RoguesAngels: Rogue's Angels Present ~ Land of My Dreams by Norma Gail

Monday, May 30, 2016

Rogue's Angels Present ~ Land of My Dreams by Norma Gail

Please welcome Norma Gail author of Land of My Dreams.

Norma Gail will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Land of My Dreams

by Norma Gail

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Christian romance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INTERVIEW:

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott fueled my earliest attempts to write. Jo March was a powerful character. My earliest reading favorites inspired games I created for my sisters and friends to act the parts I assigned, and my attempts did not always meet with enthusiasm. I devoured Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames, sneaking into the house to read or finding a sheltered spot under a climbing rosebush in the backyard. As I grew older, I was the nerdy kid who loved the classics assigned in English class. I still enjoy a comfy chair, a cup of tea, and Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and other classic authors.

2. What elements are necessary components for this genre?

Romance, in particular Christian romance receives criticism for its happily-ever-after-endings. “Life doesn’t work that way” is the mantra of those who dislike the genre. However, if you are looking for a delightful read that takes your mind off your troubles and gives you an ending that satisfies and uplifts, there is nothing quite like it. The genre requires strong female and male protagonists who fall in love but an obstacle or obstacles that seem unsurmountable threaten to keep them apart. At the last moment, when it seems all is lost, the obstacle is overcome and their love is sealed until-death-us-do-part, or at least with the promise of a future. In inspirational or Christian romance, faith plays a key role. One or both of members of the couple may be struggling with their faith and the culmination of their struggle frequently is the key to their romantic dilemma.

3. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

I am not a writer by education or trade. My writing has taken many forms over the years, from letters to the editor to Sunday School lessons. However, my true love is fiction with a little poetry thrown in. I also write Christian devotionals. The need to make a living put my dreams of writing on hold, and I pursued a career in nursing and raised my children. When the nest was empty, I felt I had the time to pursue my dream and see if I was good enough to become a published author. Land of My Dreams is my debut novel.

4. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

I can only hope I live long enough to fulfill all the plans I have. I am working on a romantic novella about a rock star and a sequel to Land of My Dreams, also set in Scotland and New Mexico. Meanwhile, whirling around in my head are ideas for a historical trilogy with some basis in the true-life events of my ancestors, immigrants and pioneers who helped make the United States “the land of the free and the home of the brave”.

5. If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?

The main character, Bonny Bryant is a good friend of mine, having spent many hours together over the past eight years. She is a spunky redhead with sparkling green eyes. She’s smart, having earned her doctorate in American history and literature before she was out of her twenties, something I might have done if I didn’t hate the idea of grading papers nights and weekends. Bonny has the courage to follow her dreams. When she finds what she wants, she sticks with it, and when she loves, she loves forever. Though she struggles with her faith in the midst of loss, when she finds it again, she never lets go. I like her spirit of adventure, which I am sadly lacking.

6. Can you give us a sneak peek into this book?

Here is one of my favorite scenes in Land of My Dreams, in part, because it parallels an experience my husband and I had on out 30^th anniversary trip to Scotland:

“Come see this.” Kieran and Bonny stood atop Grant Tower at Urquhart Castle, overlooking Loch Ness. For her, it was a place of poignant memories. He pointed to a rainbow arching from one side of the loch to the other as she moved into the crook of his arm. “Now, down there.”

She stood on tiptoe and looked to where he pointed, at the base of the tower.

“Step onto that ledge and I’ll steady you.”

The warmth of his hands around her waist contrasted with the chill wind. She shivered and leaned close enough to hear the stubble on his chin scratching against her raincoat. “The rainbow enters the water at the foot of the tower. Another fifty feet, and it would form a complete circle. Amazing.”

His arms tightened around her. “No more so than the woman in my arms.”

She kept silent. Did he feel it? What could be more romantic than a rainbow all their own?

“No one else sees it.”

His warm breath tickled her ear, and she leaned against him, wrapped in a sense of wonder and delight. No one even wrote things this perfect. “Just we two.”

Kieran bent over her, his lips touching hers, tentative and searching. She leaned into his arms, her heart leaping in her chest as she allowed her lips to reveal her readiness to move forward. The scent of him was becoming so familiar. The taste of him was even sweeter.

He moved one hand to the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since the first night we talked.”

She traced his lower lip with her finger. “Mmm, my gallant Highlander.”

“My bonnie lass.” His voice was barely above a whisper, and a little hoarse. He smiled and smoothed the damp curls away from her face with a big, callused finger, his touch as tender as his kiss.

She cupped his cheek in her hand. Somehow she had to let him know she was ready for a relationship. “The day I arrived, I stopped up there in the parking lot and cried. The ruins seemed to symbolize the wreck of my life. I never imagined how fast it could change.”

His reply was to pull her to him again, and she turned her face up to his in eagerness. It began as soft as the mist surrounding them, but as the rain intensified, so did his kiss, neither caring if they got soaked to the skin.

7. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

After working on my book for three years and having a large group of very patient friends read and reread it to see if it was a book they would be interested in, I signed up for my first writer’s conference. I had done all I could to make it my best and I knew that if I did not try to get it published, I would never know if I was good enough or not. I made the decision to seek traditional publication as a protection because I had no idea what I was doing, and as a litmus test. If I was not good enough for a traditional publisher, I was not good enough. Other authors may choose self-publication for very good reasons, but I needed the approval and safety net of a publisher.

8. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

Being a newbie, and confidant that I could write because I was told I had a gift and always made good grades in school, I just started writing “from the seat of my pants”. I had no idea where I was going. I just let the ideas flow. My first writer’s conference taught me that I did not know what I was doing, and that reading a lot did not necessarily qualify me to be a writer. I also received just enough encouragement to let me know that publication was indeed, a possibility, if I learned the ropes and was willing to work at it. I did have to go back and do some outlining in order to get the flow of the action and storyline right, but I still prefer to sit down and let ideas flow and fix things later.

9. How do you maintain your creativity?

Reading is a definite idea stimulator. It helps you see how other writers handle similar situations to what your characters experience. It creates ideas of what might get you through a spot where you’re stuck. However, I find that setting a mood and living in the heads of my characters is my favorite way to flesh out a story. When writing my novella about a teenage fan who elopes with her favorite rock star after meeting him backstage, I listened to my favorite rock music from my teens interspersed with Christian praise music and some love songs that set the kind of mood I wanted to portray. For Land of My Dreams, and its sequel, I have a screensaver of over 800 photos from Scotland and a playlist of Scottish music. The bagpipes drive my husband crazy! I am creating a screensaver of my ancestors and the places they lived and will study the music of the appropriate time periods when it comes time for my historical trilogy.

10. Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?

While Bonny is the character I would most like to be, my favorite character is Kieran. He embodies many traits that I love about my father and my husband (a European immigrant). He is such a man’s man, yet gentle and generous with his love and caring. He is a stereotypical Scot in appearance, but every bit a romantic hero that almost any woman could fall in love with, head over heels. He is flawed, but so is Bonny, but he learns from his mistakes and is true and faithful in his love.

11. Anything else you might want to add?

I have visited most of the Scottish sites that appear in the book. The few fictitious locations could exist in reality somewhere in Scotland. I have stayed true to my background of 21 years as a Bible study leader in that deep spiritual lessons are a part of the development of the characters throughout the story. If you love clean romance and Christian romance, Land of My Dreams is the book for you.

BLURB:

Alone and betrayed, American professor, Bonny Bryant longs for a haven of peace. She accepts a position at a small Christian college in Fort William, Scotland, craving escape from her painful past. The passionate love which develops when she meets fellow professor and sheep farmer, Kieran MacDonell, is something she never anticipated.

Kieran harbors a deep anger toward God in the face of his own devastating grief. When Bonny’s former fiancé reenters her life, Kieran’s loneliness draws him to a former student.

How will Bonny decide between her rivals? Can they set aside the past to make way for a future, or will it drive them apart?

Land of My Dreams, Christian Romance Novel, spans the distance between New Mexico’s high desert mountains and the misty Scottish Highlands with a timeless story of overwhelming grief, undying love, and compelling faith.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:

When Kieran left his office, he saw Bonny standing behind her car, her foot tapping and shoulders sagging. “Can I help you, Dr. Bryant?”

She startled, and he realized he had been so intent on watching her that he had failed to give warning of his approach. The eyes that met his sparkled, their brilliance drawing him like a treasure hunter to a prize emerald. She was a lovely woman.

“Dr. MacDonell, hello. I’ve changed flat tires before, but these lug nuts won’t budge.”

He checked the urge to brush a smudge of dirt from her cheek. “It’s Kieran, and I’m glad to be of help.” He forced himself to ignore the nervous pounding in his chest and the urge to run. He was alone with the woman who had filled his mind day and night from the moment she had walked into the room.

“I’m Bonny, and thanks.”

“I’ll take that spanner off your hands.”

“Spanner? Oh, you mean the lug wrench, of course.” She held it out to him and smiled.

He took a deep breath. Her smile reminded him of sun breaking through a Scottish mist. His fingers brushed hers as he took it, and he realized how small her hands were, like his mother’s finest china. Dainty and delicate.

Something about the patient way she watched caused his uncertainty to subside. Rescuing a damsel in distress wasn’t a bad way to meet. Tossing the caber was no longer possible, but he knew how to change a tire. She stood near enough for him to smell her perfume—feminine, like a rose garden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Norma Gail is the author of the contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, and the New Mexico Christian Novelists. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 40 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

Website: www.normagail.org

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Norma-Gail/e/B00ILHXBAK/

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbZIoC_JSE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNormaGail

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NormaGailwrites

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/normagailth/boards/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7874459
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Norma_Gail

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norma-gail-thurston-holtman/42/71a/3b2

Book Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas Bookstore: http://store.lpcbooks.com/product/land-of-my-dreams/