Readers, thank you so much for stopping by! Please help me welcome Sarah, a fellow ACFW member, and a lady with a big smile!
Introduce yourself?
Hi, I’m Sarah Hanks. I live in St. Charles, Missouri, which for those unfamiliar is right outside of St. Louis. Something people notice when they meet me is that I smile a lot. Like, this big, cheesy smile. My face is very expressive and if I’m talking to you, I’m probably happy to be having adult conversation. (I’m a mom of nine.)
Tell us about your book?
Braving Strange Waters is a fun, inspirational timeslip.
Stella Lindy is supposed to be soaking up the sunshine with her bridesmaids on a bachelorette cruise to Hawaii. But when she hits the wrong button on the elevator, the glamorous luxury of the modern ship is replaced with the Missouri River steamboat Arabia filled with strangers—and a mysterious doctor informs her it is 1856.Communicating through an antique mailbox, her friends on the cruise try to guide her back home before the steamboat sinks, but Stella finds herself caught in a tangled web between pro-slavery Border Ruffians and anti-slavery Jayhawkers. Standing up for what’s right in the face of peril and uncertainty might mean never making it home.
Braving Strange Waters is a riveting time-slip novel with memorable characters, exciting twists, and rich internal conflict that fans of Gabrielle Meyer will love.
Share one thing that you found difficult or challenging about writing this book?
This was my first time travel novel. My others are all dual timeline/split-time fiction. It’s really not that much of a departure from what I normally write in that there’s a historical thread and a contemporary thread, but in Braving Strange Waters, a character travels from one to the other. The only time travel books I’d read involved the traveler falling in love with someone in the historical time period and having to choose whether to remain there or return to the present time. I knew I wanted to write my novel differently, while still including a dash of romance. The challenge came in learning the reader expectations for a time travel novel and sufficiently fulfilling those while keeping to the fresh premise I envisioned.
Ask the blog reader a quirky question or two?
Q: If you could time travel to any era, which would you travel to and why?
A: Although the Civil War fascinates me, I don’t think I’d like to live through it. Apparently, I do have a thing about steamboats (considering this is the third novel that features them). I think it would be fun to experience a floating palace in their glory days (first class, of course. I have no desire to sleep on the open deck among livestock.)
What was the best vacation you’ve been on? What made it so special?
My favorite vacation would be a hard pick, but perhaps the most special would be the cruise that sparked this novel, simply because it got my wheels turning for Stella’s story. My best friend Rene and I went on a cruise, along with her friend Michelle. The retro décor reminded me of an antebellum steamboat. The antique postal box was so unique, it screamed to be included in a novel. The elevator button showed the floors skipped from 12 to 14 (Where was the 13th floor?) Rene and I took one elevator to the top deck while Michelle took another. Rene and I arrived and waited for Michelle. And waited. And waited. Where was she? What was taking her so long? Obviously, she was on the mysterious 13th floor, which was actually a time portal to an antebellum steamboat. What other explanation could there be? When Michelle did finally arrive (she’d gotten turned around) we chatted about story possibilities. My first time travel novel was in the works.
Share your social media and buy links!
https://a.co/d/iWZX02B < Amazon order link
Thank you, Sarah, for being a guest on the blog and for writing fiction we can all enjoy! Readers, comment below for a chance to win a digital copy of Braving Strange Waters OR an audiobook of Mercy Will Follow Me! We'll choose two winners. Have a great day. :)
