We're two days away from one of the most important days of the year. My Wife's birthday. :-) Her Valentine's Day has always been special. Unlike some folks who "sadly" call it Single Awareness Day (SAD). Yet, if you really dig into the history of the holiday, you'll quickly realize that the greeting card companies and chocolatiers have reshaped the holiday into a business venture of their own choosing. If you truly celebrated the day in its original context, being single just may be the way to go!Coming to us from a place that probably celebrates the Christmas season longer than we do here in the south because of all the snow is our next author. Jesse Palmer, of Florida Gator, the NFL, The Bachelor, and ESPN fame, would be proud of our next guest, singing "Oh, Canada!" and waving the red Maple Leaf. Let us welcome our next guest to the Florida front porch, where a balmy eighty degrees and thunderstorms in the forecast makes us break out the sweet tea instead of hot coffee.
Welcome, Valerie Comer! Valerie, as a tradition here on ABTS, we ask every guest to pretend they are boarding an elevator, and Jimmy Fallon walks up with a microphone in his hand and says to you, “Hi, I’m Jimmy Fallon, and I’m looking for average Joes & Janes with not-so-average lives to interview for my next new show segment. And you’re name is?" Ding! The elevator door closes. The cameraman is in your face. You now have twelve floors until you reach the lobby. In fifty words or less, who is Valerie Comer?
Hi, everyone! I’m a wife of one, mother of two, and
grandmother of four who lives on our family farm in southeastern British
Columbia, Canada. I’m also a follower of Jesus who has called me to write
romance to reflect the reckless love He has so lavishly poured upon me.
Before you ever got a notion of
becoming a writer/author, how old were you, and what were you doing in that
time of your life?
The
notion niggled at the back of my mind on and off for years, but I didn’t know
how to go about learning the ins and outs of storytelling. I was also a busy
mom who somehow thought it was selfish to take time for myself in an endeavor
that would go nowhere. So…I did nothing (except read) until I was 42. We’d
recently moved, and I’d landed a job running a small-town flooring shop. Even
though we had more business than the two boss guys (aka installers) could keep
up with, there were many quiet hours every day in the shop.
I
realized it was “do or die” time for my vague dream. By now the internet had
been invented, with how-to-write articles and writing forums and all. I wrote
my first 100K fantasy novel longhand and typed it into the computer at home on
the weekends. I’ve never read the whole thing again since then, but I learned
two very important things from the process. I did, in fact, have enough "sticktoitiveness" to complete a ginormous, year-long project… and I needed to
learn how to plot.
Eleven
years and eleven novels later, I’d switched to writing Christian contemporary
romance (CCR), and my bosses retired. I’d finaled in some contests and landed
one publishing deal (a novella for Barbour, which released in 2012). My husband
and I agreed that going full-time in writing was worth a shot… and I’m so
thankful I had the opportunity just as indie publishing became a thing. I now
have more than 30 novels published. It’s been a delight to work from home and
earn a better income than back when I had a day job!
That is awesome. I like stories about people who never give up on a dream, work hard at it, find some success (whatever success looks like to them), and get to enjoy it for the rest of their lives.
If you had your life to live over again, besides being an author (which we guess would be your obvious answer), what profession would you choose?
I’d have become an architect focusing on environmentally
responsible housing and green communities. I sketched the inspirations for an
addition to the church we attended in the early '90s and have designed new kitchens
for two houses we’ve owned. I also have stacks and stacks of drawings for
complete houses I’ve dreamt up over the years, so this has definitely been a
hobby/dream for me.
These days, I satisfy myself sketching the houses my
characters live in, which was especially fun for my first series, the Farm
Fresh Romance series, where the characters built sustainable structures: a
straw bale house, a log home, a timber-framed home, and a bachelor pad within a
round grain storage bin! I write romance, so the bachelor didn’t remain that
way…
Sounds a little like The Three Little Pigs story...but in this version, the wolf marries one of them. Ha!
Besides the usual things authors
face, has there been an unusual event that changed your perspective about being
an author?
