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WOULD YOU LIKE TO TALK ABOUT ...
How I learned to be a published author?
MY STORIES AND WHERE THEY COME FROM
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SUNNY AND PETE A writer friend shared how much it meant to her that her husband stood up for her against her ever belittling mother. In Angel in Disguise, Pete Maguire stands up for Sunny Keegan against her belittling mother and powerful father, U.S. Senator Sam Keegan. The senator is determined to see his little girl married to his protegee, a U.S. congressman. The pair of them are to be President and First Lady of the United States. |
But on her wedding day, Sunny discovers Bruce making love to a bridesmaid. Devastated, Sunny asks God for a sign. When she looks up and reads, "Exit," that sounds right to her.
A new Christian, Sunny loves her new life as a high school basketball coach until her team wins the big tournament, and she has to make good on a promise. Her teams insists that she be a contestant on "Dream Date," a TV dating game show.
Sunny hates the idea as much as she hates how her family and ex-fiancé have upped the pressure for her to forgive and forget. They need her help with Bruce's re-election campaign. Maybe her appearance on "Dream Date" will convince them to leave her alone.
When planning the book, I thought that that Sunny's hero should be a rescuer, probably a first born, which meant he would need a sibling. He should have a big problem that Sunny could rescue him from.
I liked the idea of a great guy who wasn't good looking, experiencing a make-over, but it couldn't be his choice to be handsome.
I gave Pete a horrific car accident that required major reconstructive surgery. He lost everything that mattered to him. He can no longer to do the carpentry job he loved. His father has died. His wife has had an affair with Pete's best friend and left him. Now Pete is rich and handsome, but he doesn't recognize the man in the mirror. He's lost faith in God, and he doesn't know what to do with the rest of his life.
Pete's little sister, Meggy, hates the way he's dropped out of life and begs him to be a last-minute replacement on "Dream Date," saying she'll lose her job if he doesn't help her. Vowing this will be the last time he rescues Meggy, Pete goes on the show and wins a date with Sunny.
It's just supposed to be one date, but Pete can't resist coming to Sunny's rescue when her horrible family insist it's her duty to go back to her fiancé. Pete's strength gives Sunny the courage to stand up against great odds.
Sunny rescues Pete by helping him believe in God again. She sees the wonderful man inside, not just the handsome facade. Her love gives Pete the will to start over and begin a new career.
When their situations seemed hopeless, joy was just around the corner. God had a better plan for their lives than they could have imagined.
| This book was dedicated to my precious daughter, J-J. No one encourages me more. Her praise means a lot, but there are times when she loves me enough to say, "Mom, you can do better." |
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One of my best moments: |
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MEG AND RY Man of Her Dreams |
Sometimes we're too close to a story to make big changes, so I followed my editor's advice and concentrated on writing the story of Meggy Maguire, the sister of the hero in Angel in Disguise.
Unfortunately, I'd never seen Meggy as having her own book and didn't create her with the strength needed for a heroine. It took me a long, long time to realize that Meggy had become Meg, a woman who'd grown in the Lord and been promoted on "Dream Date."
Now Meg is successful at her job, matching potential couples for the TV show, produced in Los Angeles, but she's lonely and disheartened because she can't find a Mr. Right of her own.
On New Year's Eve, just as she believes her prayer to find Mr. Right this year is about to go unanswered, her best friend's brother shows up, just as gorgeous and lovable as ever.
Meg feels the long-awaited zing of love at first sight, but Ry Brennan can't be her guy. A New York City paramedic, Ry has a reputation as a rebel, a maverick, a womanizer, a guy who takes nothing seriously but his job.
His sister, Beth, who isn't a Christian, jokes that Ry is God's answer to Meg's prayer. Meg is quite sure he's not, though old camaraderie with Ry is edged with a sizzle she can't explain.
Ry's not sure what's going on either, but when Meg asks him to resume his old role as her dating mentor in this year's search for Mr. Right, he's not about to let her fall for anyone but himself.
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Here's David "Squeak" Marr at his Hall of Fame induction at Culverton-Stockton College, Canton, Missouri, September, 2004. I 'm so proud! The man of my dreams still holds basketball shooting records.
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BETH AND NOAH Promise of Forever Also available in Larger Print |
Dr. Beth Brennan is a pediatrician; Noah McKnight is her new male office nurse. If you read MAN OF HER DREAMS, you already know Beth, and you know she learned to trust God at the end of that story. If you didn't read that book, no problem. Each book stands alone.
In PROMISE OF FOREVER, Beth struggles to show her new Christian faith. Nurse Noah could easily steal her heart, but an office romance is such a bad idea. Beth's other office nurse, mean-spirited Mona, seems determined to undermine Beth's reputation, but Beth wants to react with godly love. Her family worries and wonders how many times Beth will turn the other cheek before she realizes Mona means harm...to Beth and the family medical practice.
Nurse Noah McKnight is a widower with a seven-year-old daughter who adores Dr. Beth. Little Kendra wants Beth for her new mom so much it will put a lump in your throat. Beth loves the little girl back, but Noah can't see how it could work out for them. Not only do they come from two different worlds, she says God has a plan for everyone. How could it have been God's plan for Kendra to lose her mother two years ago? Unless Beth has an answer for that, there's no future for them.
Here's an insider note: the name and personality of Noah's little girl was patterned after my own granddaughter, Kendra, and the little girl on the cover looks just like her at that age!
HOW I LEARNED TO BE A PUBLISHED AUTHOR
When I first became interested in writing romance, I joined Romance Writers of America. This is THE organization to belong to is you want to publish, and their monthly magazine is worth the price of membership. Amazingly, the membership teaches their competition. We seem to share a desire to pay back what we've learned from others. At local, regional and national conferences you learn everything you need to know about the business. To learn more about Christian publishing, join American Christian Fiction Writers.
Most romances are written by RWA members who are the most intelligent group of people I've ever met. They include backgrounds in education and writing, like you might expect, but they are also:
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When RWA members need to research any hobby, vocation or location, we put a 911 on one of our internet loops and get immediate, accurate feedback for our stories.
One out of five readers are between the ages of 35-44. Those are the high stress years of raising a family and making a living. Readership starts with teenagers, drops for people in the twenties, rises steadily from age thirty on and has big rise in the retirement years.
62% attended some college. 37% graduated from college.
38,000,000 women and 3,500,000 men read at least one romance in the past year. One in three women and one in thirty men read a romance last year.
57% are married, 20% are widowed, divorced, or separated, and 23% are single; 40% have children living with them
- To escape from the stress of everyday life.
- To become stronger by seeing how others conquer.
- To be reminded that better days are just around the corner.
- To learn how a man should treat a woman.
- To learn how faith changes and empowers their lives.
Thousands of readers subscribe to the Steeple Hill Love Inspired book club and receive their books two months earlier that the official release date printed on the book cover.
In stores that sell books (Borders, Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, WalMart, Target, K-Mart, and others), my latest book will be on the shelves about a week before the release date, but it won't be there long. Paper back romances are like magazines. New ones come out every month, and they are seldom reordered.
My hard back, large print version of MAN OF HER DREAMS is targeted to libraries, but it can be ordered from book stores or online. My paper back books are available for years (usually at great discounts) at the following online locations:
Online Sources For Patt Marr's books... |
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