Author Interview: Carmen Peone

Carmen Peone is an award-winning author of Young Adult Adventure and Contemporary Western Romance. Her newest book, Renewed Hope, is available on Amazon and at the bookstore ...And Books, Too! She's currently working on a rodeo queen/cowboy series.

Author Carmen Peone stopped by my blog to do an interview with me today.

Welcome, Carmen!

Thank you for having me on your blog, Grace! It’s an honor.

How did you start writing? What drew you to it?

I began writing after about fifteen years of living on the Colville Indian Reservation in Northeast Washington State. I worked with youth at the time in the Inchelium K-12 school system and started writing young adult adventure stories rich in the Native culture and our Christian faith. The beauty of the traditions drew me in, as did the Spupaleena character that would not leave me alone.

I think it’s cool you incorporate horses into your stories. Do you have any of your own?

I do have horses. We’ve had up to ten on the ranch, but now we are down to two. Cash is my sorrel half-Morgan, half-Quarter Horse gelding, and Buck is my black-and-white Paint. He’s 24 and a gem.

I love your photography and haiku on Facebook. What inspired that?

Thank you so much! While working at the Inchelium school, Japanese University students came and taught my after-school program the traditional 757 structure. I hadn’t thought about posting them on social media until I saw a writer friend post her non-traditional haiku poems. So I decided, why not? I’ve been posting them for almost ten years now.

With your latest book, Renewed Hope, what do you hope readers will take away from it?

I hope readers will take an awareness of domestic violence and abuse and murdered and missing Indigenous people for Renewed Hope and the other two books in the Seven Tine Ranch Romance series. It’s such an epidemic, even in the Christian community. God never wanted us to be abused in any way. His love is powerful. I can only hope and pray women will know that love is never abusive. It’s patient, kind, considerate, selfless. I want women to know how precious they are to God and to know they can get help and get out of the abusive relationships if necessary. 

Are you currently working on another book?

I sure am. My agent is working on selling Book 1 of my rodeo queen/cowboy series and I’m still in the pre-write stages of Book 2. I’m super excited about this series and needed fun, happy stories after writing the Seven Tine Ranch Romance series. Especially because it had personal ties.

Can you share anything about your newest projects? What does the future hold?

I will soon release my first Christmas novella to my newsletter subscribes within the next three months. It is tied to the Seven Tine Ranch Romance series. Here’s a sneak peek...

She’s a dissatisfied guest ranch cook who wants to be the event planner.

He’s a frustrated lawyer who wants a new job . . . on the other side of the state.

Will their careers and a potential move tear them apart?

When job opportunities emulsify, there’s hope for a combined menu.

Mandie Sellars is a single mom who is thankful for the job as a guest ranch cook at Seven Tine. But her dream is event planning. She has one shot to prove she can handle prepping a last-minute Christmas Eve wedding while planning her own.

Hudson Piccolo is a successful attorney in an unfulfilling job for a small-town farm lending firm. His hope rises when a prominent lawyer from a prestigious firm in Seattle offers him a job. The only problem is that once married, he and his fiancée, Mandie Sellars, would have to move from one side of the state to the other, uprooting Mandie’s and her five-year-old daughter's lives.

Can their engagement survive the heat? Find out in this sweet, Western holiday romance novella full of charm, grit, and holiday magic.

There are many great Bible verses and quotes out there, but which of these apply to your journey in life?

My journey wraps around two verses:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

And

"God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day." - Psalms 46:5

Both of these verses remind me to lean on God, that He holds my days in his hands, He is my hope, and He will always be there to help me.

Carmen, have any closing thoughts, writing tips, or advice to share with us?

Please, please, please, take care of you. Follow God’s leading, study your writing craft, and know that He goes before you and will never leave you or forsake you.

Randomly Fun Questions:

What’s some of your most-loved types of flowers?

Daisies, Morning Glory, Day Lilies, Sun Flowers.

How do you like to start your mornings?

I start my morning haiku and pair it with a photo I’ve taken, which wakes me up for my time with the Lord and a cup of tea, then I play a worship song on the piano, and exercise before I head to the computer.

Do you have a favorite holiday? And why?

I love Christmas because it honors the birth of Jesus. I enjoy the music, decoration, and family time.
 

How can my readers best get in contact with you or follow you on social media?

Connect with Carmen on:

Website and Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | BookBub | Goodreads

Thank you for doing this interview with me, Carmen.

Thank you for hosting me!


Many blessings,
- Grace Thorson