Featured Author - Maggie Brendan

Tell us a little about your book?

What author’s books do you enjoy reading?

What one bit of advice would you give to aspiring writers?

What inspired you to write this particular book?

Tell us what we have to look forward to in the future. What new projects are you working on?

What message do you hope readers gain from your novel?

I love the West and write historical novels and I live in Georgia. My first book in the Heart of the West series is No Place For a Lady. Book two, The Jewel of His Heart, will be out in the fall and I am currently working on Kickin Up the Dust for book three. I knew in the 3rd grade that I wanted to be a writer, but marriage and raising a family came first. My brother, Jess McCreede (pen name) was a western writer. Sadly now he is deceased but he was a great mentor to me, and encouraged me to finish what I start. I received the Atlanta American Christian Persistence Award in 2004 and felt further encouraged to continue writing. I worked for our pastor’s radio ministry, Right From the Heart and most recently quit my job as an assistant to a real estate broker after I landed my book contract. I have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren and I adore them all. I enjoy reading, the outdoors and music of all kinds. I used to paint and scrapbooks but have very little time for that now.
I’ve been involved with sanctuary choir for many years, performing in Easter plays, Christmas Musicals, etc. I love country & western music, classical, David Phelps, Babbie Mason, Earth Wind & Fire and Michael Buble?. I used paint in oil or acrylic before I became serious about getting published. You can view one of my painting here: http://www.glimpsesofhisglory.org/Lott.html I also enjoy scrapbooking with my adult daughter, the expert. My favorite ministry is Right From The Heart, http://rfth.org, my pastor Bryant Wright’s radio ministry. I used to work for the worship and music office at our church and Bryant’s radio ministry, helping with filming commercials and filling orders for his sermons. I love his messages, and how they reach the world with the gospel of Christ. My favorite past time is reading, and playing with my four grandkids. They’re a bundle of fun!

Good question—I’ve lived in CO, and always loved the West from the time I read my first Zane Gray book in middle school. I wanted to write a story about a strong, sassy southern in that setting, so I just started putting down words to paper and it evolved from there.

It was so much fun for me to sit here everyday and get to choose what my characters would do. The least fun is answering and proving your questions to the editor and making certain that your research is accurate.

Never give up on your dream! Attend writer’s conferences and workshop and network with other writers because they really understand the way your mind thinks better than anyone else. Read, read, read and don’t wait for the “mood to strike”. Just start. Put something down on paper or a word document and just watch how quickly the thoughts will come. Stay persistent in the face of rejection, and remember, the editors are not rejecting you personally. Finish what you start and ask God to help you that whatever you write will pierce someone’s heart with a message that they’ll be thinking about long after they’ve finished reading your book.

There are so many—I enjoy Kim Vogel Sawyer, Julie Lessman, Brandilyn Collins, Deb Raney and Deeanne Gist. I could go on and on. So many good authors are out there and I have stacks of books yet to read
!

I’d like the reader to believe that they can do or be anything that they choose if they involve God to direct their steps. I would like them to sigh and remember the characters long after reading the story. Hopefully, I’ve taken them from their worries of this world to another world for a bit of respite.

I hope to continue writing historical novels, finding good topics about strong women of the West and how I can translate into another new novel that will inspire women of today.

Thanks for sharing with us!

What did you enjoy most about writing this book? Least?

Tell us a little about yourself?

It’s a story about a young Southern belle from GA that goes to visit her aunt in Colorado and winds up going on a trail drive, something very few women did in 1892. Romance, tragedy and faith make up the composition of this story and the heroine must rely on God in the face of difficult times more than she ever has but it makes her stronger

Not believing in myself and my writing ability, little encouragement, other than my brother, also a writer. Thirdly, the demands of being a mother and homemaker. I found very little time for me during those years

What has been the most unexpected challenge you've had with becoming a published author?

Tell us a little about your main character and how you developed him/her?

That would be Crystal Clark. She’s a strong Southern lady with charming manners and a belief in God. Though a Christian, she has her flaws like most of us. She uses her wit to cover for any weakness that she has but must rely on her faith to see her through. It wasn’t hard to develop her character because I believe that we are all a bit like Crystal, struggling within ourselves to be the one in control instead of allowing God.