Free Books and Stephanie Whitson!

Happy Monday, readers and writers! I'd like to start the day by announcing the winner of our drawing for Amy Wallace's Healing Promises. The winner is:

artist4christ@

Congratulations! I'll contact you today for your snail mail address. I encourage readers to keep entering and/or subscribe at right in order to participate in future book give-aways!

Now how's this for today's book teaser: A city gal chooses mud and manure over designer gowns and tea parties.

Today we're talking with Stephanie Whitson, author of Unbridled Dreams, (Bethany House Publishers, August, 2008).

A native of southern Illinois, Stephanie Grace Whitson has lived in Nebraska since 1975. She began what she calls "playing with imaginary friends" (writing fiction) when, as a result of teaching her four homeschooled children Nebraska history, she was personally encouraged and challenged by the lives of pioneer women in the West. Since her first book, Walks the Fire, was published in 1995, Stephanie's fiction titles have appeared on the ECPA bestseller list numerous times and been finalists for the Christy Award, the Inspirational Reader's Choice Award, and ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year. Her first nonfiction work, How to Help a Grieving Friend, was released in 2005. In addition to serving in her local church and keeping up with two married children and three college students, Stephanie enjoys motorcycle trips with her family and church friends and volunteering at the International Quilt Study Center. Her passionate interests in pioneer women's history, antique quilts, and French, Italian, and Hawaiian language and culture provide endless story-telling possibilities.

Good grief, this makes two overachievers in a row, you and Joseph Bentz. I'm starting to feel like a bit of a slacker here, Stephanie. Okay, put down your quilt, get off the motorcyle, and tell us about Unbridled Dreams. In English, please.

Irmagard Friedrich has everything most girls want including admission to a prestigious finishing school--and she's miserable. To her, the perfect life means becoming "Liberty Belle" in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. When Irma's father goes against her mother's wishes and orchestrates a secret audition, Irma begins to realize her dreams. But when the Wild West proves to be more mud and manure than applause and acclaim, Belle's willfulness could ruin everything--including her budding romance with the King of the Cowboys.

That sounds like such a fun book! Which character most interested you while you wrote? Why?

That changed about mid-way through the book from the protagonist, Liberty Belle, to Belle's mother, Willa Friedrich. . . probably because I'm at the age in life where I can empathize with a mother's concern for her nearly-grown daughter.

Why will readers enjoy your novel?

Because they'll be able to identify with the women--either the young woman trying to find her way in the world and discover who she really is--or the mother doing her best to guide her daughter into a happy life and having her every move cause tension and misunderstanding.

On a lighter note, the setting is just great fun. Buffalo Bill's Wild West was a unique phenomenon in American history. Most of what we think about the "true west" is because of that touring company. Cody mounted a spectacular event that played to sold-out audiences of twenty thousand or more people night after night after night all across the U.S. and in Europe for decades. In 1886 he had a lighted arena and his troupe performed at night. Can you picture Native Americans in full regalia taking the Long Island Ferry to work at Madison Square Garden? Neither could I. . . . but they did.

Belle goes to New York when the Brooklyn Bridge was new and the Statue of Liberty was just being completed. I had such fun researching this book. . .and I think readers will enjoy going along for the literal ride.

I'm thinking movie! If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your lead roles?

That's hard because I have actual photographs of my characters and they don't look like any of today's movie stars. I have a large collection of old sepia-toned photos and I always find my character's faces in those photos.

We'd need a fiery redhead to play Irma/Belle, an elegant lady to play Belle's mother, a portly pushover to play Belle's father. . . and a tall outdoorsman to play Shep Sterling. If I suggested names they'd be from another era of film-making. So I'll leave that to your readers' imaginations.

Maybe some of our commenters have suggestions for us! Stephanie, what facet of the writing craft comes easiest to you? Explain.

Story ideas. As I say in one of my lectures, "what really happened is far more interesting than anything I could make up." I have an expansive list of things from history that I'd like to learn more about and develop into a novel someday. Which is proof that God is faithful to enable us to answer His calling on our life. When I was first offered a contract, instead of it being for the ONE book I had proposed, it was for a three book contract. I remember looking at my husband and saying, "I don't know if I can write three books. . . I haven't even finished one yet." Eighteen books later I'm scrambling to prioritize the idea file.

What a lovely problem, to have to come up with ideas for a three-book contract! What do you struggle with in your writing?

Self discipline. The simple act of placing myself at my desk and facing a blank computer screen and filling it with words is for me the most difficult part of writing. It is so easy to be distracted by the business of writing or the demands of homemaking or the delights of quiltmaking
. . .and put off simply doing the work.

Choose an inanimate object to represent you. Explain what you have in common with that object.

Has to be a quilt. As the poem says, my life is a "patchwork quilt of births and deaths and marriages and things, and sometimes when you're looking for a lovely piece of red, you only find a knot of faded strings," but I've learned "the red is redder when it's by a piece of brown, and grey is not so grey by sunny gold. . . " The patchwork quilt of my life isn't finished yet, but God has pieced in some amazing people and wonderful moments.

That's a gorgeous analogy. What is something about your life, right now, that thrills you?

Anticipating becoming a grandmother. My first two grandchildren are due in August--a girl and a boy. Instant grandma--and one of each. It doesn't get any better than that!

You said it, Gma (from one to another). What are you working on now?

A Claim of Her Own for Bethany House about a woman gold prospector in Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1876. It releases in 2009. An as-yet-untitled book for Bethany House about a single woman homesteader that will release in 2010. An unsold novel about a mysterious trunk full of quilts. An unsold non-fiction book celebrating Nebraska's pioneer women who lived in sod houses--by focusing on the quilts that "lived" with them in those soddies. A series of new lectures for writer's conferences.

And some quilts for those grandbabies.

What's the last book you read that impacted you? How did it affect you?

I just finished Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson. It challenged me to ask myself some hard questions about how I am impacting my community for Christ. . . and to stretch my comfort zone. My copy of that book has lots of underlinings and notes in the margins. One says, "Every parent should think about this while their children are young and decide what they will do about it." Quaker Summer will soon be sitting on my "these books changed my life" shelf.

Where else can readers find you or your writing online? Please include the link for purchasing your book!

www.stephaniewhitson.com There's a "buy now" button on my web site.

Unbridled Dreams is also available on Amazon, at Unbridled Dreams

Stephanie, thanks so much for telling us about yourself and your latest book. Readers, Stephanie will give a signed copy of Unbridled Dreams to the winner of next Sunday's drawing. Simply leave a comment for Stephanie below (maybe suggest some stars for the film version of her novel) to be entered. Leave your email address, in case you win, like so: trish[at]trishperry[dot]com. And if you subscribe to my blog, at right, or if you're already subscribed, you'll automatically be entered another time.

And be sure to check back this Thursday, when we'll announce the winner of the drawing for Joseph Bentz's A Son Comes Home.