I make my bed every day first thing because it’s one of those things that would drive me crazy if I didn’t, but I don’t actually like making beds, which is why I’ve adopted the get things out of the way you don’t care to do first thing in the morning. That strategy works for loading the dishwasher as well.

TG: Where did you get the inspiration for A Match in the Making?
JT: I’ve been meaning to do a matchmaking series forever, but I just couldn’t figure out how to make the stories unusual. I didn’t want to go with your standard matchmaker takes on impressionable young lady in need of a proper husband storyline, so I’d put the idea on hold. It wasn’t until I was out on the trail one miserable day with my neurotic cattle dog, Remee, who refused to get out of a very muddy stream, which left me dawdling in the rain with plenty of time to ponder things, that an image sprang to mind. In that image, I saw a rather harried young woman who was at her wits’ end because she’d been thrust into the role of assistant matchmaker due to unforeseen circumstances. She had no experience with such a position and was actually considered a confirmed spinster with relatively little interaction with gentlemen in general. By the time I tugged a reluctant Remee home, I had the bones of an entire series festering in my mind, and things just took off from there for the first book—A Match in the Making.

TG: Do you have any habits or rituals as a writer?
JT: If I’m writing a first draft, I always go back and read the last chapter I wrote before I start a new one. That resets the story and reminds me exactly where I wanted to go with the storyline. I also always pull out the vacuum when I’m plotting because mindless tasks help me figure out plot twists.

TG: What habits would you encourage others to take up to be more productive writers?
JT: When I was first starting out and didn’t have official deadlines, I always had a word-count goal for the day. I wouldn’t shut down my computer until I reached that goal, and it didn’t matter if the words were good, it was simply a way for me to get through a chapter, which I could go back the next day and tweak. I still do this if I’m feeling distracted, although since I normally have rather daunting deadlines, those seem to keep me on track.

TG: What do you snack on or drink while writing?
JT: I don’t snack when I’m writing, and I only keep a water bottle handy in case I get thirsty. Writing is a very sedentary job, and the older I get, well, I can look at a potato chip and it’ll attach itself to my hips so . . . unfortunately, no snacking for me these days.

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?
JT: When I get stuck, I don’t consider it writer’s block. It’s more a case of just really bad writing. I know it’s coming on because it begins to feel as if I’m writing through mud, but I’m stubborn, so even after all these years, I’ll just keep trying to make a plot point work even though I know it’s total rubbish. I eventually reach a point where I’m unable to continue, and that’s when I pull out the vacuum or put on my completely nerdy over-the-ears headphones and rock out to some vintage ‘80’s or, if I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll listen to current rock, although I normally have no idea who the bands are. Doing that seems to give me the incentive I need to embrace the whole idea of the delete button. After I take a deep breath and begin deleting entire chapters, wincing every other page, I finally get to a point where the writing isn’t horrible and start from that point to try again. I don’t save any of the work I delete from my draft because, if I think something’s really funny even if it’s not working, if I’d save that part, I’d try to fit it in somewhere else—then the deleting business would definitely come back into play.

TG: Are you an “edit-as-you-go” writer or do you wait until the very end before you do any editing?
JT: I’m definitely an edit-as-I-go writer. I always reread the last chapter I wrote before I start a new one, and then, when I have about five chapters done, I go back to read those and make adjustments. I have a seven-step editing process I do before I turn in my novel to my editing team. As I’m writing, I do about three edits, but after I complete the book, I then read it completely through, make changes, then read it out loud. After that, I print it, read it out loud again, make more changes, enter those in the computer, then read it about two more times before it’s ready to go. My editors then send me their developmental suggestions, which means I’ll rewrite sections of the book yet again.

TG: What would you say is the most common mistake new writers make?
JT: Comparing their writing with other writers or trying to mimic the writing style of an author they admire. Every writer has their own unique voice. Embrace that, and don’t worry about what other writers are writing or how fast anyone writes. Everyone has their own methods. You simply need to find what works for you and go with that.

TG: What is the best piece of writing advice you’re ever received?
JT: Realize that your first draft is going to be horrible, but it’s just a skeleton of a story and you’ll flesh it out as you edit.

TG: What is coming up next for you?
JT: I’m just wrapping up developmental edits for the second book in the matchmaking series, To Spark a Match. After I turn those in, I’ll be returning to the first draft of the third and final book, which is turning super fun because I’m taking my heroine, Miss Camilla Pierpont, down to Wheeling, WV, which is twelve miles from where I grew up.

