I’m excited to welcome author Valerie Comer today! I met her at a conference last year and loved hearing her story of publication. (Remember our chat by the elevators, Valerie?) I know you’ll love reading her interview as much as I did. And don’t be surprised if you suddenly feel hungry…yummy food descriptions ahead! 🙂
Valerie Comer’s life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie grows much of her own food and is active in the local food movement as well as her church. She only hopes her imaginary friends enjoy their happily ever afters as much as she does hers, gardening and geocaching with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters. Check out her website and blog at http://valeriecomer.com/.
You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or the Romancing America blog.
All right, Valerie, are you ready for the questions? 🙂
Opener Question: What seven words best describe you?
Gardener
Instigator
Loyal
Grandkid-Snuggler (Yes, I’m pretending that’s one word)
Dreamer
Conscientious
Peacemaker
(I’m going to pretend that reader and writer are givens.)
Either/Or Questions:
1) Canadian Rockies or Toronto’s CN Tower?
Canadian Rockies, hands down. I’m a rural girl. Give me a tumbling creek to park my little holiday trailer beside. Let me hike a mountain trail, smell the evergreens, feel a cool breeze on my face, and marvel at majestic glaciers. Let me bask in a glorious sunset. Let me revel in the awesome scenery that God–not man–created.
2) Jump in with both feet or Enjoy the view?
Enjoy the view. I take my time getting involved in things, but once I’m in, I’m SO in. At that stage I’ll put my head down and just keep going and going.
3) Gourmet chef or Chef Boyardee?
May I choose option number three? If you won’t allow that, I’ll have to go with gourmet because we simply don’t do processed food in our home. We preserve food and cook from scratch using local food whenever possible. That includes vegetables from our garden; beef, chicken, and pork from our 40-acre farm; fruit from orchards nearby; honey from our family apiary, and grain from local farms. Yes, I grind wheat and make bread from it. No, I don’t consider that ‘gourmet.’ I consider that the way we do things at our house.
4) Bejeweled and sparkling or Simple and subtle?
Simple and subtle. Bejeweled doesn’t look so great on tomato-stained hands.
5) Indoors or Outdoors?
You’ll be surprised to know the answer to this one is ‘outdoors,’ right? LOL. I’m a fan of nature the way God made it, though He could have made a few less mosquitoes.
6) E-reader or Paperback?
This might be a shock: e-reader. There are several reasons, though. Our house is very small. Even with bookshelves in every room, we’re about out of space. I review a lot and have been so happy to use NetGalley for digital versions. I also don’t have the best eyes, and my Kindle (and even my iPhone) allow me to adjust the font size to something more comfortable. And, lastly, it costs quite a lot more to mail books into Canada, so not all publishers and authors are willing to do so–totally understandably. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy e-reading as much as I do.
7) Chocolate chip pancakes or Blueberry?
If I can have my blueberry pancakes made with huckleberries picked off nearby mountainsides instead, I’ll go with that. I also love to crumble frozen raspberries into my pancakes. Mmmm. But sourdough pancakes are best without anything added, besides maple syrup. Bad Sarah! I’m trying to low-carb it these days and you’re tempting me.
LOL. Sorry, Valerie! I’ve already eaten my breakfast, but I may have to make pancakes for supper tonight. 🙂 Wow, your farm sounds amazing and the food must taste so good, especially since you’ve made it with your own hands. A trip to the Canadian Rockies would be wonderful, especially if you could tag along and share your yummy homegrown produce. How does that sound? 🙂
Thanks so much for being here today! I’ve loved getting to know you better.
Rainbow’s End (4-in-1 collection releasing from Barbour, May 1, 2012):
Join a geocaching adventure in the spectacular Lake of the Ozarks wilderness. Will four young women find the treasure they’re looking for … or something else entirely?
“Topaz Treasure” (first novella in Rainbow’s End) by Valerie Comer
Closet believer Lyssa Quinn steps out of her comfort zone to help coordinate the Rainbow’s End geocaching hunt her church is using as an outreach event. She’s not expecting her former humanities prof–young, handsome, anti-Christian Kirk Kennedy–to be at the Lake of the Ozarks at all, let along in a position to provide sponsorship to the treasure hunt. How can she trust someone who once shredded her best friend’s faith?
Buy Rainbow’s End: (site includes links to 7 different stores/versions) http://valeriecomer.com/rainbows-end
Blog Readers: Let’s Talk…Do you do any gardening? If so, what are your favorite things to grow? Or if you’re like me and don’t have a green thumb, let’s talk pancakes…What’s your favorite thing to mix into your flapjacks?
