Welcome to my blog, Naomi - I am happy to be a part of your ongoing tour! Look forward to learning more about you and your work…let's get started with the questions :)
1—Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?
My first reaction to this question was really? I’ve
never given that a thought. But I suppose there are folks whose lives haven’t
turned out the way they’d hoped, so I’m thrilled to be me.
I
have a wonderful husband, we live in a beautiful home with Ramona, our border
collie, and writing these stories keeps me busy doing what I love to do. I
often tell friends that when I die I want to come back as Ramona—because she seems to live an even more pampered, wonderful
life than I do! But for right now, my life is a good and perfect gift and I’m
grateful to God for that.
2—What did you do for your last birthday?
For my most recent birthday, I was delighted to
celebrate by going to a performance of Garrison Keillor’s radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. When he and his show are in the Fitzgerald Theater in
downtown St. Paul, we’re only minutes away—and while it might not sound too
exciting to watch a live radio performance, what you see on the stage is a lot
more exciting and interesting than what you hear when you listen at home! We try
to make a show every time A Prairie Home
Companion is in town.
For the big birthday before that, we cruised to
Hawaii! What a wonderful trip—two
weeks aboard a ship with nine days at sea and some really interesting visits on
the various islands. I believe birthdays are meant to be celebrated, so my
husband and I make a point of getting out to do something special as each year
rolls by.
3—What are you working on right now?
As you read this, I will be writing THE
CHRISTMAS CRADLE, which is #6 in my Seasons of the Heart Amish series, which I write as Charlotte Hubbard (my real
name). I love writing Christmas stories, and in this one, Miriam and Ben Hooley
welcome their first child—as well as an unmarried young couple who are having a
baby, much like Mary and Joseph did in Bethlehem. This will be the final book
in that series, and I’m currently noodling on ideas for a spin-off series
called Simple Gifts, which is also
set in Willow Ridge.
If
you could be any character, from any literary work, who would you choose to be?
Tinker Bell! Before Disney brought her to life
on the screen she was in J.M. Barrie’s original play about Peter Pan, way back
in 1904 (so that makes her a literary character, not just a cartoon).
I love Tink. She
flits around looking fabulous in that short, strapless dress—no wardrobe
malfunctions—and she gets to sprinkle pixie dust on people and situations to
make them turn out happier. She has her own special glow and wants everything
to turn out for the best . . . although she gets a little feisty at times. I
resemble that remark!
And Tinker Bell can
enable people to fly! While I can’t wave a wand that will allow people to soar
through the air physically, I like to think that my stories do indeed transport
readers to the Amish communities and homes I’m writing about these days. It’s a
special kind of magic to be an author, creating whole worlds that readers often
tell me feel real to them, peopled with characters they want to meet in person
(or feel like they already know). So in my way, I’m a lot more like Tinker Bell
than you might think!
What
are four things you can’t live without?
I had to think about this one for a while. I’ve
always considered myself rather independent and somewhat self-sufficient, but
when push comes to shove, I really would not be who I am today without my
husband Neal. He’s my total fan and supporter . . . has never once told me to
get out and get a real job, even when my writing wasn’t earning me any money. I
live the nice life I do because he’s taken it upon himself to be the
breadwinner and has allowed me to work from home, keep him fed and clothed,
etc. It’s a plus that he feels he couldn’t get by without me, either!
And, much as I hate
to admit the need for electronics, I could not be the writer I am now without
my Mac. Back in the day, I was writing confessions stories and my early book
manuscripts on a portable electric typewriter, but these days I’d be
hard-pressed to stay published without the ability to email editors and my
agent—because now, instead of having to mail in a big bulky finished manuscript
(about the size of a ream of paper) I can hit the Send button. I’m also
expected to maintain a website, engage in social media, and do other forms of
online promotion. So I have to keep up with all that tech stuff even though a
lot of it baffles me. The things I can’t do myself (such as designing and
updating my website) I pay someone to do.
I also realized several years ago that without
a two-year purse calendar, I’d be a lost soul. I know, I know—most people keep their calendars on their phones nowadays.
I still prefer to have paper pages to write my appointments and trips on, both
for my purse and on the wall in my kitchen and my office.
And without a sense of optimism? Might as well
hang it up. I’m blessed that I’m wired to be mostly a happy person, a can-do
person with many creative and problem-solving abilities. Without that
creativity thing, how could I concoct my series or write even one story? And if
I didn’t believe I
could write two different series under two different names for two different
publishers, I’d have fallen out of this Amish genre a long time ago.
Emma Blooms at Last
by Naomi King
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Romance is in the air during the fall wedding season in the
Amish community of Cedar Creek. But while one loving couple prepares to tie the
knot, Amanda and Wyman Brubaker’s large family faces a threat from outside
their happy circle…and must learn to pull together.
Recently wed Amanda and Wyman Brubaker are thrilled that
their children from previous marriages have blended together to form a strong
family. But when the construction of Wyman’s new grain elevator is delayed,
making the project more expensive than anticipated, Amanda’s determination to
rally the kids into taking on work to improve the family’s finances comes into
conflict with Wyman’s sense of responsibility as head of the household….
