What inspired you to write Love Reunited?
This is book three in a series, and Elizabeth emerged as a strong character beginning with book one. I was excited to eventually tell her story. I knew she was a strong woman who would have a fascinating tale, though, at the time, I didn’t know all the details. Coming up with all that was the fun part.
How would you describe this book to someone in a 30-second blurb?
A woman harbors a secret so big it threatens her chance at happily-ever-after.
How did you research or plan your book?
I am a panster, but I invested a lot of time in character development before I started writing this book. I attended the Florida Christian Writers Conference in October 2021 and attended Diane Mills’s fiction writing track. She spent a lot of time on character development and gave us forms to fill out, so we knew everything about our characters. I came back from that conference and utilized everything I learned, and I will implement that process in future books.
How much of your own life goes into your books?
Little things here and there—as they say, write what you know. I needed a sport for my series, and I chose baseball as that is my husband’s favorite and the sport where I can kind of hold my own. What I don’t know, he can help with. I work for a publishing company that also hosts trade shows and provides marketing services. In book two, the main character is a journalist, and in book three, she is a marketing specialist. One of my main characters is Italian, as am I, so I talk a lot about Italian food, which is my favorite.
What is your work schedule like when you're writing a book?
I have a full-time job, so adding in my writing is challenging. I write early in the morning before work and spend much of my weekends writing.
What's your next project?
My next book will be a Christmas romance. I only have the first chapter, but that will be my focus once I get through this launch of Love Reunited. I reread the chapter the other night, and it made me eager to get back to it.
What (person or thing) has been most beneficial to your writing career?
My husband Cory. I’m so blessed to have him in my life and have his support for my writing. He is not a reader, but he reads each book before it goes to the publisher. Book two included many baseball scenes as the main character is a high school baseball coach. He polished those scenes to ensure they were authentic. But the funniest part is when he wrote things like this in the margin: More detail. What kind of food? What color dress? For someone who doesn’t like to read, he offered valuable feedback. But the best was when he read Love Reunited and hardly had any changes. He said he could tell how much my writing improved.
What's one thing your readers should know about you?
I’m extremely goal-oriented. When I set my mind to something, I always follow through.
What's one unusual fact about you?
People are always amazed to hear that my husband and I took a 5-day vacation biking around Italy. We biked 186 miles, and it was the vacation of a lifetime. Every time I think of it, I smile.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A lawyer for a very short time, but since about 12, I always wanted to be a journalist. That’s where I earned my degree, and I have worked for a media company for the past 24 years.
If money were no issue, what would you be doing right now? Where would you be?
Writing full-time in a house that leads to the beach. I don’t care where, as long as it's sunny and right on the beach.
How have you changed or grown as a writer?
This is my third book, and I improve my craft with each one. I know I will make that same statement when I get to book ten. I always want to improve and learn from others.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t wait to accomplish your dreams. Set a goal and go for it.
Do you have a favorite verse? If so, what is it?
Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
About the Book
Elizabeth Carlson turns heads wherever she goes but has never moved on from Tyler Williams, with whom she shared a whirlwind relationship her senior year of high school. Ten years later, Tyler comes crashing back in her life, eager for a second chance.
Did You Know?
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space, orbiting Earth in Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. In the past 60 years, human spaceflight has seen many milestones.
Alan Shepard was the first American in space, taking the Mercury craft Freedom 7 on a suborbital flight, May 5, 1961. An American would not actually orbit Earth until John Glenn aboard Friendship 7, February 20, 1962.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, members of the Apollo 11 mission, were the first people to set foot on the moon, July 20, 1969. The moon landing fulfilled President John Kennedy’s promise that America would complete a successful lunar mission before the end of the decade. Altogether, 12 people would walk on the moon by 1972.
More astronauts are going to space than ever, thanks to the private spacecraft of billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Bezos’s company Blue Origin says they’ve sold $100 million worth of suborbital rides aboard their New Shepard rocket. Blue Origin won’t disclose the per-seat rate, but a two-and-a-half hour flight on Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceplane will cost $450,000, five minutes of which will be spent weightless at the edge of space.
In the near-future, the first Christian rocket will blast off on a secret mission to intercept the greatest revelation in 20 centuries. Learn more in Brimstone 1, the Christian sci-fi novel by Jason William Karpf.
-Jason William Karpf, Brimstone 1
Why I LOVE My Local Christian Bookstore
“I like shopping in bookstores so I can compare to other books on similar topics.”
-Denise Pass, Shame Off You