Getting to Know You Thursday with Victoria Bylin

Please join me in welcoming Love Inspired author Victoria Bylin to my blog this week. I have read a few of Victoira's books and have enjoyed them. The lastest with 2 other authors I really want to read. I also love the cover.

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Hi Jenny! Thank you for inviting me to your blog. It’s always a pleasure to chat with fellow book lovers. My own reading passion goes back to the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley and the Little House on the Prairie series. I was raised in southern California within walking distance of the library. I went every week and read voraciously. I still read as much as I can, but now it’s on my Kindle. My husband and I have two grown sons, both married, and we currently live in Lexington, Kentucky near a farm for retired racehorses. 

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

In addition to the ones I already mentioned, I loved the Clara Barton nurse series, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell and anything by Beverly Cleary. I was also hooked on Nancy Drew. (Jenny here. I remember Clara Barton I think I actually bought some of her books but not sure If I read them, I read the Cherry Ames ones. Just realised I had some Sue Barton nurse books.)

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

I try to read a variety of books and styles, but I always go back to inspirationals. I’m published by Love Inspired Historicals as a western author, but I read a lot of contemporaries. I also like World War II stories and unusual settings.  For me, it’s all about the characters. I gravitate toward any story that’s about hard choices.

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

Oh yes!  My all time favorite author is Penelope Williamson. Her writing is pure music. She wrote The Outsider. Love that story! I’m also a Jane Eyre fan.

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

I started keeping a journal when I was nine or ten.  That’s when the bug took hold of me. I journaled all through high school and college, took a break from writing when the kids came along, then started writing fiction when they were in school all day.

6. How did you go about becoming an author?

There are moments in our lives that are “do or die.” I had one of those on January 1, 1999. I made a resolution to write a book-length work of fiction, good or bad.  When I reached Chapter 3, I got stuck. Instead of stopping, I went to the library and checked out books on the craft of writing.  My life changed that day, because I finally understood the writing process.  As the saying goes, “A book doesn’t get written; it gets rewritten.”  I’m a much better editor than I am a “first drafter.”  My first-ever ms was terrible, but my second one sold to Harlequin Historicals out of the slush pile. 

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

I can’t think of thing . . . Writing really is my passion.  On second thought, I’d love to be a professional Tetris player!  I had to delete it from computer because it’s just too tempting. (You can be a professional Tetris player if I can be a professional cricket supporter)

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

My husband and I are active in our church.  I also enjoy family and friends, gabbing on the phone, walking for exercise and listening to music.

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

Pismo Beach is in central California. It’s a lazy beach town with miles of sand. I’d love to go back for a visit. I also have fond memories of the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California.

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

Can I up the guest list to five? I’d invite my husband, our two sons and their wives. That’s terribly ordinary, but we live far apart. It would be special to me.

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.

Readers can find me at my website, www.victoriabylin.com and on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100001287093699  My April release is a novella called “Josie’s Wedding Dress.”  It’s in a Love Inspired Historical anthology called  Brides of the West.  Here’s the back cover blurb:

Josie’s Wedding Dress by Victoria Bylin

Desperate for someone to help her save her ranch, Josie Bright makes a deal with Ty Donner. Now the man who left her waiting at the altar is making her hope for things she had long stopped wishing for.

Last Minute Bride by Janet Dean

Elise Langley was stung to the quick when her would-be suitor suddenly left town. But when David Wellman returns and they are thrown together organizing their friends’ wedding, can she open her heart again.

Her Ideal Husband by Pamela Nissen

As a girl, Lydia Townsend hoped to marry Jebediah Gentry--until his rejection spoiled her dreams. When family duty brings her home, it’s Jeb’s chance to show Lydia that now is the time for wedding dreams to come true.

Thanks for inviting me, Jenny!  It’s been fun!