"Matching Points" by Nancy J. Farrier -- Author Interview, Blog Tour, and Giveaway

 

About the Book

Book: Matching Points

Author: Nancy J. Farrier

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: September 9, 2020

She doesn’t hold his past against him…can he forgive hers?

Fresh out of prison, Asia Jessup wishes she could change her past and maybe her future. She has no family and no one to turn to. All she has is her newfound faith. She returns to the town where she spent a couple of idyllic summers to find family she didn’t know she had. Her devastating secret won’t bring a joyful reunion. Will it destroy her last hope?

Ian Kittridge has his own thriving restaurant, is a respected business owner, and is active in his community. Thanks to a teenage Asia’s empathy one summer he’d been pulled back from the brink of ruining his life and ending up like his father—a murderer. He is working hard to eradicate the past and rise above the murmurs of “like father, like son.”

When Ian runs into Asia he can’t believe she’s returned to their coastal California town. Although he’s eager to reconnect, he isn’t looking for a serious relationship—he can’t take the chance of becoming his father. Asia is wary of Ian’s friendship because of her shameful past and the sins of her mother and father. As Asia’s secrets quake the family she hoped to find, can she and Ian find their way through the storm, to a peaceful resolution, and look toward the future?

 Author Interview

1. Do you set a plot or prefer going wherever an idea takes you? I am not a plotter. I usually know key points in the story before I start writing. I also do a character background and know the main people in my stories. Then, I start writing and see where the story leads. 

Every day is an adventure. Sometimes, I have an idea what is coming and sometimes I don’t. Characters show up that I don’t expect, but they play an important part in the story or they don’t get to stay.

The fun part is getting to the end of the book and seeing how the story has come together. Seeing that certain events from early in the story become important at the end without any planning on my part. I am filled with a sense of wonder when that happens. I love writing.

2. What, according to you, is the hardest thing about writing? Editing is the hardest part for me, or at least, sending my baby off to an editor. I always want the story to be perfect when I finish writing, but that doesn’t happen. 

Instead, I edit a couple of times and send it to my first editor. There is always this little niggling in the back of my mind that the editor will not like the story. That hasn’t happened, but the insecurity is there. I have two fantastic editors though, and they help make my book so much stronger. 

3. Do you need to be in a specific place or room to write, or you can just sit in the middle of a café full of people and write? I can write most anywhere. Except in my living room, because my husband will walk in and just start talking to me. He doesn’t understand writing at all. 

I used to enjoy going to a coffee shop to write, but now that I live in the sticks that isn’t an option. I do have my own office and I usually write there. If I happen to hit a place where I’m stumped or the story isn’t flowing, I go for a walk, or do some chores. That usually frees up my mind and the next words are there. Then I get back to writing.

One way I write that is unusual is that I walk on a treadmill while I write. I put the treadmill at a slow pace and have an old table leaf across the arms to hold my computer and a large screen monitor. I walk three to four hours a day while writing. The rest of the time, I will sit down or stand while I write. I don’t like sitting down for long, because I end up with a cat on my lap or across my arms. ☺

4. When did it dawn upon you that you wanted to be a writer? I have loved to write since I was very young. As a teen, I wrote stories, poems, and songs. I wasn’t a Christian at the time, so the things I wrote were not something I would share. I didn’t think about publication at the time and when I became a Christian, I gave up writing.

I married and was busy raising five kids. When my youngest was almost two-years-old, I used to wake up in the night crying with the need to tell the stories in my head. I prayed and realized God was calling me to write, and He showed me clearly what He wanted me to do. I started writing for Him and fell in love with telling those stories. 

5. What is your work schedule/routine when you write? During the summer months, I usually get up by five-thirty in the morning. I am not a morning person, but I live in the Southwest desert and have to get up that early to get in my morning walk. I walk two miles every morning with my husband and sometimes take a longer walk, five or six miles, by myself. Afterwards, I do my Bible reading and have breakfast while I check email. I try to be in my office by eight-thirty or nine in the morning.

I will either write or do characterizations/research in the mornings. Afternoons are for editing or business. I work until lunch time, then stop to have lunch with my husband. I work until between four and five pm, when I stop to do a little housework, such as dishes from the day or folding laundry, etc. After dinner, I do marketing or social media while watching television with my husband. There is always something to do.

My schedule does vary in the winter when I don’t get up as early. Yay! I am also not a person who enjoys the cold, so I don’t like to walk when it’s below freezing or if the sun isn’t up. And, there are always chores or appointments that change my schedule. If that happens, I sometimes work while riding in the car while my husband drives. 

It’s a busy life, but I love it.

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Nancy J Farrier is a best-selling, award winning author of over twenty-five books. Nancy has written both historical and contemporary fiction, as well as nonfiction for the Christian market. Her Southwest fiction is filled with characters who face real life issues, which she hopes will encourage her readers. Nancy lives in Arizona in the Sonoran Desert and loves the sunshine and most of the time enjoys the heat. She lives with her husband or thirty-seven years, four cats, and dog. Nancy enjoys early morning hikes, spending time with her family, reading, and going to church.

 

More from Nancy

From the moment I first pictured Asia standing across from that quilt shop, I knew I had to tell her story. She carried so much emotional baggage and such longing, but I didn’t know why. Going on that journey to find where she’d come from and why she was here at this place, in this moment, was such a rollercoaster ride.

Exploring the theme of family and how our families impact our past proved both exhilarating and painful. I remember hearing a man say he couldn’t help being the way he was because of his father’s influence. That man was a Christian. My first thought was that he has a new Father and he is to be like Christ. Like God.

This is why both Ian and Asia struggle with the concept of having a parent they were compared to in an unflattering light. Ian couldn’t change what his father did, he could only make his own choices and be a different person. To be like Father, like son. Asia, too, had people assume she would be her mother’s daughter, but she wasn’t. Her choice was to live a different life, despite pressure to be as immoral as her mother.

Our choices are what make us who we are. How we choose to live. How we choose to forgive. How we choose to love. And Who we choose to love and follow.

Exploring these themes in Matching Points kept me on my toes. Seeing Asia and Ian work out their choices and their journey proved exhilarating. I hope my readers find encouragement in the pages of this book and the lives of the characters.

Blog Stops

Blossoms and Blessings, November 2 (Author Interview)

deb’s Book Review, November 2

Sara Jane Jacobs, November 3

Adventures of a Travelers Wife, November 4

Ashley’s Bookshelf, November 4

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 5

Pause for Tales, November 6

Artistic Nobody, November 7 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)

Wishful Endings, November 8 (Author Interview)

Batya’s Bits, November 8

Texas Book-aholic, November 9

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 10

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, November 11

Inklings and notions, November 12

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 13

For Him and My Family, November 14

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 15

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Nancy is giving away the grand prize package of a Kindle Fire 7 and a handmade quilted table runner!!

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

https://promosimple.com/ps/1032e/matching-points-celebration-tour-giveaway