Interview with Molly Noble Bull and giveaways! ends Friday Nov 8

Welcome Molly! We are so happy to have you here this week, and that you have agreed to share a bit about yourself.

Q: First of all, what is your pleasure: coffee and donuts, tea and crumpets, soda and chips, or are you more a fruit smoothie/health conscious gal? J 

Molly: I’ll take the coffee with Splenda. I’d love a donut, but I better not—too many calories.

Q: What causes are you passionate about, and do they find their way into your writing?

Molly: I am passionate about the Lord. I am a pro-life Christian activist, and I am passionate about saving the life of unborn children from conception to birth and beyond. I also love my former college sweetheart turned husband and our children and grandchildren with passion. All those passions find their way into all my books. 

Q: When did you first know you were a writer? 

Molly: I am dyslexic. School was hard for me, especially elementary school. I didn’t really learn to read until I was in about the fourth grade.

I learned that I was a writer when I could barely spell the word right much less write. It happened in the fourth grade. Since I couldn’t spell, I was unable to write the kind of stories I wanted to write. However, I was pretty good at telling stories that I made up as I went along. My English teacher and my public school music teacher must have noticed that I was kind of creative, and they told me I was talented. Those encouraging words got me going toward becoming a novelist—gave me a desire to never give up. 

To learn more about this period in my life, please read Christian Authors Who Conquered Learning Disabilities by Molly Noble Bull and four other Christian authors.

All five of us had learning disabilities. All five of us became published Christian authors. You might have heard of at least one of them. Her name is Margaret Daley, and she is the former president of ACFW. Apparently, learning disabilities are common among artists, writers and musicians. 

Q: If you could sit down and interview any person, fictitious or real from any time, who would that be and what is the first question you would ask?

Molly: I would love to sit down and talk to the Lord face-to-face for all eternity. But I can’t say what my first question would be because I have so many.

Q: Who have been your mentors, and how did they help you most?

Molly: I would have to say that the two fourth grade teachers mentioned above plus my high school English teacher were my mentors. They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Because of their encouragement, I tried harder and harder to overcome by learning problems. Later, I became an elementary and early childhood teacher where I tried to encourage my students. As a published novelist, I also try to encourage new writers. Encouragement makes all the difference. 

Q:  What do you hope your readers will take away from your books? And can you hint at any works to come? 

Molly: I can’t go into all the world to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But my books can go places I cannot go and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All I had to do was learn how to write my stories without preaching. If you read Gatehaven, my Christian Gothic historical, you can decide if I achieved my goal. 

Currently, I am working on the sequel to Gatehaven.

Stay tuned.

Gatehaven by Molly Noble Bull is a Christian Gothic novel is set in Scotland and in a haunting mansion in the north of England in 1784 where Ian Colquhoun and Shannon Aimee battle a Frenchman with dark secrets. Will they learn enough about God’s Words to defend themselves or will evil overcome them? 

Molly entered Gatehaven in the 2013 Creation House Fiction Writing Contest as a manuscript, and it won the grand prize. Gatehaven is available to trade paperback and soon as an e-book. To find all Molly’s book, write Molly Noble Bull in the search slot at online and walking-in bookstores.

(Kathy here--look for my review here on Wednesday) 

Website: www.mollynoblebull.com

Facebook: Molly Noble Bull

Twitter: Mollyauthor.

Pinterest: Molly Noble Bull

Blogs:

Writers Rest, http://writersrest.blogspot.com

I also write articles for

.   Commandment Keepers, www.commandmentkeepers.com

.   Bustles and Spurs, www.bustlesandspurs.com

Q: Do you have a question you would like our blog readers to answer?

Molly: Again, I have a lot of questions. It’s hard to decide which one to use. So here is one.

We all buy books written by popular authors. But what would cause you to buy a book written by someone like me—someone you might never have heard of until today? 