*ladder photo by Twigy Posts
We built a garden box this year that self-watering. It was a fun project and Jacob is really enjoying helping to take care of it. We are growing onions, carrots, peas, green beans, tomatoes, and watermelon. We are very much looking forward to eating the things we’ve grown. The book sounds like a lot of fun!
Oh yum, your produce sounds so good, Debbie! And self-watering…I’m fascinated. Now if I could find a self-watering and self-weeding garden, sign me up! 🙂
Thank you, Sarah, for the info and intro to Valerie! It’s great to meet her and hear about her book. 🙂
Congrats to Stephanie!
Doesn’t the book sound fun, Karen? I’ve always thought that geo-caching sounds like a great adventure, so why not try it out in fiction form first, right? 🙂
Thanks for the interview, Sarah!
I’m not much of a green thumb either. My outside project for the last couple of years has been a line of pine trees bordering the neighbors. They keep dying, too…very slow process 🙂
LOL, Heidi, We’re trying to do the same exact thing…pine trees bordering our neighbors. My husband has replaced a couple of them at least three times. :/
I don’t grow anything but weeds. Sigh. Actually, I’ve never really tried. I imagine it would be hard to grow much here in Phoenix (although I know people who grow tomatoes and a few other things I don’t really care for…).
And blueberry pancakes rock my world.
Oh goodness, Lindsay, I never thought about how hard it must be to grow things in Arizona. And amen about the blueberry pancakes. 🙂
I almost felt guilty reading this blog post. I have the dreaded “black thumb” — the farthest thing from a green thumb! And pancakes? Well, they have to be gluten-free. My husband has found a great recipe for those.
🙂
Enjoyed meeting Valerie this morning!
Hooray for a good gluten-free pancake recipe, Beth! I’d imagine you had to try a few losers before you found the keeper. 🙂
Fun to get to know you, Valerie! Thanks for the introduction, Sarah!
Thanks, Loree! Happy Monday! 🙂
Yikes, I’m reading this right before lunch and the pancake talk has my tummy growling.
I don’t garden because I live in an apartment, but I do have eight or nine plants that are pretty healthy if I do say so myself. But that may be more because I purposely look for low-maintenance plants. 🙂
Great interview!
I’m all about low-maintenance too, Melissa. Hope you got some good lunch! 🙂
Mmmm… I love chocolate chip pancakes – no syrup. But then I might as well have a chocolate chip cookie instead. 🙂 It was fun meeting Valerie and hearing about her homegrown life in Canada. I’m jealous – I don’t have the energy for gardening at this stage in my life and the few times I’ve tried I discovered I don’t have a green thumb. Maybe I’ll give it another try in a couple of years when my kiddos are older!
LOL, Gabrielle, Chocolate chip pancakes are just an excuse to have cookies for breakfast, right? 🙂
Great interview! I love to put chocolate chips in my pancake. Oh yummy!! My three year old loves them too!!
Amy Campbell
LOL, Amy, My kids will eat anything with chocolate in it. 🙂
I’m a wannabe farmer/gardener. My 4 X 4 raised bed currently has two Beefsteak tomato plants, four green bell pepper plants, two basil plants and a couple of marigolds to keep the bugs at bay. There’s something about growing food that satisfies a deep need.
Hi Susan! Sounds like you’re not a wannabe at all…You’re the real deal! Fresh basil sounds wonderful!
So good to see you here, Valerie (my fellow Canadian)! I remember that chat by the elevators. 🙂 I grew up in Saskatchewan, so I too have a special heart for landscapes and wide open skies. 🙂 Thanks for hosting, Sarah. I always love your interviews!
Hey Melanie! That’s right…You were the one who introduced me to Valerie. Aw, such sweet memories of last year’s conference, my friend.
My favorite thing to grow is lavender. I often steal blooms from it to smell when I will be gone for a while. I also love to grow strawberries. I eat them as they grow so I never have a “bunch” of them. 🙂
Ohhh, I love the smell of lavender! And I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have a problem eating the strawberries as they grow too. 🙂
Oh, the Schrock boys will come in heavy on the pancakes…if they’re chocolate chip. The one place here that makes them is (what else?) our favorite brunch place in the world, LePeep’s. For hungry food furnaces, those pancakes spike their polls through the roof.
Oh yum, Rhonda, LePeep is definitely a fave of mine!
Okay, so now I’m going to need to make pancakes within the next couple days (chocolate chip all the way). Will definitely have to check out Valerie’s book. Thanks, Sarah.
Yum, enjoy those pancakes, Marney! 🙂