Goodness gracious me – that cover is SO PRETTY.

I have something Very Nice to share with you today, people!  I am part of a blog tour for my lovely friend, Victoria Lynn.

She has just released a new novelette, When Beauty Blooms.  I can’t wait to share more about the book, an author interview, AND a fabulous giveaway.  Let’s get started!

Book Synopsis

Revolutionary War Era England

Marjorie Kirk is a woman with no fortune, no prospects, no family, and no skills. Or so she thinks. She is awkward, shy, and the farthest thing from any semblance of a society lady.

The new minister keeps turning up in the most awkward of places and she can’t help but feel that her life is doomed to one of embarrassment. But will her flaws actually be the thing that others find the most attractive?

A story of a young woman with social anxiety and how she learned to bloom.

Author Bio

Victoria Lynn is in her 20s and if she’s not writing, she is probably sewing, singing, playing the piano, washing dishes, creating something with her hands, or learning something new. She has a passion for serving her Creator, encouraging others and being creative. She blogs at www.rufflesandgrace.com about writing, fashion, modesty, her walk with God and life. She lives in Michigan with her parents and 8 siblings.

Find The Book: Goodreads Amazon

Find The Author:  Blog Facebook Instagram Goodreads Amazon

And now, an interview with Victoria Lynn!

When Beauty Blooms is set in Revolutionary War era England.  What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

That’s a somewhat shaming question because I don’t really do a lot of “research” before starting a project. I usually research as I go for certain things I am not clear on, but my whole life has been a research session. I have grown up with an incredibly thirst for history and historical fiction, so all that time spent buried in it during my school years has really prepared me to write historical fiction.

I grew up reading a lot of history and historical fiction too!  It definitely develops an unconscious knowledge of different times.  So do you think When Beauty Blooms will ever have a prequel or a sequel?

Meh, probably not. But you never know! Marjorie’s children may make an appearance at some point, but I don’t really have any plans.

Yay, children!  That’s exciting.  Tell me – what has been some of your favorite feedback from your published works so far?  Do you have any special feedback that really touched or encouraged you?

Two instances come to mind. It wasn’t direct feedback, I kind of stumbled on it on Goodreads at one point. Someone was talking about how much she loved the book and she had gotten her brothers to read it and they loved it and were having sibling conversations and arguments about the book. I felt so famous or something. LOL!  The other instance was from someone who really blessed me by buying the book in the first place. His feedback literally had me sobbing. It was everything that I ever hope to accomplish with my writing and it blew my mind that God had taken my prayers and made them come true for this young man. He told me how my story really touched him and that it really encouraged him in his faith as he had lost someone very close to him and he really related with the grieving process of the characters (in London in the Dark) and how it just really drew him closer to the Lord. I actually printed that out and put it in my journal. God can do amazing things if we only give it over to Him.

That’s amazing!   Now, what authors did you dislike at first but later grew to like?

That’s a really hard question because I actually have some sort of Short term memory loss when it comes to books. OH! I just thought of one. Suzanne Woods Fisher. It was an Amish book, or so I thought, but I ended up really liking it! It was called Phoebe’s Light.

Interesting!  Here’s a loaded question.  How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Gurl. You don’t even want to know. I don’t even count them anymore. Some of the main ones that I can think of right off the bat are 5-6 that are actually half done or completely rough drafted.

Haha – I can really relate!  What is your favorite and least favorite part of the writing process?  Editing, plotting, outlining, publishing?

Editing is pretty crummy, I have to say. I don’t mind plotting or outlining, and sometimes those can go better for me than the nitty gritty detail of the creative writing process. But editing is probably the worst. I have come to enjoy some aspects of publishing, as you know, cover design and formatting, so definitely the editing is the worst.

I hear you on editing, bleh.  Last question.  What is something you HAVE to have to write?  A specific location? Quiet? Music? Coffee? Chocolate?  

I COULD write without it, but the one thing for me and always has been music. It somehow fuels that part of my brain. It really gets me to focus and centers me in that world. If a good soundtrack is playing, those wheels just naturally start turning.

Thank you so much for the interview, Miss Victoria!   

Thanks so much for having me Allison! Your questions were amazing!

And now . . . .

THE GIVEAWAY!

Enter HERE to win a signed paperback copy of When Beauty Blooms and a $10.00 Amazon Gift card!

And make sure you stick around for the rest of the blog tour, my pretties!

Aug. 11

Angela Watts // Spotlight //

Thepeculiarmessenger.wordpress.com

Aug. 13

Jana Tenbrook // Review //

Reviewsfromthestacks.wordpress.com

Lilly Shyree // Review/Interview

Alillyingodsgarden.blogspot.com

And that’s it.  🙂

See you in a week, my friends.