Talking Love With Lisa Lickel

Hey, Everyone -- Happy Monday! Today I have the pleasure of hosting my friend and fellow-Wisconsinite (and fellow Prism Book Group author) Lisa Lickel here on Everything Writerly. Today we're talking love.

Lisa, please tell us about yourself and how God has shown his love for you and your family.

"From the time boys became more than “tag” targets I was never without someone of the opposite sex to hang out with, call on the phone, escort me to dances or movies, even when Mom was the chauffeur. I was a drama queen flirt, histrionic friend, and disingenuous church group groupie. I’d love to say it changed in an instant when as a middle teen the Holy Spirit provided the answer to that infinite question of whether Christ was for real. Decades later, I am still working out who I am on many levels. That story won’t get the final edit until it’s over.

"In between, I went to college and joined not one, but two Christian groups, fell in love with the music, studying anything and everything, and the boy with the wispy blond mustache and high-water pants from one of the faith groups who prayed with me for John Denver’s soul. Seriously. We won’t know for a while if poor John received the benefit of our intervention. When the mustached boy didn’t run screaming after meeting my family for the first time when we got snowed in and ate turkey three days in a row, and his dad laughed in good humor when I dropped and broke dishes on the way from the table to the sink the first time I met his folks, I knew things would work out fine.

"Two grown up children and an odd assortment of grands—girls, boys, and kitties—later, life is full circle as our oldest son heeded the call to seminary and now serves as area director for the many branches of the campus faith organization his dad and I attended. Son number two followed in his father’s footsteps, attempting to encourage a better world through public education. “Love is not proud” is not an easy description to avoid when it comes to introducing family.

"Love has shown me all the attention I need has always surrounded me, filled me, poured out of me in ways I don’t have to control or manipulate, or understand. The Lord of life is in charge. My job is to leave behind a story that boasts only of God’s great mercy and grace exemplified in what He has done for me."

Thanks so much for the testimony!

Readers, you can find out more about Lisa by logging on to her website: http://lisalickel.com/ 

Check out Lisa’s contribution to Prism Book Group’s new Love Is series…

Everything About You

“Love is not proud…” 1 Corinthians: 13:4

She needs a movie set miracle, he needs cash...can a farmer morph into a movie star in five days?

If Shelly has her way, Danny will become America’s next heartthrob and she’ll get her own promotions company. He’s already gorgeous, a little naive, and needs to work on that accent. To Danny, Shelly is on the pompous side, but holds the key to his real dreams...if he can figure out all the rules, say the right things for the daily vlog session, keep his heart strings in place, dodge Shelly’s vicious former boyfriend and the movie star diva.

Shelly’s about to lose a lot more than her heart if she can’t get a handle on her wounded pride and learn who to trust.

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Readers, find Lisa's book on the Prism Book Group's website:

http://www.prismbookgroup.com/EverythingAboutYou.html

Find "Everything About You" on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-About-You-Lisa-Lickel-ebook/dp/B01BYIUBKA

Thank you, Lisa, for visiting Everything Writerly today. Best wishes with your new novella!

Julie Cosgrove: Interview and giveaway

Andrea: Hi, Julie...welcome to Everything Writerly! Readers love to learn how writers write, so, please tell us how and why you created your romantic suspense trilogy?

Julie: God led me to write my suspense romance trilogy in a unique way. 

Imagine a stone path in the pitch dark, but only the stone in front of you lights up, then once you step on it, the next one does and so on. That is my journey in a nutshell. 

While recovering from surgery, I pondered starting a suspenseful novel. I wrote the first four chapters. Then the plot stalled. So, I put it away with a shrug. Within a month, I met three missionaries in three different incidences who were involved in rescuing women from human trafficking. It dawned on me God called me to write this in as a subplot, showing His redemptive love. 

My fingers flew over the keyboard, and Hush in the Storm was born. However, every pitch came back claiming it was amazing writing, but the subject matter.... One agent suggested a slight plot twist. I added it and got two nibbles, but no contract. I put it away, until one night I heard God whisper to try again. I saw an advertisement for Prism Book Group the next day and was under contract within forty-eight hours of the query. 

But, my editor had to quit, so it sat on the back burner for over a year until the Editor in Chief, Joan Bauer Alley, literally woke in the middle of the night with a message to read my manuscript. She did, rushed it through to be published, and encouraged me to write a continuation. So Legitimate Lies became a reality. Then, many readers wanted to know what happened to the trafficked teen, a minor character, so I wrote her story in Freed to Forgive. 

Each novel also deals with other real pain women face: betrayal, spousal adultery, abortion and giving up your child for adoption. Throughout all is a message of hope that God is there, He cares and He heals.

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Andrea: Thanks, Julie. Your novels sound so interesting!

Readers can find out more about Julie and her books by visiting her website: http://www.juliebcosgrove.com/

And now, readers YOU can enter to receive an e-copy of one of Julie's trilogy titles (your choice) AND her romantic novella "Greener Grasses." 

One winner will receive e-books of BOTH stories. Leave a comment with your email address and enter to. 

