I am not sure exactly when or where I first heard of Faith, but I have been following her on google+ and her blog for some time.
I read her first book, A Mighty Fortress, sometime ago and really enjoyed it. Her second book, Be Thou My Vision, is waiting in my kindle for a quiet evening and I am eager to read her other books as they come out!
Faith has joined us for an interview today and at the bottom of this post you will see my review of this book.
I read her first book, A Mighty Fortress, sometime ago and really enjoyed it. Her second book, Be Thou My Vision, is waiting in my kindle for a quiet evening and I am eager to read her other books as they come out!
Faith has joined us for an interview today and at the bottom of this post you will see my review of this book.
Joshua and Ruth Brookings are traveling by stagecoach to finally join their parents in Montana. Attacked by murderous outlaws, the teens barely escape with their lives and must survive in the barren Wyoming and Montana territories and escape the man who's hunting them.
Seven years ago, Jed Stuart ran away from home and joined Tom's gang. Jed is tired of the lawlessness and wants out. The only problem? He is the boss's right-hand man and will never be able to leave. And what's one more stagecoach robbery, anyway?
Can Joshua lean on God's strength to keep himself and his sister alive until they find a town? Will Jed be able to face his anger or will it consume him completely? All three are running--the hunter and hunted. What will happen when they meet?
Seven years ago, Jed Stuart ran away from home and joined Tom's gang. Jed is tired of the lawlessness and wants out. The only problem? He is the boss's right-hand man and will never be able to leave. And what's one more stagecoach robbery, anyway?
Can Joshua lean on God's strength to keep himself and his sister alive until they find a town? Will Jed be able to face his anger or will it consume him completely? All three are running--the hunter and hunted. What will happen when they meet?
Welcome to Heritage Literature, Faith! Tell us a little about yourself.
Thanks for having me, Lauren! I’m a 24 year old aspiring author and life with my family on a small hobby farm in Wisconsin. As I write this, I am looking out over a snowy cornfield with a tree-filled hill behind it. It’s a gorgeous backdrop to do my writing and editing in. I also work a part-time job at an accountant’s office entering data for the clients and doing whatever other odd jobs the boss has for me to do. I love writing, reading, crocheting, sewing, knitting, and playing games with my family.
How did you get started into writing?
School assignments. Then I started writing some stories on my own. It didn’t take Mom long to figure out that I loved to write, so my middle school and high school years had plenty of writing subjects to keep me busy. I think my favorite one was “Learn to Write the Novel Way”. I finished a novel in one year. It isn’t a very good one, but it shows promise and who knows, I may revive it someday and make it tons better. J
What inspired the Hymns of the West Series?
The first inspiration I got was a writing contest. The contest was for people younger than me and the story had to be less than 1,500 words I think. But, after seeing the contest and the picture you were supposed to base the picture on, I had an idea and went with it. That story ended up becoming A Mighty Fortress.
I originally didn’t plan on it becoming a series. But after finishing my book, one of my beta-readers asked what the second book was going to be about. I had no idea. But his question got my mind working and I came up with a rough idea. That idea is going to be book five in the series.
After that, other ideas kept on coming. I don’t even really know where they all came from, honestly. Right now, I have at least six novels planned and three companion novellas. In addition to those, I have one other possible novel idea and two more possible novella ideas.
What is the question you get asked the most in regards to being an author?
“Can you tell me your self-publishing story? I’m looking into getting published and would like to know the process.” After being asked this question, or a variation of it, two or three times in two weeks, I decided to start compiling information on a series of blog posts detailing some of my self-publishing story along with advice and ideas for writers who are considering self-publishing.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Don’t stop writing. If you get stuck, skip ahead to another scene in your story. This worked great for me when I was trying to finish the rough draft of the fourth book in my series. Only I got stuck three different times before I finally figured out how to connect the first spot. It was kind of fun writing ahead in the story and it worked great!
What type of marketing/advertising have you done that you felt was the most successful for you?
I’m still trying to figure that one out. I think Kindle Countdown deals and/or free promos have been the most successful. I’m also part of a writer’s Facebook group that provides mutual support and promotions and twitter blasts. I’m still trying to figure out how to do this whole marketing thing.
What other books have you written?
Only two have been published, A Mighty Fortress and Be Thou My Vision. However, I did recently get Amazing Grace set up to be available for preorder and that book will be published (at least on Kindle) on April 26th!
Do you have any works in progress you'd like to share with us?
YES! YES! YES! I am super excited about the three novellas I have written as companions to the Hymns of the West series. They will also have hymn titles and each one is slightly connected to Amazing Grace (Hymns of the West #3). One of the characters in AG is a mail order bride and the main character, Caleb writes to her, but also reads the advertisements for two other mail order brides. Two of the novellas, Pass ME Not and Redeemed are based on those two mail order brides. I Love Thee is based on the story of another man who writes to the same woman Caleb did.
