Guest Post and Giveaway with Shelley Shapard Gray

United By Books is please to let Shelley Shepard Gray take over the blog today ..........

One of my favorite things about A Christmas for Katie is that the heroine is a librarian. See, little Katie Weaver, one of the main characters in this novella, has a fondness for books and libraries and librarians. That’s just like me!

Did you ever visit the library growing up?

Libraries have always been special to me. I remember my first neighborhood library fondly. The children’s section was in a trailer next to a very old building where the main library was housed. That trailer was crowded and packed with books-and I thought it was the most amazing place ever. I still recall taking home The Little Matchmaker and reading it over and over again. Eventually, my mother got me a little book bag to carry my books back and forth.

Years later, they tore down the old building and carted off that trailer and built a beautiful new library. In high school, I’d hang out there with my girlfriends. Supposedly, we were studying…but usually we were looking at all of the old paperback romances in the back aisle. That’s where I used to check out old Barbara Cartland regencies four and five at a time.

In college, Boulder’s library next to the park became a haven for me. I read all of Agatha Christie’s books, then moved onto several more mysteries series while studying English literature in college. When I got my first teaching job in Mesa, AZ, I had no extra money, so that city’s library became a favorite spot, too.

Nowadays, I have to admit to being a little impatient for library books. I read a lot, and I read fairly fast, so it’s far easier to order a new book on my Kindle than it is to drive over to the library. But I still find myself in our town’s library several times a year, supposedly doing research…but more than likely sitting back in the stacks, skimming through stacks of novels and cookbooks.

I hope you will enjoy A Christmas for Katie, and Miss Donovan’s romance, too. I really enjoyed setting most of a novel in a place where I have so many happy memories.

Do you have a favorite library memory?  

I grew up in Houston, Texas, went to Colorado for college, and after living in Arizona, Dallas, and Denver, we moved to southern Ohio about ten years ago.

I’ve always thought of myself as a very hard worker, but not ‘great’ at anything. I’ve obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree…but I never was a gifted student. I took years of ballet and dance, but I never was anywhere near the star of any recital. I love to cook, but I’m certainly not close to being gourmet…and finally I love to write books, but I’ve certainly read far better authors.
Maybe you are a little bit like me. I’ve been married for almost twenty years and have raised two kids. I try to exercise but really should put on my tennis shoes a whole lot more. I’m not a great housekeeper, I hate to drive in the snow, and I don’t think I’ve ever won a Monopoly game. However, I am the best wife and mother I know how to be.
Isn’t it wonderful to know that in God’s eyes that is okay? That from His point of view, we are all exceptional? I treasure that knowledge and am always so thankful for my faith. His faith in me makes me stand a little straighter, smile a little bit more, and be so very grateful for every gift He’s given me.
I started writing about the Amish because their way of life appealed to me. I wanted to write stories about regular. likeable people in extraordinary situations-and who just happened to be Amish.
Getting the opportunity to write Inspirational novels is truly gratifying. With every book, I feel my faith grows stronger. And that makes me feel very special indeed.

    

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