I hope everybody will answer my question and leave a comment. However, I will give a free copy of Gatehaven in trade paperback to the first five readers who promise to write a review of Gatehaven and post it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christian Book.com or someplace. If you don’t like Gatehaven after reading it, you don’t have to write a good review, but I do hope you will write a review. I learn even from my critics. 

Kathy: Thank you for being with us this week. I wish you every blessing as you write for His glory!

Molly: Thank you for inviting me. And may the Lord bless you and yours today and every day.

Gatehaven Update

MOLLY: If I learned anything during my years writing for publication, it is that unforeseen things happen in life as well as in the book publishing world. Such an event is happening right now, and here it is. The publication of Gatehaven, my upcoming Christian Gothic historical novel, was delayed.

Yep, it’s true.

Gatehaven will still be published in trade paperback and later as an e-book, but it won’t be available in stores until late December 2013 or early January 2014. People who promised to review Gatehaven can still get a free copy of the novel, but they won’t have the book in their hands as soon as I first thought.

Life is a series of highs and lows—joys and disappointments. Those that choose to buy and read The Overcomers, Christian Authors Who Conquered Learning Disabilities will discover what I learned as a dyslexic, and it is this. Never, never, never, never, never, never give up.

Finding Jeena by Miralee Ferrell

This was a painful read. Not because it wasn't well-written. And not because it wasn't believable. The story of a successful, bright career woman losing everything was all-too realistic. No matter how well-insulated a person thinks she is from disaster, life is a great equalizer when God reduces the proud and exalts the humble.
Jeena Gregory hides the pain of her past abuse in materialism. But when her carefully constructed ivory tower crumbles beneath her, she finds herself in the very places she despises and the ones she feels contempt for become her salvation.
The pain of Jeena's journey is bittersweet. As hard as it is to watch, her journey bears lessons that restore deeper and more meaningful things to her than her repo'd beamer and her defaulted condo. Things like mercy, forgiveness, peace. And even a semblance of the family she lost.
Her end is better than her beginning, because her life is established on a foundation that won't crumble.
This is a timely read, and it will challenge you to examine your own priorities and prejudices.

Love finds You in Golden, New Mexico by Lena Nelson Dooley

I've really enjoyed every Summerside romance I've read so far, and this one is no exception. The "Love Finds You in. . ." series has given me a glimpse of places to which I may never travel, with lovely descriptions of the land and architecture and history of the towns featured.

Golden, New Mexico is a desert mining town, set in 1890 after the initial gold rush. Jeremiah Dennison is a former mine owner turned rancher who looks after an elderly friend and mentor, Philip Smith. Philip's health is failing, and he seeks a caregiver to ease his last days, so he asks Jeremiah to take out an add for a mail order bride for him. But there is more to his motivation than wanting a bride for himself.

Madeline Mercer is a privileged young lady from a wealthy Boston family. When her father died, the Mercer estate is left up in the air when one of his business associates makes a claim to his business and Madeline's hand. Meanwhile, Madeline's charitable heart leads her to help an impoverished young lady about to give birth in a freezing shanty. The girl dies but not before she makes Madeline promise to raise the child. When Mr. Mercer's colleague presses his suit and threatens the baby, Madeline must flee Boston. Enter Philip's mail-order-bride ad.

When Madeline reaches Golden, will it be a golden opportunity for a fresh start, or will she have toughened ore to pick through before she finds the vein? I enjoyed Madeline's determination and pluck as she endeavors to raise a child, navigate a new town, minister to Philip, and hold her finances together, all the while deciphering her confusing feelings for Jeremiah.

I loved the tender portrait of elderly friendship and faith, and the unique personality the author gave to the infant. Characterization is a well-honed skill of Lena Nelson Dooley, and her three-dimensional people really add a depth to the book.
Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico is one of those romances that was so much more than a romance--it is a story of the love of a land, love that surpasses generations, and the forgiveness that makes a love relationship between God and man possible. A beautiful read.