Blog Tour Book Giveaway Winner

The Young One drew a name from the Pony Express cowboy hat. And the winner is... Nutterone!

Congratualtions Nutterone! You've won a copy of Erica Vetsch's debut novel, The Bartered Bride. What a treat! We'll get that right out to you.

Thank you all for visiting my blog this week. Don't be a stranger now.

A big thank you to Erica for including me on her blog tour and for her generous giveaway.

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

Blog Tour with Erica Vetsch - Day 5

Today is the last blog tour day with Erica Vetsch.







CJ: What has been the reaction when people ask what you do for a living?




Erica: The reactions have been as varied as the people who ask. One lady asked me if I was a millionaire now. Um...no! Some people are excited, some are disinterested, and some give the impression of sour grapes. By and large, the response has been positive. A lot of folks say they've always wanted to write a novel. I say, "Go for it!"





Today is the last day to leave a comment to have your name entered in a drawing for Erica's debut novel The Bartered Bride. The winner will be announced at noon EDT on 31. October 2009


A big thank you to Erica for including The Pony Express in her blog tour. I enjoyed chatting with you and also having a week's worth of blog posts! (-;

Blog Tour with Erica Vetsch - Day 4

All this week, author, Erica Vetsch is visiting The Pony Express and answering questions about writing and working.

CJ: Sometimes I wish I had a studio to go to instead of working at home. Sometimes there are too many distractions or reasons to procrastinate (like the refrigerator needs to be cleaned this minute). Do you find it difficult working from home?

Erica: I do find it a challenge to write fiction here at home. My office is where I do the [family] company bookkeeping and also homeschool, so it is moe utilitarian in my mind than a place to be creative. Taht being said, if I didn't have the means to venture out to my local coffee shop, I'd just make myself write here at home. I'm blessed, howerver, to have a loving, generous husband who encourages me to go to the library, the coffee shop, or wherever I need to in order to get the words onto the page.

What about you? If you work from home do you wish you had a studio or place to go so you could be creative instead of distracted by the call of laundry?

Leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a copy of Erica's book, The Bartered Bride. If you leave a comment each day, you will increase your chances of winning.

Blog Tour with Erica Vetsch - Day 3

More of my conversation with author, Erica Vetsch

CJ: You mentioned you love the invisible threads that evolve in the story. How do you keep track of all the threads and characters to maintain continuity?

Erica: I'm blessed to have a lot of help when I write stories. The fist line of defense is my daughter, Heather, who hears the plot many times as it grows and gets more layers. Then I send it to my 'first reader' who lets me know when things aren't consistent. Then I send it to my crit partners, and finally my content and copy editors. As tedious as all those layers of editing can get, I do feel reassured that not much is going to get through everyone.

Anything you would like to ask Erica? Don't forget leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Erica's book The Bartered Bride. Leave a comment each day to increase your chances of winning.

Blog Tour with Erica Vetsch - Day 2

Today, I continue my interview with author, Erica Vetsch.

CJ: Are you a seat of the pants writer or do you follow an outline?

Erica: Today as I was working on a synopsis for a proposal, I was wondering if there is such a thing as a seat-of-the-plotter :-) I like to have a chapter-by-chapter synopsis, bit I don't like to flesh it out to the point where there is no serendipity, nothing exciting and unknown that can happen while I write. I love those invisible connections that are threaded throught the story that I don't know are there until the words flow out. That's when the writing feels the most alive, the most vibrant for me. If I don't have that, then the writing feels flat to me, and I get consumed by writer's doubt. That's a killer. So, I try to avoid it by always leaving some breathing room in my synopsis for the unexpected to happen.

Do you have any questions for Erica? Leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a copy of Erica's book The Bartered Bride. Leave a comment each day to increase your chances of winning. The winner will be announced on Saturday. Won't that make a nice treat for Halloween?

Blog Tour with Erica Vetsch - Day 1

I'm pleased to have as my guest, Erica Vetsch. Erica's first published novel, The Bartered Bride debuted this month. Congratulations, Erica. Squeee!

Erica will be here all this week as we chat about how we met, writing, working from home, and people's perceptions. Erica will be giving away a copy of her book. Leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. Comment each day to increase your chances to win! The winner will be announced on Saturday. A nice treat for Halloween.

Erica and I met in a forum for Western fan fiction writers. Actually, we met in the chatroom where I was loudly whining about The Young One's Roman Fair Project. (on the scope of a science fair, but about Rome)

Erica is married to Peter Vetsch and keeps the company books for the family lumber business. A homeschool mom to Heather and James, Erica loves history, romance, and storytelling. Her ideal vacation is taking her family to out-of-the-way history museums and chatting to curators about local history. She has a bachelor's degree from Calvary Bible College in secondary education: social studies. You can visit Erica at On The Write Path

From the inside cover of The Bartered Bride: Melissa's grip tightened on Jonathan's arm.
He looked down at her, her face pale to the lips, her eyes wide.
"Oh no," she moaned.
"My wife and I" - Almina had joined Lawrence Brooke, tucking her arm into his elbow and beaming on the crowd, her gaze lingering longest on Jonathan and Melissa - "are pleased to announce the engagement of our daughter, Melissa, to Mr. Jonathan Kennebrae. Please join us in congratulating the happy couple." He lifted the glass in their direction.
A polite wave of applause welled up.
Melissa stood, knocking her chair over onto the grass. She put her hand to her mouth , turning her head wildly from Jonathan to her parents then back again.
Jonathan rose up slowly, easing up on numb legs.
"Kennebrae?" She whispered so low he had to stoop to hear her. "Your name is Kennebrae?"
"Of course it is. What else would it be?"
She blinked, staring at him. "But I thought -" Her throat spasmed as she tried to swallow. "I thought..."
He caught her just before she hit the grass in a dead faint.

How's that for a show stopper?

CJ: You write historical romance. Can you define the genre for us? Historical. That must mean you have to do research. Which comes first, the plot idea for a story or do you just comb through history books looking for something interesting?

Erica: Historical Romance = a romance set in historical times. In order to be a romance, the story must be about the growing love between the hero and heroine, and it must deliver a happy and satisfying ending to the reader. Historical is generally considered anything from Creation to World War II, though some are now saing the Korean War or even the Vietnam War. Romance readers are a dedicated group, and they know what they want. You have to deliver on their expectations, but do it in a new and fresh way that makes it seem like they are falling in love all over again.

The ideas for stories sort of come from all over. I do a lot of research. A total history geek, I love reading history books, and I'm constantly on the watch for interesting bits taht I might work into a story. Setting and an historical event usually come first, though character or situation of my own making might pop into my head. I ask a few 'What If' qustions, and then my mind just races with story ideas.

Don't forget. Leave a comment for a chance to win Erica's book, The Bartered Bride.

The Friday Five

Five exciting things that will happen next week:

1. The Pony Express is participating in a world-wide blog tour! How cool is that?

2. Next week's blog will feature a guest blogger. Wonder who it will be?

3. The blog will feature interview questions and answers. Fascinating!

4. The tour will end on Friday with a surprise give-away!

5. Curious? Visit us here at The Pony Express during the week of 26 - 30. October to find out what's going on!