I
began writing full-time in 2013 and soon discovered I have a Type A
personality. Hobbies drifted away, partly from vision issues. Work was never
done, but I definitely made time for a daily walk and for family, especially those
growing, delightful grandgirls! However, I began experiencing health issues
that my doctor couldn’t diagnose. Long story with many ups, downs, and false
starts, but on October 27, 2017, I suffered a near-fatal heart attack that
netted me a ride in an air ambulance, several days in cardiac intensive care,
two lovely stents, and an adjusted outlook on life.
God
spared me. My job here is not yet done (see above re: Type A). My husband and
family still need me. My church needs me. And readers need me… or do they? Yes,
I still believe that I am called to write. I am still writing and releasing
five 55K novels a year, but my focus has changed… at least when I pause to
remember.
As an author, I write primarily as a response to God’s love
for me. I imagine characters and scenarios then experience God’s loving hand
guiding their lives through recalled scripture, through study, and through
contemporary worship songs. These stories are my gift back to God in
thankfulness for His gifts to me.
That makes me sound so spiritual! I’m really not.
Perspective is always a struggle. I’m just thankful to have this second chance
to get my priorities aligned and live a thankful, joy-filled life.
Do you ever receive
negative reviews from readers? If so, how do you respond when you see them?
Reading reviews… now that’s an emotional topic! I read the
first ten or so after a new release — it’s sort of like following through after
hitting a ball and analyzing its trajectory. Once it seems like it’s going the
right direction, I mostly stop looking.
I never respond TO a negative review, though I might whine
to trusted author friends. Since positive reviews far outweigh the negative
ones, I am able to shrug them off. In fact, I see them as a sign that this
particular story has reached beyond my primary audience, that it’s loose “in
the wild” so to speak. Then out comes my hashtag for the situation: #notmytargetaudience
As a writer, if you
had one thing you would do over again, what would it be?
I’d have swallowed my pride and my fears and gone indie
sooner. When the indie movement was chugging out of the station, I’d just
landed a contract for one novella with Barbour. I’m not proud to say I felt
validated and certain my path was the one of greater honor. Soon I’d have a
three-book deal, then another, and I’d be a household name.
It didn’t work out that way. While the validation of that
one contract was nice, it didn’t make me a better person. You could argue it
made me a worse one (LOL). I then signed a contract with a small start-up
publisher, which released the first two novels in my Farm Fresh Romance series
to a resounding yawn. When the rights reverted in the summer of 2014, I jumped
into indie publishing with both feet and have never looked back.
God has been so
good to me through indie publishing. There’s simply no lure to the traditional
side anymore. Now it’s all between God, my readers, and me. I’m thankful.
Tell us about what
project you are currently working on.
I’m currently wrapping up the sixth novel in my Saddle
Springs Romance series, The Cowboy’s Reluctant Bride, which is expected to
release in April.
I see the logline for this book is: Sign his baby's
adoption papers? Not a chance! This reformed cowboy has other plans for his
former girlfriend's unexpected pregnancy, but she's holding a secret in
reserve.
Those secrets! In a scenario like that, very few secrets are unveiled with glee. Which, of course, makes for a better story, right? Is there anything else you want to say about your current projects?
I’m generally alternating between two series. Since the fall
of 2018, that’s been Saddle Springs Romance and Urban Farm Fresh Romance. I’m
sad to say goodbye to these cowboys, but they’ve been so good to me that a new
cowboy series will begin releasing later in 2020. Yay!
Tell us about your
writing day. How do you go about writing?
Writing has been my day job for the past seven years, and
I’ve learned to mesh it with my husband’s four-on-four-off day job. While he’s
working, my goal is a chapter every morning, or about 2500 words. In the
afternoons or on his days off, I’ll study and market. I take vacation days when
he does.
I write in my recliner in the living room. My computer
swings out from the wall and my keyboard and trackpad sit on a lap desk, so
everything is at the perfect height! I can easily lift the monitor and place my
lap desk on a tall stand to create a standing desk, which I try to do for at
least a half hour a day. Before my 2017 heart attack, I also dictated novels as
I walked along my country road. I’m starting to get back into that now
(finally). Writing is sedentary work, and we need to fight it!
