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18 July 2011

Interview Lena Nelson Dooley








The Will Rogers Medallion was recently awarded to Lena Nelson Dooley who has over 650,000 books in print, too!  Congrats, Lena!!!
Read more about this at: http://hartlineliteraryagency.blogspot.com/2011/07/lena-nelson-dooley-wins-award.html?spref=fb


Lena is the author of Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, and of the upcoming new release Maggie’s Journey, book one in the McKenna’s Daughters series. Lena has published many other books, as well, some reviewed here on OTT.


I met Lena through ACFW, participating in some of the same online classes with her.  When I saw the opportunity to have her critique my manuscript at the conference in Indianapolis last year, I was thrilled and jumped right on it.  Lena is just as warm, encouraging, and witty in person as she is online.  She has been a Mentor of the Year through ACFW for good reason and has been the President of the Dallas Fort Worth Ready Writers group for some time. 

Lena, thank you for this interview and welcome to Overcoming Through Time.  Would you share either the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help, or the most tragic situation or circumstance one of your character’s has had to get past? 


My mother died when I was seven years old. That affected me for many, many years. I had a hard time understanding why a loving God could take a woman who was so loved by everyone and who had small children who needed her. I was in my thirties before I came to understand that God really does love, no matter what happened in my life that I didn’t understand at the time.

How has this affected your writing?
Two of the stronger themes that runs through many of my novels is forgiveness of others and of God and learning to trust God in everything.

What is your favorite bible verse and why?
Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
KJV

Disability friendliness:
Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio? I believe many of your books are available as e-books with audio capability, is that correct (on Kindle)?
Yes, Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, is available in Kindle format with audio capability. So will the McKenna’s Daughters series be.
The only other book I have in audio format is Pirate’s Prize.

How many of your books are out in large print?  (Thank you – we offer this information to our readers with difficulty reading books in regular print format.)

I have had three books release in Large Print:
A Daughter’s Quest, Can You Help Me? And Caught Red Handed, The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?
Bad things happen, but God is good.

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?
I become fully immersed in the time periods and the characters. I’ve run into many interesting things in my forays into research. In Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, I found many interesting things in the town that thrived in 1890, but is a ghost town today. One of the buildings from 1836 is still standing and restored.

Thank you Lena for agreeing to answer these questions.  And readers, Lena shared with me that she had a wonderful stepmother!  God is so good. 

Thank you, Carrie. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you and your blog readers.




Giveaway: Readers - leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win a copy of Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico.  We will have a review up on Wednesday, too, by Diana Flowers and there will be a second entry chance.  Drawing will be done next weekend!

17 comments:

  1. Lena and Carrie, thank you both so much for the interesting interview. This is the second book I've read on my new Kindle, and such an enjoyable reading experience it was! Lena, I felt that forgiveness and redemption was indeed the strongest theme throughout LFY in Golden, NM.

    Lena, I know that you have written alot of books, and I'm so pleased that there is still a strong spiritual thread throughout them. I notice some Christian fiction authors are veering away from that somewhat, and I'm happy to see you don't. I recently read a very good Christian fiction book, and when I finished it, all of a sudden I realized there had been no mention of God at all in the book. It was a clean book, but trusting God was certainly not the focus as is in your books, and that is one thing I love most about them, Lena. Thank you for keeping the message of Jesus Christ in your storylines. That's what Christian fiction should be all about!

    Another great interview, Carrie!

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  2. Thank you for the interesting interview. I enjoy reading the Love Finds You books. Please enter me.


    Blessings,
    Jo
    ladijo40(at)aol(dot)com

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  3. Oh, I had also wanted to mention that it made me sad to think that the delightful town of Golden is today a ghost town. Lena's characters are so realistic, I fell in love with them, and hoped their ancestors had lived on and on and turned Golden into a thriving town.:(

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  4. Carrie and Lena thank you for the interview, it's always a blessing to hear how God has brought his children through difficult times. I can't wait to read this book. Thanks for the chance to win! tsmathews61@gmail.com

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  5. I just read my first LFY book and I loved it! Thanks for the opportunity to win this one. I am a firm believer that God is ALWAYS good, and one day we will understand all that we cannot now.

    homesteading[at]charter[dot]net

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  6. Anne, that really blessed me to have your reminder today! Teresa, you always have an encouraging word, too, to touch my heart. Thanks!

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  7. Diana, I had this exact same conversation with my crit partner, Kim Taylor, today. Interesting that you should comment on that. Lena always has a well and completely woven spiritual arc in her plots. Readers can rely upon that.

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  8. Jo, Thanks for coming by and we will throw your name in the virtual hat!

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  9. Thanks Lena and Carrie, for sharing this! I've read some of Lena's books and enjoyed them.

    Thanks also, for the giveaway. I'd be blessed to enter.

    Have a wonderful week,
    Karen
    klange61(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  10. Wow! Thanks for stopping by and making such thoughtful comments. I value every reader and write to reach the hearts of people who want to see the gospel lived out in imperfect lives.

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  11. Thanks for coming by, Karen! Good to see you here!

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  12. Lena, I am so thankful that you have been faithful to obey the call that God had upon your life to write for Him! Thank so much for the interview and for visiting us at Overcoming through Time!

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  13. I am embarrassed to admit that I have never read a Love Finds You book. This book sounds really wonderful and I would love a chance to win it! Great interview!

    Courtney
    kcmelone(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  14. I have never read a book by Lena. As I read the interview and her views on God's goodness, I think I really should read her books.
    So please enter me for a chance to win.

    Marian

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  15. Courtney, I think that just shows how it is all the more amazing that Lena won the Will Roger's Medallion for this book. Marian, you will be put in the international hat on this!!

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  16. No surprise to hear that Lena has won the Will Roger's Medallion. I'd love to win a copy of this book. Christine (dot) d (dot) schmidtke (at) gmail (dot) com

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  17. Looks like a great book! I would love to win it!

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