Stay tuned for a special giveaway at the end to celebrate the 30th episode of Wisdom from a Wordsmith!
Also celebrating a year of author interviews!
I want to introduce you to one of my favorite Facebook friends, Anne Perreault. Before I ever read any of her books, I could already tell I was going to love her writing. Anne is full of fun, generous of her time and talent to fellow authors, and she is REAL. I love her transparency in social media, and the reality of of her prose.
Anne Perreault was born and raised in Germany. By the time she was 14 years old, her family moved to Dubai, UAE. While living in this exotic place, she traveled extensively to various countries around the world. After graduating from an American boarding school in Austria, she attended college in England, where she met her husband. She graduated from New England College with a degree in biology, and settled down in Connecticut. Anne became a horseback riding instructor as well as a certified therapeutic riding instructor. She and a group of friends started a therapeutic riding center in Bristol, CT. During that time, Anne also received a masters degree in secondary education and began to homeschool her three children. While raising their three children, she began to write an inspirational story primarily for her daughter. Anne, her husband, and two of their grown children now reside in Southern Vermont, where they are building their home. Besides writing, Anne enjoys reading, spending time with her husband, grown children, and grand-dogger.
I originally intended to only write about Anne’s Protect and Serve series, which is near and dear to my heart. Since my husband is a police officer, books that honor law enforcement and all of their sacrifices are special to me! But I ended up starting her lovely novel, Journey to Joy as well — and it is a beauty!
I absolutely adore the characters from Journey to Joy. The first chapter draws you right into the squalor of an 1837 inn and the abuse Joy has been receiving as a virtual slave to the inn’s owner.
Here is what another author has said about the novel: “As an author, I read other books for enjoyment and learning. This is my first romance novel. Journey to Joy reminds me of one of my favorite stories, Pride and Prejudice. I knew the the girl and her rescuer would get together, but how would the plot travel to get there. Compassion, misunderstandings, dedication, and inner secrets are woven into the plot to keep your interest to read another chapter before you pause for the day. Anne Perreault has the ability to keep your attention all the way through the book with her characters while including many interesting facts for that time period, like waxed paper as a wrapping. Her knowledge of horses is evident in her description of those scenes. I had vivid images in my brain as she took me on a journey to Joy.
Can you get a better compliment than that your book reminds someone of Pride and Prejudice?
The Protect and Serve series begins with The Gift and is followed by The Blessing. Here is a sampling of what readers are saying about them:
“The story and characters drew me in and I fell in love with them. They were so real and vulnerable especially with each other right from the start. They helped each other heal from their past hurts and deepened their relationship with not only each other but with their heavenly Father. Letting go of the past is hard, especially forgiving yourself as Shane found out with the help of Dakota. Come on this wonderful adventure and see how God worked in their lives and as wonderful lines from the book says, “Remember to keep that line open to Christ. He’ll guide you through faith.” -Lorel Kline-
“..Not only do I think this story is a wonderful one but the strength of the Christian element, without it feeling forced, is perfect. The main characters, Shane and Dakota, are growing in their faith, despite their fears and failures. They have learned to turn to God in times when they are feeling weak, lost, and afraid.
But then again, sometimes, holding onto that faith that God has everything in control is oh so hard and this book takes both Shane and Dakota (and the readers!) on an up and down journey of faith.
Dakota and Shane love each other. But is that enough? Dakota has fear. Shane has anger. Neither of them are ready to fully let go.” – Ping –
Readers are extremely eager for book 3 in the series, so I hope Anne’s fingers are merrily typing up more of Shane and Dakota’s story as I blog!
And now I will welcome Anne to Wisdom from a Wordsmith!
Hello Anne! It is great to have you with us! What are some aspects of your childhood that inspired your love for writing?
I suppose I was always a storyteller. From an early age on, I remember making up stories in my head and entertaining myself with them. We would be driving somewhere, and I’d be in my pretend world. My mother read to me at night, and I loved books. When I was able to read myself, books became my reality. I could curl up with a good novel for days and not come out of my room. Unfortunately, my mother found that unacceptable. She encouraged me to play with friends. I have forgiven her for that (said with tongue in cheek). If you are someone who would rather read than interact with people, you understand what I mean.
