Today we welcome Valerie Comer to my blog. Valerie is very generously offering an ebook copy of her book to one winner. Leave contact information to enter.
Valerie, thank you for joining us. What is a multi-author shared-world mega-series, and where did the idea come from?
Valerie, thank you for joining us. What is a multi-author shared-world mega-series, and where did the idea come from?
Over a year ago, several authors began talking about writing foodie stories
in a shared community. We each wanted to have a complete series (a novella and
three novels) of our own at the end of the project, yet have our books
intertwine with each other’s. Arcadia Valley Romance was a big project to
envision, coordinate, and write, but it’s so much fun! http://arcadiavalleyromance.com
2. Six series in one? How does
that work?
Each of the six authors chose one specific aspect of local food as a focal
point for her contemporary romance series. My stories revolve around a pair of
derelict greenhouses offered to a local church in a living trust. In the
introductory novella, Sow in Love,
the elderly owner’s grandson works with a consultant to determine how the
church can make use of the greenhouses. The three novels that follow will
revolve around the people who work to make that vision a reality… and fall in
love, of course!
The other authors are writing within the settings of a community-supported
bakery, a farming cooperative, a farm-to-table restaurant, a farm legacy, and a
farmers market. To add to the fun, you’ll discover any author’s characters
wandering into stories by one of the other authors!
3. What exactly is Romance
Grows in Arcadia Valley?
Romance
Grows in Arcadia Valley is the six-novella collection that introduces the
fictional community of Arcadia Valley, Idaho, as envisioned by each of the six
authors. It is a set of series prequels, if that makes sense. Then, every month
through July, 2018, you can expect a new Arcadia Valley Romance until each
author has released her complete series. Each of the 19 books will be available
in e-book (Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and iBooks) as well as in paperback.
Here’s what is in Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley:
Spring’s Blessing (Seasons of Faith)
by Mary Jane Hathaway
Life gets complicated for Charlotte MacGregor when a motherless child and a handsome widower encroach on her carefully laid plans. Will she keep her heart above the fray, or take a leap of faith?
Life gets complicated for Charlotte MacGregor when a motherless child and a handsome widower encroach on her carefully laid plans. Will she keep her heart above the fray, or take a leap of faith?
Loaves and Wishes (Baxter Family
Bakery) by Elizabeth Maddrey
Inheriting her friend’s Bed and Breakfast in Idaho is a second chance to succeed, but falling for the farmer next door wasn’t in the plan.
Inheriting her friend’s Bed and Breakfast in Idaho is a second chance to succeed, but falling for the farmer next door wasn’t in the plan.
Sheltered Hearts (Romance from the
Heart) by Lee Tobin McClain
A curvy jilted bride gets stranded in a snowstorm with a handsome restaurant cook who’s not what he seems to be.
A curvy jilted bride gets stranded in a snowstorm with a handsome restaurant cook who’s not what he seems to be.
Sow in Love (Garden Grown Romance)
by Valerie Comer
A real estate consultant’s ideas for fulfilling a living trust are shot down by the elderly greenhouse owner’s grandson, but some of the arrows piercing her heart come directly from Cupid’s bow.
A real estate consultant’s ideas for fulfilling a living trust are shot down by the elderly greenhouse owner’s grandson, but some of the arrows piercing her heart come directly from Cupid’s bow.
The Scent of Romance (Legacy of the
Heart) by Danica Favorite
A high-powered lawyer must
convince a woman determined to protect her family’s legacy to sell the family
farm to his father’s development company, but finds his heart leading him away
from everything he’s spent his life trying to accomplish.
A Romance Rekindled (A Homegrown
Love Story) by Annalisa Daughety
When a formerly engaged couple find themselves thrown together after more than a decade apart, they must choose whether to let go of the past or reconsider a future together.
When a formerly engaged couple find themselves thrown together after more than a decade apart, they must choose whether to let go of the past or reconsider a future together.
4. What is your current work in
progress?
I’m in the process of editing Sprouts
of Love, the first of my novels to follow Romance Grows in Arcadia
Valley. It releases in
May. The short blurb for Sprouts is: An overzealous community
garden manager delivers more than the food bank manager can handle. Can love
sprout amid the tsunami of vegetables?
I
wish I could stay in the Arcadia Valley world after this, but I have two novels
due in other series before my second AVR novel releases in November. I do love
those worlds, too, but I hate shifting gears!
5. How did you choose your setting for this series?
5. How did you choose your setting for this series?
Creating Arcadia Valley, a fictional community near Twin Falls, Idaho, was
definitely a team process. We considered various parts of the Pacific Northwest
before settling on this area. We loosely modeled Arcadia Valley after the town
on Jerome, Idaho, but it isn’t Jerome other than location and size.
