Fools Rush In

What do you get when you take an Italian family that is more Italian than the mafia and more fun than the best party you ever attended and mix in a Texas cowboy and his country family? You get one of the most fun books you’ll read for a while. The Rossi’s are all Italian from the Pizza making Uncle Laz to Aunt Rosa’s homemade pasta. You’ll fall in love with this larger than life family and Bella, who runs a wedding facility. Then enters a young bride and groom who want a cowboy wedding and sends Bella into a frenzy to find the right DJ. Enter Dwayne Neeley from Splendor. The sparks fly between these two as they work together to pull off a wedding as Texas as the Alamo. Janice has created fun-loving characters who grab your heart and take you on a wild ride that will leave you laughing with tears in your eyes. The setting of Galveston is perfect for mix of Italy and Texas. It’s fun, it’s fresh, and it’s filled with characters and scenery that will make you feel like you are right in the middle of it all. This is one wedding you won’t soon forget. Dino and Frank are the center of a controversy between Aunt Rosa and Uncle Laz. Which one is your favorite and what is your favorite song by Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra?

Interview with Amber "TIff" Stockton

Tiffany Amber Stockton is an author, online marketing consultant, and web site designer who lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart, and their baby daughter in Colorado. They also have a vivacious Border Collie mix named Roxie. Amber has sold eight books to Barbour Publishing with more on the horizon. Other writing credits include five short stories for Romancing the Christian Heart, and contributions to Grit for the Oyster and 101 Ways to Romance Your Marriage. Her goal in writing is to convey the message that God is always present, even during the most difficult circumstances. Read more about her at her web site: www.amberstockton.com.

1. How has being published changed your life?

It has given me a new leash on life, so to speak. Now that I’ve sold and am starting to establish readers, I’m receiving feedback on how my books have touched their lives. It’s an amazing testimony to read how the words I’ve written have spoken to someone who has read them. God has given me this gift, and I’m thrilled beyond words to have the opportunity to use this gift to His glory.

2. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

Well, that all depends. If you’re asking why I write historical fiction, it’s because I’ve always been fascinated by history and the people who have gone before us. But history class bored me to tears. So, I love telling those stories through the eyes of people who lived it. Bringing it alive to my readers and perhaps helping them gain a better appreciation or understanding is a welcome challenge.

Now, if you ask why I write romance, that’s because I enjoy the process of taking God’s love for us and turning into a ‘happily ever after’ story. If you believe in God and His promises, you know that no matter how bad things get, there is hope, and things will get better. Romance, for me, allows me to demonstrate that hope. I depict characters enduring what might appear to be impossible situations. By going through them and rising above them, especially in regard to relationships, the characters glimpse that hope and experience the happy ending.

3. Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

Oh, that’s easy. July 28, 2007 when I married the love of my life, Stuart. The next is the day we celebrated the birth of our first child. We are proud parents to an 8-month-old little girl, and life is fantastic. The next happiest day would be when I sold my first book in December of 2006.

4. What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

Trust. The past few months have been a bit rough with the economy and seeing a lot of my design business decline. People are cutting everywhere they can, and a web site is an expense that can wait for most. Plus, income as an author is sporadic. But, regardless, God always provides, even if it’s just a few extra dollars to get us through the next day. I have a tendency to be concerned about paying bills, but God is telling me to trust Him. He’s got it all under control and He will provide. My security is not in my job. It’s in Him. And it’s a daily process for me.

Thank you, Amber, for a glimpse into your life. I've enjoyed all of your books and know your readers will be thrilled with Copper and Candles and your newest one, Patterns and Progress.

Copper and Candles

From the moment Felicity Chambers and Brandt Dalton run into each other literally and wind up with the wrong lunch pails, their lives become a collision course that will bring them both to a new understanding of who they are. Felicity is the daughter of a wealthy family and is involved in charity work that takes her into a candle factory as a lowly worker. She is helping Lucy Gibson, a widow expecting a child and unable to work, and Felicity is determined that Lucy will not lose any wages because of her health. Brandt is working in one of his father’s factories as a regular laborer so that he can learn the business from the bottom up. Since neither one knows the other’s background, the growing attraction between these two reveals the attitudes of the wealthy toward the working class in 1879’s Detroit. Author Amber Stockton has done a wonderful job of showing the contrast between the two levels of society as well as giving us two characters who love the Lord and want to do what is best for the people with whom they come into contact in the factories. Amber weaves a story fraught with deception but filled with love and concern for others. When the deception drives Felicity and Brandt apart, God shows once again how bad things work for good when people follow His will and are obedient to His calling.