Jeanne Takenaka is the winner!
I don’t do many giveaways on Women’s Fiction Writers so you know this is a big deal! Today author Tina Ann Forkner is giving away two of her three novels, WAKING UP JOY (published in October by Tule Publishing) and ROSE HOUSE, published in 2009. And just for kicks — I’m giving away a copy of THE GLASS WIVES to the winner as well. You’ve read all these books, you say? Well someone told me that some gift giving holidays are right around the corner!
I loved all Tina’s books but I have a special place in my heart for WAKING UP JOY, and today you’ll find out why. I also have a special place in my heart for Tina. We met when I was an anonymous mommy blogger in 2006 and have truly come a long way. All the way to meeting in person for the first time earlier this year!
Today you’ll read about Tina’s publishing journey, and you’ll likely be inspired for your own. Just leave a comment about your publishing journey—or about anything else reading, writing, book, or cute kitten related (I just love those cute kitty videos!)—and one lucky reader will win all three books! The winner will be chosen on Friday! US addresses only.
Amy xo
From La Rosaleda to Spavinaw Junction
by Tina Ann Forkner
Sometimes it takes a big shake-up to force change in a person. The same might be said of writers and their writing, at least this is what happened to me when I lost my editor during publisher lay-offs and my first literary agency closed its doors. None of these surprise events were personal, but they felt like it every time I sat down to write a new story. My confidence plummeted and since there was no guarantee of a third book, it didn’t seem to matter what I wrote anymore. My first two novels, Rose House and Ruby Among Us, were published by one of the big publishers, so I should have felt confident when I sat down to write, but those characters in the little Sonoma Valley town of La Rosaleda seemed content to rest where they were. In fact, the only time I felt happy as a writer was when I worked on this crazy story that nobody had ever seen. It wasn’t like those earlier novels, but it wasn’t unfamiliar to me. In this story, everything about the tiny little town of Spavinaw Junction felt vibrant and alive. The quirky characters weren’t content to stay hidden away in my secret file and they pulled me in. Writing about them felt like I was going back home, and in a way, I was.
This new story set in the South, as opposed to California, was about a small-town woman who loves sweet tea and cake. I knew her type, so I began to let the life I had led growing up in a small Northeastern Oklahoma town influence my story. Without a contract deadline looming over my head, I felt no pressure, so as the story evolved I somehow created a novel that was more my voice than ever. But would readers even be able to relate to a story that was so different than what I’d written before? My new characters had a Southern feel, and in the literary world Southern is a good thing, but there was something else about them that drew me into the story — something quirky in their superstitious personalities that I didn’t know if anyone would appreciate. It wasn’t magical-realism exactly, but the book contained a touch of the supernatural and a darker mystery swirling in the creeks around Spavinaw Junction, and all of it tempered by my character Joy’s brand of humor and romantic excursions. When I showed the novel to my author friend, Amy Sue Nathan, and she asked me how I came up with the things in the novel, I didn’t really have an interesting answer. I just knew about them. This more than anything was proof that I was writing what I was meant to write.
Everything about my novel, from the plot to the characters, is fictional, but it all came from the flavor of the region that I absorbed over the years. As in the novel, eventually titled Waking Up Joy, I grew up in an area situated in the corners of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, just at the foot of the Ozarks. The South has a much bigger influence on that part of Oklahoma than the western part, so perhaps you could call it South by Midwest, but whatever it is, there’s definitely a Southern feel. And yes, the women love sweet tea and cake. People back home still bake, go to tiny country churches, and gossip about and love each other simultaneously. Not all people have a ton of money where I come from, but they have a wealth of generosity and love for family and community. People there live simple lives, but in some ways they are wiser than your most cultured city dweller. And once you learn the gossip and stories that weave throughout a small town, you often learn there are dark secrets, hard journeys, miracles, and joyous lives being lived, just like in Waking Up Joy. This was the stuff Spavinaw Junction, the little town in Waking Up Joy, was made out of before it became a town of its own, filled with fiction. I kept asking myself, “Why haven’t I written about this place before? It’s so me.”
