Choosing Charity Blog Tour: Author Spotlight & Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Choosing Charity Blog Tour. I will be sharing reviews, an author interview, and hosting a giveaway over the next four days.  But first the book, the last book in a trilogy including Finding Faith and Having Hope. Today, I'm introducing the author and presenting the giveaway. For each of the next three days, I will review all three books in the series, so be sure to check back. My review of Finding Faith can be found here.

CHOOSING CHARITY
by Terri Ferran
Bonneville Books, 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1462110650
LDS Fiction

With a new job, a husband she adores, and a life full of friends, Kit’s life seems pretty much perfect—well, aside from the fact that her husband is in school and way too busy for Kit’s liking. And of course she’s still dealing with the fall-out from her adoptive parents’ divorce.

But when Kit learns that her biological mother wants to meet her, she’s not sure how to react. What good could possibly come from getting to know someone who left you in a dumpster to die?

Exquisitely written and full of heart, Choosing Charity is a can’t-miss read that’s sure to remind you why Christlike love is the greatest virtue of all.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

Terri Ferran grew up in a small Colorado town that offered little in the way of entertainment. She escaped through reading (and later on a Continental Trailways bus), and although the town didn't have a library, she eagerly anticipated the coming of the Bookmobile and would check out stacks of books at a time.

She moved to Utah as a high school senior where she joined the LDS Church and met her husband, Tod. She dreamed of being a writer but took the safe route of becoming a CPA. She finally got brave enough to quit working in the world of numbers to pursue her dream of writing and also to spend more time with her children. Her first book, Finding Faith was published in 2007 and she is excited to be living her dream of writing in real life.

Terri still loves to read, but she can usually be found writing, doing laundry, dishes, running errands, napping, eating chocolate, or exercising (not necessarily in that order).

INTERVIEW

What's the story behind the story for these books? (I love finding out where the books came from and how they developed.)

Finding Faith is a conversion story with romance & humor mixed in. Like Kit, I joined the LDS Church when I was 17 and encountered major culture shock. When they told me I was getting baptized at the stake house, I thought steak house (e.g. Sizzler)!

Having Hope continues Kit’s story as she travels to Romania to serve the orphans there. Many of the Romania experiences came from my daughter’s journal from when she completed her practicum in Bucharest, Romania, working at an orphanage and children’s hospital.

Choosing Charity is the final book in the trilogy. Kit is contacted by her birth mother who abandoned her in a garbage can at birth and the reunion isn’t what Kit hopes for.

All three books deal with adoption issues. Three of my six children are adopted so it is a subject close to my heart.

What led you to choose the setting that you did? (I enjoy learning about great places I've never been to.)

I attended USU so Cache Valley was a natural setting for me to use in Finding Faith. In the Having Hope, my daughter recorded such vivid details in her journal that I felt I had been to Romania. Taking Kit to Ventura, California in Choosing Charity was like traveling back to the area where my husband and I lived for four years.

How did you become a writer?

I’ve always loved writing but considered it an unattainable dream. My fear always overrode my desire to put my work out there. Now I’m much more comfortable in my skin and what’s left of my mind, so it’s easier to show the world my babies—even if someone thinks they’re ugly!

What's the best thing that's happened to you since being published?

It’s amazing to see and hold the finished book for the first time. But the best thing is when readers take the time to write to me and share how the book touched them or inspired them.

If you could go anywhere in the known or unknown universe, where would you go?

I would love to time travel and stop at various historical places. Kind of like Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure; except without Bill and Ted, Genghis Khan, or actually bringing the people back. 

What's the best book you've read recently?

I’ve had to ground myself from reading for a while so I can get some writing done! I read all 35 of the Whitney Award finalists for the 2011 Whitney Awards (from February-April 2012) and that was a real treat for me. A couple in particular really stood out for me: Letters in the Jade Dragon Box by Gale Sears and With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo.

Website: http://www.terriferran.com/

You can purchase at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Cedar Fort. 

GIVEAWAY

Rules:

1. Must be over 13.
2. Please enter only once.
3. Winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.

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