Interview with Stephanie Guerrero

Stephanie Guerrero is a former seventh-grade reading teacher who gave up 150 students for four. As a pastor’s wife, home-school mom of four with numerous household pets, she believes life is an adventure, and a Christ-filled life can be better than fiction. She has a passion for the power of a redemptive story, and loves to through in an unexpected twist to each of her stories.

Stephanie, it’s great to have you at Novel PASTimes today. Could you share with us some of the surprises you’ve encountered along the road to publishing?

One of my biggest surprises is the amount of marketing the author is personally required to do. I’ll admit that this was not even on my radar at first. My focus was on creating the story, but there are many authors out there and to stand out it takes work.

Please tell us something about your recently published Christmas-themed novellas.

These anthology stories were so much fun to write.

Christmas Romance at Dickens on Main is an action-packed romantic suspense between FBI partners Gabe and Angelika. They must stop a terrorist attack during the Dickens on Main Christmas event in Boerne, Tx.

The target: The new President-elect and other government officials home for the holidays unknowingly bring terror home to their respective Christmas events.

The cover: Gabe and Angelika infiltrate the Dickens on Main Street Event as a dating couple on holiday in hopes to stop the terror before it strikes.

The unexpected: An actual romance blooms amidst the crisis ending in an unexpected wedding.

The point: We serve a God who says do not worry about tomorrow. He has a plan for those who seek Him first.

Christmas Village Miracles  is a whimsical romance where two lost loves are magically and separately transported into a Christmas village heirloom called the Village of Joy. Only God can take two broken hearts and reunited them in joy.

-Can you imagine a supermodel with a borderline eating disorder craving fruitcake?

-A selfish, international clothing designer discovering that each life has a grand designer behind it?

-Or a successful airline CEO placed as pastor of a Victorian era church?

-You’ll find it all in the Village of Joy!

Shades of the Orient is set around the time of the Boxer Rebellion in China.                                    

What drew you to write about this time period and the location of your story?

That is a good question. I love history and I love research. I was doing research on another topic when I came upon a quote from a U.S. Navy officer who’d been present during the conflict. He said the Boxer Rebellion contained all the elements of a good story: betrayal, greed, love, power, etc. It intrigued me, and I was hooked.

I eventually chose to keep one part of history as the backdrop in this story because I felt it too sacred of ground for my romantic intrigue. A little known fact about the Boxer Rebellion is that 10,000 to 11,000 Chinese Christians were brutally martyred by their own people for embracing the “foreigners’ God”. Though this is touched on in my story, it is not the focus. The blood of martyrs is nothing to toy with, so I respectfully gave them an honorable place and kept the focus on the main characters, the smuggling, and the intrigue.

Shades of the Orient is an amazing story of two men, one an undercover intelligence officer, the other a smuggler and an heiress turned missionary. Secrets from the past are unlocked, identities are unmasked and each character must chose a path in the face of betrayal. Who will choose bitterness and hate and who will chose to  go beyond forgiveness to love our enemies as Christ would have us do.

Along the way… true, pure love weaves two hearts together in spite of the chaos of the world’s first truly world war. (China vs. 9 other nations including Britian, France, Russia, Germany, the U.S. and more.) I am hoping to have the sequel out by the end of the year or first of next year.

Have you found that similar themes throughout your writing? Why? Or why not?

Actually, I have not. Each theme is carefully chosen by whatever God has laid on my heart. So far they have not been similar. The one constant element is that I usually love to have an unexpected twist in the story.

Shades of the Orient - Go beyond forgiveness to loving even when betrayed.

Dickens on Main -  Don’t worry about tomorrow. Seek God first.

Christmas Village Miracles - God can turn your sorrow into joy.

Fire and Ice - (coming soon) Presents a case for Christ and the importance He should play in our daily decisions.

Shades of the Orient sequel (2013) - Can we still find redemptions when our sins are great and we can’t even forgive ourselves?

What drew you to writing historical novels?

My dad instilled in me a love of history that has never left me. I love the research. To dig deep and uncover hidden mysteries is a bit like a treasure hunt for me. 

If you’re anything like I am, one favorite book is hard to pick! Do you have two or three top picks among the historical genre that you would care to recommend?

Come back tomorrow for more with Stephanie Guerrero.

Please leave a comment by answering the question Stephanie is asking below

for a chance to win your choice of Christmas Romance at Dickens on Main Anthology 

or  Christmas Village Miracles. Don't forget to include your email address in the form of name[at]domain[dot]com before 8:30 a.m. EDT this Friday morning to qualify for the drawing. We need at least ten (10!) qualifying entries this week to do the drawing.

Stephanie's first question:

What is the most effective way a new author can catch your eye and your interest?