January's Author of the Month

Welcome to 2013, all you fantabulous HCR lovers out there!

I hope you enjoyed my post for last months author...I personally think that author is the best. *wink*

I am SO totally excited to be featuring a very talented (and might I add hilarious and very faithful) author. Everybody, give it up for Margaret Brownley!!!!

When I discovered Margaret's books, I literally couldn't put them down.

Just sayin'...if you haven't read them yet then you are missing some great stories. I have reviews for all her "inspy" romances, so make sure you check those out as well!!!

Margaret has answered some fun questions for me, so I hope that you enjoy getting to know more about her!!

Also! If you want to be entered to win her new book, follow my blog (if you don't already...) and post this link on FB! You will have to leave me your email if you want to be notified of winning!!! Believe you me, you will want to win this'un!! (As you will see at the end of this post, there is ANOTHER different contest Margaret is doing, so make sure you read all the details to enter BOTH contests!!)


Tell us about yourself!  

First, let me say thank you, Amber, for inviting me to visit with your readers.
As for me, I was always a storyteller and constantly in trouble as a child for making up stories. The writer part was harder to acknowledge, partly because English was my least favorite subject.  My eighth grade teacher told me not to even think about being a writer. Diagram a sentence?  You gotta be kidding?

I might have spent the rest of my life scribbling in notebooks and writing amusing notes to my kids’ teachers had I not “volunteered” to edit my church newsletter. After I made the church picnic read like a Grisham novel, my former preacher took me aside and said, “Maybe God’s calling you to write fiction.”  And so that’s what I did.  I now have more than 25 novels to my credit, plus my first non-fiction book Grieving God’s Way: The Lasting Path to Hope and Healing was published in July.

On the personal side: My husband and I have three grown children.  As for hobbies, I like to herd cattle, chase down bad guys, and rob stages.  Wait at minute. That’s not me; that’s my characters!


What is your favorite novel of all time and why?

I don’t know that this was my favorite of all time, but the one that made a lasting impression on me was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was around nine when I read it and it was the first book that made me cry. I wanted to be a writer like Jo March.

What is your favorite scripture in the Bible?

I have to say Mark 10:27: “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”  I gave you the King James’ version because that’s the Bible that’s handy in this historical writer’s office.

Your stories, are fun and fast paced! Where do you get your inspiration for your stories?

I get my ideas mostly from reading: An article in the National Enquirer about Avon ladies selling to Amazon natives inspired an older historical novel of mine.  I looked up Avon and discovered that the first Avon “lady” was a door-to-door book salesman.  He gave out perfume hoping to entice women to buy his books, but the perfume proved more popular.  Not only did this give me a great idea for a story but some good advice about what not to give away when promoting a book.  

The idea for my current Brides of Last Chance Ranch series came from the N.Y. Times archives:
In 1861 fifty ladies of the first Church of Milford in New York formed a society of old maids. It cost five dollars to join the group and members had to vow never to marry. The interest earned from the money paid for the annual dinner, with the principal going to the woman who remained unmarried the longest.

According to an article in the New York Times thirty years later in 1891 all but fifteen of the original fifty had married.  By then the prize money had risen to a thousand dollars.  I’ve not been able to find the winner’s name—and being a romantic I sincerely hope there wasn’t one— but the best part of being a writer is where real life fails, inspiration takes over.

www.margaretbrownley.com


How to Enter the HONK IF YOU LOVE BOOKS contest:
In WAITING FOR MORNING set in the Arizona Territory in 1896, Dr. Caleb Fairbanks introduces the residents of the Last Chance Ranch to his beloved "horseless carriage" named Bertha.  When Caleb and his backfiring Bertha incite gunfire from former dance hall girl, Molly Hatfield, the handsome doctor knows he's in for an adventure with the intriguing woman and her spirited wheelchair bound kid brother, Donny.
Share your memory of a car that played an important role in your life's story for a chance to win a $100 gas card. Email your story (no more than a couple of paragraphs) to contests@nancyberland.com.  Contests ends January 31.

Margaret, thank you SO much for being my author of the month--this is a real treat and I KNOW people are going to love this new novel as much as all your others. Thank you for following God's path and blessing us all with your talents.

God Bless and Happy New Year!!