Welcome to Help from my Friends Friday. My guests this week are an extraordinary collection of authors who had so much in common it just made sense to do novella together. But like the characters they write, it took faith and some planning. Please welcome Toni Shiloh, RL Ashley, Leeann Betts, and Davalynn Spencer as they tell us about their “Always a Wedding Planner” Romance Collection ~ Donnell
Toni Shiloh:
Cake decorating Source: Pixabay
When I was first presented with the opportunity to join the Always a Wedding Planner collection, I immediately jumped at the chance to have a character who was a wedding cake baker because . . . cakes! Although I have no experience baking on that level, I do love to bake. So, I delved into the world of cake baking and pinned way more cakes then was necessary on my Pinterest board for inspiration.
But I also wanted to create a character who had a deep desire to be married but couldn’t. Through brainstorming and maybe inspiration I saw through real life, I came up with a character who wasn’t able to have kids.
Felicity Edwards never knows when is the perfect time to tell a guy she’s dating that she’s infertile. This is a major conflict in her life and the reason she feels she’s remained single. But when Will Davenport walks into the story, she has to decide if being vulnerable is worth the risk.
RL Ashly:
The nice thing about working on Always a Wedding Planner was the collaboration with the other writers. I enjoyed working with them and would do so again in a heartbeat. Leeann Betts and I share a mutual character, Camilla Parsons. We collaborated on Camilla’s characterization and how we were going to incorporate her in our stories. Leeann has a great sense of humor and when I read The Worst Kept Secret, I chuckled at how Leeann integrated Camilla into her tale. She did such a good job.
Seamstress at work: Source Pixabay
Since I am a seamstress by day, it was easy to give my lead character that career. The well-used saying, “write what you know” works. It helps with planning the plot and adding flavor to the story. My approach to writing is different from other writers. I keep a notebook and my tablet in a bag and write on the go. I even write using my phone. Between work and chasing grandbabies, this system works best for me. In fact, I am writing this blog post on my phone while I sit in a waiting room for an appointment. Then I will finish it in my car before I run to my next stop on my errands.
One positive thing about living in this era—we have access to such wonderful technology. There is a learning curve especially for us older folks, but it is so worth discovering how to use it. I can write while I’m taking a walk. Peddling on my exercise bike and writing is another option. I tied a shelf onto my exercise bike, and it holds my tablet. There’s something relaxing about writing and pedaling.
I have learned that it is important to write almost every day. Is easy to get out of the habit of writing and let life get in the way. There are days when getting any writing done is impossible. But I have found that even writing a few sentences keeps me in tune with my story and thinking about it. Then the next writing session will go faster because I processed the next scene or chapter in the story.
Leeann Betts:
When the idea first surfaced about writing an interconnected contemporary novella collection featuring the same characters with different main character roles in each story, several potential writers turned us down, believing we couldn’t be able to carry off the premise.
Teamwork, belief system and commitment a great combination Source: Pixabay
However, a dear writing friend, Darlene Franklin, who helped with the original idea, had recently published a similar collection featuring four friends who worked at different businesses but were involved in solving mysteries.
Our story was only a tad bit more difficult in that all four of our heroines worked for the same partnership, and were not only co-workers but best friends.
Finding the perfect set of authors was probably the most difficult part of the process. We knew the stories would be a little tongue-in-cheek, so that was the number two requirement for each author. Number one was that they be followers of Jesus, strong in their faith, and that their writing should reflect that.
Once we had the four in place, the process worked like a dream.
My approach to writing is to start with a one-sentence blurb – if I can’t encapsulate the story in twenty words of less, I don’t know what it’s about. Then I do the “back cover copy” or two to three paragraphs, then I begin with the synopsis. I usually write all that by hand then transcribe it to the computer.
But before I write one word, I pray that the Lord would help me faithfully transcribe the story He wants told.
Davalynn Spencer:
Chef at work. Source: Pixabay
As the last author to join the Always a Wedding Planner collection, I had the advantage of coming into a storyworld that had already been created – a four-member team of friends who ran Weddings By Design in Loveland, Colorado. With the overall theme and setting established, I was free to concentrate on partner number four. I established a life, a personal storyworld, and a threatening challenge for my character, Saffron Fare, whom I made the chef for the business.