Books were something safe, in my mind. I knew that at the end of the story, the issue would be resolved, and the characters could go onto the next adventure. Books were predictable that way and that was something I desperately needed in my life.
During my teenage years, I discovered that I could make people laugh. I would entertain my parents’ guests with silly skits, and had them rolling on the floor with laughter. I found that to be intoxicating. Acting didn’t appeal to me, but comedy did. My father even mentioned that he could see me as a comedian on stage. I decided to pursue other avenues of entertainment.
My love of books and the joy of entertaining has stayed with me. I want to make my books fun, the characters enjoyable, and the story amusing. But most of all, I want my readers to have a deep sense of God when they dive into the pages of my books.
What is something interesting about you that readers might not know?
I like to encourage people. I realized recently that love to encourage one of my readers or a fellow author. I also love to pray for people. We all face difficulties in this life. I believe that with prayer and encouragement, a lot of our problems become less intense. I’ve felt the power of people praying for me.
I also never wanted to write a book. I love to read a book but writing is a different story. My first language is German, and when I moved to Dubai as a teenager, I attended a British school. Even though I loved to write at that time, I quickly discovered that even my best story came back dripping in red ink. I put writing books as a living out of my mind. Later on, in college, my ability to write and write long essays got me in trouble in one of my upper level psychology class. We were about to get our take-home final exam and the professor looked at me and said, “I will only accept ten pages. If anyone goes beyond ten pages, I’ll dock you in points.” It was meant for me. I ended up curbing my enthusiasm for the class and handed him fifteen pages. He groaned and still gave me that A.
I have discovered that even though it may not have been in my plan to write, God was pruning me, preparing me for this adventure. Writing may not be MY strength, but through Christ I can do anything, and He has provided me with the ability to write, and to do it well. And he’s given me an amazing editor to help me along the way.
Tell me about your latest project.
Ah… my latest project is rather exciting.
I am about to finish the first last book in my series set in Boston. The series is called To Protect and Serve, and I am super stoked with this book. The way I write a series is usually to have a continuing story. Book 2 left… well, there are many answers that need to be addressed. This book, whose title I will keep a secret for now, has been really difficult to write – no surprise there. The characters were unusually eager to comply, but the plot gave me some hours of robbed sleep. I wanted to go one way, but the story drew me another. I finally asked some of my dear friends and authors, as well as my trusted beta team, and I settled on going the direction I felt would best suit the characters. Those characters were very excited about my decision and have been charming and compliant. I would, of course, expect nothing else from the cast of this series.
I expect it to be released in June, which makes my timeline exceedingly tight. But I plan to release four books this year. That’s a very aggressive publishing schedule
What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Do some of the research ahead of time. Try not to jump in blind. There is sooooo much to this business, and it will take a long time for you to understand the many aspects of it. Oh, that’s another thing. If you don’t know it, it’s okay. You’ll learn it. I didn’t know everything when I started out. I had barely scratched the tip of the iceberg. But it was enough for me to start.
Don’t go alone. Find other authors who inspire you, and study their work, what they do, allow them to mentor you – if they are willing. If they aren’t, other authors definitely are. Find a community where you are able to be yourself. This job is all consuming – if you let it. You will find yourself overwhelmed from time to time – more often in the beginning. Allow others to come around you and support you when you are having a bad day.
Write. Don’t worry about publishing just W.R.I.T.E. You will know when it’s time to publish. I wrote and wrote for 3 years before I started to consider publishing. I amassed quite an arsenal of stories that will keep me publishing for a very, very, very long time.
Thanks for the wonderful advice, Anne! It has been great getting to know you better! I look forward to reading many more of your books. Thanks for using your writing gifts for God’s glory!
You can find Anne on Facebook on her author page: https://www.facebook.com/anne.perreault.92 as well as a group she uses as a ministry to authors and readers: Inspirational Reads and Authors https://www.facebook.com/groups/3392874894063141
Her Amazon page is: https://www.amazon.com/Anne-Perreault/e/B019M0QAO8/
And check out Anne’s absolutely gorgeous webpage: https://intothelightfiction.weebly.com/
To win a free eBook of one of Anne’s novels, answer this question by leaving a comment on this blog post:
Tell about a character you love from a novel or movie who protected and served. What made that character special?
The GIVEAWAY ends Friday, June 17th , 2022!
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