Tracy Interview and Giveaway

About the Book

Book: Tracy: A Sweet, Quirky, Romantic Masterpiece (Book 6 of the Weather Girls Wedding Shoppe and Venue series. It can be read as a stand-alone.)

Author: Jennifer Lynn Cary

Genre: Sweet, Wholesome Romance (Retro)

Release date: October, 2024

Her heart can’t take more breakage…

…He’s been wounded enough

Yet they’re becoming best friends without ever having met.

Tracy Callahan has learned that relationships aren’t for her. The struggling glass artist puts up barriers to keep romantic entanglements from causing more pain. However, her feelings are growing for her roommate’s brother, despite having never seen him in person.

How can just his voice on the phone hold that much attraction?

Danny Mitchell left a large part of himself in Viet Nam and is learning how to navigate life back here in the states. It’s better to just avoid the public. As long as he doesn’t have to see anyone in person, he can pretend he’s his old self, and the caller on the other end of the phone won’t know the difference.

But Tracy is breaking through, resurrecting feelings he thought were dead and gone.

They might find a way to make a telephone relationship work. Unless meddling loved ones get involved.

When that happens, can Tracy and Danny’s friendship survive meeting face-to-face?

Or could there be something more than friendship in store for them? Maybe a God-designed masterpiece built from their broken parts?

Return to 1973 Kokomo, Indiana where the legend of the cardinal in the sycamore can still prove true love.

You will enjoy this sweet, quirky tale of hidden worth, because sometimes what we need is right in front of us.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Historical Christian Romance author, Jennifer Lynn Cary, likes to say you can take the girl out of Indiana, but you can’t take the Hoosier out of the girl. Now transplanted to the Arizona desert, this direct descendant of Davy Crockett and her husband of forty plus years enjoy time with family where she shares tales of her small-town heritage and family legacies with their grandchildren. She is the author of The Crockett Chronicles series, The Relentless series, and The Weather Girls trilogy as well as the stand-alone novel, Cheryl’s Going Home, her novella Tales of the Hob Nob Annex Café, and her split-time novels The Traveling Prayer Shawl and The Forgotten Gratitude Journal. Her current spin-off series, The Weather Girls Wedding Shoppe and Venue, contains standalones with a common thread.

 

More from Jennifer

Have you ever met characters in a story that stayed with you, even when they weren’t the main characters? That’s what happened to me after I wrote Runaround Sue. Sue’s brother and her roommate seemed to hit it off so well, and I loved those characters.

It only made sense to give Tracy and Danny their own story.

However, I will confess that I had planned to make a character named Tracy because of the song, “Tracy” by the Cufflinks. It’s such a happy, bouncy tune and I thought that fit Sue’s roommate.

I do need to add that I relied on a childhood friend for some Danny’s antics. At one point I was told that something he did wasn’t possible. The problem was, I knew it was because my friend, Maureen McKay did that very thing. Maureen had a personality like Tracy’s and determination like Danny’s.

A few years ago I was back in Kokomo for a special wedding anniversary party. I noticed a guy sitting at a table and went to talk with him. At that time, I was combing faces for someone I’d known back when I went to school there. He had that look, but as we talked, it was obvious we didn’t know each other.

A little later I told my cousin about that, and she said that he was ahead of us in school, but he had a younger sister who would’ve been about my age. I knew immediately why he’d looked familiar. He was Maureen’s big brother.

I searched him and his mother out quickly and let them know I remembered Maureen. I mentioned a few of our escapades. Then I told them that my husband and I had lost a son, and that the kindest thing anyone could say was that they remembered our Ian. So, for that reason, I wanted them to know I remember Maureen.

And that’s why Tracy is dedicated to the memory of my friend Maureen McKay.

Interview with the Author

1)Which character did you connect to best in this book?

Tracy. Hands down. I understood her vulnerability and her desire to be first in someone’s heart. I got to see a little of that when I wrote Runaround Sue but now in Tracy, I really got to explore her emotions and thinking.

2)Which part of the book was the most difficult to write?

I think Danny’s perspective was tough at times. Putting myself into his situation, a lot of questions were raised concerning his physical abilities and workarounds—especially in 1973—and his emotional challenges. I really liked Danny and his snark and vulnerability. But I’m not a combat Viet Nam war vet stuck in a wheelchair, so I asked a lot of questions.

3)What inspired this book?

Several things, actually. First, both Tracy and Danny were supporting characters in Runaround Sue. I really liked them and wondered what would happen if they got together. The other thing or person, rather, who inspired me was a childhood friend, Maureen McKay. Maureen had to be one of the happiest, funniest people alive. I can’t remember her ever being down though she had reason. I believe she suffered from muscular dystrophy, and it was diagnosed when we were in sixth grade. By high school she was in a wheelchair. They lived in the center of the block and their house was set on the top of a hill so that their driveway started as an alley that divided the block in half but had a turnout for their unattached garage at the peak. Maureen would sit at the top of that hill, grin big, then take off her brakes and race down toward the street. Somehow, she always managed to stop in time and skid to a halt. I could see Danny doing this and had to research to make sure it was possible, even though I’d seen it with my own eyes. I couldn’t wait to get that scene written and I think it came out pretty good. (even if I say so myself. 😉)

4)What is your favorite Bible verse or life verse?

That’s easy—I wrote a devotional about it!

Isaiah 41:13

For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
(NKJV)

When God holds your hand, there is nothing more secure.

5)Describe your view as you’re sitting in your writing chair.

You know, I’ve asked this question before but never been asked it. 😊

My office is in the front of the house off our living room. I write on a laptop, that sits on a lap desk while I kick back in my grandmother’s mauve-colored velour Lazy Boy rocker (my feet and legs swell if I sit too long at my desktop). Anyway, the chair is pointed straight at the only window that looks out over our front yard and street. Below the window is a white bookcase filled with my paper crafting tools. There are no curtains or blinds. Instead, the glass is covered with a frosted vinyl—the mid-section is solid but for the top and bottom I cut out designs from the vinyl. That allows me to see the shades of blue in the sky and the types of clouds without giving the neighborhood a free show into my mess.

Oh, on top of the wooden window frame, I have the letters of my name, JENNY, that my eldest daughter surprised me with at my 60th birthday party. She lovingly cut them out, then decoupaged pictures from all aspects of my life on them—from me as a baby, with my sibs and parents, wedding photos, those of our children growing up, current photos of them, of us. When I look up, I can’t help but know I’ve been richly blessed.

Blog Stops

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, January 21

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, January 22

Texas Book-aholic, January 23

Vicky Sluiter, January 24 (Author Interview)

Pause for Tales, January 24

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 25

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, January 26 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 27

Simple Harvest Reads, January 28 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 29

For the Love of Literature, January 30 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 31

Tell Tale Book Reviews, February 1 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, February 2

Blossoms and Blessings, February 3 (Author Interview)

Leslie’s Library Escape, February 3

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jennifer is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54137

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