Kim: Wow. Great question. I think the inspirational market picked me. I tend to write a little sweeter story and characters. I was at an impasse with Harlequin, having submitted to Super Romance and American and kept getting rejections so I had a conversation with God. He gave me the talent to write, but I needed a little help in finding a home for it. The next day, one of my loops announced that the Love Inspired line was going to six books a month and looking for submissions. Duoh! Homer Simpson moment. It didn’t get any clearer than that. I revised the manuscript and added the faith element, which wasn’t a stretch since I’m a Christian, and viola. Within months I sold.
Alexis: I think there might have been just a tad bit of Divine intervention in that sale J I loved the blurb on your website about Home Sweet Home. Can you tell our readers a little about this latest release ?
Kim: Sure. It’s about finding a home for Abby and forgiveness for Cole. The blurb says it best though. As creative as I am, I’m brain dead right now.
“Finally ready to settle down, Abby Bancroft has just inherited a place to put down roots. But her hopes for a successful bed-and-breakfast are placed on hold when she learns that her grandparents' run-down inn is in serious need of TLC. So is Cole Preston, the handsome contractor who offers to help make her dream a reality. His past mistakes won't let him consider settling in the close-knit town. Yet as he and Abby work together to repair the house, they also begin to mend each other's hearts. And they just may find that consulting their hearts is what creating a home is all about.”
Alexis: Where did you get the idea for this story?
Kim: After my last story, which dealt with the subject of organ donation, I wanted to do something lighter. I’ve always loved Victorian mansions and thought it would be cool to own one and run a Bed & Breakfast. Since I can’t really do that, I decided to write about it.
Alexis: Great idea. I’ll have to keep that in mind for my own writing; things I’d like to do but can’t J So with this book, who did you have more fun writing, Cole or Abby?
Kim: Abby. She’s had so many tough breaks in life that every time I turned around, she had something else that she needed to tell me about her past. I had no idea she was a life guard in LA, or that she never really had a permanent home until she inherited the mansion from her grandparents.
Alexis: Don’t you just love it when your characters have a whole past life to delve into? But this isn’t your first published romance. Can you tell us a little about your other books?
Kim: Sure. Home At Last was my first novel published by Avalon Books.
Stake Your Claim also published by Avalon Books revolves around a small mining community in southern Arizona.
On Wings of Love, my first Love Inspired novel, deals with the subject of organ donation as I mentioned above.
I’ve also written a few short stories and will be putting them up on Amazon soon.
Alexis: Which of the books you’ve written has your favorite hero? Heroine?
Kim: Not a fair question. I love all my characters, although I really have a soft spot for all my heroes. I mean what’s not to love about them? I instill them with all the qualities that make the perfect hero with a few quirks and conflicts along the way. As for heroine? All of them as well. I can’t pick one as there’s a tiny piece of me in each one of them.
Alexis: You are such a good Mom. No favorites for you ;-) Do you have any other romance novels in the works that we can look forward to?
Kim: I’m currently under contract with my third Love Inspired. I don’t have a release date yet as I’m still writing it. The tentative title is A Father’s Love and it deals with a child with leukemia.
Alexis: Wow, you definitely don’t shy away from the tough subjects. I admire that and I think our readers will too. Thank you so much for visiting Happily Ever After Thoughts. We like talking about romance novels here and learning about the great people who write them J
Kim: Thanks so much for inviting me here. I love to hang out with you gals. Especially if there’s a beach , a pina colada and cabana boy to go along with it. J
Alexis: But of course!! “Cabana boy! Another round of Pina Coladas for the author and readers please.” While the cabana boy is getting the drinks, check out the excerpt below from Home Sweet Home.
Excerpt:
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."—Luke 6:37
"This is it?" Wide-eyed and a little confused, Abby Bancroft stared out the passenger side window of the Ford Escort parked in front of the large Victorian house. Her stomach churned as her gaze flipped between the obviously outdated brochure in her cold hand and the three-story wooden structure to her right in need of a new paint job and some other cosmetic work. If the outside reflected the inside, her vision of reopening the Bancroft Bed-and-Breakfast by the Founder's Day Festival the first weekend in May died a quick and painful death.
Disappointment pooled around her shoulders and matched the dismal early March skies. Puffy gray clouds threatened more snow in the sleepy town of Dynamite Creek in northern Arizona. The bare limbs of the tree standing guard by the long porch running along the front of the house looked more inviting than the empty windows that stared back at her. She should have guessed the house would be as welcoming as the people who once lived inside.
"Yep. This is it. We're here." Delia Wentworth, the receptionist from her late grandmother's attorney's office unbuckled her seat belt and opened the driver's side door. Frigid air blew through the interior, making Abby shiver inside her inadequate jacket and miss the warm Southern California weather. Here wasn't exactly the picture perfect place she'd expected to find as she sat frozen inside the car.