Meanwhile, as James Graber and Abby Lambright prepare for
their long-awaited nuptials, folks gather from far and wide. Amanda’s nephew
Jerome has long been smitten with James’s sister Emma and wants to seize this
chance to woo her. But Emma’s been burned once and is twice shy of trusting the
fun-loving, never-serious Jerome. As Emma and Jerome struggle to understand
each other, and find the courage to make a leap of faith, the Brubakers face a
bigger challenge than they first anticipated and begin to discover just what it
means to fight…the Amish way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
“Shall we get some lunch?” Jerome
asked when they were seated in the rig. “There’s a vintage-style diner just
down the road—”
“Or we could go back to Cedar
Creek,” Emma remarked in a hopeful tone. “Between what Mamm and I fixed and
what Amanda brought, there’s plenty enough for us to join them.”
Jerome smiled. “But you’ve spent
your morning with me and saved me from making a lot of mistakes,” he said
gently. “I’d like to treat you to a meal you didn’t have to cook yourself. Will
that be all right?”
Emma smiled as the color rose in
her cheeks. “Well, since you put it that way . . .”
He was thankful that once they
were seated in a red leatherette booth with a chrome-edged table between them
and a miniature jukebox on the wall, Emma took off her black coat and bonnet.
In her honey-gold cape dress and a cream-colored apron that fastened behind her
neck, she looked much more attractive and . . . inviting.
Jerome was pleased when she
ordered a patty melt with fries and a side of tomato soup. At least she wasn’t
going to be finicky about her food, like some girls were. After he ordered the
blue-plate special, which was meat loaf, he tapped on the wall-mounted juke
box. “Pick a song, Emma. We can listen while we wait for our lunch.”
As she flipped through the
selections, Jerome fished out a quarter and put it in the slot. “F six,” she
murmured.
In a few moments, “See You Later,
Alligator,” filled the small diner. As Emma tapped her fingers on the tabletop,
keeping time to the old rock-and-roll song, she looked as happy as Jerome had
ever seen her. At last, he’d found something they both enjoyed, even if the
church didn’t allow them to play such music at home.
“Dat took James and Abby and me
to a horse auction once, when we were around ten or eleven,” she recounted. “We
ate lunch at a place similar to this one, and Dat played this record on the
jukebox—and it’s stuck with us ever since. Even on days when he can’t recall
what he ate for breakfast, he knows every word to this song.”
“It’s a snappy tune,” Jerome
agreed, tapping his toes. Just for fun, he wanted to catch Emma’s feet between
his and give them a quick squeeze, but he thought better of it. “It’s nice to
have that memory from when your dat was younger and stronger. My mamm and dat
died when our house burned to the ground, when I was just ten.”
Emma’s eyes widened. “And how was
it that you didn’t—I mean—”
The concern on her face coaxed
Jerome to grasp her hand. “I was staying overnight at a cousin’s house,” he
replied. “The firemen said the old furnace exploded, and because the house was
built of very dry wood they’d saved from a barn they’d torn down, my folks were
gone before they knew what hit them. That’s when Aunt Amanda and Uncle Atlee
took me in—and probably why I get such a kick out of your dat.”
“You didn’t lose any brothers or
sisters, I hope?” Emma murmured. “If something happened to James, I’m not sure
I could bear it.”
Jerome felt comforted by her
concern, even if the accident happened more than half his lifetime ago. “No, it
seems they broke the mold when they made me,” he said with a chuckle.
For a moment, Emma’s gaze
lingered on his. Such an unusual shade of brown her eyes were, similar to a
mixture of honey and cinnamon. Too soon, she eased her hand away. “I’m sorry,”
she murmured. “That was a horrible thing to endure when you were so young.”
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Drawing upon her experiences in Jamesport, the largest Old Order Amish
community west of the Mississippi, longtime Missourian Naomi King writes of
simpler times and a faith-based lifestyle in her Home at Cedar Creek/One Big
Happy Family series. Like her series heroine, Abby Lambright, Naomi considers
it her personal mission to be a listener—to heal broken hearts and wounded
souls—and to share her hearth and home. Faith and family, farming and frugality
are hallmarks of her lifestyle: like Abby, she made her wedding dress and the
one her mom wore, too! She’s a deacon, a dedicated church musician and choir
member, and when she’s not writing, Naomi loves to travel, try new recipes,
crochet, and sew. Naomi, whose real name is Charlotte Hubbard, now lives in
Minnesota with her husband and their border collie, Ramona.
One Big Happy Family, Book 2
NAL Trade (November 4, 2014)
ISBN-13: 9780451417886 •• ISBN-10: 0451417887
Buy Links:
The Book Depository •• http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780451417886
IndieBound •• http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451417886
Powell’s •• http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9780451417886
Ebook
Prizes for the tour are as
follows:
• One randomly chosen winner via
rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
• One randomly chosen host will
receive a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
Rachel, thank you so much for featuring EMMA and an excerpt and some Q&A on your blog today! I really appreciate your help with my promo!
ReplyDeleteCharlotte Hubbard sounds like your husband could not do without you with you keeping the home fires burning so to speak. You couldn't do without him either and him not telling you to " get a real job " . You've gotta love a man like that. This sounds like a recipe for respect within the marriage and true love.
ReplyDeleteDeanne, you could indeed sing the R-E-S-P-E-C-T song for us for hanging together more than 39 years now! I think I'll keep him! Thanks so much for stopping by to comment!
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