Andrea Boeshaar ~ Interview + Giveaway!

*You can earn up to 6 entries in this giveaway. Read below for details*

Today author Andrea Boeshaar is telling us about her new book, Unexpected Love (Seasons of Redemption series #3 -- January 2011). She has offered an autographed copy of her book to one lucky commenter. She will also be stopping by throughout the week to answer your questions! So if you have anything you want to ask her, you can include it in your comment for entering the contest. If you are only leaving a question in the comment and not entering the giveaway please say so.

Welcome, Andrea! Please tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve got 23 published novels, 8 published novellas to my credit, as well as a host of collective nonfiction under my belt. I know the peaks and valleys of the publishing industry and love to share my experience with other writers. I was an agent for more than 10 years, but now I’m writing full-time and I’m represented by the Steve Laube Agency.

Additionally, I am a certified Christian life coach. I am also a cofounder of ACFW. I’ve taught at several of the organization’s conferences as well as the Oregon Christian Writers Conference, Write-To-Publish, and Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference.

Tell us about your salvation experience.
I was gloriously born again on Ash Wednesday in 1991. I had gone to a friend’s church and heard the gospel, plain and simple. I cried on the way home, feeling extremely convicted of my sin. Once I reached home, I shooed my kids off to bed and began washing dishes. I asked God to save me right there in the kitchen, with tears, streaming down my face and my hands soaked in soap bubbles. Right then and there, Jesus saved me – and it turned my life around. I was never the same again!

Are you:

A spontaneous writer or a scheduled writer?
Very spontaneous and seat-of-the pants, although I am trying to be more scheduled and disciplined.

Stubborn, or compliant?
It depends on the situation. :)

Organized or completely chaotic?
Organized to a fault…except I hate filing.

How do you handle disasters/BIG problems? Do you have a funny or interesting story showcasing how you handle them?
I stress over crises until the stress becomes so great that I totally fall apart. Then after a couple of days of prayer and praise to God, I feel better. What’s interesting is all the while, no one would guess that I’m falling apart like a country song. I handle what I need to and make important decisions. Then I go up to my bedroom, clutch my Bible to me, and sob. But then I realize that I either trust God or I don’t – if I trust God, then I must have faith that He will bring this crisis (whatever it might be) to an expected end. I simply have to walk in His mercy and grace. I often wonder why that is so difficult sometimes!

In your opinion, what is your best trait? What is your worst?
I’m very sensitive and very capable. On the flipside, I’m very sensitive. I guess it’s the best and worst thing about me.

Tell us something surprising about yourself that readers may not know.
I have never revealed this before! I like to go up to the top of the hill in my back yard, gaze over the quarry below (like a mini ampatheater). I spread my arms out wide and belt out the first line of The Sound of Music. “The hills are alive with the sound of music…” Just like the character, Maria, does as the movie by the same name opens. No one is around. Just my 9 month old puppy, who is getting rather used to my goofy antics.

If you compared your writing style to any other Christian Fiction author, who would it be? Also, how would you rate the romance in your books?
I would say my style is similar to Robin Lee Hatcher’s. She is a fabulous author and one of my favorites. I read her books and try to learn from her. I don’t copy her. Of course not! But I try to learn and be a better writer by reading what I enjoy.

However, I read many other authors’ books too. Francine Rivers, Cathy Marie Hake, Lauraine Snelling, DiAnn Mills, and Karen Kingsbury. And when I love a story, I re-read it with a critical eye, trying to learn why those characters touched my heart. How the book drew me in.

And that’s the best education a novelist can get: Read!

What are you working on now or going to write next?
I just began writing a brand new, 3-book series for Realms / Strang Book Group. It’s called Fabric of Time and it’s about a Norwegian family that settles in Wisconsin. The first book, Threads of Hope, is set in 1848 – the year Wisconsin became a state.

Meanwhile, I’m anticipating the release of book 4 in my series Seasons of Redemption. It’s titled, Undaunted Faith, and it will hit bookstore shelves in May.

How can readers get in contact with you?
Readers can contact me via my website: http://www.andreaboeshaar.com/
I am also on Facebook and Twitter – log onto my site to find the links to those networks too.

Book blurb:

Nurse Lorenna Fields is drawn to a blind patient searching for his past. But as his memories return, will there be a place for her in his future?

Lorenna Fields has always taken her job at Chicago's Mercy Hospital seriously, determined never to become personally involved with her patients. But when a mysterious man with eyes like onyx is admitted after a shipwreck on Lake Michigan, she develops a connection with him that she can’t deny.

Slowly her patient regains consciousness, but to Renna’s dismay he has lost both his sight and his memory. Dubbed “Mr. Blackeyes” by her, the two build a strong, trusting friendship as they search for clues to his past. But part of her dreads the day of his recovery, convinced that his memories will take him away from her and his regained sight will reveal a secret about herself that Renna has been trying hard to hide.

In Unexpected Love, Andrea Kuhn Boeshaar continues the dramatic saga of the McCabe family that she began in Unwilling Warrior and Uncertain Heart.

Do you have a link to a place to read the first chapter or an excerpt of this book?
http://www.amazon.com/

~~~~~
**USA addresses only, please**

Okay readers, here is your chance to win an autographed copy of Unexpected Love!

TO ENTER:

*Leave a comment with your name and email address (so I can contact you if you win). The comment is mandatory. You will not be entered unless you leave a comment AND your email address.

*If you leave a comment you will be entered unless you specify that you would not like to be entered.

*Here are the ways to get entries:

(First entry) The mandatory comment saying you would like to be entered with your email address.

+1 Become one of my followers OR subscribe to my blog by email.
+1 Put my SCD blog button on your sidebar.
+1 Put my CBG blog button on your sidebar. (You will find the html's in each respective blog's sidebar. It should say "Grab My Blog Button" or something like that)

Read and leave a comment on one of my recent book reviews.
+2 Fatal Judgment

**You can earn a total of 6 entries if you do all of the above entry options. Make sure to tell me in your entry comment on this post which of the things you did to get extra entries.**

*The contest will run from today (January 28) until 6:00 CST on Thursday (February 3). I will announce the winner that night. The winner is always randomly drawn. I will contact the winner either directly after choosing him/her or on Friday the 4th, and then that person will have one week to reply. If the winner doesn't reply within that time period, I will pick a new winner.

Good luck! Thanks for visiting.