The winner will be announced January 14th.

A Chat with Author/Editor Susan Beganz

I first met Susan at the WisRWA (Wisconsin chapter of RWA) Conference years ago. She came as one of the editors taking appointments, as Susan works for Prism Book Group. She accepts romantic fiction, Christian and "clean" or "sweet" romance. We got along great. She and began carpooling to the ACFW-WISE meetings (our local ACFW chapter), and we've become good friends. On a ride home one night, I began telling her about three novellas I wrote, she asked to see them--and contracted them, much to my delight. The "Seasons of Love" collection will release this December.

So now Susan is not only my friend, she's my editor at Prism Book Group.

Susan is also a gifted author. Below is an interview with Susan about her latest release, "Pesto and Potholes" (Prism).

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Why romance fiction? How long have you had the passion to write?

I’ve always enjoyed sweet romances. In my late teens early twenties, I was enamoured of Georgette Heyer and Marion Chesney’s Regency romances. Clean stories without the explicit sex. I guess you could say I’m a romantic at heart and I long for that. My characters get the love and romance I don’t.

What made you choose writing? What keeps you writing? What motivates you?

I believe God led me to writing by telling me in a dream to do write for National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) in 2009. I think I had always been afraid to try and once I started the dam broke and I found out how much I love the process of writing a story. I haven’t stopped. Once the characters start forming in my mind and that first scene or general story concept and I start writing, I can’t stop until I’ve come to the end.

Which writers inspire you?

I admire the wit and whimsy of writers like Jen Turano, Mary Conneley and Karen Witemeyer, Brooke Williams, Sandi Bricker and Jan Thomson. I love the characters that Dee Henderson, DiAnne Mills, Ronie Kendig paint in her writing. Combined with suspense is amazing. Becky Wade and Lisa Lickel . . . I wish I could write like all of them, but I’ve had to learn that I have my own style and I need to be okay with that.

How is fiction writing a reflection of your Christian faith?

I love to encourage others. Jesus told parables and there is power in telling stories that can show the process of sanctification which I hope my characters will go through. I also believe we need to grow emotionally as well as spiritually. I hope I encourage others to persevere in their own journeys, spiritually, emotionally and relationally. And hopefully they see biblical truths in a new light based on the journey of the characters to motivate them to persevere through the trials that come our way.

What inspired the idea for your debut novel "Pesto and Potholes"?

For Pesto & Potholes I actually started with the concept of the potholes based on a concept I learned in my undergraduate studies. The idea that healing—whether emotional or physical—can be a rocky journey out of the pit and not necessarily an upward smooth trajectory.

For the entire Orchard Hill series, for which Pesto & Potholes is the first book, I wanted to explore one of the things I didn’t understand early in my faith journey was why the church was so important. Especially when so many young adults walk away. Beyond worship and teaching, I realized it was about the relationships. While I agree that the theology of origins and understanding how science support Scripture is important, but I believe the disenfranchisement of younger adults is deeper than that.

Peter Scazzerro wrote a book called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and he posits that when we come to Christ we are born into a new family and need to learn the new rules. Not the “do’s and don’t’s” but how to relate to others in a way that honors God and His other image-bearers. Many times the way we’ve been raised has not been as healthy as the design God has for us in relationships. So . . . I hope that my stories show the value and importance of the new “family” how valuable those relationships are for us to grow up in Christ as well as cope with the ups and downs of life.

How is your writing different from others? What is it similar to?

I’m not trying to write like anyone else no matter how much I admire other writer’s style.

I’m a bit more honest in my writing about sexual tension while keeping my stories clean. I think in our culture the reality of sexual promiscuity and the fall-out of that is very real so trying to encourage purity in the midst of a culture that doesn’t value that, is a core part of my character’s struggle. I love romance, but I don’t want to downplay the very real physical attraction and desire that can be part of a relationship. I push the envelope while keeping it clean. My characters struggle with the temptation of desire but not always acting on it because of a higher principle of seeking to honor God.

When you have spare time (just kidding) who do you enjoy reading? Who's your favorite author? What type of books do you like to read other than your own?

Sometimes I go back to previous books I’ve loved and enjoyed. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade, Healing Grace by Lisa Lickel, The O’Malley Series & Uncommon Heroes series by Dee Henderson. The Discarded Heroes Series by Ronie Kendig. Lady in the Briars by Carola Dunn. And then there are always new books coming out by authors I contract that I have the privilege to read first.

I have so many authors I enjoy for a variety of reasons, so it rather depends on my mood at the time, the reason I need to escape.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Write, write, write. Write short, write long. Flash Fiction. Short Stories. Novellas. Write long. Read a lot.

Learn what you can about writing. Attend a writer’s conference! I also recommend On Writing by Stephen King and The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell. Connect with the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) or some other writing group to find other writers who can help you grow.

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Keep in touch with Susan:

Read more about her by logging onto her website: http://susanbaganz.com/about/

LIKE Susan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanMBaganz

Follow Susan on Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+SusanMBaganz