In short, I think that by “going home” and being myself in my writing, I’ve come closer to finding my true voice. It also took my friend and card-carrying (I assume she has a Chicago driver’s license), cultured city dweller, Amy Sue Nathan, to convince me that I needed to not give up on this story. There were times that I emailed her and was so down I felt like the biggest failed author in history, and she assured me that this story was not bad and she liked the new direction I was going in. And as sweet as she is, she’s not the kind of person to lie in order to make me feel good about my story. To make a long story short, Amy eventually introduced me to my new publisher, Tule Publishing Group, who accepted my manuscript and promptly hired Amy as the book’s editor.
I feel so grateful now that Waking Up Joy has released. Being able to communicate this quirky Southern story about a simple small-town woman with a big ole heart to such a discerning reader as Amy gives me hope that maybe this story might continue to find a spot on other readers’ shelves. Because the truth is, no matter where we are from or what our backgrounds are, I think we all want the same thing that my main character Joy Talley wants—to have a joyful life.
Tina Ann Forkner is a Women’s Fiction writer and the author of three novels including Rose House and Ruby Among Us. Her latest novel Waking Up Joy released in October 2014. Tina was raised in rural Oklahoma, but makes her home in Cheyenne, Wyoming with her husband, three teenagers, and two spoiled dogs. Learn more about her: www.tinaannforkner.com
Want to read more about my friendship with Tina? Check out When A Nice Jewish Author Reads A Christian Novel on Huffington Post!
Now leave a comment and win some books!!!
This was an interesting post. I loved THE GLASS WIVES, and now I feel I must, absolutely must read WAKING UP JOY and ROSE HOUSE. Your blog is always a great place to discover new-to-me authors and wonderful books.
I’m so grateful to have been introduced to Tina Ann. I also read the HuffPost post. I completely don’t understand why fiction by Christian women about Christian women is specifically called Christian Fiction. As you write in your post, Jewish women aren’t waving a flag, nor are Catholics. I probably wouldn’t have checked out your novel, Tina. Honestly I thought it was heavily JC-focused, but now I will. I think labels aren’t positive for anyone. Look at what we went through with the whole chick-lit fiasco. It was unnecessary. As always, thanks Amy. Good luck Tina Ann with WAKING UP JOY. I can’t wait to read it.
Cindy, that Huff article by Amy is one of my favorite posts ever! With Waking Up Joy I have moved out of the Christian book market and into the mainstream publishing world, and in doing so I have the opportunity to meet readers like you. I think – hope – my readers will be able to relate to elements in all three of my novels since my readers have always been the kind who just like a good Women’s Fiction novel. Thanks for giving my books a try. I hope you enjoy them!
Thanks for introducing me to Tina Ann. I look forward to reading WAKING UP JOY.
I always enjoy reading this blog. I don’t always have time to read them when they first come out, but I go back and read a bunch when I do. I have several stories going on. The one I’d like to get written is a light mystery, but I have not made time to write. We recently moved (still unpacking & fixing things up) and I have a full time job. I have written a bit by hand and will continue to do that when I can. I have another chick-lit story that’s loosely based on my grandmother’s life. I hope I can bring it to life.
It’s difficult to find time to write and even for those of us who are published, we go through seasons, as well. Keep fighting for that time.
Don’t have a story in my head but love to read them. Quite a path to being published. Thank you for sharing and offering books. Would love to read them.
What a wonderful story. Sometimes going home let’s us recharge or find our true voice.
Blessings
Going home can be good for all of us. 🙂
Would love to read a new author to me. TY for the chance.
I have not read any of those authors and would love to. Really, I would!
I love meeting and reading new authors. Even though I happily live in the North, I was born and raised in the South. I’ll enjoy snuggling up near the fireplace to read Waking Up Joy with sweet tea in hand.
It will definitely go better with sweet tea, Beverly. 🙂
I loved Rose House and would love to win any of the three pictured!
Signed up for the blog. I agree we need to be ourselves as writers. It’s great to have input on new books. Thank you.
