A Beach Vacation for Under $15

My beachy writer pal, Julie Carobini, has a brand new book out. It's set in "Otter Bay", and by the time I finished reading it, I felt like I'd been on a beach vacation. Here's a little interview with Julie, to give you just a taste.

Hi Julie, it's great to see Sweet Waters hitting store shelves. As with your first two books, Chocolate Beach, and Truffles by the Sea, this book has a beach side setting. What about the ocean inspires you?

To me, the sea represents God’s infinite creativity. Just think about all the life that’s swimming around in those waters! Or how the sea stretches and lolls toward the horizon. I even like to jog the beach (when my bum knee cooperates).

The tagline on my website is “Faith, Flip Flops, and Waves of Grace.” That’s an intentional description of the types of stories that I write; stories that intertwine faith with my own God-given love of the sea and our constant need for grace.

What is your favorite part of being a writer? What's your least favorite?

I love the process of writing, of mulling ideas in my head during my shower and then letting my fingers fly across the keyboard while my hair is still wet. Those are the times when writing comes easiest.

However, it’s often in the re-writing or editing process when the degree of difficulty increases. Not a bad thing—but a necessary one!

What's a typical writing day for you?

With three kids, I prefer deadlines during the school year—although with Sweet Waters, that didn’t happen. I have a tough time pulling my mind away from the story, so the best writing days are when I can work without interruption (nearly impossible). So back to your question, after getting the kiddos off to school, I generally warm up my mind with a blog post, some Twittering and another cup of coffee. Then I write until I can no longer comfortably sit in my chair.

How is this book different from your other books?

My first books were fun-filled chick-lit romps with lots of asides. I laughed all through writing them.

With Sweet Waters, I enjoyed a bit of a transition. Humor exists within the pages, but it’s more understated than in the past. This story also contains a couple of ‘dark’ issues that I had to research to better understand, and while I can’t say that I ‘enjoyed’ learning about them, I did find them fascinating.

Tell us a little about the story in Sweet Waters.

Sweet Waters tells the story of sensible Tara Sweet, a woman hoping that moving back to the California coast her family left years before will lead to the fairytale she remembered. But Tara discovers fairy tales are fragile—and truth is often one ugly layer after another of secrets, accusation, rumor, and a past an entire church wants to forget. Enter Josh Adams, a rugged firefighter battling his own demons. Soon they find themselves at odds with their families, their faith, the townspeople of Otter Bay—and each other. Only in facing the lies from the past can they find the truth.

What's next for you?

The second of the Otter Bay Novels, A Shore Thing, will be released in June of 2010. The story centers around Callie Duflay and her fight to keep a huge development from destroying the central coast—while also protecting her heart from the charming architect on the proposed project. You can learn more about this and other stories on my website: http://www.juliecarobini.com/

Thanks so much for dropping by Julie!

You're welcome!

The rat is back!

Last week, I visited a book club--not just any book club--these were some women I met in 2008 while doing a mini book tour with Lauriane Snelling, Cathy Marie Hake, and Julie Carobini. These women are mostly a Bible study group, but in the summer they do a book club. They have a special mascot, a large plastic rat (she's sitting on my shoulder in the picture). They call themselves the Yahweh Sisterhood of the Traveling Rat. How fun is that?

They invited me to come hang with their group for brunch and a chat-- great food, awesome women, talking books. Few things in life are better than that!