Paula Mowery - For Our Good

Good Monday Morning Readers!

Today, Paula Mowery visits Lagniappe discuss her latest release, For Our Good. 

Welcome, Paula! 

Tell us a little about For Our Good.

For Our Good is a Christian romantic suspense. My first real shot at a suspense, and I loved it. The heroine, Charlie, is no damsel in distress. She is a tough undercover cop. I thoroughly enjoyed creating her character. The hero is Colton, a corporate pilot with a one-date with a woman philosophy so as not to get too close to commitment. But that’s about to change when he comes face to face with Charlie.

There’s a drug problem at the local high school and the one connection between the boys being caught is they all attend a particular church. Because of Charlie’s anger toward God for the past, she isn’t too excited to discover she must do much of her undercover work at the church. Colton becomes a much more faithful attender when he finds out that Charlie will be there.

But, there’s secrets galore and danger lurking around several corners. Can Charlie and Colton even survive to possibly have a future?   

What were some of the challenges (research, literary, psychological, or logistical) you faced in bringing this story to life?

I struggled with the fact that a person could feign their Christian devotion in the church but really be hurting others. As is often true with writers, this story sparked from a couple of small incidents. One of those incidents involved a friend who discovered a loved one was involved in illegal activity. Another was the proposition to Colton at the airport which actually happened to my dad.

I also wanted to make sure my facts on wielding a weapon was correct and particulars about aircrafts. For that research I questioned a police officer and my own father who was a corporate pilot.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

My biggest challenge is the fact that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to write everything I want to write. In this season of life with a daughter in college, I work part-time outside of my home in the school system. During the school year I return home at 12:30, eat lunch, and start my editing and writing until my husband comes home. Any spare moments I try to squeeze in writing and editing for my authors. I look forward to the summer break when I can write and edit full-time.

What is your hope for the readers of your books?

My hope and prayer for my readers is that they will be encouraged or maybe even challenged by the spiritual truths threaded throughout my stories. If they don’t know Christ as their personal Savior, I hope they might be nudged in His direction through my words. If they are already a child of the King, I hope they might find encouragement to more fully live for Christ or even return to Him, if they’ve strayed. I pray if the words need to challenge, they will deliver that as well.

What is your least favorite part of the publishing / writing process?

The writing and publishing processes involve much work but are enjoyable. My least favorite area of this publishing process thus far has been marketing. I struggle to promote my books but still feel I’m not “tooting my own horn.” I think this is a common struggle for Christian writers. We know for our message to get out there we must promote our work, but we also know we are to be people of humility.

What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?

Readers who enjoy my book should share it with a friend, write a review on Amazon, consider using the book’s Bible study with a small group, use any of their social media outlets to tell others. Making it successful means helping me get it into the hands of other readers who might benefit from the message.

Where do you write? Can you describe your favorite writing place? 

I share a front room in our house with my daughter. The former owners built on a large den, leaving the living room for us to use as an office. My side has my L-shaped desk with two small shelves behind with various reference books. In front of me on the other wall is another small shelf with my to-be-read books for reviews and three-ring binders filled with past manuscripts. On top of that shelf is some inspiring pictures, my inspirational quote, and my Selah Award plaque. I love having my own space. If I’m in the middle of something and have to leave, I can leave my materials strewn across my desktop until I can return.

What can we expect from you in the future?

I honestly thought that Charlie and Colton’s story was over, but a recent dream could mean these two will return for another story.

For Our Good releases in September, but I also have a Christmas title releasing in Prism Book Group’s Christmas Present series called Love Again. Around March 2016 I have another series book coming from Prism. This title is included in the Love Is series and is called The Crux of Honor.

Please visit and subscribe to my blog at www.paulamowery.blogspot.com. You can also find other links there to connect with me.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Plotter, Pantser, or Planser? Planser

Laptop or Desktop? Laptop

Socks or slippers or both? Socks

Y’all or You Guys? In East Tennessee it’s definitely y’all.

Birthday Card: Email or Snail Mail? Snail Mail

Paula Mowery is a published author, acquisitions editor, and speaker. Her first two published works were The Blessing Seer and Be The Blessing from Pelican Book Group. Both are women’s fiction, and their themes have been the topics of speaking engagements. Be The Blessing won the Selah Award in 2014 in the novella category. In November of 2013, her first romance released in the anthology, Brave New Century, from Prism Book Group. This book went to number five on Amazon’s bestseller category, historical Christian romance. Legacy and Love was her first solo romance and was a finalist in the Carolyn Readers Choice Awards in 2015.

Reviewers of her writing characterize it as “thundering with emotion.” Her articles have appeared in Woman’s World, The Christian Online Magazine, and the multi-author devotional blog, Full Flavored Living. She wrote a section for Join the Insanity by Rhonda Rhea. She has devotionals included in several collaborative books.

As an acquisitions editor for Prism Book Group, Paula particularly looks for romance stories with Christian values at its core. She’s especially attracted to those manuscripts that leave the reader mulling over the story long after turning the last page.

Having been an avid reader of Christian fiction, she now puts that love to use by writing book reviews. She is a member of ACFW and is on the author interview team. She was a member of the 2014 and 2015 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference faculty.

Paula is a pastor’s wife and mom to a college student. She homeschooled her daughter through all twelve years, and they both lived to tell about it. Before educating her daughter at home, she was an English teacher in public school.

You can follow Paula at www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Mowery/175869562589187. 

Learn more about Paula at her blog at www.paulamowery.blogspot.com or enjoy her monthly columns on www.christianonlinemagazine.com. You can also check out her blog for Christian writers at www.ccwcu.blogspot.com.

Readers, Paula's question for you:

What kind of inspiration have you received 

from a novel you’ve read?

Paula, thanks for visiting!

Readers, thanks for visiting Lagniappe.

I pray you find 

"a little something extra" 

in each of your days.

Marian