Interview with Karen Baney

Name of Author: Karen Baney

Name of Books: Prescott Pioneers Series: A Dream Unfolding, A Heart Renewed, A Life Restored, A Hope Revealed

Contemporary novel: Nickels

Twitter account, blog and link to where someone can purchase your books:

Twitter: @karen_baney

Website: http://www.karenbaney.com

Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/karenbaney

Barnes & Noble:  Barnes & Noble

I see you write Contemporary Romance. How do you write it to be relevant and stay true to God?

In my novel Nickels, I follow the life of a broken-hearted young woman, Niki Turner. As she struggles to deal with her painful past, she is reunited with Kyle who made her life difficult in High School. Now, eight years later as she is forced to work with him on a project for her work, she starts to see how he has changed from the teen she knew. He is kind and patient and nice to her.

For this novel, I kept the characters realistic. Change is slow in real life and so it is with my characters, whether in a contemporary novel or a historical. Sometimes it can be challenging to write relevant modern characters, but I just keep God involved in the process. A lot of prayer goes into each of my novels.

What inspired you to write Christian historical?

I grew up reading Christian historical novels by Janette Oke and Tracie Peterson. Both of these women’s books were inspirational to me as a teen and 20-something. So, when I felt the tug on my heart to begin writing, it seemed a natural place to land. I also love history, so that makes the research for my novels a double joy!

I see writing has had some trending topics on twitter. What are your take on them and which ones have you participated in?

I loosely follow #pubwrite, #pubtips, #selfpub and #amwriting. It’s more as I have time, which is difficult with a full time job and my own writing and marketing efforts. But, sometimes I’ve come across a few gems of info on these hash tags.

If you could have any of your characters meet a character from another book/movie/TV show who and why?

I would love to have Will Colter (from all 4 Prescott Pioneers Books) meet the John Wayne version of Rooster Cogburn. For some reason, I think Will could handle the cantankerous cowboy just fine. It would certainly make life on Colter Ranch interesting.

What advice do you have for other writers?

Make it a priority. I know so many writers don’t have the luxury of writing full time. So, be creative and find ways to get some time to write. I send my husband off with his friends on Saturdays so I get several hours in a quiet house to write. Sometimes I squeeze in a scene or even a chapter in the evenings after work. One of my friends likes to go to the library and write. Find what works for you can keep at it. You were made to do this!

Which characters in your stories do you feel for and why?

It’s a toss up between Julia Colter in A Heart Renewed and Mary Colter in A Hope Revealed. Both of these women suffered horribly from the same man. Yet they persevered and came out the other side with hope and healing.

My heart always goes out to anyone who has suffered abuse of any kind. It’s a hard thing to get past, but God wants to help you.

Any regrets or things you'd like to change in your books?

It’s funny you ask that. In May I just finished re-editing and re-publishing the entire Prescott Pioneers Series. I felt like there were some things that could be improved, especially in the first book, so I made it a priority to do so. The beauty of self publishing is that making changes is pretty easy. Just upload the new version and away you go. The core part of the stories are the same, I’ve just taken some of the feedback from readers and made a few things better. Writing is such a learning process and I can see how much I’ve grown between the first and fifth book.

Thanks so much for hosting me today.