Congratulations to the winner of the Author Spotlight giveaway of A Fool and His Monet, DOROTHY MARTIN. Please email info {at} suzannewoodsfisher {dot} com to claim your prize.

Welcome Patricia Bradley, author of Silence in the Dark, to Author Spotlight! Keep reading to find out how you can enter to win a copy of her latest release.

Introduce us to you as an author: When did you get bit with the writing bug? How would you describe your writing style?

I was always a reader, but then I hit thirty-five and couldn’t sleep. One night as I lay in bed, wishing for a good book, a man appeared in my head. He was looking out a window with smoke-stacks in the distance. He turned to me and said, “I never meant for my life to turn out like this.”

For the next few weeks, I learned all about his life, and wanted to tell it to others. That’s when the writing bug bit, and I’ve never looked back. Neither have I told his story. But I will one day.

As for my style? Rather lean and fast-paced.

Tell us about your new release:

Two years ago, Bailey Adams broke off her engagement to Danny Maxwell and fled Logan Point for the mission field in Chihuahua, Mexico. Now she’s about to return home to the States, but there’s just one problem. After Bailey meets with the uncle of one of the mission children in the city, she barely escapes a sudden danger. Now she’s on the run–she just doesn’t know from whom. To make matters worse, people who help her along the way find themselves in danger too–including Danny. Who is after her? Will they ever let up? And in the midst of the chaos, can Bailey keep herself from falling in love with her rescuer all over again?

How can readers connect with you online?

www.patriciabradleyauthor.com
facebook.com/patriciabradleyauthor
twitter.com/PTBradley1
pinterest.com/ptbradley

Anything new for you on the book horizon?

I’m working on a new four-book series that revolves around cold cases set in Memphis, Tennessee. I want to use lots of local flavor…like the Pink Palace and maybe even Graceland.

After you started writing seriously, how long was it before you were published?

Actually, the very first thing I ever wrote was published by Woman’s World. I was so inexperienced that I sent a 3,500-word story when the guidelines clearly said 2,500 words. It was a God-thing, though. The editor loved the story and cut it to the required amount. But it would be thirty-two years before my first book was published.

Aside from a cup of good, strong coffee, what helps you get all of your “brain cylinders” firing so you can write well?

I am a morning person, usually jumping out of bed, ready to go. I usually write an hour (sometimes before I get that coffee), then stop for my quiet time.

Do you have any favorite places and routines when you write? How many hours a day do you spend writing?

My favorite place to write is on my deck in months where the weather isn’t too cold. I write out there even in August in Mississippi, usually early. When I have a deadline, I get up at 4:30 and write until I have my daily word count which is two thousand words a day for the first half of the book, then I up it to three thousand a day.

What has been the biggest help to you in the journey to publication? Writers’ conferences? Writing groups? Your mom as your first-draft reader?

My biggest help has been the writing retreats I’ve done with Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck. My critique partners and writers’ conferences have been helpful as well. My mom only wanted to read the finished product.

Why do you write?

God gifted me with the ability to tell stories. To not write would be wasting His gift. I received an email from a reader who had helped me with research on one of my books. She was thanking me for the opportunity to read it and wanted me to know how it had changed her life. The heroine in the book had never been wanted by her mother, and this was something the reader had struggled with all her life. Seeing how my heroine dealt with the problem helped the reader realize she could forgive her mother and did.

If you weren’t able to write, what would you do?

I’m also a potter, so if I couldn’t write, I’d spend more time in my pottery studio.

Right this moment, what does your office look like?

Like a tornado just ripped through it.

Ever had a bad review? How did you handle it?

I rarely read reviews, good or bad. I learned a long time ago that not everyone would like my books—before I was published my contest scores were from 99 to 59. I write the best book I can, and let God and my great team at Revell take care of the sales and reviews.

How do you solve a grammar dilemma?

Google. It’s a great resource.

What advice would you give to new writers?

1. Don’t give up. I wrote for 32 years before I received my first contract. What if I had quit at year thirty-one?
2. Learn the craft. If I had taken writing classes, it probably wouldn’t have taken so long, but I didn’t really learn the craft until I joined ACFW and met some of the great writers who share their knowledge with those just starting out. Until then I kept making the same mistakes because I didn’t have anyone to point out to me what I was doing wrong.

What was your biggest break?

Finaling in the Genesis, the ACFW contest for unpublished writers.

Are you an introvert? Extrovert? In-between?

I’m one of those rare extroverted writers. Most writers I know are very introverted.

If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save?

My COMPUTER.

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