Looking Out the Window: Stories Run Through Erin Stevenson's Head Most of Her Waking Hours. Today, She Talks About Sisters Ever After. Gives Away A Copy
Erin will give away an e-Book or a print book (U.S. residents) of Sisters Ever After. Winner's choice. To enter to win leave a comment and an email address below.
Hi Erin, first, tell us a little about yourself.
I’m Erin, just a child of the King. I have four grown children and three grands. I live in central Iowa and enjoy puttering in my yard, which mostly equates to pulling weeds. My secret indulgence is regular M & Ms.
Were you an avid reader as a child? If so, what did you read?
I read everything that was appealing to a child of the 60s. When the teacher unpacked the Scholastic book order each month, she gave each child their 2-3 books and then handed the box with the remaining dozen+ books to me.
Tell us about your latest book.
This book is called Sisters Ever After and is very close to my heart. Without giving away anything, it’s a story about learning to trust God’s timing. Two people meet under circumstances that pit them against one another. Then their daughters meet and become best friends, so they’re thrown into situations that have them acting and looking like a real family. It’s not "Parent Trap"!
What inspired you to write this particular book?
Ahh, that would spoil the surprise! Read the author’s note at the end of the book!
What do you love about this book? And what do you hope readers will tell others about it?
I love the setting, northwestern Montana, a place I was lucky enough to visit in 2019 for a “research” trip. If I could move there, I would. I love the characters in this book and I also love the theme about learning to trust God’s timing. There have been times in my life when I want to run ahead of Him. Please tell me I’m not the only one!
Where do you get ideas for your books?
Many of them, from real life! A few weeks ago, I pulled off a country road to take a picture of a beautiful sunset. The problem was, it had snowed, and I didn’t realize the “shoulder” was really a snowbank. I had to call my son to come rescue me. While I waited, I wrote a scene in my head about a sweet young thing in the same boat who gets rescued by a handsome hero—or wait! Maybe she will rescue him 😊
How do you get to know your characters?
I do a lot of plotting in my head and imagine them in all kinds of situations that never make it into print. I also continually ask myself, “what are they feeling?”
What is your writing schedule and where do you write?
My writing schedule is most of my waking hours when I’m not working the job I have that pays the bills. I write at my dining room table or sometimes I take my laptop to the couch by the fireplace (in winter). When I’m not writing, I’m plotting. On a recent car trip with my daughter, I was driving, and after a long while she asked if I wanted the radio on, and I said no. She said, “how can you drive in silence?” Then realization dawned, and she said, “oh…you’re writing a scene in your head!”
Does your faith affect your writing? If so, how?
Yes, my faith forms the foundation for my writing. I hope to write flawed characters with real problems who either use their faith or find it to help them solve whatever issue they’re facing.
What are you working on right now?
Books two and three of the Canadian Meadows series. I also just finished a Christmas book set in Boston and another one set in beautiful southern Vermont, another location I was blessed to visit last fall at peak leaf-peeping time.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Find a critique partner or group. Be vulnerable, put yourself out there. If you get the right situation, they will sharpen you as a writer.
What is the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you?
When I was eight months pregnant with my fourth (and last) child, we went to a wiener roast with a big group from my high school graduating class. It rained so we ended up eating in their garage, where all the sound echoed. Suddenly, all the conversations paused and my 9-year-old’s voice rang out, “Oh, she’s not having any more kids. She’s gettin’ her tubes tied.” I would have crawled under a table, but I was TOO BIG. 😊
LOL.
(FYI, he had no idea what that meant, obviously he’d overheard a conversation at home!)
More about Sisters Ever After, Book One of the Canadian Meadows Series
Gianna Harper is living on borrowed time. Newly widowed, she’s struggling to hold things together at home and keep her business afloat while dealing with her late husband’s effects. But something’s not right and now Gianna is convinced that he was involved in something a lot more sinister than shady business dealings.
Brock Hennessey fled California to make a fresh start in northwestern Montana. He hopes he’s put enough miles between him and danger, banking on a promised job to give his family a new start in a safe place.
Circumstances pit Gianna and Brock against one another, and neither one is willing to give an inch. As their professional dealings grow more acrimonious, their daughters become best friends and suddenly, the four of them are thrown into situations that have them acting, looking, and sounding like a real family.
Set against the stunning backdrop of northwestern Montana, Sisters Ever After is the first book in the Canadian Meadows series.
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Bio:
Writing is like breathing to Erin. Stories are running through her mind during most of her waking hours, and by the time she sits down at the computer, the words flow and time ceases to exist.
Erin was raised in Illinois and has lived in many places in the U.S., including on both coasts, but is a Midwest girl at heart. She spent many years as an educator from pre-school through college levels, and currently works in training and internal communications for a major global corporation.
When she’s not writing, Erin loves spending time with her children and grandchildren, and playing in the garden (which equates to mostly pulling weeds) at her central Iowa home. Her secret indulgence is plain M&Ms.
To learn more about Erin visit her Website
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