Author Interview & Giveaway - Paula Rose Michelson - Part 2

Today, we continue with Part 2 of our interview with Paula Rose Michelson, author of Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing. The giveaway details are below.

4) Please give our readers a short summary of Casa de Naomi: the House of Blessing. 


Fifteen-year-old Naomi wants to practice her faith in public, find her uncle, and help him raise money to bring their family to America. She signs on as a companion to a blind woman, whose family plans to tour Europe and settle in the United States. Her plans are thwarted when the woman dies aboard ship, and Naomi is handed over to Immigration.

While waiting for her interview, an old Tia (auntie) comes to her rescue and offers to take her in. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, Naomi accepts the arrangement and unwittingly enters the country illegally.

The book trailer can be viewed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5uckLDfMaM

5)  When does Book 2 release, and how can we get it? What other projects are on the horizon?

Book 2 will release in the spring of 2013. However, I hope to have the pre-release copies by December 2012. You can order your inscribed copies at my website.

6)  Finally, do you have any advice for those who view their writing as a calling from God?

This is a very important question and one I do not take lightly. As your readers have probably surmised by now, writing with the idea of being published, especially with my spelling and punctuation issues, was the last thing I would have wanted to do.

I'll ask your readers: "How do you know that God has called you? What has He asked you to write about and why?

I know these questions might sound odd. Yet after speaking with numerous people, I'm surprised many haven't a clue as to why or how God can use them. I've heard their frustration over harsh critiques and rejection letters.

Since I believe most who struggle with their calling have not asked these questions, let me share these are the questions God answered for me. His answers motivated and encouraged me so much that I began sharing my journey with my friends. Before I ever had a publisher, I was receiving calls from people I had never met that wanted to know if I'd like to hear their stories. Before the novel was published, 40 books had been sold.

Giveaway:

1.  To be eligible, you must be a resident of the U.S. and a Follower of Christian Writer/Reader Connection.

2.  Leave a comment on this post with your email address.

3. Deadline: Saturday, 7/14/12, at midnight. The winner will be drawn on Sunday 7/15/12 and announced on the blog. They will also be notified via email. Once I have your snail mail address, I'll forward it to Paula. She will send you her book.

Disclaimer: I did not receive any remuneration from either the publisher or the author to do this interview.

Writers: Do you feel God called you to write? Please share.

Readers:  What was your favorite part of this interview?

The Winner

The winner of Paula Rose Michelson's book, Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing is:

                                                          KAREN LANGE!

Congratulations! I've notified you by email. Please send me your snail mail address, and I'll forward it to Paula.

If you didn't win, take heart. Part 2 of Paula's interview will run this week, and she's having a drawing for another copy of her book!

Author Interview & Giveaway - Paula Rose Michelson - Part 1

Paula Rose Michelson and I "met" when I won her book on Dorothy Adamek's blog, Ink Dots. We've since corresponded about her work and the challenges of writing.

She's offered to do a GIVEAWAY of Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing. Check out the details below.

1) Welcome, Paula! What was the inspiration for your series, "Casa de Naomi?"

A friend kept asking me if I was pursuing my craft. When I discovered she was a publisher, I set up a meeting. We discussed my idea for a book about 3 women, who meet while hiking the Appalachian Trail, and how the believing one's faith affects the others.

Knowing very little about the Sephardic (Spanish) Jews that had to be baptized into the Catholic faith to survive during the Inquisition, I had to research Naomi's background. After several weeks, the publisher contacted me to find out why I hadn't sent her an outline. When she heard I was writing a character sketch for Naomi, she requested I send her my notes.

She emailed me, and said I'd begun writing a book. When I told her she was mistaken, she suggested I go back three days and read the emails I'd sent her. She was right! A few days later, the characters began speaking to me, and I kept writing until they were done talking.

While I kept Naomi, I did not go with the original idea of 3 women on the Appalachian Trail. I'll share more about the book later.

2) What is the overall message of the books?

