[Anne] Good morning, June, and welcome to my blog. First off, I have to tell you, you're living my dream. I've always wanted to travel around the country in an RV. How cool is that! I'm sure you have many interesting tales to tell about your travels, can you share one with us (something unusual or really wild that's happened on the road).
[June] There are so many I can't narrow it down to one. Just to give you an idea – there was the time our awning fell off as we were racing down the wrong freeway in South Dakota. Then the time I met up with an old friend from El Paso, Texas 400 feet under the ground at Ruby Falls, in Tennessee. Then the time we lost the serpentine belt off the RV at 11,000 feet at the peak of Monarch Pass on the continental divide in Colorado. Just to name a few.
[Anne] What's your favorite place you've visited?
[June] Oh, so many. It's hard to narrow it down. But I think one of my favorite tours was when we followed the Lewis and Clark trail to visit the museums and sites depicting the historical trip.
[Anne] Your first book, Give Us This Day, releases Feb 1st. How has the experience been so far? Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
[June] Sometimes I read a chapter or two and think, did I write that? I honestly believe the Lord has led me every step of the way. I give Him all the credit. So, all that to say, I don't think I'd wish for anything to be different.
[Anne] Tell us a little bit about Give Us This Day.
[June] Raised by a doting mother and controlling father, the handsome Jess Colton battles against his addictive nature. When Jesus comes into his life, he trades one addiction for another—alcohol for food. His doctor warns him of his poor health as his weight soars past 300 pounds. Jess is baffled when the beautiful Holly Harrison comes into his life and declares her affection for him. He can't figure out what she could possibly see in him.
Holly Harrison has a past. But it catches up with her when she loses her leg and her unborn baby in one night as a result of a motorcycle accident. At this low point in her life, she finds strength through God and a relationship with Jesus Christ while she works as a dental hygienist. But now, no Christian man would want her so she avoids serious relationships. She doesn’t plan on falling in love with Jess Colton. She sees past his rolls of fat to the godly, tender man inside. When Jess drives a wedge between them, she loses all hope of having a future together.
[Anne] What inspired Give Us This Day?
[June] Honestly, I think I tend to look to "things" instead of the Lord at times for my strength. I've seen what addictions have done to others, and I want to portray a character who finds victory. The craziest thing about the heroine. I was getting ready to plot the story, and I saw a picture of her in my mind wearing a prosthesis. I kid you not. I never would've thought that up on my own.
[Anne] This being your first, what have you found as the most difficult in the publishing process?
[June] I suppose like most authors, the rejection letters sting. James Scott Bell's The Art of War For Writers has helped me more than anything to knock that chip off my shoulder. Sometimes, it jumps back up, and I have to knock it off again.
[Anne] You have two other books contracted with Desert Breeze Publishing. Will you tell us about them?
[June] In As We Forgive, Tim Garrett lives with the uncontrollable anger he learned from his father. Only problem is, he's a youth pastor and is now in danger of losing his job. Roxanne Ratner can't forgive her father for abandoning her as a child and doesn't trust men, especially Tim. The beautiful hairstylist fights against her growing attraction to the fiery man of God.
In Deliver Us, Jared Simms begins his Christian life with a sordid past, years filled with mistakes – a one-night discretion, drug use, then a prison sentence. When the struggling janitor discovers the woman from his past, the beautiful Dr. Christine Coleman, he learns she suffered the consequences of that indiscretion, so he hides his secrets from her at all costs and the fact that he's falling for her.
[Anne] Do you use locations you've visited as settings in your books?
[June] Yes. My very first book is set in Chico, California. My sweet husband took me there for a week so I could gather facts about the area. Then the rest of my books take place in Washington State where I lived for ten years. I'm planning a book that will be set in El Paso, Texas where I lived for many years.
[Anne] I'm sure you've read a ton of books. Is there one you've read you wish you had written? If so why?
[June] Maybe Athol Dickson's The Cure because I admire the way the man uses the written word to convey a story. And maybe Latayne Scott's Latter Day Cipher because I wish I had her expert knowledge of Mormonism as well as her ability to tell a story. My next book is a romance between a Christian woman and a Mormon man.
[Anne] What do you think makes a good story?
[June] More than anything, the message. I'd like to see characters whose lives are changed by God's power. But of course, the tension and conflict in the story that keeps a reader turning pages is important as well.
[Anne] Thanks so much for joining us today, June. It's been fun getting to know more about you. In closing please give us a short excerpt of your new book and let us know where we can buy it. Also, where we can find you on the web.
Give Us This Day is available February 1 for download at http://desertbreezepublishing.com, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and most online bookstores.
June maintains web sites at http://junefoster.blogspot.com and http://infinitecharacters.com. You can email her at junefoster11[at]gmail[dot]com as well.
Excerpt -
With slow determination, Holly reached down and untied the shoe string of her left tennis shoe. Could she really do this?
“What are you doing?” His questioning look accelerated the nervous pangs in her stomach.
Holly lifted a restraining hand to him and continued her work. With an unsteady grip, she pulled her sock off exposing the curved metal of her prosthetic limb.
Jess stared, his eyes the size of large plates. “Oh, good Lord, Holly. What happened?” His jaw remained open.
Wordlessly, Holly folded her jeans up to her knee exposing the entire devise. She released the suction which held the hollow plastic casing over her knee stump and removed the entire leg setting it next to the couch.
Her heart beat wildly as she dared a glance at Jess.
He sat motionless, his eyes enormous. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought you’d reject me if you knew. Now do you see? You’re not the only one whose body is flawed.” Holly leaned back against the couch, her stub barely meeting the end of the seat. Her palms were like ice. She took the risk and showed him. No turning back now. He’d always know.
Jess’s voice was barely a whisper. “You haven’t told too many people.”
“No, very few. Only my family and Dr. Murphy know about it. And Zack. I rode on the back of his motorcycle when the accident happened.”
“Holly, I don’t know what to say.” He gazed at her with woeful eyes.
She wiped a tear away. “After I came to know you, I figured you’d love me in spite of it. That’s the kind of man you are. I didn’t know how to tell you until now.”
Jess eased off the couch and slowly knelt in front of her. He folded her jeans a little higher, gazed at her with eyes of love and compassion, then bent down.
She caught her breath.
He lowered his lips to the stub and kissed it then gazed up at her again.
“I can’t believe you did that. I love you for it.”
Jess looked up at her, emotion in his blue eyes. With a groan, he moved back up on the couch with her. He placed his arms around her and held her. “You’re right. It would’ve made no difference in how I feel about you, but this makes things even more difficult.”
