Connie

Connie is trained as a mental health counselor, having worked with children, adolescents and adults. While working on her Masters Degree she actually lived in an all-male dorm. It was part of her job requirement as a Resident Director. This experience was the inspiration for her current Work-In-Progress (WIP) entitled, One Among Men.

Connie’s training in mental health issues has given her an in-depth knowledge of the motivations that drive people and how life’s lessons can sometimes be messy and long-enduring. And yet God leaves glimmers of light through it all. She hopes to use this insight to help readers see inside the hero and heroine, understanding their personal battles, and maybe laugh a little along the way.

Connie’s writing experience includes publication in various job newsletters, church newsletters and her homeschool group. She’s dabbled in fiction all her life, but was inspired to complete a full-length novel by her ten-year-old daughter who writes chapter books in her spare time. She is a member of ACFW, a wonderful writer’s group with the purpose of encouraging Christian Fiction writers to develop and hone their voice.

Her hobbies include listening to Christian Contemporary Music (especially Third Day), reading wonderful stories and spending time with her husband of almost twenty years. She enjoys brainstorming ideas with her prolific daughter and sharing peaceful moments with her fourteen-year-old son (he’s like a gentle breeze). The bantering style of her characters is inspired by her husband’s deep love of mischief, particularly that which craves a sharp reaction. Still, she loves him anyway … which covers a multitude of sins.

Connie also hosts the blog Living the Body of Christ,which is dedicated to the idea that God has created all of us for a specific purpose, one that is different from anyone else, yet meant to work in tandem with other members of His Body. We should embrace our gifts and take our rightful place in the Body rather than expecting to be like everyone else … and worse yet, believing they should be like us.

Books I enjoy:

I love a good story! I’ve read Classics, Amish, Regency, Historical, Drama, Comedy, Chick Lit, etc. etc. And I can get into any of these, but they will go a long way with me if they have at least a thread of romance running through them. I’ve always liked a good romance, but the mid-life crisis seems to make it a must these days. That’s just the truth.

Though I enjoy all styles, you will probably find most of my reviews will be on Contemporary Romance/Suspense. Two reasons for this. I am writing a Contemporary Romantic Suspense, and I don’t think these books get enough good press in the Christian book catalogues. I have read and enjoyed the Amish stories, but they seem to be what covers the front page. There is such a great need for Christian readers to find characters who live in their world, who are confronting the same challenges and  temptations. Though sometimes an escape is just what the doctor ordered, there are a lot of great Christian authors serving up an entertaining dose of “my life” as well. I’d like to shine the spotlight on them.

A good story can have one or more of the following characteristics in order to be considered a worthwhile read. It can inspire, inform, entertain, allow you to escape, make you laugh, tug at your heart or just take you on a wild ride. It doesn’t have to be a work of literary genius for me to love it, though sometimes that’s what I’m in the mood for. It just needs to move me in one of these ways. So when you read my reviews, I will try to give you some idea of which the book will do for you. If the book is meant to inform, it will need to be accurate and realistic. But if the author’s intent is to take me on a wild ride—not so much. Think of the scene in the movie Speed where the bus jumps the gap in the freeway without a ramp. Ridiculously unrealistic, but boy-howdy was if fun. Loved that movie … but I didn’t believe a bit of it. So keep this in mind. I don’t expect you to like what I like, but at least you will know why I liked it.