The book grew out of my work as founder and head of LAMB Ministries, which uses Scripture and prayer to heal the wounds of women abused in childhood. It was my desire to help others view their issues through Naomi, a teenager living a fearful existence because she was taught that who she is and what she believes could lead to her death.

I've set up a blog called, The Casa de Naomi Reflections blog, where I post weekly. I encourage readers to think about Naomi's issues and look at Scriptural choices without preaching. To find out more about LAMB Ministries and begin your healing, visit my website.

Book 1 in the series ends without a resolution to worldly issues. I believe the reader will take away that although people think they know us, they only know what we choose to show them. When thinking of Naomi's difficulties, we discover that no imagined issues are worth subjugating ourselves and all we can become. The key to freedom is: owning who we are and claiming all that Messiah did for us.

3. Could you share how you researched before writing?

My initial research into the Spanish and Mexican Inquisitions made me curious. I interviewed several women from the Sephardic population and included pertinent historical notes at the beginning of each book.

We'll continue our interview with Paula on Monday, 7/9/12.

Giveaway Details:
1) You must be a Follower of Christian Writer/Reader Connection and a resident of the U.S.
2) To enter, comment on this post. Please leave your email address, so I can reach you
3) Deadline: Saturday, 7/7/12, at midnight. The winner will be announced on the blog and notified by email. When I receive your snail mail address, I will forward it to Paula. She will send you the book.

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

Writers: Have any of your ideas sprung from actual historical events? Please share.
Readers: How much historical detail do you like in a book: just the flavor or served up in gourmet fashion?

Winner of Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing

Congratulations to:                               DENA NETHERTON!

You've won Paula Rose Michelson's book, Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing. Please send me your snail mail address, and I'll forward it to Paula. I've also sent you an email notification.

If you didn't win, you still have two more opportunities if you comment on Part 1 and Part 2 of my interview with Paula. Part 1 will be on the blog Monday.

From Dyslexic Artist to Published Author - Guest Post & Giveaway

Paula Rose Michelson facilitates a monthly Writers Workshop and is the author of Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing, a 6-book saga. She's also a wife, mom, grandmother, and founder of LAMB Ministries, which helps women recover from trauma and abuse.

Paula has offered to do a giveaway. Check out the details after the post.

Below Paula shares her struggles with Dyslexia. Please welcome her, and draw inspiration from her story.

"Paula, please come forward."

Aware that I had not written the expected autobiography that constituted one-third of my semester's grade, I cringed. At fourteen, I knew I had nothing noteworthy to write about. Now, my seventh grade teacher would hand me a failing grade. If only I'd handed in the paper mom corrected.  What a fool for throwing a semester's work away and starting over, especially since I never understood the difference between words like to, too, or two.

I stood and began the longest journey of self discovery I’ve ever taken. While I told myself how brave I'd been to write about what mattered to me instead of the mundane: I was born on, I live at, drivel in an autobiography, my confidence fled before I could look up and face the teacher.

Whether it was my self talk, my profound belief that I'd been true to myself, or the fact that a merciful God had taken pity upon me, I did not know. What I did know was the teacher smiled at me. I stood there staring at her, unable to speak. The bell rang, she dismissed the class, and asked me to stay.

Miss White handed my essay back to me. “Never have I given a student an A+++ for content and an F- - - for mechanics.”

This single sentence set the rudder of my life in a new direction. Looking back, I realize a paradigm shift occurred. Before I looked upon myself as not quite good enough. Years later, I learned the issue plaguing me was called, "Dyslexia," a learning disability that affects the ability to read.  Thanks to Miss White and God, it didn’t matter because I knew I had abilities and could use them.



Giveaway Details:


1) You must be a Follower of Christian Writer/Reader Connection.
2) The giveaway is open to residents of the United States.
3) To enter, comment on this post and leave your email address. 
4) Deadline: Saturday, June 30, 2012, at midnight. The winner will be announced on Sunday, July 1st, and notified by email. 
5) Paula will send the book out as soon as she receives your snail mail address.


Writers: What kind of obstacles have you overcome to make it this far in your writing journey?

Readers: Do you like reading about author's lives and struggles? Why?