A collision of flesh and spirit! Deacon Sugarfoot Collins takes a vow of celibacy after being named in an embarrassing scandal. Believing he’ll never find love, he resigns himself to a life of loneliness. But then, the unexpected happens. The woman of his dreams is hiding in plain sight. She’s the heiress to a substantial fortune and quite out of his class. Could he possibly have a chance with her?
Will Deacon get his happily ever after? To find out, Carol Summerville, author of God’s Sacred Feast has dropped in to chat about this romance. Carol, I have to admit that I love a good romance. What inspired you to bring this romance to life?
“God’s Sacred Feast” is the second book in the series, “Chronicles of the Hamlet of Sipsey.” The series began with an incident that happened in my hometown when I was a child. From that beginning, the characters began to emerge and tell their stories.
So, it’s fair to say that you’ve used events from your own life when building this world?
Wow, yes! Throughout the book, stories of people, places, and events are remembered.
I love that you’ve used the power of the people and events from your own life to build the foundation for this series. How did the characters emerge and develop alongside this foundation?
The characters are composites of people I’ve known all my life.
What did you learn by bringing these composites to life?
After the positive response of the first book, the biggest challenge for the second book was getting it done.
But you did indeed get it done. As you look back on this project now, what message was important to get done and share with your readers?
I want readers to see the interconnection of family, friends, faith, and the challenges they face in a small town African-American community.
The African-American culture plays a huge role in this book, and we’d really be remiss if we didn’t chat more about it. For those who aren’t aware, can you tell us a little more about the genre of African-American Christian fiction that you explore in this book?
It is a genre of writing that focuses on the faith of the African-American community. Our communities, especially in the south, are anchored by the church. But so much drama goes on in Black churches that somebody had to create the genre to tell the stories.
There’s always another story to tell, and I’m glad to see you’re raising to the challenge. And what a challenge it is! So, what story are you currently working on that answers the challenge? What can readers expect to see soon?
I’ve just finished a Christmas novella, “A Christmas Visitor to the Old South.” It’s not a part of the series. I’m currently working on the fourth novel in the series.
A litle Christmas cheer is never amiss. With this novel, your Christmas novella, and another one on the go, I’m guessing you’re a fired up and energetic writer.
Writing absolutely energizes me. It’s my passion, the thing I’ve always wanted to do, and it literally gets me up in the morning. I’m living my dream.
That’s fantastic! Tell us a little more about how living your dream works in everyday life. Where do your thoughts tend to rest when you’re in the midst of a story?
I fall in love with my characters so I’m always thinking about them. I listen to music and from that, I create scenes. My characters speak to me and tell me what’s happening with them. Sometimes I have to go back and rewrite a scene because the character wants to go in another direction.
How has your own direction and voice as an author developed as you’ve kept completing writing projects?
At first, I was just writing what I thought were well-formed sentences and paragraphs. In a writing class, my teacher said, “Something’s got to happen in the story for it to pop.” That was the best advice anybody ever gave me.
Has this idea of getting something to ‘pop’ lead to you building an author brand?
I’m just starting to think about branding. I’d like to expand my writing into local theater, but it’s just a thought right now.
Local theatre, now that’s an awesome way to get your writing to pop! Carol, I think it’s time that I revisited your work, to find those pops, so we’ll wrap our chat up for today, and hopefully, we can catch up soon to see the next work pop off the page.
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Excited to read the book we discussed today? Find it here on Amazon: ‘God’s Sacred Feast ( ASIN: B079SDC55D )‘.
Want to find out more about Carol Summerville? Connect here!