Meet Author Susan Sleeman!

Who are you?

I am small town girl who grew up in rural Wisconsin in a farming community of only seven hundred people. My family owned the local grocery store, where I started working at a very young age and learned the value of working hard to achieve a goal.

I am the wife of a church music director, mother to two terrific daughters (one who is married to a wonderful man), and grandmother to an amazing three-year-old grandson. I’m a Christian, a church librarian, and church website administrator.

I have been blessed by having a number of jobs over the years that has allowed me to live in nine states. As I mentioned, I started life in Wisconsin then lived in Texas, Minnesota, New York, Michigan, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Texas (you have to live there twice because it’s such a big state), and Florida.

I am a writer and website designer. I am a woman who lives with a chronic illness and pain. In fact, the illness is what gave me the time to write as I was forced to quit working. A type A personality, imagine how difficult it was for me to go from being on the go all the time to sitting. I had to find something to do and always wanted to write a book so I tried it. Six years later, my dream came true as I signed my first contract to have my novel published. Praise God!!

Where am I now?

I am in a wonderful place in my life, living with so many blessings from God that I often pinch myself to see if my life is real. On a personal level, I physically I live in Florida but our oldest daughter, son-in-law and grandson live in Oregon and our youngest daughter goes to college there. So I spent many hours on Skype talking with them and lots of time and money traveling there several times a year. I am a member of an amazing church with a heart for outreach and the most amazing worship band ever. Yay, for my husband and his super talented team!

On a professional level, I became a published author in 2010 with the release of first book in my Garden Gate Mystery series, Nipped in the Bud, a lighthearted cozy mystery. Today, I write both romantic suspense and cozy mysteries. I have six books in print with six more under contract that will release by early 2014. I am represented by a top-notch agent and thank God for allowing me to work with this superstar of a man. Go, Chip!

Where Are You Going?

Though I will go wherever the Lord leads, at the moment, I see us moving back to Oregon to be close to our children and grandson. I’ll put away the sunscreen that you cannot survive living in Florida without and bring out the raincoat. LOL With the cooler weather of Oregon, I hope to spend more time gardening. I love growing beautiful plants and reaping the harvest of a vegetable garden.

I hope to continue to have a full time career in writing. I’d love to continue writing romantic suspense books for Love Inspired Suspense with at least two if not three books releasing per year. I also hope to continue pursuing my dream to write longer, more in depth suspense novels with a strong romantic element. Whether this will be in the inspirational publishing market or the general market, I don’t know, but God willing I will achieve this dream.

Double Exposure

A PICTURE WORTH KILLING FOR
Photographer Jennie Buchanan unknowingly captures a drug-cartel meeting on film. And now she has become a killer’s next target. Even worse, her only protection from the danger that threatens her life is the man who threatens her heart. Dodging bullets almost seems safer than facing the feelings stirred up by seeing former FBI agent and ex-boyfriend Ethan Justice again.

Ethan vows to safeguard Jennie from the deadly men on her trail. And for a second chance at Jennie’s love, he’s willing to risk anything to expose the truth—about the drug smugglers, the past and the future together he still wants.

About Susan:

SUSAN SLEEMAN is a best-selling author of inspirational romantic suspense and mystery novels. She grew up in a small Wisconsin town where she spent her summers reading Nancy Drew and developing a love of mystery and suspense books. Today, she channels this enthusiasm into writing romantic suspense and mystery novels and hosting the popular internet website TheSuspenseZone.com. Susan currently lives in Florida, but has had the pleasure of living in nine states. Her husband is a church music director and they have two beautiful daughters, a very special son-in-law and an adorable grandson. To learn more about Susan stop by any of these locations on the web.

Website  http://www.susansleeman.com/”>

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Introducing Author Jennifer Fromke!

Okay, I double booked my Friday authors this week. Bad me. But the upside is, you get to learn about TWO authors this week!!
Today we have the pleasure of Jennifer Fromke’s company! Jennifer is celebrating the release of her debut novel, A Familiar Shore, and she’s here to tell us about it and about herself!

Who are you?

My name is Jennifer Fromke and I’m a water-aholic. I think I was created with something inside me that naturally longs for large bodies of water. Sunrises, sunsets and the moon look best to me when reflected in water. The sound of running water, trickling water, lake lapping against the hull of a boat, waves washing up on shore, rain falling on a metal roof, mountain stream tumbling over giant boulders, pretty much any kind of moving water serves to soothe the rough places inside me. And if I get to watch as well as listen, so much the better.

Where are you now?

I love this question because there are so many answers!

1. I’m on my back porch – one of my favorite places to write. Running water and chirping birds make it extremely peaceful.

