And The Winner Is...

Oops! I was supposed to post this yesterday. My apologies. To make up for my boo-boo, I extended the deadline through last night and eliminated the email address requirement.

Congratulations to:    SARAH FORGRAVE

Sarah, I'll email you to arrange shipment of your book. Thanks for all the comments.

Author Interview & Giveaway - Mindy Starns Clark - Part 2

 

Today, we'll continue our interview with Mindy Starns Clark, co-author of The Amish Midwife and The Amish Nanny. Unfortunately, Leslie Gould, her co-author, was unable to participate at this time. Hopefully, we'll have her on the blog in the future.

Don't forget the giveaway! Mindy has generously agreed to provide not one, but two books for this drawing. See details at the end of the interview.

4) You and Leslie live on opposite sides of the country. How do you handle that dynamic? Have you ever met in person for a writing session?

I would give anything to have Leslie right next door! Being so far apart is very difficult, even in this digital age.

She and I have only gotten together in person twice, once when she came out here and once when I went out there. Mostly, we use email, though when we're down to final edits, we can also be found texting, calling, scanning and sending, faxing, or whatever else it takes. It would be a lot easier if we lived closer, but we manage to make it work.

5) Do you have something to share about your writing life, but nobody has asked that particular question? Feel free to express yourself here. :)

Actually, I'll share a little story about my co-author. :) Last winter, when she and I were working hard to wrap up The Amish Nanny and meet our deadline, poor Leslie was also having to deal with the fact that her husband, who's in the Army Reserves, had been called up for active duty to Afghanistan! I think the book was due the day before he was to leave the country. It was awful for her, but she was a trooper to the end and somehow managed to pull it off.

He's been gone a year, but would you believe it, he returned from Afghanistan the exact day before our next book, The Amish Bride, was due! Again, poor Leslie was having to finish up a novel in the midst of all of that. Even once he arrived, she had to find internet there on the base and continue to shoot files back and forth with me to get the book done and in on time the next morning. Which we did, I'm proud to say.

I've known lots of "poor author" stories about books finished while on the way to a funeral or while lying in a hospital bed, etc., but I think Leslie's situation ranks right up there. I have always had great respect for her, but after this, I've decided she's like a writing superhero.

Thanks, Mindy, for an awesome interview and giveaway. Okay, folks, we've got a deadline looming here at Christian Writer/Reader Connection: Saturday, March 10, 2012, at midnight.

1) The contest is open to both current and new Followers of Christian Writer/Reader Connection. To be eligible, you must be a resident of the United States.

2)  Four (4) chances to win! Comment on each interview post, mention the giveaway with a link on your blog, and/or Facebook. Please make a note in your blog comments if you've linked via your blog or Facebook.

3)  Leave your email address in the comment section. Sorry, no email = no entry.

4)  The winner will be notified via email on Sunday, March 11, 2012, and a notice will be posted on the blog that day. I'll provide Mindy with your snail mail address, and she will mail out a book to each winner.

Disclaimer: I did not receive any remuneration for this interview.

Writers & Readers: What was your favorite part of this interview? What nugget did you take away?

Author Interview & Giveaway - Mindy Starns Clark - Part 1

Mindy Starns Clark is the award-winning author of 19 books, bth fiction and non-fiction, including the #1 CBA/ECPA bestseller The Amish Midwife (co-written with Leslie Gould) and the perennial favorite The House That Cleans Itself. Her works have been finalists for ACFW's Carol Awards, RWA's Inspirational Book of the Year award, RT Book Club Magazine's Reviewer's Choice Award, and the ECPA's Christian Book Award. A former stand-up comedian, Mindy is also a popular playwright and inspirational speaker. She lives with her husband and two daughters near Valley Forge, PA.

I'm excited to have Mindy with us for a 2-part interview and giveaway. Be sure to check out the contest details below.

1) How did you and Leslie meet and decide to collaborate on a series?

We have the same agent, Chip MacGregor, and it was his idea. Leslie was wanting to write an Amish but didn't have the knowledge; I was wanting to come out with books more frequently but didn't have the time. For at least a year, Chip kept telling me about this author and how great she was and how we really ought to co-write a book. I didn't think I'd like the co-writing process, but I finally decided to give it a shot. As it turned out, I liked co-writing so much, I now work with three different co-authors! I love them all, but each situation is unique. Working with Leslie is incredibly rewarding and way too much fun. I also think we bring out the best in each other's work, and that's the main goal, to write a really great book.

