What? ANOTHER Book Giveaway!?

It's true. And this one isn't even on the shelves yet! If you get this book, you will be the envy of the neighborhood. Wurd.

I'm totally excited to welcome to the blog Kathleen Fuller, a writing friend and fabulous author.

Kathleen has a few books coming out in August and one in September, and I wanted to hear all about them. And the cool thing? By leaving a comment, you can get in the running for an advanced reader copy of A Man of His Word. Winner will be announced Friday. You do not want to miss this book. It's sitting on my desk right now (thank you Thomas Nelson and UPS man!), and I can't wait to jump into it.

Hey, Kathleen! Tell us about your upcoming releases.

I have two books releasing in August. A Daring Return is the third book in my Regency Royal Mystery series, and An Amish Christmas is an anthology I'm in with Beth Wiseman and Barbara Cameron.

I LOVE the cover for An Amish Christmas. It's so beautiful.  Of course, to me anything with snow is beautiful…

Tell us about A Man of His Word.

It is the first book in my Hearts of Middlefield series, and it's about a young Amish woman who marries, gets pregnant, is abandoned by her husband and then experiences a terrible tragedy. Through all this her husband's twin brother, Gabriel, has loved her for years, and vows to stand by her. In the end he proves to be a man of his word.

Intriguing…sometimes a girl just picks the wrong twin, I guess. Happens to the best of us. So describe the book in four words.

Amish, fiction, romance, happilyeverafter.

I've consulted with our judges, and we'll accept that last one. From the description, A Man of His Word involves a love triangle. That is so General Hospital. I love it! How did you come up with the idea of a woman falling for twin brothers?

I'm going to sound like a dope, but I have no idea. It's one of those things that just popped into my brain. I remember when I thought of it, I realized how weird it would be not only to fall in love with your husband's brother, but his identical twin. Yeah, you're right–totally General Hospital.

So not only a twin–but an identical twin. Oh, the plot thickens. Do they pull a Parent Trap switcheroo? I totally would. So, inquiring minds want to know what your favorite movie is.

The Princess Bride. I love love love Inigo Montyoa. Wesley who?

Omigosh. We are HUGE, GIGANTIC, name-all-future-children-and-pets-Inigo-or-Buttercup fans of The Princess Bride here. Probably my favorite movie too–especially of the last few decades. Let's say you get to spend the day with a movie or book character. Who is it?

That's a crazy and awesome question.

It's the only kind we sell here, Kathleen.

It would have to be. . .Inigo Montoya. He could give me fencing lessons.

And lessons on how to find extra tall, super polite friends who punch really hard.  So what is your most embarrassing junior high or high school moment?

I've purged all that from memory in order to maintain my sanity.

That's not what your eighth grade lab partner said…  Tell us about your family. Any embarrasing mom stories?

I have three kids: Matt (15), Sydney Marie (13), and Zoie (11). I have so many stories, but one of the best was when myson lost one of his teeth. He was about six, and I had no cash on me and totally forgot about the whole tooth fairy thing the night before. All my husband had was a twenty, so I snuck in Matt's room and stuck it under his pillow. At the time he couldn't tell a twenty from a dollar, so when he proudly showed me what the tooth fairy gave him, I said, “Oh, she gave you a trade-in-dollar.”  “What is that,” Matt asked. “That's what you trade in for a dollar bill, and we'll do that later on today.” Okay, so two days later after he traded the twenty with his dad for a dollar (are we bad parents or what?), I was at the grocery store, and I was paying for my food with a twenty. “Mom,” Matt says. “Why are you using the trade in dollar the tooth fairy gave me?” And of course he asked this not in a whisper, but in a loud voice so the cashier gave me an odd, then disapproving look. I quickly paid then got the heck out of there.

That is scandalous. And very clever.  Speaking of the grocery store, what is your biggest food temptation?

Um, all of it? If I had to choose, it would be chocolate and cheese.

And both are EVERYWHERE. I think cheese should just be its own food group. It's so hard to resist. Speaking of difficult, what is the most frustrating part of being a writer?

Writing the first draft, hands down. After that, it would be the waiting–even when you're published and you're waiting on something: for your book to come out, for your advance check to come, for the sales on your book to happen so you can see if you'll get another contract or not. But even as frustrating as all that waiting is, it doesn't compare to the unbearable torture of cranking out the first draft.

