Looking Out the Window: DiAne Gates Talks About Twisted, Book Two in Her Young Adult Rodeo Series, Shares a Yummy Homemade Pizza Recipe, and Gives Away an Ebook.

A Warm Welcome to DiAne Gates

DiAne will give away an ebook of Twisted. To enter to win please leave an answer to the following questions in a comment with an email address.

The Questions

Have you ever been to a rodeo?

If so, what's your favorite part? 

Good morning, Gail. Thank you for having me on your blog today. 

It's my pleasure. Tell us what's happening with your books.

What an exciting time this past month has been…experiencing the release of my second book of The Roped Series, TWISTED.

My office is still buried in the clutter a release creates. I keep hoping the good housecleaning fairy will appear and sweep away the mess, but Crandall, Texas, doesn’t seem to be on her work list. Yet!

LOL. I don't think Georgia's on her list either. Let's talk about your writing. When did you begin and why? 

I must confess I was a slothful student, reluctant reader, but an active artist. Always drawing on everything, participating in decorating anything that stood still long enough at school. My dream was to go to art school, paint, and become a world renown artist. My parents didn’t agree.

In my early teens, I had to write an essay in the contest to determine who would be crowned Sweetheart at our church valentine banquet. I wrote “The Basis of a Great Nation is a Christian Home.” And I won. I still have the handwritten essay, but I cringe over the lack of writing skills…shoulda paid more attention in English. That title lit a flame in my heart that never died. I still write about the critical value and importance our Christian homes hold in today’s world.

Does your new release, Twisted , begin where Roped ended? 

The Monday after that night at the rodeo. I’ve never liked books that tied all the bows and put everything in order—life’s generally not like that. I want to entice the reader to wonder what will happen…could the villain die…will the girls become friends or spend their lives battling? There were so many loose ends, I couldn’t afford to drop a single thread. And as Crissy and Jodie Lea tell their stories the depth of differences in these two families had to be explored and the Fairgate family secrets explode across each page. My goodness! No wonder Jodie Lea is the brat we met in Roped.

More About Twisted

What begins as a nasty rodeo competition morphs into a ring of horse thieves, an uncle with a past, and consequences that span generations.

TWISTED, continues the journey of the Crosby and Fairgate families. Will these two Texas teens finally overcome the past and discover the future God has planned, or will they forever be trapped by the crimes of their fathers?


What's the best way for readers to let you know they enjoyed these books? By writing a review

I’ve read in a previous interview, you’re working on Book Three, titled Untied. What’s up with that one?

When you’ve roped and twisted a rope, you’ve either got to untie or slash it. Wasn’t ready for a slashing…yet. Roped signifies their lives and how quickly our lives can become knotted in a twisted mess. Perhaps the girls will find the key to untie their relationship…however, I can assure my readers it will be costly and will require great changes in everyone’s’ lives. Goodness, I’m only on Chapter Seven, who knows what these two families will spring on me…and then there’s the real varmint…Uncle Bo…and you know…Jodie Lea’s mother. And well, Jodie Lea’s not a bundle of blessings!

Thanks for sharing a preview. Do you have a life verse and how did that verse become so important to you?

Actually, I have two verses that have become life-rings for times of fear and uncertainty.
Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God; but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

In the months and years after our daughter’s sudden death I hammered heaven with the “Why God?” question. And one morning after a particularly difficult night, I turned randomly in my Bible and this verse popped off the page and into my heart. And I heard His still, small voice in my heart ask…Do you trust Me? The quiet calm of that moment still resonates in my heart. I’d love to tell you I fell on my face and assured the Lord of my complete trust and love for Him, but in truth my words were halting and whispered. Yes, Lord…and I gulped long and hard…I trust You. Because I knew what He was asking…complete surrender to accept His will. And that meant turning lose—saying goodbye to my daughter and leaving her in God’s hands, so I could move forward.

I’ve been privileged to lead GriefShare for the past thirteen plus years and one of the ladies on our DVD series said: “If Job had known why the Lord allowed his children to be taken, there would still have been empty places at the dinner table that night.”