2. I’m living in Concord, NC. Thinking back on my life, this really is a surprise. I grew up in Michigan, and North Carolina never even appeared on my radar. I loved the lakes, and continued to treasure my lake time when I went to school in Chicago and later moved to Minnesota. After four years in the “land o lakes” we moved to St Louis, MO. Land-locked was the term that pressed in on me as I longed for water that was not the Mississippi River. Finally, God brought us to North Carolina, where we live close to several lakes and less than three hours from the ocean (seriously, the OCEAN! For a girl from the “middle” it’s amazing to think I can DRIVE to the beach!).

3. I’m at the beginning of my writing career, in the best part of my life, three months into my debut novel’s release, working on my next novel.

Where are you going?

Up north. Every summer we escape the crispy temperatures of late summer in the south, and flee to a lake in northern Michigan. We have family with a lovely place on our favorite lake, and we sit for two weeks with our toes in the cold water, looking for Petoskey stones and soaking up the low humidity, cooler temps, and family time. Feeding our souls.

How about you? Do you long for the sound of ocean waves? Mountain streams? Tell us about a favorite “on the water” memory.

A Familiar Shore

Jennifer’s love for the water comes through loud and clear in her debut novel, A Familiar Shore. She starts the novel Oceanside and takes her protagonist north to a lake in Michigan. Meg Marks is a young lawyer raised off the coast of the Carolinas. An anonymous client hires her to arrange his will, and sends her to meet his estranged family at their lake home in northern Michigan. After a shocking discovery, she finds herself caught between his suspicious family and a deathbed promise her conscience demands that she keep. Will she sacrifice her own dreams for revenge, or will she choose something more?

Connect with Jennifer!

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Twitter – @jenniferfromke

Introducing Dani Pettrey!

This is the month for debut authors! I’m thrilled to have Dani Pettrey here today, to share a bit about herself and her new novel, Submerged.

People often ask me why I enjoy writing about adventure so much. This question is usually followed by, “Are you as adventurous as your characters?”

The answer to the first question is easy: I write about adventure because I love it! I’m fascinated by people who pursue adventure for sport, and even more intrigued by those who pursue adventure for a living. There are so many wonderful examples out there—Erik Weihenmayer, Bethany Hamilton, and Kelly Clark, just to name a few. These athletes live for adventure and push themselves to overcome obstacles.

While Cole McKenna, the hero of my debut novel Submerged, isn’t modeled after any adventure athlete in particular, he does share many of these same traits. Cole pushes himself to the limits physically and mentally. He’s a professional cave diver—an extremely dangerous career—and he dedicates some of that dive expertise to helping others through Search and Rescue. He’s a Christian and his family’s protector. He’s responsible, a hard worker, but he craves the thrill of adventure. Writing about Cole and his siblings has been so much fun for me.

To answer the second question, I love the outdoors, and there are many adventures I enjoy—kayaking, white-water rafting, indoor rock climbing, hiking—I’m just not quite as adventurous as my characters. I’d never go cave diving or heli-skiing, but I love researching those sports, and experiencing them through my stories.

That’s the beauty of a good story; the ability to live vicariously through characters, to see the world through new eyes, to travel to new places and to take new journeys, all from the comfort of your favorite chair. My author newsletter is called Armchair Adventures for this very reason.

One of my favorite quotes is:

“It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.” -Biblo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Rings

Here’s my own version of that quote:

“It’s adventurous business, opening a book. You turn the pages, and if you aren’t careful, you just might be swept away.”   

In my opinion, there’s nothing better than being swept away by a story. It’s one of my absolute favorite pastimes. I love reading stories that let me experience new adventures, and I hope my stories offer those experiences to readers, as well.

 About Submerged:

 A sabotaged plane. Two dead deep-water divers. One single clue.

Bailey Craig vowed never to set foot in Yancey, Alaska, again. She has a past, and a reputation–and Yancey’s a town that doesn’t forget. She’s returned only to bury a loved one killed in the plane crash, but then dark evidence emerges and Bailey’s own expertise becomes invaluable for the case.

Cole McKenna can face dangerous rescue dives. He can face the fear a murderer may be threatening his town. But facing the reality of Bailey’s reappearance is a tougher challenge. She broke his heart… but doesn’t seem to be the same girl who left Yancey ten years ago. And he’s not the same guy she left behind.

Racing against the clock and a rising body count, Bailey and Cole must move beyond the hurts of their pasts to work together until the truth of what is hidden in the depths finally surfaces.

 About Dani:

Dani Pettrey is a wife, homeschooling mom, and author. She feels blessed to write inspirational romantic suspense because it incorporates so many things she loves–the thrill of adventure, nail biting suspense, the deepening of her characters’ faith, and plenty of romance. She and her husband reside in Maryland with their two teenage daughters. Visit her website at www.danipettrey.com.