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Friday, August 26, 2016

Welcome, Janine. Tell
us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

Believe it or not, I’ve addressed this interesting topic on
very last page of Starving Hearts so bear with me if you’ve already read it. The
following statement contains a paraphrase and direct quotations from that page.

Speakers often encourage authors to write what they know so
in Starving
Hearts, I’ve shared my heart. I see a glimpse of the doubt my heroine,
Annette, experiences in my thoughts. Like my hero, Peter, I let my focus drift
away from Christ, and when I try to control things, I see in myself the
antagonist, Mr. Slike, and his selfishness and lack of trust in God’s Plan.

“While these issues show I periodically struggle with
applying my belief in God’s sovereignty to my daily life, there is still hope
because I haven’t the slightest bit of doubt about the Lord Jesus Christ and
His amazing work on the cross.”

Like my main characters, “when we truly recognize our
weaknesses and accept the fact that we cannot do life alone, we are closer to
overcoming them through Christ, and we can begin to know and trust Him more.”

So true. What is the
quirkiest thing you have ever done?

I’m not too much of a quirky person so I can’t really say,
although my grown children often call me weird and my students stare at me when
I make an attempt at humor.

My daughter would say I’m rather spontaneous because every
once in a while I do something she doesn’t expect. I can’t even think of what
that might be right now because it’s really not that big of a deal.

Ordinarily, I’m pretty normal, except for the fact that I
sometimes write or study the Bible all night after a full day’s work and then
get up from an hour’s sleep as if it was an entire night’s worth of rest.

I do like to dress up in period appropriate gowns, though.
One night I sewed an 18th Century ball gown just so I could dress up as Elizabeth
Swann, Jack Sparrow’s (pirate from Disney’s Pirates
of the Caribbean films), sidekick for Disney Day at school.

When did you first
discover that you were a writer?

I wrote my first gothic romance in tenth grade, and I still
have it. Back then I knew I could write, sort of. But I never actually thought
of becoming and author so much as becoming an English teacher.

About ten years ago, I decided I wanted to write a book so I
actually went out and started researching to figure out just how to do it
because writing popular fiction for an audience is an entirely different skill
than writing English papers. (See more about this below.)

Tell us the range of
the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

From my English teaching education, I thoroughly enjoy Shakespeare’s
plays and poetry. Various poets including Blake, Burns, Keats, Byron are interesting
to me. The Bronte sisters’ Jane Eyre and
WutheringHeights and Jane Austin’s works are
favorites, of course. Charles Dickens’s Great
Expectations is really good. I used to teach it too. I also enjoy Thomas
Hardy’s work and Oscar Wilde’s The
Importance of Being Earnest as well as many other classic novels and dramas
in both English and American Literature from the 18th and 19th Centuries. John
Steinbeck, Theodore Dreiser, and John Updike come to mind too.

For spiritual growth and insight from historical leaders, I
enjoy various Puritan preachers including Jonathan Edwards, Owens, Boston, Watson, and
others I’m just beginning to explore. Charles Spurgeon’s writings are
beautiful.

More recent leaders’ writings include: Rick Warren, John
Piper, Dallas Willard, Donald Whitney, and William Finley as well as William P.
Farley in Hidden in the Gospel:
Truths You Should Tell Yourself Every Day.

I’ve read a few of Steven James’s crime/thrillers so I could
learn more about how he writes so I could understand what I learned from his Story Trumps Structure book. (There’s
more about this below.)

When I read them, it was hard for me to put Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness down.

You said range so I’ve named a few, but as many of your
readers know, this is only scratching the surface, right?

Of course. How do you
keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

Just barely.

My husband heard me ask this question aloud right now, and
he laughed, adding “Hanging by a thread, Honey, and you can quote me on that.”

In all seriousness though, reading and meditating on
Scripture with prayer keeps me sane, and it’s nearly a daily practice for me.

I said nearly because I don’t view my devotions as a duty. I
do them because I love the Lord, and wanting to read what He has written in His
love letter to me is the least I can do since He made such an infinitely
massive sacrifice for me.

When I’m connected to Christ and praying for His wisdom and
the strength to use the gifts and talents with which He has blessed me, the
words as well as the loving and godly actions flow naturally.

When I’m not allowing His Spirit to live and work through
me, I have trouble, which is nothing new to us believers.

Jesus described our intimate connection with Him in John
15:5 when He said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me
and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

How do you choose
your characters’ names?

I research the names of real people who lived in the exact
time period and towns or cities I use in my books so the names are authentic.
Then I mix-and-match them to get the right sound for my readers’ sake.

Sometimes, I use biblical names, if the character has traits
of the person from the Bible. I’ve even named a character after someone who
really helped me with my book. In Starving Hearts, Miss Haack is an
example of this. She bears my friend’s maiden name in how much she helped me.

In the future, I’m thinking of having contests or something
so I can name characters using some of my readers’, or fans’, names. Doesn’t
that seem fun? I thought so.

There was an online
auction for medical research where I let them auction naming rights to a
secondary character in my next novel. That’s how I got the name for Catherine
McKenna’s companion in Catherine’s
Pursuit. What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Whenever I begin to feel proud of something I’ve done, I
think of 2 Corinthians 10:17-18, and I redirect that pride and any praise I
receive to Christ, most especially with Starving Hearts.

In fact, when I sat down to read my book for pleasure as
anyone might, I hardly recognized some parts of it and just sat in amazement
over what I was able to accomplish because of His grace and work in my life.

2 Cor. 10:17-18 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the
Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is
approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?