"It's really a great house. It just needs a little TLC," Delia responded enthusiastically before leaving the car.
"A little?" Abby's skepticism showed in her voice. She knew nothing about general construction, but she had eyes, unless something in her brain had gone haywire in the long drive between Los Angeles and Dynamite Creek. Maybe she needed a pair of rose-colored glasses like Delia wore because Abby didn't quite see the old Victorian in the same way.
Pulling her collar around her neck, Abby grabbed her purse, exited the car and walked to where the young woman stood. Abby held up the brochure and compared it with the house. Then she flipped the piece of paper over. The photo credit was from 1987. Figures. Over the years, beautiful and welcoming had morphed into dismal and uninviting. The yellow paint had faded over time and had begun to peel in several places and some of the porch railing sagged. And that was just what she could see.
A gust of wind frosted her legs and whipped a loose strand of hair into her eyes. Abby should have waited until May to collect her inheritance, but the letter from the attorney's office hadn't really given her much choice and she wasn't fool enough to walk away from a place she could finally call home. If she found a way to fit into Dynamite Creek.
"This is it?" Wide-eyed and a little confused, Abby Bancroft stared out the passenger side window of the Ford Escort parked in front of the large Victorian house. Her stomach churned as her gaze flipped between the obviously outdated brochure in her cold hand and the three-story wooden structure to her right in need of a new paint job and some other cosmetic work. If the outside reflected the inside, her vision of reopening the Bancroft Bed-and-Breakfast by the Founder's Day Festival the first weekend in May died a quick and painful death.
Disappointment pooled around her shoulders and matched the dismal early March skies. Puffy gray clouds threatened more snow in the sleepy town of Dynamite Creek in northern Arizona. The bare limbs of the tree standing guard by the long porch running along the front of the house looked more inviting than the empty windows that stared back at her. She should have guessed the house would be as welcoming as the people who once lived inside.
"Yep. This is it. We're here." Delia Wentworth, the receptionist from her late grandmother's attorney's office unbuckled her seat belt and opened the driver's side door. Frigid air blew through the interior, making Abby shiver inside her inadequate jacket and miss the warm Southern California weather. Here wasn't exactly the picture perfect place she'd expected to find as she sat frozen inside the car.
"It's really a great house. It just needs a little TLC," Delia responded enthusiastically before leaving the car.
"A little?" Abby's skepticism showed in her voice. She knew nothing about general construction, but she had eyes, unless something in her brain had gone haywire in the long drive between Los Angeles and Dynamite Creek. Maybe she needed a pair of rose-colored glasses like Delia wore because Abby didn't quite see the old Victorian in the same way.
Pulling her collar around her neck, Abby grabbed her purse, exited the car and walked to where the young woman stood. Abby held up the brochure and compared it with the house. Then she flipped the piece of paper over. The photo credit was from 1987. Figures. Over the years, beautiful and welcoming had morphed into dismal and uninviting. The yellow paint had faded over time and had begun to peel in several places and some of the porch railing sagged. And that was just what she could see.
A gust of wind frosted her legs and whipped a loose strand of hair into her eyes. Abby should have waited until May to collect her inheritance, but the letter from the attorney's office hadn't really given her much choice and she wasn't fool enough to walk away from a place she could finally call home. If she found a way to fit into Dynamite Creek.
Alexis: And don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of On Wings of Love.
Hi Kim,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the release of your new book. I enjoyed reading your interview. You have such great attitudes.
Hi Kim, Really enjoyed your interview, too. You are such a creative writer. We both love your stories. Congrats on the new contract.
ReplyDeleteHey, Alexis, a couple of those Pina Coladas over here, please. Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by COnne and Tia. It was great seeing you last night. Aren't these pina coladas awesome? Now, cabana boy...;)
ReplyDeleteYou ladies do realize the rum for the coladas is made right here. You can't beat it! It's called Cruzan Rum and while I do enjoy these drinks, you should try the black cherry rum with Pepsi ;-) It goes great with the sun and a great romance novel like Kim's.
ReplyDeleteWonderful interview, ladies! Kim, I can't wait to read this one. You touch my heart with your stories.
ReplyDeleteKim, you've spent so much time perfecting your craft...and it really worked! Congratulations on your new book!
ReplyDeleteYes for the black cherry rum, no for the pepsi. I had to much of that in college! I'll just have a black cherry Pina Colada thank you. Oh cabana boy.....
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathryne. Likewise. Your characters stay with me long after I finish the book.
Thanks for stopping by Shelley, critique partner extraordinaire.
I read Home Sweet Home this past weekend and I really enjoyed it. I didn't want to put the book down.
ReplyDelete