Although fiction writing is her real love, she’s had several non-fiction pieces published in anthologies—three in Chicken Soup for the Soul. She has two grown children and an “adopted” family. California born and raised, she recently took a step of faith with her real-life hero and relocated to Tennessee.

INTERVIEW:

How long have you been writing? How many books or series have you published?

I’ve been writing seriously since 2008, although it was ten years before I received my first book contract. I have 16 books published–six in the Apple Hill series (three novels and three novellas); seven in the Bedford County series (three novels, four novellas); two in the Norfolk Southern Series (one novella that I’m giving away to my newsletter subscribers) with Book 2 scheduled to release in April.

What inspired you to write? How does your faith impact your writing?

The Lord put writing on my heart when I was in middle school, and I have been writing off and on since that time. But it wasn’t until I went through a very difficult season (years, really) that He shaped my heart and gave me the depth of emotion and faith that I could produce anything worthy of that calling. I cannot write anything without weaving my faith through the words. I believe the Holy Spirit does the writing, and I am merely the typist.

Do you have a favorite author or book? Why is that your favorite?

I have two authors who have impacted me: Kristin Hannah and Jodi Picoult. They both write deeply moving stories that make me want to write better. However, my favorite book is an old one–To Kill a Mockingbird, which I first read in high school. It could be that I was drawn to it because it was the first Southern fiction work I’d ever read (which I love), and the story opened my eyes to cruel injustice.

What is your favorite genre to read/write?

My favorite genre to read and write is Southern fiction, but I also love to read historical fiction, preferably with an element of romance. It makes everything just a bit sweeter.

What do you like most about what you do? What are your biggest challenges?

I enjoy creating characters and imagining their stories long before I ever put anything in writing. My biggest challenge is marketing. I just want to write. Oh, and coming up with good titles is definitely a struggle for me.

Do you have a favorite character in your most recent release?

That’s a hard one. I fall in love with all my characters. In my latest release, Train-Wrecked Hearts, Sarah Beth McAllister is the heroine, and I like her devotion to her daughter and mother. But I also love her three-year-old daughter, Gracie Lynn.

What are you working on now? What can we expect in the future? 

I am finishing up Book 2 in my Norfolk Southern Series. The working title is Tracks of the Heart, but I’m open to suggestions.

Do you have any fun facts to mention? (what is your go-to snack when writing/reading? Daily habits…)

I’m one of those boring writers who doesn’t eat while I work. I’ll drink one cup of coffee while I write, and then switch to herbal tea. But not tea from a bag–I get loose-leaf tea from Nashville Tea Company (it’s worth the price). My favorite right now is Winter Solstice, but I’m also partial to Blue Bird and Pink Lady. As for daily habits, my husband and I get up very early (4:00-4:30) and start every day with an hour-long Bible study/prayer time, followed by a workout in our garage gym. I try to be at my computer by 8:00. Morning is my most productive time.

What would you like to say to readers? (What do you hope readers take-away from your book?)

I pray every each of you who reads my novels will be able to connect with the spiritual messages woven throughout. My characters are usually dealing with something I’m struggling with when I am writing it, so it’s very personal to me.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
270 pages
Released May 12, 2025
CrossRoads Publishing
Available in Kindle and Paperback

Book Blurb:

After eight years away, Sarah Beth McAllister returns to Rossville, Georgia with nothing but a suitcase full of regret, a four-year-old daughter, and a prayer that her mama will take her back in. Estranged and pride-worn, Sarah Beth knows coming home means facing the mess she made. And the mother who warned her about men like the one who left her in ruins.
But Rossville isn’t the town she left behind. Mama’s taken to bed, the family-run motel is hanging on by a thread, and some smooth-talking stranger has wedged himself smack dab in the middle of the mess.
Aaron Cooper rides the rails, just like his daddy and granddaddy before him. But with the railroad fading and a new dream rising, he’s set his sights on the rundown motel next door. The land it sits on? Prime real estate—if he can just outlast the sharp-tongued matriarch who refuses to sell. But when her equally headstrong daughter returns home with a wide-eyed little girl, a needy puppy, and secrets of her own, Aaron’s smooth plan goes off track. And so does his heart.
As past mistakes bubble to the surface and a long-buried mystery starts to unravel, Sarah Beth and Aaron will have to decide if the wreckage between them can be cleared—or if some hearts are better left on the tracks.
Warm, witty, and rich with Southern soul, Train Wrecked Hearts is a story of forgiveness, second chances, and the beauty of building something new from the pieces of the past.