Would love to win one of these books. Read THE GLASS WIVES and enjoyed your article on Huff Post.
These look like some good books, I would love to win – thank you for the chance
I haven’t read any of these books, more have I actually ever heard of Amy Sue Nathan or Tina Ann Forkner. But a family friend and trusted author Susan Meissner suggested these, so I know they must be amazing. I would love to get to know the authors through their books! They sound phenomenal!
Welcome to my blog, Hannah! And to my and Tina’s books!
And Hannah, Susan Meissner is a fabulous author in her own right. I want to be like her when I “grow up.”
i read a lot of Southern fiction and am always looking for new authors to add to my list of favorites. I would love to win the book by Tina to see how far she has come as an author. Thank you for this opportunity
These are new author to me, thanks for the heads up on them.
Count me in!!
Always love a giveaway. Thank you so much for sharing.
Both of these authors are new to me and I love finding new authors! Reading is my favorite thing since I learned with Dick and Jane books!
As I start my journey submitting queries for two novels, I learn a lot from those women who have published and republished. I am glad you didn’t quit. I am thankful that you shared your experience. It will help me along my road some too.
Thank you, Aubry. I also find my inspiration from other writers. Enjoy your writing journey.
I’m on my way home from a 3 week vacation in the south. Please help me extend my vacation when I get back home in New York.
This new book sounds wonderful. I’d love to win!
I love to find “new to me” authors!
These books look really interesting. Would love to win/read them. Thanks.
I would love to win! It would be nice to have some new books to read on cold, snowy days.
Great post. Love to learn about new authors
Tina Ann, I’m too finding out daily that if I don’t write the story I want to write, but instead a story I think I “should” write, the writing doesn’t shine. Thanks for my morning inspiration!
Would love to win!
These books look like they would be a great addition to my library!
I really enjoyed Waking Up Joy. it was a refreshing change from some of the books that I had read recently. Thanks for the great giveaway. I still haven’t read The Glass Wives or Rose House.
Thank you so much for this blog. I actually never heard of neither one of you to be honest but I found this blog through another fellow author. I would love to win as I have never read any of those books. I usually read a book and gift it on to my family, friends and someone that may want to read a book but not sure which one. Thank you so much for this giveaway I know you will bring a smile to people’s faces! Have a wonderful day!
Loved Waking Up Joy. Great family dynamics and a second chance in life.
I would love to read Tina’s new book. We grew up in the same little Oklahoma town. It was a great place to grow up!
It’s great to have you commenting, Miriam! Facebook makes it a truly small world. I know that YOU would recognize aspects of Spavinaw Junction.
I just loved that: “I just knew about them.” We do get the best people that way, don’t we? I enjoyed the post and want to read your books–though I think it’s Spavinaw Junction that’s won my heart!
I’ve known and loved Tina’s work since her first book came out! And Amy? Well, I got to know Amy through the WFWA, and bought The Glass Wives and loved it! Great book! I’m tickled pink to see Tina here. It’s really fun when 2 of your favorite authors come together!
I still haven’t read YOUR book Ane, but I do have it! 😉
What a fun post, Tina! I love when those stories and our voices begin to come out unexpectedly. 🙂 I’m finding that with my current WIP. I’m excited for you and your new direction. I hope more “you” continues to come out as you continue to write.
Thank you, Jeanne. I hope so too! 🙂
I love new books to read and explore!
So glad you kept with it Tina, and had Amy to encourage you. So many of us feel at some point that we must be, just have to be, a certain sad failure all around!
We are never failures if we are writing something. What is that saying, something about even the worst writing is better than the thing you didn’t write. 🙂
I enjoyed Waking Up Joy immensely! I enjoyed learning a little more about you, too, Tina!
Denise
What a wonderful giveaway. Two great authors and fabulous books. thanks.
I loved Waking Up Joy. It is the only book of Ms. Forkner’s that I’ve read and I would love to read Rose House. The Glass Wives sounds wonderful as well.