My husband teases me saying I’m basically a cat. Not because
I’m scared of things like a “scaredy cat,” but because I’m an introvert, and I
would be completely happy to be left alone to do my own thing, just like a cat.

What is your favorite
food?

Mexican food is delicious, the Los Angeles, California,
type—since that’s where I lived for my first thirty-eight years. I also appreciate
some North Carolina Mexican food, too.

Also, and I know this isn’t very healthy. But I really like
white cake with buttercream frosting! Coconut cake is my favorite, but I don’t
eat it very often. It’s just so good when I do; I could easily eat two pieces.

I had only eaten
Texmex before we went to California
to visit my aunt. I found Mexicali
very different, but tasty. What is the problem with writing that was your
greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Although I am an English teacher, I didn’t know how to write
to entertain, if you will. Reading classics and writing essays does not make an
artist, and that’s what these writers are.

So the hardest thing was to learn how to write stories that
please an audience.

Crime, action, mystery: Perfect for a romance, right?
Absolutely! Those elements, if done well, build tension, and I thought they
would keep up the pace for an inspirational romance with some harsh historical
realities.

Over the years, I’ve attended one of Steven James’s weekend
Novel Writing Intensives. His colleague, Pam Johnson, became my free-lance
editor, and I wrote, rewrote, and rewrote. I also refer to my well-used copy of
Story Trumps Structure when I can’t
hear him at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference where I first
heard him teach in 2009, I believe.

Tell us about the
featured book.

Well, the idea to write it came from a recurrent nightmare. I
decided that I’d put it in a book, since the bad dream (about the slave trade)
was so vivid.

Another reason I decided to write was because of my children
and Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series.

The Twilight series—wow!

When my children were in middle school, they wanted to read
it, but I wouldn’t let them because I was worried about their safety.

Then they begged me to read it first.

A few days later—after finishing all four books—I let them
to begin, and the race was on!

If Stephanie Meyer could do it, I—with the Lord’s help—could
certainly pull it off. Surely, He would help me write a romance that connects
with readers and shares the Light.

The central theme of Starving Hearts—God has a plan that
gives each of us hope and a future—is spotlighted throughout the book,
especially when the antagonist, Sir Steven Likebridge, arranges a triangular trade
that leads everyone—including the reader—to believe all is lost.

However, since I write romance, his triumph is only short
lived. A family secret comes to light forever changing the two families’ lives
and freeing them from this enemy.

By the end of the story, the reader will have new insight
about Jeremiah 29:11 “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord,
‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future.’” She, or he, will also see a transformation in our young couple’s
understanding of Faith.

They have a new perspective of their responsibilities to
each other and to the people who depend on them. They also make a final promise
that will please the reader because she knows Peter and Annette will end up
happily ever after.

BACK COVER BLURB for Starving Hearts

Since her assault, Miss Annette Chetwynd has been plagued by
nightmares and worries about an arranged marriage. But she yearns to find her
anonymous rescuer. Unfortunately, her health and intellect prevent it. Both
repel suitors and cause Annette to doubt God’s existence, at least until He
answers her prayers in an unusual way…

Mr. Peter Adsley is joining the clergy, and he desires a
godly wife by his side. After a failed attempt to obtain one, he engages in a
clandestine meeting with the bewitching young woman who keeps crossing his
path. But she is so unsettling.

Destined for disappointments, Peter and Annette both endure
disgraceful situations. Will Peter’s faith sustain him through overwhelming
setbacks? Can Annette overcome her doubts? Or will their starving hearts yield
to the machinations of a mad man?

Will Annette's search for love and acceptance replace the loss and hurt in her heart? Find out in Janine Mendenhall's book one, Starving Hearts, of the Triangular Trade Trilogy. Since her assault, Miss Annette Chetwynd has been plagued by nightmares and worries about an arranged marriage. But she yearns to find her anonymous rescuer. Unfortunately, her health and intellect prevent it. Both repel suitors and cause Annette to doubt God’s existence, at least until He answers her prayers in an unusual way. . . .

Join in the search for love and acceptance with Janine and Starving Hearts by entering to win the Delightful Heart Gift Pack Giveaway.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book on this blog. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

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Janine what a fascinating interview and story preview. I especially love what you said after reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series; Surely, He would help me write a romance that connects with readers and shares the Light.

I would LOVE to read this. Everything about it sounds intriguing and the cover is really lovely! Janine, Laura Frantz and Julie Klassen are also two of my favorite authors, but that list is growing! So many good books out there! Thanks for the interview/giveaway!

When I went to check this book out on Amazon it said I had already purchased it. I was like "huh?" So I looked on both of my kindles and it was not on there. So then I checked my digital orders and there was the title so I successfully delivered it to my Kindles and I have to say the cover looks really beautiful on there! I'm delighted! So please don't enter me. What a nice surprise!

Melanie, Elly, and Connie,Thank you so much for your interest in Starving Hearts. It's a bit unconventional, but I hope you like it. Keep in touch with me at my website, if you will. Thanks for you comments.

Wow, Diana! How interesting. That's a God thing, to me. I pray the Lord will keep letting my book reach those for whom He prepared it. Many blessings. As far as Julie Klassen and Laura Frantz, I've enjoyed their work for so long. I even asked Laura if she'd do a review for me, and she did! Can you imagine how I felt when my favorite author gave my book 5-star rating and a comment or two? It was such a blessing.Anyway, thanks for your comments, and I'd love to stay in touch with you, if your interested.Sincerely,Janine

I left comments on your website contact forms, Mary and Sandy so you'll hear from me there.

Blessings to all of you, and a special thank you to our wonderful hostess for allowing me an interview.