Lena Nelson Dooley, Author of Cranberry Hearts

By Molly Noble Bull
www.mollynoblebull.com

Today I am interviewing Lena Nelson Dooley, my very good friend from Hurst, Texas. Lena and I are members of a national organization titled American Christian Fiction Writers.
Welcome to Books That Inspire, Lena.

Lena: Thank you, Molly. Glad to be here.

Molly: I understand you have a new book release. Tell us about it.

L: Cranberry Hearts, the new release, contains three short novels set in Massachusetts. I wrote the first one, Lisa Harris wrote the second one, and Elizabeth Goddard wrote the third one. The families in the stories are related to each other, and each book is a contemporary romantic suspense

M: Have you written suspense before?

L: I’ve had a mystery before, but this is my first suspense. The title of my book is: Who Am I? The heroine has a lot of surprises in her life, and soon she finds out that someone wants to kill her.

M: Sounds interesting, Lena. I know that you’re multi-published. Just how many books do you have?

L: Cranberry Hearts is my 20th book release. God has really blessed my writing career.

M: What are you working on now?

L: I just finished writing a historical romance in trade paperback size. A publisher is interested in it, too. I don’t want to say any more about it right now.

M: How can the readers find you on the internet?

L: I have a lot of presence in cyberspace. My web site is www.lenanelsondooley.com . In the monthly newsletter, I give away at least one copy of one of my books. Some months, I do several. All readers have to do is sign my guest book.

I also have a blog where I interview other authors about their recent releases. I do about 3 a week, and we give away a free copy of each book. http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

And the readers can find me on Shoutlife: www.shoutlife.com/lenanelsondooley If your readers don’t know, Shoutlife id a Christian Internet community. (like My Space, but Christian)

M: Do you have any advice for authors just starting out?

L: Lots of it really. My passion is to help new authors learn. They need to connect with a group that writes the kind of books they want to write. If they’re into fiction, I highly recommend ACFW. You mentioned them at the first of the interview. They can be found at: www.acfw.com

Read, read, read (especially the kind of book they want to write). Write, write, write. And be willing to accept helpful critiquing. One of the things a writer needs most is a teachable spirit. None of us were born with the ability to write for publication. We all had to learn and hone out skills.

And don’t give up. The only authors who get published are the ones who submit. . .and submit. . .and submit.

M: It was great having you today, Lena, and I hope you will come back real soon.

L: I’d like that, Molly. Thank you for having me.

M: Next month my guest will be author and literary agent, Tamela Hancock Murray, from the state of Virginia. See you then.
Molly