Today I'm excited to welcome guest author Carol James as she shares about how she got the idea for her latest release, A Time for Singing. Stay tuned, because Carol is offering a free ebook to a random winner.

Hi, Donna. Thanks so much for letting me visit your blog today.

What would you do if you were on vacation, and you discovered secret letters hidden in your room?

The idea for A Time for Singing was born one year when my husband and I stayed in Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. The old inn has no TV in the rooms, so that leaves reading, visiting with other guests, or walking the lovely grounds as primary forms of entertainment.

The first evening after dinner, my husband and I went to our room to finish unpacking, and I noticed an envelope peeking out from behind a curtain. Wouldn’t you have opened it? Yes, me, too. The letter was a fictional missive to General George Washington warning him of an eminent attack. We had the best time reading it.

Next we decided to check the old antique desk. Each little drawer was filled with letters, most of them addressed to The Secret Drawer Society. Our chest of drawers was crammed full, too. Some of the letters were fictional, but many of them were heartfelt expressions of the authors’ feelings.

I remember one in which a couple wrote that they had just married and were spending their honeymoon there. At the bottom of this same letter was an entry written five years later when the couple returned to celebrate their fifth anniversary. They found their original letter and added to it. (Sigh! So romantic!)

Another letter I remember reading was written by a woman who had recently become a Christian after spending years of her life in the world of prostitution. The joy in her heart flowed onto the paper.

My husband and I laughed, I cried, we stayed up way too late reading the hundreds of letters.

This was when I decided to write a book in which the hero and heroine would write anonymous secret letters and hide them in drawers at a local inn for the other to find. And A Time for Singing was born.

Getting to know Carol:

What do you enjoy most about writing?

I love writing Redemptive Romance. I enjoy rooting for my characters as they struggle to overcome obstacles and failures to become the persons they were created to be.

What can your readers expect from you next?

My next release is a Christmas novella entitled Choosing Christmas. It will be available December 1, 2022. I’m also writing a new novel, working title: Always and Only. It’s a story about a couple who dated in high school, broke up, and whose paths cross again as adults.

What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful?

If they enjoy the book, sharing by word of mouth and on their social media platforms. AND reviews, reviews, reviews. I never realized how important reviews were until I started writing.

About Carol: 

As an Air Force brat, the longest Carol James ever lived in one place was a year and a half. Maybe that’s why, when she and her husband bought their first home over forty years ago, they stayed put.

Loving intriguing stories with happy endings, she writes Redemptive Romance. Visit her website to sign up for her newsletter and get a free short story: https://www.carol-james.com

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Where you can find A Time for Singing:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OnidVB

Barnes & Noble: bit.ly/3LLG7IS

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-time-for-singing

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60691395-a-time-for-singing

Booktopia: https://bit.ly/3y9B8h5

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-time-for-singing-by-carol-james

Pelican: https://bit.ly/3FTp8Ck

Giveaway: Leave a comment or answer the Optional Question, and I will draw randomly for an e-copy of the book.

Optional Question: What was the most interesting surprise you encountered on a vacation?

Excerpt from the book:

Chapter 1

         So, who would it be tonight?

           From her table in the back corner, Charlee Bennett surveyed the inn’s small dining room. The only empty chair sat across from her, a sure sign she’d soon have a dinner companion.

           She smoothed the white linen napkin in her lap and sipped her water. Over the past few years, these monthly weekends at the Wayfarer Inn had become her favorites, times of pampering among the plodding.

           A tall man who definitely wasn’t from Crescent Bluff stepped into the doorway and leaned on the old oak pulpit now serving as the hostess stand. Michael presented his best maître d’ smile and then consulted the reservations list. The new diner nodded. Michael gathered a menu and silverware and turned in her direction.

           Perspiration prickled her face. Oh, no. Not this man. Anyone but him. Please…not a musician. She could spot them a mile away. After following Jake around for a year and then dating him for two more, she knew the look. PR. Painstakingly Relaxed

           Last month, she’d shared dinner with a trial judge from Amarillo, and the month before that, a retired humanitarian aid worker from Uganda. Not only had both men been fascinating, they’d also been safe. Both were old enough to be her grandfather. But as Michael led tonight’s guest toward her table, only one word resonated within her.

           Danger.