Autumn Sky – Gale Sears

In the LDS historical fiction novel “Autumn Sky,” author Gale Sears brings us the story of Alaina Lund, a young woman who has grown up on a farm. Her father owns beautiful orchards full of apples, and Alaina loves nothing better than to go out and work at her father’s side, caring for the apples and bringing them to full harvest. She has a knack with the orchard that few others possess, and her father has taken great pride in the help his daughter is to him. But Alaina is eighteen, and her mother believes it’s time she come in … Continue reading

Author Interview – Michele Paige Holmes on Critique Groups

We are joined again today by award-winning LDS author, Michele Paige Holmes. If you missed yesterday’s installment, you can click here to catch up. Michele, thanks for being here with us again today. You are in a critique group with several other well-known LDS authors. How important is a critique group to the writing process? I wouldn’t be published without my critique group. They have been and continue to be the single best thing I’ve ever done or can do to further my writing. I’m grateful for the imagination and talent God blessed me with, but after I’ve done my … Continue reading

Author Interview – Michele Paige Holmes

Today we are joined by one of the brightest new stars on the LDS fiction market, Michele Paige Holmes. Michele, thank you for being here today. Your novel “Counting Stars” won the first-ever Whitney Award for Women’s Fiction. I have to ask, what did that feel like? After the initial shock (and it was a shock—I mean, Stephanie Meyer . . . come on!), it felt wonderful. It was especially sweet to share the moment with my husband who has supported me in my writing endeavors for a very long time. You tried several different publishers on the national market … Continue reading

Author Interview: Sandra Grey, Part Two

We are joined again by LDS author Sandra Grey, author of “Traitor.” If you missed yesterday’s installment, click here. Sandra, in your exciting new LDS historical novel, you go into quite a lot of detail about code encryption. Was it difficult to find and then relay this information? Mr. Leo Marks, head of Communications at Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Britain, wrote an incredible memoir of his experiences during the war entitled “Between Silk and Cyanide” (HarperCollins 1998) – over six hundred pages long and more exciting to me than “Harry Potter.” I read every word even the appendages. Marie’s … Continue reading

Author Interview: G.G. Vandagriff

We are joined today by LDS author G.G. Vandagriff. G.G., thank you for granting me this interview. It’s a pleasure to have this opportunity. I’ve reviewed your first two novels, “Cankered Roots” and “Of Deadly Descent” here on Families.com, and will be reviewing your latest release, “Tangled Roots,” this next week. Each of these books feature a genealogist as the main character, and you’re obviously a genealogist yourself. How long have you been interested in genealogy? I got interested in genealogy in the late eighties after a strong impression that I should do so. It was so fun, it was … Continue reading

Author Interview: Trina Boice, part three – Secrets of Nonfiction

Thank you for joining us for part three of our exclusive conversation with author Trina Boice. If you missed parts one or two, click these links to catch up. Trina, you’ve written several best-selling nonfiction titles for the LDS market. What is the secret to writing interesting nonfiction? Well, I don’t know that I’ve found a secret, but I definitely try to give people their money’s worth! Many people simply don’t have the time to research everything they want to on a given subject and so they ask me for ideas. I love the Internet. There is so much great … Continue reading

Author Interview: Trina Boice Part Two – The Sabbath Day

Thank you for joining us for part two of our chat with author Trina Boice When we left off yesterday, Trina was telling us about the genealogy book she co-wrote with her sister. If you missed that, you can click here to get caught up. Trina, thank you for joining us again. You’ve also written a book called “Sabbath Solutions.” What is that about? Do you ever hear your kids complain “There’s nothing good to do on Sundays?” Well, I heard that about every seven days, to be exact! I decided to prove my kids wrong and told them I … Continue reading

Author Interview – Traci Hunter Abramson

Today we are joined by author Traci Hunter Abramson for an exclusive interview. Traci, thank you for stopping by today – let’s get right to your questions. First of all, I’m curious to know – how long have you been writing? It feels like forever! I guess I started when I was a teenager writing journals, and it progressed from there. I tried writing novels when I was in college, but I never finished anything until the year I quit working to stay home with my kids. Since I had been employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, anything I wrote … Continue reading

Author Update: Shirley Bahlmann, Part Two

Thanks for joining us for part two of our conversation with Shirley Bahlmann. If you missed part one, click here. Shirley, thanks again for being here. Yesterday we talked about your new releases. What was your inspiration to write these books? “Friends From Beyond the Veil” came about by accident. I was researching stories for a pioneer book and found some modern day haunting stories. People kept telling me more and more stories until I had a book. The Oddly Enough book is the result of readers of the Odds series asking and asking and asking me for another book! … Continue reading

Author Update: Shirley Bahlmann

LDS author Shirley Bahlmann was good enough to drop by and share with us all the wonderful things that have been going on since we last saw her. Shirley, since we last talked to you here on Families.com, you’ve had three books released. Can you tell us a little about each of them? “Friends from Beyond the Veil” was titled by my publisher, and I don’t really like the title. While it contains some stories of people who saw angels or spirits of loved ones, it also includes stories from people who saw spirits from the dark side. But the … Continue reading