My husband and I were able to spend two days in Jerome/Twin Falls in
October, 2016. I took nearly a thousand photos as we poked around both towns as
much as we had time for. This on-site visit helped the whole team immensely!
We’re keeping the setting straight through a shared Google map and many
(and I do mean MANY!) documents and spreadsheets in a shared Dropbox folder. We
have a secret Facebook group where we keep in close touch when questions come
up, and often email snippets of first draft to each other when writing a scene
that overlaps another author’s terrain… like when my characters visit the
farmers market or the community bakery.
I love big projects and big series — obviously!!! — but this wasn’t always
the case. I lay out a big-picture schedule of what I plan to work on every
month. My current calendar is laid out for eighteen months and includes
writing, editing, and publishing. I’ve been doing this gig fulltime for several
years now, so I have a good idea of how much I can accomplish.
With projects like Arcadia Valley Romance, I have actual deadlines that
matter to someone other than myself, since we are staggering releases. Sprouts of Love releases in May, 2017, Rooted in Love releases in November,
2017, and my final romance in that series, Harvest
of Love, releases in May, 2018. These are due to my group three months in
advance.
Once those projects were marked into my 2017/18 calendar, I locked in when
I’d write my Christmas release, Better
Than a Crown, my third and final Christmas in Montana Romance. Fall is the
best time to release a Christmas novel so, with November already booked for
AVR, my goal is to release Crown in
October. Then I looked at the empty months (yes, there were some!) and marked
in two other projects I’d like to write in 2017.
My husband works four-on four-off, so my writing schedule looks similar. I
write a lot (1-2 chapters a day) when he’s at work, then catch up on
formatting, marketing, scheduling blog posts, etc, when he’s home. This system
mostly works. I need to have the big picture recorded so I can see how output
is matching up to the requirements, but it can also freeze creativity if I
dwell on it. Every day, I simply need to focus on accomplishing the one main
task for that day. If I fall behind significantly, it’s hard to catch up!
7. What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?
Evidence might deny that I have any other hobbies. However, I do love spending time with my husband and our kids, their spouses, and their daughters. We love the outdoors, so camping along a mountain creek in summer or snowshoeing in winter are favorite activities. The three grandgirls (almost 7, almost 5, and 4.5) received snowshoes for Christmas and are enjoying them so far. This winter, life is revolving over prep for Grandgirl #4 due in about three weeks. #pinkpower
8. What is your most difficult
writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
Obstacle, thy name is Facebook. On my writing days, I have learned (mostly
learned) to shut the Facebook tab in my browser before going to bed and leaving
my manuscript open on my monitor. I do occasionally go online to check a fact
or something similar, but I keep Facebook turned off until my chapter is
written.
For me, there is no such thing as “quickly checking Facebook.” I’m in
several writing groups and accountability groups and can easily get sucked into
answering questions or getting caught up in important things. And they are
important!!! They’re just usually not urgent, and I can’t afford to have my
prime writing time derailed.
Are your
grocery-buying habits affected at all by where or how the food is grown? Do you
care if it’s local, organic… or any other label?
10. Tell us about the giveaway you’re offering.
I’d love to
offer one e-book copy of Romance Grows in
Arcadia Valley to one commenter, worldwide, in the winner’s choice of
format (Kindle, Kobo, Nook, or iBooks.)Bio
Valerie Comer’s life on a small farm in western Canada
provides the seed for stories of contemporary Christian romance. Like many of
her characters, Valerie grows much of her own food and is active in the local
foods movement as well as her church. She only hopes her imaginary friends
enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her
husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
Valerie is a USA
Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner. She has been
called “a stellar storyteller” as she injects experience laced with humor into
her green clean romances.
Linkshttp://valeriecomer.com
http://arcadiavalleyromance.com
https://www.pinterest.com/valeriecomer/garden-grown-romances-set-in-arcadia-valley-idaho/
https://www.pinterest.com/valeriecomer/arcadia-valley-romance/
Buy Links
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBE4NTV
https://www.kobo.com/ebook/romance-grows-in-arcadia-valley
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/romance-grows-in-arcadia-valley-elizabeth-maddrey/1125251778
9 comments:
Thanks for the interview with Valerie Comer. I have read some of her books. I appreciate you sharing about Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley and a synopses of each tale.
Thanks for coming by, Marilyn! I hope you enjoy Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley.
I would love a copy of this book! It sounds wonderful~ Kristen Terrette kterrette@gmail.com
Thanks for your interest, Kterrette!
entering for Christy Miller
Love these interviews. I enjoy getting to know more about the author and love the multi author series. Erica
I can't wait to read this one!
Ericaganson@gmail.com
Would love to win a copy of this! It sounds great!
congratulations to Kristen!
Post a Comment