Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Blog Tour Guest....COLLEEN COBLE




Today I'm blessed to have my mentor and friend, Colleen Coble, drop by on her blog tour to promote her new Women of Faith release, ALASKA TWILIGHT.

Welcome, Colleen, and thanks so much for joining us today! :)

Your characters seem so "true to life" and flawed, then redeemed. What method do you employ to make them jump off the pages and into the readers' lives?

I'm flawed so it's easy to write flawed characters. LOL No really, have you ever met a person who seem sooo perfect? You just know they can't be all that. When I'm writing my characters, I figure out where they need to grow. Sometimes it's the same places I need to grow, or areas I've worked on in the past. I always give my characters some areas of strength too. I can't relate to wimpy women. LOL

Do you have any plans to "cross over" from the CBA market to the ABA market?

I'd love for more ABA readers to discover my books, but I have no plans to leave WestBow Press for the ABA. I love my publishing family. They believe in me and help me grow. More and more women browse the Christian fiction aisle as they learn that they can find a good story without bad language and graphic sex there.

Alaska Twilight is a Women of Faith book--can you explain exactly what that means?

Women of Faith is a Thomas Nelson imprint. These books are targeted towards the women who attend the Women of Faith conferences and they are about women who are overcomers in some areas of their lives. Haley in my story overcame her past and her missing leg to emerge a victorious young woman who loved the Lord.

We've learned you enjoy interacting with your fans, fellow writers, and others in the writing community...if you had to pick only ONE aspect of the writing life aside from writing and rewriting as your favorite, what would it be and why?

Mentoring other writers. I remember what it was like to know NO ONE who wrote and to have no one to answer questions. I think every writer needs to give out and not just take in. We can all share a little of what we know.

Tell us something about yourself that you believe has made you a better writer.

While no trials are fun to go through, they're a writer's best fodder. Losing my grandmother and brother were the trials that affected me the most. Walking through those valleys taught me a lot about life.

Can you remember the first time you received "the call"? Can you elaborate?

It was an exciting day when I found out Becky Germany was buying my first book! There was no one in the house but the cat. I screamed and ran around the house. Boots hid under the bed and wouldn't come out for hours. I left a message on the answering machine at church and Pastor had no idea who had even called or what had happened because I was babbling. LOL

In your writing life, what makes you the happiest?

Hearing from my editors. Love, love, love the editing process and the struggle to get better.


Visit Colleen's website for more about her and Alaska Twilight!

10 comments:

Dineen A. Miller said...

Colleen is so cool! LOL! Colleen and Robin have meant so much to me in my writing journey. Love you both!

Heather Diane Tipton said...

great interview! (Is it cheating if I say ditto Dineen?? LOL)

Unknown said...

What a wonderful interview!

Michele said...

Fun interview! Loved the story about "The Call", LOL!!!

It's great to hear that there are more authors out there who are "willing to share" insights into writing, right Robin? LOL

With all the blog tour stops, we certainly received a well rounded picture of Colleen and her work.

If all of them were put together, I think it would end up being the best interview EVER!

Amy Rebecca Higbee said...

Man, I better get to reading it. I have it, just have not had a moment to stop and read. But I better get started!

Camy Tang said...

Great interview! And way cool pictures, too!
Camy

Shesawriter said...

Another great interview, Robin!

Ronie Kendig said...

Colleen's answer about loving mentoring other writers explains how she's won MENTOR OF THE YEAR back to back and will probably win it again this year. Woo-hoo!! Go Colleen!!!

Pammer said...

Great interview. This blog tour has been wonderful, have loved getting to know more about the person and the writer, Colleen. Hugs!

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for the interviews, Colleen...you rock as a writer, mentor, but most importantly, such a fabulous friend! Love ya!