A Visit with Author Renee Blare ♦ Giveaway

I'm thrilled to introduce you to author Renee Blare. A writer yes, but so much more. She is an amazing woman, as you'll discover as you read through her bio and her answers to my interview questions.   Oh, yeah, Renee is also offering a giveaway! See below for the details. 

Renee Blare: Raised in Louisiana and Wyoming, Renee started writing poetry in junior high school. After having her son, a desire to attend pharmacy school sent her small family to the University of Wyoming in Laramie, and she's been counting pills ever since. While writing's her first love, well, after the Lord and husband, she also likes to fish and hunt as well as pick away on her classical guitar.
Nestled in the foothills of the Wind River Mountains with her husband, crazy dogs and ornery cat, she continues to serve her community as a pharmacist while penning her Christian stories any chance she can get. She loves to interact with readers and invites you check out her website, blog, and social media.

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Hi, Renee, thanks for being my guest here on Whispers in Purple. I’m looking forward to this little tête-á-tête today, discussing you, your writing, and your brand new book. So let’s get to it, shall we?

Peg: First off, how do you start your day?

Renee: Early…LOL I wake up about 6:00am every morning and hop in the bathtub. I love a hot soak while I pray and relax a sore body. I always wake up stiff and sore. My knees and shoulders hurt. The Lord and I chat while I get ready for work or my day, whatever I have planned. If I’m off, I usually spend some time with my husband before I hit the keyboard.

Peg: What was/is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how did you overcome it, or are overcoming it?

Renee: My biggest obstacle at the moment is chaos. Heehee…we just moved and I can’t find a thing. My office is packed into a multitude of boxes. But as far as the most difficult? I would have to say time. I work forty hours a week…sometimes more…at a high stress position as well as live with a disabled husband. Writing/critiquing/editing/promoting isn’t always my first priority of the day although it is extremely important to me. I learn (please notice the tense of that word) to balance my life with God’s guidance, strength and help.

Peg: What’s the #1 thing on your bucket list? Why?

Renee: My bucket list? Mmmm…you’re not going to believe this but I don’t have a bucket list. As I said before, my husband is disabled. The morning I woke up to the other half of my soul in a crumpled heap at the bottom of our stairs, my life changed…our life changed. We don’t take anything for granted anymore. We enjoy every moment of our lives together. We don’t spend our time wishing for things we don’t have…or dreaming about things we should have. Oh, we’ve had some awesome vacations…to the Bahamas, Cancun, but the most amazing times are in the mountains next to our home. The fishing trips to the lakes a stone’s throw from our backyard. Why? Because we’re together. Still, I understand your question. And if I could do one thing before I die, what would it be? I would have to say, view this planet from space. This world is unique…beautiful. As a certain character in a funny movie once said—“I’d like to hold it in my hand like a ripe blueberry.”

Peg: Your ‘big girl’ job is as a pharmacist. How do you keep a balance between that and your writing life?

 Renee: Very carefully! As I said before, time is a big issue. My husband helps me though. He tells me to get off Facebook or asks me how much I’ve edited. He’s my accountability partner in many ways.

Peg: What five words best describe you?

Renee: I’m the golden retriever of human beings. LOL Loyal, lovable, kind, playful, and forgiving.

Peg: Fun question: Let’s say you always wanted to join the circus some day. What would be your job, and why?

Renee: I have no clue! I guess riding the elephants. Why? ‘Cause elephants are cool!

LOL! Okay, let's talk about your book:

Title: Through Raging Waters

Publisher: Prism Book Group

Release date: July 8, 2016

Genre: Inspirational Romantic Suspense

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/tE055Wyzaso

Purchase link(s): Amazon: http://amzn.to/29Yp2u3

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/29EopXi

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/29rzxUB

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/29pDuK7

Kobo: http://bit.ly/29ETmxS

All Romance Ebooks: http://bit.ly/29oQNPm

Back cover blurb/synopsis:

If Mother Nature has her way, Timber Springs will never be the same...

A warm spring and early rainstorms melt the snowpack. Spring runoff compounded by the storm of the century sends Timber Springs into a tailspin.
Tossed into the role of rescuer, local pharmacist Paul Fitzgerald must face his past before the whole world falls apart. While he fights to contain the beast around him, he finds his steadfast control slipping through his fingers. And life…everyone’s life…hangs by a thread once again.
She isn’t a hero. Melissa Hampton has her own demons to battle. After she learns of her mysterious beginnings amidst her mother’s keepsakes, she faces more than just the river rushing outside her door. Now, she must discern friend from foe…but as waters rise and tension climbs within Timber Springs, she needs to rise to the challenge or lose the only man she's ever loved.

Can two people find each other through raging waters? 

Peg: I realize this is Book Two in the Snowy Range Chronicles. Can you tell us how you came to write this series, and a thumbnail capsule about the first one?

Renee: Sure. I wrote the first book, To Soar on Eagle’s Wings five years ago. I lived in Texas at the time and it was the first novel I ever wrote. I was so homesick at the time. I missed the wide open spaces and mountains of Wyoming. I did what I always did when I was depressed…I buried myself in my books. The problem? The book I bought off Amazon wasn’t what it professed to be. My husband listened to me complain for about an hour and told me to write my own. I did. The Lord blessed me through that book. Not because it was well-written, but because it wasn’t.

I was a new writer and it showed. So I joined ACFW and learned. I still am! I must have rewrote that first book five times. As for the series? Seven books are on the board and have been since the first word hit the page. Through Raging Waters is the second and, except for a slight change of title, continues the Fitzgerald saga that To Soar started.

To Soar on Eagle’s Wings launches the series with the story of Rachel Fitzgerald and Steve Mitchell. It also introduces you to their home of Timber Springs, a small mountain town at the base of the Snowy Range. The Fitzgerald’s are reeling from the loss of their matriarch while the start of Spring Break releases a crime spree on their mountain paradise.

Peg: Where can folks find you on the Internet?

Renee: Please stop by my website! www.reneeblare.com. Sign up for my newsletter, The Winding Trail for all the latest news and updates. You can also stop by my blog, Renee’s Inspirational Moments for weekly features and posts at www.reneeblare.blogspot.com. I’m also a founder of The Diamond Mine of Christian Fiction so if you love Christian Fiction, you need to check out this blog! www.diamondsinfiction.blogspot.com.

I’m also on social media and you can visit my website for all the links. See ya there. J

About the Giveaway: Renee is offering a e-book copy of Through Raging Waters to one of you readers. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below with your name and contact information. This way we can contact you if you are the winner. Giveaway ends Thursday, July 21, at Midnight, CDT. Names will be selected through a drawing via random.org and will be notified via email on Friday, July 22.

Peg: Thanks so much, Renee, for spending this time with us. It's been an interesting, and enlightening visit. I am awed at all you do. God bless you as you work for Him.