Tina, I loved your post and your new book sounds like my cup of tea or should I say my glass of sweet tea. I’m an Okie too, and consider us-at least in this part of Okla.-as southern, just as you described. My next book, The Memory House, is women’s fiction, too, set in a southern small town and though I chose Tennessee for the setting, as you said, writing it was like coming home.
I’ll be looking for your book. Good luck with it. It sounds wonderful.
And I will be looking for yours, Linda!
The only stories I have in my head are children’s stories. Always thought about putting them down on paper (computer file), but have never done so. The only things I have had published were some short stories way back in college, many decades ago.
I can’t wait to read “waking up joy” . I was first “introduced” to Tina via “Rose House”. It was given to me by my mother in law. She knows I’m a book addict (meetings held at your local library or book store) and hand me the book saying she thought I would like it since it was an author from Cheyenne (a reasoning I never understood but wouldn’t try to either). Fast forward to ” ruby”. Its was a tough Christmas season emotionally and financially. I found myself at the book store for a school fund raiser and decided to go get lost in the books. I only succeeded at that for a few minutes when another shopper addled me if i had an opinion on books for teen girls. “oh do I!” Was my first thought. With 5 daughters i have the entire spectrum of readers under my house. From addicts like my self to cliff note lovers. So, instead, I asked the woman about the person she was shopping for. Preferences, likes, hates, etc. after chatting for a few minutes I made a few recommendations. She then noticed I was holding a copy of “ruby” and asked if I was going to get it. I said no, this was just a window shopping trip, but that this authors previous book was fabulous and I was going to eventually get it.
Here’s where the long story gets beautiful. (It is important to note, Never once, did I express the inability to get the book)
This beautiful stranger thanked me for my recommendations and left, I went back to “pre reading” “ruby”. my teen age daughters had just discovered my “hiding place”and as they started to converge on me, the stranger returned . In her hand was a store bag. Inside was a copy of “ruby”. She handed it to me, stated that she felt like i needed it now, and had punched it for me.
As she left, i cried. As i read “ruby”, i thought of her, and cried again. As i retell this story, I’m tearing up yet again.
The reason I haven’t read joy yet is because i won’t buy a copy for myself until I can bless a mom the same way i was. I know it will happen, and I can’t wait!
An opportunity awaits us all to wake joy up in some one elses life each day. It might be buying the milk for the young mom in line behind you, paying $10 towards the person behind you at the gas station. Or it might be buying a book for a worn out mom hiding in the fiction section when reality is hitting a bit harder then normal. The trick is finding the moment.
Thank you dear stranger, your kindness to me lasted longer then any book could.
~ the mom at Cheyenne Barnes and noble all those years ago.
Even though you friended me on Facebook after that happened, Bobbie, I have never heard the full story! Now I am the one getting teary-eyed. Such a blessing and I’m so blessed that I was part of it in some way through my little book that sometimes I wondered if anyone remembered anymore. 🙂 Much Joy to you.
I’m in!
Hi, Tina! Every time I start writing another novel, I feel as though I’m, once again, a beginner. I suppose that keeps me–us–alert. I’d love to win your books, and Amy’s, I’d certainly gift for one of the upcoming holidays!
Good luck with your books, Lorrie! I liked what you said about feeling like a beginner every time you start a new novel. 🙂
I am somewhat acquainted with small towns, although I grew up on a ranch about 40 miles from anywhere. there is a small (323 on Saturday night when both bars are open) place where the school is located (the school district is over 100 miles square. from that, they manage to get about 30 kids per class)…. at the present time, it has a small convenience store. and lots of retired farmers.
I have read both books of Tina’s, but I know a very lovely lady that might enjoy the books. I have not read THE GLASS WIVES. But I have heard about it. So I would love to win this package. Thanks for offering it to us.
I am not a writer but I certainly appreciate good writing and I look forward to reading more of your works. Thank you for a great giveaway.
Connie
cps1950@gmail.com
I am so excited to discover 3 new intriguing books to read! I would love to be part of the giveaway and am looking forward to sitting down with a book, some sweet tea and cakes myself 🙂