Where can people connect with you online?
I am on all sorts of places. The places I am most active are Facebook, my blog, my website, and twitter. I am also on Goodreads, Pinterest and Google +.
Thanks for having me today. I had a lot of fun!
Thanks for having me, Lauren! I’m a 24 year old aspiring author and life with my family on a small hobby farm in Wisconsin. As I write this, I am looking out over a snowy cornfield with a tree-filled hill behind it. It’s a gorgeous backdrop to do my writing and editing in. I also work a part-time job at an accountant’s office entering data for the clients and doing whatever other odd jobs the boss has for me to do. I love writing, reading, crocheting, sewing, knitting, and playing games with my family.
How did you get started into writing?
School assignments. Then I started writing some stories on my own. It didn’t take Mom long to figure out that I loved to write, so my middle school and high school years had plenty of writing subjects to keep me busy. I think my favorite one was “Learn to Write the Novel Way”. I finished a novel in one year. It isn’t a very good one, but it shows promise and who knows, I may revive it someday and make it tons better. J
What inspired the Hymns of the West Series?
The first inspiration I got was a writing contest. The contest was for people younger than me and the story had to be less than 1,500 words I think. But, after seeing the contest and the picture you were supposed to base the picture on, I had an idea and went with it. That story ended up becoming A Mighty Fortress.
I originally didn’t plan on it becoming a series. But after finishing my book, one of my beta-readers asked what the second book was going to be about. I had no idea. But his question got my mind working and I came up with a rough idea. That idea is going to be book five in the series.
After that, other ideas kept on coming. I don’t even really know where they all came from, honestly. Right now, I have at least six novels planned and three companion novellas. In addition to those, I have one other possible novel idea and two more possible novella ideas.
What is the question you get asked the most in regards to being an author?
“Can you tell me your self-publishing story? I’m looking into getting published and would like to know the process.” After being asked this question, or a variation of it, two or three times in two weeks, I decided to start compiling information on a series of blog posts detailing some of my self-publishing story along with advice and ideas for writers who are considering self-publishing.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Don’t stop writing. If you get stuck, skip ahead to another scene in your story. This worked great for me when I was trying to finish the rough draft of the fourth book in my series. Only I got stuck three different times before I finally figured out how to connect the first spot. It was kind of fun writing ahead in the story and it worked great!
What type of marketing/advertising have you done that you felt was the most successful for you?
I’m still trying to figure that one out. I think Kindle Countdown deals and/or free promos have been the most successful. I’m also part of a writer’s Facebook group that provides mutual support and promotions and twitter blasts. I’m still trying to figure out how to do this whole marketing thing.
What other books have you written?
Only two have been published, A Mighty Fortress and Be Thou My Vision. However, I did recently get Amazing Grace set up to be available for preorder and that book will be published (at least on Kindle) on April 26th!
Do you have any works in progress you'd like to share with us?
YES! YES! YES! I am super excited about the three novellas I have written as companions to the Hymns of the West series. They will also have hymn titles and each one is slightly connected to Amazing Grace (Hymns of the West #3). One of the characters in AG is a mail order bride and the main character, Caleb writes to her, but also reads the advertisements for two other mail order brides. Two of the novellas, Pass ME Not and Redeemed are based on those two mail order brides. I Love Thee is based on the story of another man who writes to the same woman Caleb did.
Where can people connect with you online?
I am on all sorts of places. The places I am most active are Facebook, my blog, my website, and twitter. I am also on Goodreads, Pinterest and Google +.
Thanks for having me today. I had a lot of fun!
Thank you for being with us, Faith! I really enjoyed your advice to aspiring writers about not stopping writing just because you are stuck at one spot.
My review of A Mighty Fortress:
I really enjoy westerns but it is so hard to find good stories without immorality and extreme violence so I was pleased to find this book.
A Mighty Fortress was well written for the most part. The beginning was a bit hard to get through for me, but the story picked up near the middle of the book and the ending was very, very good. I am not an emotional person, but the ending really got to me.
I do not recommend this book to younger readers because there is a bit of violence and fatal gunfights. I felt Faith handled these situations well, she did not give too much detail, nor linger at the scene and there was closure with these instances at the end of book.
I recommend this book for ages 15+.
See this review on Amazon
I really enjoy westerns but it is so hard to find good stories without immorality and extreme violence so I was pleased to find this book.
A Mighty Fortress was well written for the most part. The beginning was a bit hard to get through for me, but the story picked up near the middle of the book and the ending was very, very good. I am not an emotional person, but the ending really got to me.
I do not recommend this book to younger readers because there is a bit of violence and fatal gunfights. I felt Faith handled these situations well, she did not give too much detail, nor linger at the scene and there was closure with these instances at the end of book.
I recommend this book for ages 15+.
See this review on Amazon
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