Jesus tells us death is an enemy…but He didn’t leave us without hope. One day we will attend Death’s funeral, watch the nails pounded into Death’s coffin, and there will be no more Death…because Jesus paid the price for each one of us who believe and trust in Him.

Hebrews 12:1-4 is my other life verse. While I’m not an athlete by any means, my high school coach told me time and time again…you hold a baseball like a teacup. I was always the last one chosen when teams were picked. But I have a high metabolism…endless energy…and I understand the need to keep on keeping on.

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”

I would encourage you to turn to that scripture and read the rest of the verses and let The Spirit of God speak to your heart. He has selected the lane (road) we are to run life’s race in. And He holds us in the palm of His hand…no matter the circumstances, I’ll just keep running ‘til He calls me home or sends Jesus to fetch me.

Like Paul said: “For me to live is Christ…to die is gain…”

DiAne shares a wonderful family recipe. 

Aunt Liza's Homemade Pizza   

Dough:

1 pkg. yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 cup warm water

2.5 cups flour

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar, cover, and let rest until foamy.

Combine flour, olive oil and salt in mixer, add yeast mixture.

With dough hook mix slowly at first, then turn mixer on high until dough does not stick to sides.
Leave dough in mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel, let rise in warm place for 1 hour.
Cut dough in quarters for very thin crust, or in half for thicker dough.

Flour a sheet pan, place dough you will use immediately on sheet and cover to rise a second time (45 minutes).

Place remaining dough in a freezer bag to be used another day. Remember when using the frozen dough, let it thaw, then rise…I leave mine out most of the day.

After the 45-minute rising time, roll out dough and place on stone if you have one or on baking sheet.
I pre-heat my oven to 500 degrees.

Sauce

1 large can of tomatoes (I use whole or pieces – Cento Brand)

Garlic (fresh or powder)

Basil (fresh or flakes)

Italian Spice

Sugar to taste (I use 2 teaspoons)

Red wine

Red Pepper flakes (according to your family’s tolerance to heat)

Kalamata olives

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor, blend. 

This mixture will make way more than enough for one pizza. If I’m making spaghetti and meat sauce the next week, I use the remainder of this mixture with the sauce. Also, any Italian chicken dish you make, combine the remainder of this sauce with your regular mixture. It’s great!

Toppings…Your Choice! But I use:

Pepperoni

Black olives sliced

Red Pepper, sliced

Mushrooms, sliced

Shallots, sliced

Monterey Pepper-Jack Cheese

Crumbled Goat Cheese

Aunt Lisa and Uncle Mike like the thin crust, with a small amount of sauce. They also don’t like the supreme junk we put on ours. I use more sauce and for a regular sized pizza I bake it—fully loaded about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how much crunch you like in your crust. Be creative! Prosciutto, Italian sausage, bacon…all good choices. Be sure to cook any raw meat, onions and garlic you use before putting them on the pizza. Enjoy.

Oh yum! Thanks so much!

Bio:

Texas writer, DiAne Gates, writes for children, young adults, and serious non-fiction for adults through her two Word Press blogs, Moving the Ancient Boundaries and The Southern Side of Flavor.
Also, a freelance artist and photographer, DiAne leads LifeSavers, an edit group leader for North Texas Christian Writers, and is a GriefShare facilitator.

Writing several articles for the East Texas Rodeo Association magazine, gave birth to this western rodeo adventure series, released by Prism Book Group in August of 2015. ROPED--Available at Amazon.com. ROPED was awarded Top Ten Christian Reads for Teens and Tweens for 2016. The next book in The Roped Series, TWISTED, continues the journey of the Crosby and Fairgate families and was released by Pelican Book Group July 14, 2017. The third book of the series, UNTIED, is her current work-in-progress.

Wife, mother, and Mimi, whose passion is to share those hard life lessons God allows in our lives. Lessons she hopes will leap from the pages into your heart.

Connect with DiAne on her

Blog, Moving the Ancient Boundaries

The Southern Side of Flavor

Crosswalk Christian Online Magazine

Facebook

Buy Roped on Amazon
Buy Twisted on Amazon