2)What was your inspiration for The Amish Midwife?

It was Leslie's idea. She had read A Midwife's Story by Penny Armstrong and Sheryl Feldman a long time ago and had been wanting to use the information in a novel somehow ever since. She also had home births with her own children, so she had that experience to draw from as well.

3) Since I'm collaborating on a book with my friend, Karen Lange, I'm interested in your process. How do you divide the research, planning, and writing?

You know, it's different with each of my co-authors. With Leslie, she comes up with the basic plot then we hammer out the salient details together with lots of emails flying back and forth, until we've got an outline that runs several  pages. Then she writes the rough draft and sends it to me. I write the next draft, which sometimes involves significant changes and sometimes is just a matter of polishing up what's there. Our "voices" are very similar, so it's not hard at all for us to make it sound like one author rather than two. Once we've each had a crack at it, we work together on the finishing touches, and then we're done.

The best part is that we each bring different strengths to the table. She's a character-driven author and has a beautiful way with prose, which constantly has me in awe. (She's also far more organized and prompt than I am, so she keeps us on schedule. Haha.) I'm a plot-driven author with a real knack for pacing and storytelling. Together, we pretty much cover all the bases.

As for research, in the beginning, I was the "expert" on the Amish and handled that part of the equation. But she's learned so much since then-much of it through first-hand experience from her own research trips among the Amish - that nowadays she knows as much as I do about them, if not more. Beyond the Amish elements, it just sort of works out that we both research the things that seem needed at the time. For example, in The Amish Midwife, she handled almost all of the birth-related stuff. In The Amish Nanny, which involves characters who are traveling, I worked a lot with logistics, geopgraphy, and timelines, because as a former travel agent, I'm kind of obsessive about getting things exactly right. Overall, she does a lot more research than I do, though, because she's the one who's writing that first draft.

Thanks, Mindy! Wow, I can't imagine working with three authors.

And now for the giveaway details:

1) Mindy has generously offered to give away one copy of The Amish Midwife and one copy of The Amish Nanny. Two books = two winners! The contest is open to current and new Followers of Christian Writer/Reader Connection. Only residents of the U.S. are eligible for the giveaway.

2) You have the possibility of four entries. A comment on each of the interview posts will give you two, mentioning it on your blog gives you a third opportunity, and posting it on Facebook will get you a fourth entry. You must let me know in your comment if you mentioned the contest on your blog or Facebook.

3) I will need your email address in your comment. No email = no entry.

4) The deadline is Saturday, March 10, 2012, at midnight. The winner will be notified by email, and an announcement will be made on the blog on Sunday, March 11, 2012. I will forward your snail mail address to Mindy, who will send the two winners their books.

Disclaimer: I did not receive any remuneration for doing this interview.

Question for Writers: Does the idea of collaborating on a book appeal to you? Why/why not?

Question for Readers: When you read a co-written book, does it seem like it's written by more than one person or is it seamless?

Hmm, I think I'm going to pick up that book The House That Cleans Itself!

On My Nightstand - The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark & Leslie Gould

Lexie Jaeger avoids commitment. When boyfriends get too serious, she bails out. Her latest love interest, James, thinks it's because of unresolved issues concerning her adoption.

When her dying father gives her some tantalizing items, the questions they create in her mind push her to search for her birth family. Will she get the answers she wants, and will she want the answers she gets?

Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould team up to produce this tale fraught with dark secrets, tormented souls, and freedom. They hooked me from the get-go, and I finished in record time.

This is not your typical Amish book. There's interaction between Mennonite and Amish characters. They're portrayed as people with real problems, heartaches, and family dysfunction.

After reading Mindy's book, "Shadows of Lancaster County," I knew I'd be picking up more of her titles. I'm glad I selected this one.

Writers: Do you ever think about jumping into the Amish trend? Why or why not?

Readers: It's time for you to weigh in. If an Amish book has a great story line with elements of mystery, would you pick it up?