Writer Wednesday with Beth K. Vogt

Enter below for a chance to win a copy of Beth K. Vogt’s Things I Never Told You!

What was your favorite book as a child?

I read and re-read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – and cried every time I got to the scene where Beth died. I wanted to be as good and kind as Beth – and I even dealt with shyness like she did. But I also wanted to be as courageous as Jo and to write stories like she did, too. What’s so interesting is my new women’s fiction novel, Things I Never Told You, is a “Little Women gone wrong” story crossed with “This is Us.”

What book did you read that first made you want to be an author?

Growing up, my Mom used to take me and my brothers and sisters to the library – especially during our lo-ong summer vacations. I always left with a stack of books that I finished before it was time to go back and check out more books. And so, I started writing my own stories to entertain myself until I could get a new stack of books to read. So it wasn’t one book – it was finishing all of those library books and being bored … and deciding to write my own stories that first made me think about being an author.

What was the last book you read, just for fun?

It’s been a while since I read a book just for fun, what with deadlines and rewrites. Such is the life of an author. I do read books for endorsement and that can be fun. I loved Kristy Cambron’s most recent novel, The Lost Castle. And Carla Laureano’s The Saturday Night Supper Club is so well written I’m convinced she is actually a chef! Sometimes if I want to escape from my writing life I read a Georgette Heyer novel – Heyer’s the mother of Regency romance. I’ve read and re-read her novels since high school.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

So, so many – both fiction and nonfiction! Beyond Justice, by my writer-friend, Cara Putman, The Reckoning, by another writer-friend, Mike Torreano, Maiden of Iron: A Steampunk Fable by Edie Melson – yes, another writer-friend, and The Dustpan Cometh, which is an urban fantasy written by my son. (Are you seeing a theme here? My nightstand is where I put books by people I know!) And then Reaching for Wonder: Encountering Christ When Life Hurts by Marlo Schalesky, Beyond Color Blind: Redeeming Our Ethnic Journey by Sarah Shin, and She Reads Truth by Raechel Myers. There are more, but I’ll stop there.

What upcoming release are you most looking forward to?

I endorsed Cathy West’s upcoming release, Where Hope Begins – absolutely love it! Cathy writes real life, which is what I try to do, too.

Rachel Hauck’s novel, The Love Letter – she’s a dear friend and a writing mentor. Her writing is lyrical and seems so effortless, and yet, I know how hard she works to craft her stories.

I’m also intrigued by Joanne Bischoff’s Sons of Blackbird Mountain – Joanne is so talented when it comes to historical fiction.

More about Things I Never Told You

It’s been ten years since Payton Thatcher’s twin sister died in an accident, leaving the entire family to cope in whatever ways they could. No longer half of a pair, Payton reinvents herself as a partner in a successful party-planning business and is doing just fine―as long as she manages to hold her memories and her family at arm’s length.

But with her middle sister Jillian’s engagement, Payton’s party-planning skills are called into action. Which means working alongside her opinionated oldest sister, Johanna, who always seems ready for a fight. They can only hope that a wedding might be just the occasion to heal the resentment and jealousy that divides them . . . until a frightening diagnosis threatens Jillian’s plans and her future. As old wounds are reopened and the family faces the possibility of another tragedy, the Thatchers must decide if they will pull together or be driven further apart.

Purchase a copy of Things I Never Told You
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Beth K. Vogt is a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Now Beth believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” Beth’s first women’s fiction novel for Tyndale House Publishers, Things I Never Told You, released May 2018.

Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. A November Bride was part of the Year of Wedding Series by Zondervan. Having authored nine contemporary romance novels or novellas, Beth believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us.

An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Novel Rocket and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers groups and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people, and their youngest daughter, Christa, who loves to play volleyball and enjoys writing her own stories.

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