The second part of your question intrigues me. How do I go
about writing? I tried hard but could not make my brain plot novels in advance.
I was terrified to start writing without detailed direction, certain I’d
meander all over the place in search of the story. That’s not what happens.
I begin doodling a new series by creating the story world in
detail, including maps and house plans. As I draw, I think about the characters
who’ll interact here, mulling over intriguing themes and issues and tropes. I
interview the characters to discover their backgrounds, their love languages,
and their Myers-Briggs personalities.
When I’ve delved into those areas as much as I can, I simply
start writing. With more than thirty published stories, the romance arc is
embedded somewhere in my brain, rarely requiring much conscious thought. I’m
often past the midpoint before the details of the black moment appear hazily on
the horizon. I back up and build in some hints then see how the story wraps up.
The story is mostly complete at this point with only minor revisions required.
Why do you live where you live?
Rural
British Columbia, Canada, is the perfect place for us. We live in a wide valley
surrounded by farms, orchards, and vineyards. It’s stunningly beautiful and a
cornucopia of fresh produce. Best of all, we’re surrounded by nature. We love
to haul our travel trailer up a mountain road and park by a tumbling creek for
a few days of fishing, or by a pristine lake to explore by kayak. Occasional
city visits are great, but being in tune with nature is vital to my well-being!
The only way it could be better would be if the wild Pacific coast were visible
out my window, but this is where hubby’s job is… and where the grandgirls are.
We know “Readers are leaders, and
leaders are readers.” Is there a book you’ve read in the past five years or so that
has helped you become a better you? If so, which one was it, and how did it
affect your life?
I’ve
been thrilled to mentor my pastor through writing and publishing his first
book, and I must say reading it’s definitely impacted me. It’s called Growing Good Influence: 10 Personal Barriers
Ordinary People Overcome to Cultivate Extraordinary Influence by Tom
Greentree. It’s a great reminder that everyone influences those around them,
while offering godly advice on setting ourselves up to be a positive influence
rather than a negative or neutral one.
In our Facebook-ranting, Twitterverse-slamming, Snapchat-slandering world we live in, it seems being a positive influence is a dying art. Good for him! We'll have to check that one out.
What Bible scripture has impacted
your life the most, and why?
My
life verse is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV): “Make it your ambition to lead a
quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as
we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that
you will not be dependent on anybody.”
This
verse reminds me that it is good and honorable to choose a simple life out of
the limelight. I don’t need to be a famous author or international speaker or
renowned leader. Some are called to those things, and that’s great. But it’s
just as honorable to live quietly, tending my garden, playing with my
grandgirls, enjoying God’s beautiful nature, and writing my stories.
I often feel we authors get lured by all the glitz and glamour, but every time I'm standing line at the checkout counter of the our local supermarket, reading the headlines of the "rich and famous" and how their lives are always in some stage of a relationship-ending shambles and never-ending court proceedings, I like my "little life" more and more. :-)
Is
there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about you, or anything
we didn’t cover?
I’m
in constant awe that I’m made in the likeness of God. He is the ultimate
Creator, but He’s given that ability to humans, too, so I can be a creator of
worlds and people like my Father. Something from nothing. How cool is that?!?!
Readers:
thank you. You pay hard-earned money to access my imagination (and that of
other writers). I don’t take that for granted. I’m so grateful to you.
Valerie, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to give our readers a glimpse into the author behind the stories.
Dear Readers, on that note about spending your head-earned money (of which I wholeheartedly agree), if you swish to find out more about Valerie and her writing, you can find her here:
Kevin
“FANS OF FRANK PERETTI WILL ENJOY THE LETTERS, A TENDER, SUSPENSEFUL, THOUGHT-PROVOKING PAGE-TURNER.”
~ Janet Grunst, author of Selah Award winner, A Heart Set Free & 2019 Christian Indie Award winner, A Heart for Freedom
Thanks for having me, Kevin :)
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