SUSPENSE SEALED WITH A KISS
SPEAKER: Linda is a member of AWSA, and is available to speak to your organization, at your conference, or as part of a workshop.
Contact her at lglazagain@aol.com

AGENT: Linda is a an agent with Hartline Literary Agency. She would love to represent that next great American novel! She will look at nonfiction, but she LOVES FICTION--historic, suspense, romance or all of the above. linda@hartlineliterary.com

AUTHOR: Linda writes romance in all categories, but what is her fave? Suspense, and not only suspense, but SUSPENSE SEALED WITH A KISS

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Last Chance for Book Giveaway!

 I'll pick a name late Friday!
Timeless topic that Teena Stewart tackled in her book, Mothers and Daughters: Mending a Strained Relationship. Even if you have a wonderful relationship with your mother, this book will open your eyes to things you never thought relevant.

Teena, is this your first book?
No. This is actually my fifth book excluding inspirational books in which I've had stories published. I've had two books released this year. This one on mother and daughter relationships and one called The Treasure Seeker: Finding Love and Value in the Arms of Your Loving Heavenly Father. It's about developing a close relationship with God and has a treasure and gemstone theme.

What prompted you to write on such a difficult topic as mothers and daughters? Seems people have been trying to figure out that dynamic for centuries.
Well, I definitely don't claim to have figured it out. The book came from my desire to improve my relationship with my mother, which at best could be described as strained. I've always envied women who have that amazing friendship going with their moms. After one particularly frustrating phone conversation with my mom which left me in tears, I shared some of my frustrations with my women's small group. I was stunned to learn that many of them also had painful connections with their moms. The idea of helping women work through this pain and encouraging them to hang in there and work on improving their relationship took root. I knew I needed to write the book. I ended up interviewing many different women who shared both the good and bad. I learned so much in the process.

What ideas do you have for future works?
I think most writers have more ideas than they know what to do with. Reigning them in is the challenge. I am about 3/4 of the way through writing a non-fiction book that allows Christians and those who are spiritually seeking to ask tough questions they have about spiritual topics many wrestle with but are afraid to voice. The book is tentatively called Walking on Broken Glass and I've been doing lessons from it for our small coffee shop church gatherings. But I am also working on some fiction. I have a rough outline for women's fiction book and am polishing up the first in a series for a romantic suspense.

Is nonfiction your specialty?
Years ago I started out wanting to write fiction but switched to non-fiction when I began writing articles, but now I am trying my hand at fiction again. I am finding it much more difficult to write than non-fiction although studying fiction writing has helped make me a better writer even in the non-fiction realm.

What would you say to encourage a new author to go the mile?
I think success is about 25% talent and the rest hard work and perseverance. There are many many talented people who never get published because they either never put it on paper, are afraid to submit, or give up after being critiqued or rejected. If you want to become published you need to have multiple projects going and you need to submit them so that when one comes back rejected, you still have the hope of something else getting published. It also helps greatly to have a critique buddy or critique group because it is so difficult to see your own potential growth areas.
Teena, thanks so much for dropping by. Visit Teena at her website for more information:

9 comments:

  1. Great job on a tough subject, Teena. And regarding writing, I so agree with your multiple project theory. Sure beats hanging out at the virtual mailbox waiting for news! (davalynnspencer at hotmail dot com)

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  2. Hope to read the book soon. I have one story where I attempted to delve into a mother-daughter relationship. At this point, I intend to cut the mother out of the story because I failed to realistically solve their contentious interactions.

    Rohn Federbush

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  3. Such a tough topic! I don't envy you, Teena, but you're doing a great job with it! I always thought my daughters and I have such a wonderful relationship, but some of your thoughts made me realize I can really improve in a lot of areas and just make it better. Thanks!

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  4. Teena, I admire your ambition to work your own mother/daughter relationship and to help others along the way. I hope to read this soon too.

    On writing, it's finally sunk in that it's "ok" to work several projects at once. It's kind of fun too.

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  5. We subscribe to the shotgun approach to writing, having many projects going at once. It's exciting, but you have to be careful to make sure that hero Jesse doesn't pop up in a different story. I've read books before where all of a sudden the hero named Mike becomes Sam for a couple of sentences, then returns to Mike. So, shotgun requires focus! Great subject, Teena. I heart my mom and my daughter and am blessed to have both.

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  6. Teena, I'd like to read your book. My mother was my best friend. She died 10 years ago, and just last evening I mentioned to my husband that I was missing her. My relationship with my daughter is a different story, painful at times. We are so different. It's interesting to see her relationship with her own daughter, who is 14. My granddaughter and I have a special bond, one that I wish I could have with my daughter. Family and generational dynamics are fascinating, aren't they?

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  7. love you new page linda - it looks amazing!!

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  8. Cindy, thanks so much! Patty did such a great job, and no Christmas scenes! Woot!

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  9. Cute cover! I don't have any daughters but of course, I'm a daughter and the dynamics are interesting!

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