Each story is complete unto itself, and in the writing of this collection, we four authors were in constant communication with each other, asking questions, double-checking on personalities, confirming the names and locations of key elements in town like the business’s office. We’d often send emails to each other containing dialogue, followed by, “Would your character say it like this or not?” It was great fun reading excerpts from another author’s use of my character in a scene or two from her story.
I have contributed to several Barbour novella collections, but this one was unique in that all four stories focused on the same business yet were told from the point of view of a different business partner. We worked together to create the collection the same way our characters worked together in their wedding-planning business.
About the Book:
Love Is Only Business for 4 Wedding Planners
Discover how keeping secrets from each other threatens four women’s friendships, wedding business, and own ability to find love in Loveland, Colorado.
Business partners Felicity Anderson, the cake baker; Kiki Bell, the seamstress; Cassie Blackthorn, the coordinator; and Chef Saffron Delarosa are best of friends in a town that is a romantic wedding destination for many couples—who work together at Weddings by Design to make every bride’s special day perfect. Could each falling into their own romance be the key to working out their differences and learning to trust each other—and God—with their futures?
About the authors:
Toni Shiloh is a wife, mom, and Christian fiction writer. Once she understood the powerful saving grace thanks to the love of Christ, she was moved to honor her Savior. She writes to bring Him glory and to learn more about His goodness.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authortonishiloh
Twitter: www.twitter.com/tonishilohwrite
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/tonishiloh
Instagram: www.instagram.com/tonishiloh
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/tonishiloh
BookBub: www.bookbub.com/authors/toni-shiloh
Newsletter: http://tonishiloh.com/subscribe
Blogs I’m part of: www.inspyromance.com ; http://diversitybetweenthepages.wordpress.com
R.L. ASHLY is a master seamstress with a Master of Arts degree in Literature (May, 2019). She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Literature in the near future. A mother and grandmother, she is active in her local writing community, never says never to a home improvement task, and strives to one day write the Great American Novel.
RL Ashly writes on the run. She enjoys a good mystery with a complicated plot. Iced tea is her beverage of choice. Hemmed In is her first traditionally published novel.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rl.ashly.1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rl_ashly
Website: https://rlashlyauthor.wixsite.com/rlashly
Buy the book~Paperback link on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qNivJ8
Kindle link on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3kiQQgL
Barnes and Noble-Nook (eBook): https://bit.ly/38hPTAx
Leeann Betts writes contemporary romantic suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical romantic suspense. She has released nine titles in her cozy mystery series and together she and Donna have published more than 25 novellas and full-length novels. They ghostwrite, judge writing contests, edit, facilitate a critique group, and are members of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, and Sisters in Crime. Leeann travels extensively to research her stories, and is proud to be represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary LLC.
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Blog: www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com
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Twitter: http://bit.ly/1qmqvB6
Books: Amazon http://amzn.to/2dHfgCE and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2z5ecP8
Etsy online shop of original artwork, book folding art, and gift items: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dare2DreamUS
DAVALYNN SPENCER is a Publisher’s Weekly and ECPA bestselling author with novellas in three Barbour collections, The 12 Brides of Christmas, The 12 Brides of Summer, and The Cowboy’s Bride. She won the Will Rogers Gold Medallion for Inspirational Western Fiction and is the author of ten additional titles, both contemporary and historical. She blogs monthly for Christian Authors Network, Heroes, Heroines & History, contributes to the American Christian Fiction blog, and writes her own weekly inspirational blog. She appears on an area radio broadcast, Write Time Radio, and teaches writing workshops when not wrangling Blue the Cowdog and mouse detectors Annie and Oakley.
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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5051432.Davalynn_Spencer
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/davalynnspencer/boards/
Amazon Author: https://amazon.com/author/davalynnspencer
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This is a great collection of stories by a foursome of fine writers. Way to go, you all! And thanks, Donnell, for giving us a peek into Always a Wedding Planner!
Thanks, Margaret. I find the whole novella idea intriguing and can’t believe that other writers found the idea hard to process how the topic could be interconnected. Leeann wrote finding the ideal group of authors was the most difficult. Seems Divine Intervention may have had a hand in this effort. Congratulations, to all four of you and best wishes.
I had never heard of four writers doing four novellas with heroines in a business together. What a great idea. Best of luck to the four of you.
Mary, wedding planning is the perfect scenario in my opinion 😉 thanks for dropping by!
Loved reading about the back stories of these wonderful writers. Thanks!