Getting to know you Thursday with Karen Witemeyer

Please join me in welcoming Karen Witemeyer to my blog today. I cant wait to read her New book A Tailor Made Bride. Its been good getting to know Karen

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I'm a wife, mother, and Bible study leader who is also an incurable romantic. I'm addicted to happy endings, chocolate chip ice cream, and snuggling with my kids.

2. When you were a child did you have a favourite book or books?

The first book I remember reading that fully engaged my imagination was The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards. Isn't that a fabulous title? I can remember standing in the elementary school library and running across that book and knowing I had to read it. Then I was amazed at how I could picture everthing that happened without a single illustration. I was hooked after that.

I also loved the Little House series and all the Anne of Green Gables books. I think those stories planted the seeds that grew into my passion for the historical genre. (Jenny here I loved the little house books too but couldn't quite get in to Anne of Green Gables because i was to young when I first tried reading them but loved the tv series)

3. Do you have a favourite Genre to both read and write?

My heart has always belonged to historical romance. There is something so romantic to me about escaping to the past. Maybe it's the long dresses or the alpha male heros who seem so strong and rugged. Maybe it's because I'm a sap and addicted to happily ever afters. LOL Whatever the reasons, I rarely read anything else.

4. Did you have favourite authors growing up who have influenced you?

Most of the authors who have influenced me come not from my childhood experiences but from more current work. Deeanne Gist, Tamera Alexander, Francine Rivers - these are the authors in the Christian market who have inspired me the most.

5. When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I had always been an avid reader, and as I grew to adulthood, I toyed with the idea of putting my own stories to paper. I'd daydream romantic plot lines and jot down my ideas in a journal, but I never committed myself to writing. First, college kept me busy. Then kids entered the picture. But in 2003 when my husband learned his job was being cut, the urge to turn someday into this day became too strong to ignore. The busyness didn't disappear, of course. I started working full-time outside the home, and the kids were still young and in need of my attention. However, the Lord had sent me a wake-up call, and I knew I had to answer.

6. How did you go about becoming an author?

Sometimes you just have to jump in and learn on-the-job. That's what I did. I started with short stories, reading craft books along the way. I joined writers groups and found critique partners. I eventually moved up to full-length fiction, and once I had a complete, polished manuscript, I started pitching it at conferences. My first manuscript didn't sell, but it did open a door that eventual led to a three-book contract.

7. If you were not a writer what would you like to be?

Writing is only part of who I am. I have other fulfilling roles as well. I work full-time for a Christian University as a Testing Coordinator. I'm a wife and a mother of three great kids. I'm a ladies Bible class leader. Right now the Lord has given me a dream and a passion for writing, but if a time comes when I need to set it aside, I will still have these other roles to drive me and give me purpose. And I trust the Lord to provide a new dream when the time is right.

8. Outside reading and writing what do you like to do?

I enjoy cross-stitching. It is a great way to unwind at the end of the day. I also sing with a community chorus and stay busy keeping up with my kids and all their activities.

9. Do you have a place you love to visit or would love to visit?

I love the mountains. There is something so majestic and powerful about them. I can't be around them without thinking of the majesty of the Creator. Where I live in Texas, it is flat with few trees. We have glorious sunsets and our land is rugged and beautiful in its own way, but my heart leaps whenever I see a mountain. Waterfalls, wildflowers, crystal-clear lakes. Mountains are definitely my favorite place to visit.

10. If you could have a meal with 3 living people who would you choose and why?

I guess I would have to give the names of the authors I mentioned earlier as being those I most admire: Deeanne Gist, Tamera Alexander, and Francine Rivers. What a marvelous dinner that would be, talking about books, characters, and just life. And being mostly romance writers, we'd definitely have to have something chocolate for dessert!

Finally can you tell us about your current books and/or any that will
be coming out soon. Also where we can find you on the web.

My current release, A Tailor-Made Bride is a fun-filled romp in which a feisty seamstress tangles with a set-in-his-ways livery owner in 1880s Texas.


Here's the scoop:

Jericho "J.T." Tucker wants nothing to do with Coventry, Texas's new dressmaker. He's all too familiar with her kind--shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet, except for her well-tailored clothing, this seamstress is not at all what he expected.

Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner while at the same time stirring her heart with unexpected acts of kindness. Which side of Jericho Tucker reflects the real man?

When Hannah decides to help Jericho's sister catch a beau--leading to uproarious consequences for the whole town--will Jericho and Hannah find a way to bridge the gap between them?
____

My second release, Head in the Clouds, will be hitting the shelves in October. Since I enjoy Regency romances as well as those set in the American West, I thought it would be fun to blend the two by bringing an English nobleman to Texas. In Head in the Clouds, a recovering romantic takes a job as governess for the mute daughter of a sheep rancher and soon learns her heart is not the only thing in danger.