Please join me in welcoming back award-winning author, Paula Mowery, who is also a pastor’s wife, acquisitions editor for Prism Book Group and speaker. Welcome, Paula!

Paula, will you share with us the process you use in your writing?
My writing process might be considered a cross between seat-of-pants and outlined. After getting an idea, I usually make some crude notes and sometimes a simple list of scenes then I start to write. There’s something about manually writing out my story in a spiral notebook that works for me too. The story is recorded there first and then transferred to the computer. I will usually print out a copy and put it into a three ring notebook to edit.

Do you write each day on a regular schedule, or only when you get the opportunity?
My writing schedule consists of scribbling as many words on my own manuscripts at any moment I can squeeze it in. I normally edit on my acquired manuscripts a bit each day. I try to post to my blog at least once a week and to my Facebook every other day at least. With a part-time job with the school system, I take advantage of every spare moment and live for summer break.

Please share about your book, For Our Good.
I’m so excited about this book. For Our Good is my first Christian romantic suspense. I’ll admit, I absolutely love my heroine. She isn’t the damsel in distress in this story. Far from it. But, I’ll let you read about her.

For Our Good involves an undercover officer trying to find who is providing drugs to high school boys. The strange thing is that there is a connection between these boys – church. Jordan is saddened that a possible drug trafficker could be at his church. Charlie can’t believe she has to attend church when she is still mad at God. Colton is a co-pilot with his buddy, Marshall, who is approached to carry an unidentified parcel. Charlie is attracted to Colton, but is he involved in this drug problem? Can this group survive some sticky situations and learn that God can work things for good?

What was the catalyst for writing this particular story?
My father was a corporate pilot for several years. He was once approached by a man with a suitcase full of money and a request for my dad to carry a small parcel. He refused.
This story was the basis for the book. You’ll find Colton being tempted with this same situation.

How did you come to create these characters?
Colton and Charlie came first. Colton is the pilot approached by the man with the money and the parcel. His co-pilot, Marshall, was a natural addition since he becomes a voice of conscience. Then I wanted to have the heroine be the tough savior but also her own ghosts to deal with – that meant Charlie came to life. Charlie needed to have an informant from the police department who could also be a spiritual leader and Jordan came into the story.

How does your story reflect your love for God?
For Our Good shows how Christians can become disillusioned with God and hold anger for past situations. The story also shows a character who demonstrates a close walk with the Lord and lets God lead in every aspect of life.

The characters journey through the difficult situations to an understanding that God loves us so much that He works even the worst things in life for good.

Where can readers find out more about you and your books?
Please connect with me on my blog, www.paulamowery.blogspot.com. There you can connect with me on Facebook as well. Also, look up my name on Amazon for all of my available titles.

Lastly, is there anything else you’d like to share about you or your book?
For Our Good includes a little extra bonus at the end of the book – a Bible study. The study delves into some of the scriptures seen in the story and allows for personal application of the themes. As I wrote the story’s ending, the study seemed like a natural addition. I hope readers will find it a helpful resource for personal study or even a group study.

Paula, thank you for visiting with us this month. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you again.

If you’d like to win an e-copy of Paula’s book, For Our Good, use the Contact page and type “drawing” in the comments box. The deadline to enter is September 24th.

 

--- For Our Good Blurb ---

 

For Our Good Blurb

Charlie Jarvis is haunted by loss that fuels her desire to rid the world of drug traffickers. When her next assignment takes her back to her hometown, she has to confront her painful past. She has no interest in a relationship since God seems to kill everyone she loves. 

Colton Thomas appreciates material things and the status of being a corporate pilot. When someone approaches him to deliver a package for a large sum of money that could wipe out his debts, temptation knocks loud on his door even as his partner, Marshall, slams it shut. Meeting Charlie challenges his non-committal stance with women. As he considers who he has become and the kind of man he would want to be for Charlie, he confronts his own shallow lifestyle and the fear that he would never be able to help her heal her wounds. 

As Charlie pursues the man causing young boys to die of overdoses, she struggles with the secrets she keeps from Colton. With people around them shining the light of God and encouraging their courtship, both Charlie and Colton have to face hard truths about life, death, love, and faith. And maybe find a fresh start for them both. 

 

--- Author Bio ---

Paula Mowery is a published author, acquisitions editor, and speaker. Her first two published works were The Blessing Seer and Be The Blessing from Pelican Book Group. Both are women’s fiction, and their themes have been the topics of speaking engagements. Be The Blessing won the Selah Award in 2014 in the novella category. In November of 2013, her first romance released in the anthology, Brave New Century, from Prism Book Group. This book went to number five on Amazon’s bestseller category, historical Christian romance. Legacy and Love was her first solo romance and was a finalist in the Carolyn Readers Choice Awards in 2015.

Reviewers of her writing characterize it as “thundering with emotion.” Her articles have appeared in Woman’s World, The Christian Online Magazine, and the multi-author devotional blog, Full Flavored Living. She wrote a section for Join the Insanity by Rhonda Rhea. She has devotionals included in several collaborative books.

As an acquisitions editor for Prism Book Group, Paula particularly looks for romance stories with Christian values at its core. She’s especially attracted to those manuscripts that leave the reader mulling over the story long after turning the last page.

Having been an avid reader of Christian fiction, she now puts that love to use by writing book reviews. She is a member of ACFW and is on the author interview team. She was a member of the 2014 and 2015 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference faculty.

Paula is a pastor’s wife and mom to a college student. She homeschooled her daughter through all twelve years, and they both lived to tell about it. Before educating her daughter at home, she was an English teacher in public school.

You can follow Paula at www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Mowery/175869562589187. Learn more about Paula at her blog at www.paulamowery.blogspot.com or enjoy her monthly columns on www.christianonlinemagazine.com. You can also check out her blog for Christian writers at www.ccwcu.blogspot.com.