I totally agree. That first draft is like squeezing out blood every day to write with. Very difficult. I have to cross my eyes every time I read a blog or Facebook from an author who has words literally pouring out of them every day. Keep that bragging to yourself, selfish writer hussies!  But writing is also fabulous. Tell us what the best part is for you.

The best? Finishing the story!

Amen. I love “done.” Done is the best. I could write songs about done. Okay, moving on. So you're stranded on a desert island. You can have only one CD, one book, and one type of food (unlimited–and yes, fajitas grow on trees on this island if that helps). What do you pick?

CD-anything by the Dave Matthews Band. Book–Bible. And for food–cheese.

So you find some gum, some twigs, and banana leave, construct a boat and save yourself from the island. Now you're president of the United States. What changes do you make to our fine nation? For example, I would shrink the American work day/week to eight hours a day, four days a week. And I'd make sweats mandatory uniforms for all teachers.

Oooh, I like both of those ideas! I would revamp the judicial system and make it impossible to sue people for stupid things, like spilt coffee. I'd throw out all ambulance chasing lawyers and make it illegal for their commercials to ruin my television viewing enjoyment. I'd turn the channel, but they're on ever. single. channel.

What CD is in your car stereo?

None. I use my mp3 player, and I have an eclectic mix of music I listen to, from adult contemporary Christian to gospel to alternative rock to pop to jazz to disco to the blues. The only music I won't listen to is country.

Get off my blog. Now.

Just kidding. (Excuse me for a moment while I go pray for forgiveness in my heart. Dear God, let Kathleen get right with you and come to appreciate God's music–COUNTRY music. Help me to not hold this against her. Forgive her–she knows not what she does and is totally cool besides this one CRITICAL flaw. Amen.)

Kathleen, it seems lately on Amish book covers, the characters are often staring off into the distance. What do you think they're looking at?

Hmmm, let me check the cover of A Man of His Word.

Yep, she's staring into the distance. Possibly all the laundry on the line she has to fold and put away. (What? She doesn't just leave it in the basket for months at a time like me? Revolutionary idea…) Have you seen an Amish laundry line? Lots and lots of clothes. I love my cover. The art department at Thomas Nelson did a phenomenal job portraying the story on the cover. When you read it, you'll see she actually has a reason to stare off in the distance.

Thomas Nelson has the best cover artists. I keep trying to get them to do some “art” to my author photo, but so far they refuse to add more cleavage and blonde hair. So what part of the Amish life would you like incorporated into modern Englisher life? No idea if I phrased that right. I'm an Amish book newbie.

You did. Definitely the sense of community. I live in a small town and we do have a nice sense of of community here, and I love that. But for hte most part we Englischers live separate lives from our communities, even our families. That's not the case with the Amish. They're very tight knit and spend a lot of time with each other. They take care of their own. For example, when a barn burns down, everyone pitches in to help raise a new one, including the women. The community gets together, the women make the food, and the men build the barn. I think we'd all be a lot less offended and far more understanding if we treated the people in our community the way we would want to be treated. I know Jesus would want us to.

Totally agree. I love that sense of kinship they share. And the lack of selfishness. It would be hard to adjust to that. I'm sure our world just defies their minds. What part of Amish life do you think you'd dislike and make you want to drive your plow over the cliff?

The legalism. There are a lot of rules. In my research and as I've been writing Amish fiction, I've come to understand the rules and why they are in place. But I don't agree with all of them, and I couldn't live by some of them. But that doesn't diminish my interest and appreciation for the Amish–it just means I couldn't be Amish.

Anything else you'd like to tell us? Like why readers should preorder your book now, how your book will change their lives, and how you'll send a pattern of your cover if they want to get it tatttooed on their butts?

LOL! The guy on the cover of A Man of His Word is really cute, so I'd sugget tattooing him somewhere other than the butt–that way he can truly be appreciated by someone other than your doctor. Readers can preorder A Man of His Word and An Amish Christmas from Amazon and CBD.com. In August and September, the books will be available in your local Christian bookstore and regular brick and mortar stores. As for A Daring Return–request it from your local library. See, a free read–nice in this economy.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog and being a good sport with all the questions. We are nosy, nosy people here. Can't wait to read the books. And remember guys, just leave a comment between now and Thursday evening (some time between the Friends rerun and the PBS sign-off) to win an advanced copy of A Man of His Word, the book with the hot Amish man who comes in duplicate. You can also keep up with all of Kathleen's work and new releases at her website HERE.