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Writer’s Desk: Kim Dolan Leto

Writer’s Desk: Kim Dolan Leto

Kim Dolan Leto is The World’s Leading Bible-based fitness expert, author, podcaster, and the founder and brand developer of Faith Inspired Transformation (F.I.T.). A certified fitness instructor and nutrition specialist, she is a winner of the ESPN Fitness America competition, a top-five finisher in the Ms. Fitness World competition, and a twenty- five time magazine cover model. In addition to having her work published in Jesus Calling, The Christian Post, Relevant, Oxygen, Muscle & Fitness, Hers, Fitness, Success, Faith and Fitness Magazine, Train, and other fitness publications, she has been featured on The 700 Club, TBN, CBN, Fox, ESPN, and ABC. Her F.I.T. Workout Series currently streams on Pure Flix and she was the Faith and Fitness Expert on HIS Radio. Kim and her husband live in Scottsdale, Arizona with their three children.

Connect with Kim on her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and listen to her podcast here and sign-up for her newsletter here.

More about Fit God’s Way:

An ESPN Fitness America Champion provides a step-by-step, God’s Word-based guide to equip Christian women with solutions to gain control of food, find lasting motivation to work out, confidently see themselves through God’s eyes, and live their best life.

If you’re tired of starting your diet over every Monday, if getting dressed stresses you out, if scrolling through your social media feed makes you feel insecure, this is not of God!

The way the world portrays health, fitness, and body confidence causes us to live in a thought cycle of “not good enough” and defeat, but in Christ, we are free to live boldly as the best version of ourselves.

If you’re a Christian woman who loves Jesus and fitness, but you haven’t been able to get fit or find confidence, this Word-based solution is your answer.

An empowering Christ-centered system that exchanges the lies of the world for the truth of God is the answer you will find in this book.

It’s time to trade relying on weak willpower for the Holy Spirit’s gift of self-control, lasting motivation found in your purpose, and confidence found in seeing yourself through His eyes!

Yes, you can cross the finish line of your goals. You just need your secret recipe!

Fit God’s Way provides the necessary tools you need to create your personalized daily system of success through the 7 Habits of Christ-Centered Fitness.

If you know in your heart that you were made for more than failed diets and feeling less than… and you are ready to dare to believe with boldness you can become God’s best version of yourself, it’s time to live Strong. Confident. His.

Purchase a copy of Fit God’s Way.

Q&A with Kim Dolan Leto

TG: Everyone always asks for an interesting fact, we’re going to flip the question. What is one boring fact about yourself?
KDL: I’m such a routine person. I love going to bed at 8:30-9:00 and getting up at 4.

TG: Why did you write Fit God’s Way?
KDL: I wrote Fit God’s Way because women who love Jesus need another answer to their fitness. One that empowers them to find control with food, to have peace with their bodies, and joy on the journey. An answer that puts God first, relies on Him, and not self.

TG: Did you have any surprises or learning moments while writing Fit God’s Way?
KDL: Experiencing how making fitness a Spirit-led lifestyle instead of a flesh-driven frustration project is the turning point of greatness, and as we make this pivotal change, we discover a new hope because God can do a “new thing” in our fitness.

TG: What do you hope readers take away from your book?
KDL: I pray women will read Fit God’s Way and feel the burden of failed diets and feeling less than lifted from their shoulders. They work too hard and do too much to not feel enough.

The simplicity of following the way Jesus lived is the answer every Christian woman has been missing from her fitness.

TG: Do you have any habits or rituals as a writer?
KDL: I pray before my finger’s touch the keyboard. I say, God, you are the author, I am the typist.

TG: What habits would you encourage others to take up to be a more productive writer?
KDL: Schedule writing blocks. Mark off time in your schedule to write. For me, I’m most productive in the early morning hours. I know 4:00 AM – 6:00 AM is my most creative and productive time. Create an environment for your writing, this is where you put on your writer’s cap. Keep a note on your phone where you can voice text any thoughts you have throughout the day that inspire your writing.

Pray, and ask God to help birth the message He’s given you without question, insecurity, or comparison.

TG: What do you snack on or drink while writing?
KDL: Water, or plain black or green iced tea, and I’m not a snacker.

TG: How do you overcome writer’s block?
KDL: I work out to Christian music. This works every time.

TG: Are you an “edit-as-you-go” writer or do you wait until the very end before you do any editing?
KDL: I write a thought to completion and then edit it.

TG: What would you say is the most common mistake new writers make?
KDL: Thinking every sentence has to be perfect and getting caught up in the lie – who am I to write a book?

TG: What is the best piece of writing advice you’re ever received?
KDL: Do B- work. Get it done and come back to it. Write without grammar or judgment. Pray and let the words flow.

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