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Okay, guys. I am SO super excited about this book today!
This is my friend Betsy St. Amant. And she's awesome. I mean, really awesome. She's super fun, super real and has a super cute daughter and basically, she's just super all around. ;)
She just came out with her latest book which I am dying to read because it totally looks right up my alley. I mean, it's got a cupcake on the cover. You can't have a better cover than that!
Her official bio: Betsy St. Amant has a heart for three things – chocolate, new shoes and sharing the amazing news of God’s grace through her novels. She lives in Louisiana with her adorable story-telling young daughter, a collection of Austen novels, and an impressive stash of Pickle Pringles. A freelance journalist and fiction author, Betsy is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and is multi-published in Contemporary Romance. Her ninth Love Inspired novel released in January 2014, while her first romance with Zondervan Publishers comes out September 2014. When she’s not reading, writing, or singing along to the Tangled soundtrack with her daughter, Betsy enjoys inspirational speaking and teaching on the craft of writing, and can usually be found somewhere in the vicinity of a white-chocolate mocha.
And Betsy, take it away!!
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Erynn: Tell us a little about how you got started writing.
Betsy: I don’t remember a time when I didn’t write! I literally
started writing “books” when my dad brought home our first desktop computer
when I was about 7 years old. I would play around and write short stories and
poetry. The “books” usually consisted of a girl about my age who had a dog, and
liked to play outside, and not a whole lot else happened. :) (this was before I
learned the value of conflict in a storyline! Haha!) When I got a little older,
I started my first attempt at fan-fiction, which, at the time, never realized
was fan-fiction. I just knew I liked writing my own version of a Babysitter’s
Club or Sweet Valley High novel. :)
I got serious about publication when I turned 18, and realized that my dream of
being published wasn’t going to come true by simply wishing. So, I started
attending writing and speaking conferences, joined the ACFW (www.acfw.com)
at the recommendation of award-winning author Gayle Roper, and taking various
classes on the craft of writing. I landed my wonderful agent Tamela Hancock
Murray in 2007 after an ACFW conference and she sold my first traditionally
published novel a few months later. It’s been nonstop ever since! :)
You just had a new book release! What is it about?
Yes! So exciting! This is my first trade-length novel with
Zondervan/Harper Collins. (I was also part of a Bridal Series a few months back
with Zondervan! My novella February Bride
released in January 2014 in e-book and audio form. It will release again in
November 2014 as a 3-in-1 print compilation!)
Here’s the back cover copy for my September 2014 release, All’s Fair in Love & Cupcakes! I
wrote this book during a very transitional and rough season of my life, and
it’s truly a testament to God’s glory and His provision divine love for me. It
will be forever be a favorite of mine.
Kat Varland has
had enough of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.
At twenty-six
years old, Kat is still living in the shadows of her family in Bayou Bend,
Louisiana. Still working shifts at her Aunt Maggie’s bakery. Still wondering
what to do with her passion for baking and her business degree. And still
single.
But when Lucas
Brannen, Kat’s best friend, signs her up for a reality TV bake-off on Cupcake Combat, everything Kat ever
wanted is suddenly dangled in front of her: creative license as a baker,
recognition as a visionary . . . and a job at a famous bakery in New York.
As the
competition heats up, Lucas realizes he might have made a huge mistake. As much
as he wants the best for Kat, the only thing he wants for himself—her—is
suddenly in danger of slipping away.
The bright lights
of reality cooking wars and the chance at a successful career dazzle Kat’s
senses and Lucas is faced with a difficult choice: help his friend achieve her
dreams . . . or sabotage her chances to keep her in Louisiana.
What is your favorite type of character to write about?
I’m very much a character-driven writer, rather than a
plot-driven. Which essentially just means I always-always-always create my
characters and their internal conflicts first. This is just what comes
naturally to me! So to pick a favorite type of character is so hard, because
all of my characters become my awesome, messy, complicated, fabulous friends
because I always end up knowing them
so well!! But one thing I do consistently enjoy is writing heroes and heroines
who are flawed and have been broken, but are still true heroes. Manly men who
aren’t afraid to show their weakness and who overcome their past through God’s
strength; broken women who overcome their scars and past hurts through God’s
grace. That’s real life, and that’s what readers (and myself!) can relate to
most.
Favorite writing space? Favorite writing snack?
Barnes & Noble Starbucks, with a grande, non-fat White
Chocolate Mocha! And if I can’t go to Starbucks for whatever reason, then I
like to write at home at the desk my Daddy built years ago, and munch on Pickle
Pringles. :)
If money were no object, where would you go for a vacation? Who would you bring?
I would take one of my best friends and
soul-sisters, Lori Chally, to Florence, Italy! We both have been dying to go
ever since we read Susan Meissner’s voice The
Girl in the Glass and it’s officially a Thing of ours now. We actually got really close to
going for my 30th birthday last Spring but complications arose. I
have a feeling God is going to redeem it, though ::wink:: Ciao!!
Thank you so much, Betsy!!
Betsy has been so sweet to giveaway a copy of All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes! And y'all know the drill by now - check out our Rafflecopter for details!