Bonnie Engstrom: Melanie’s Ghosts

1. Please tell us about yourself. (Family, where you live, etc…)

 

I live in Scottsdale, Arizona on a lake with my psychologist husband of 53 years and our two dogs, one of which is Lola who appears in two of my books. Our daughter and four of our grandchildren live about seven minutes away, so we often have the kids at our house. We moved here when our first grandchild was born over thirteen years ago. I moderate two online prayer chains, one for Forget Me Not Romances authors and one for moms and grandmas. After my morning devotions I immediately check my emails for prayer requests and, hopefully, praises.

 

2. How long have you been writing? What was it that gave you the motivation to pursue publication?

 

I’ve been writing fiction for about twenty years.

 

As a member of the Orange County Christian Writers Fellowship and an attendee at a Mount Hermon Writing Conference I found a lot of encouragement. I started attending American Christian Fiction Writers conferences and was motivated by having two editors request one of my stories. Neither of those panned out, but the seed was sewn. That story will probably be published soon.

 

3. Tell us about your new release.

Melanie’s Ghosts is the seventh book in the Candy Cane Girls Series. Melanie’s husband Larry dies in prison and a lawyer friend suggests she attend a grief group. Robert, the man who sits beside her in the group, is falling in love with her and is very protective – to the point he is suffocating her emotionally. She isn’t ready for male friendship, and definitely not for romance so soon after Larry’s death. Worse than Robert’s attention is the homeless woman who claims to be Larry’s mother and stalks Melanie. What would the woman who abandoned her child thirty years ago want from Melanie? Larry left nothing to Mel except the opulent blue diamond ring he betrothed her with, the ring she keeps twisting on her finger.

Melanie’s special group of friends The Candy Canes are always available for advice and prayer, even the ones who live far away. They are a tight knit group of seven, six of whom grew up together, who wore special red and white striped bathing suits while winning high school swim championships in Newport Beach.

 

4. What inspired you to write this?

My publisher encouraged me to write the story of how Melanie deals with Larry’s arrest. She said readers would want, and need, to know.

 

5. Did you face any challenges writing this book?

Many, tons, a lot! That gives you an idea. I had to put myself in Melanie’s shoes and the homeless woman’s, or at least try. Then there was how to format the book – something I’ve never had trouble with before. I edited the manuscript probably thirty times. I lost track. I even had several beta readers, something I’ve seldom done before. The most helpful beta reader was my biggest fan who has read all my books. She knows my style and the message I was trying to get across. In fact, she wrote the back cover copy so well I used it.

 

6. What is your hope that readers take away from it?

I always hope the message of friendship and faith will be evident in all my writing, but particularly in the Candy Cane series. I mean it’s pretty amazing that seven women could still be close after ten years! Some are married, one has a child, one is a successful model, and Melanie is still a preschool teacher. Go figure. Only faith and commitment to the vow of friendship they took so many years ago can be the reason. Yet, they aren’t a bunch of Pollyannas. Real women with real problems.

 

7. What are you working on now?

I’ve finally finished a book very close to my heart that I started twenty years ago. Although it’s not about my old friend, Ingrid, it’s inspired by her and dedicated posthumously to her. A lot of it takes place in Sweden based on my own memories. It’s about a secret, one that impacts an entire family and their progeny. I’m still toying with the title. It’s being edited right now, and the person editing it thinks it could be the beginning of another series.

8. How can readers find you?

I wish I had a long list of places readers could click on. Although I do have a Facebook author page, I’m not very astute at social media. I think I have one page on Pinterest that my daughter set me up with a while ago, but I don’t even know how to access it. I really do best chatting with readers on email. Below are a few ideas.

Email: bengstrom@hotmail.com (please put BOOK in the subject line so your post doesn’t end up in a cyberspace cloud.)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/bonnieengstromauthor/about/  (Would you believe there are eleven Bonnie Engstroms on FB? Look for the one with my photo.)

Website: http://bonnieengstrom.com (where you can see all the grandchildren)

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2olLW6s (where you can peruse almost all my books – at least most)

 

9. What is something most readers would not know about you?

Wow! Probably lots of things. Here’s a quick list off the top of my feeble brain:

• I asked my husband to marry me. It worked. We just celebrated 53 years – a long time for a shrink to be married!
• One of my biggest fears is running out of gas, so I fill my tank when it gets to ¼.
• My first paid writing gig was when I was only seventeen.
• I served five times as a PTA president. Education is still very close to my heart. I started a parent-cooperative preschool when my eldest son was only two.

 

10. Do you have any questions for the readers?

A few:

• How do you feel about interracial romance and marriage? (That’s in a few of my Candy Cane books.)
• Dogs or cats? (4 dogs, 3 cats are characters in my books.)
• Do you enjoy reading stories whose venues are recognizable to you? I try to use street names and well-known, even historic, places in my stories.
• Would you like to chat? Maybe even be a character in one of my books?

 

                Ghosts

One is laughing down from heaven.
One wears rags.
One is falling in love with her.

Melanie’s faith is shaken.
Her husband Larry is dead. They had only been married a few hours before he was arrested. Will her best friend Natalie be enough? Who will understand about Larry’s crime, his deception and how he died? Surely not her new friend Robert who lost his wife to cancer; no deception there. Just sadness.
Should she believe the homeless old woman who claims to be Larry’s estranged mother, calling herself Melanie’s mother-in-law? Especially when the raggedy old lady stalks her and camps on her doorstep. Why did the woman abandon her son and husband over thirty years ago? Robert gives her empathy and support . . . until his own secret is revealed.
All Melanie has left of Larry is the gorgeous blue diamond ring!
Her special group of friends, the Candy Canes, promise to pray for her. But, is prayer enough? She counts on all of them for support and answers! The love of a dog with her shaggy fur, big eyes and her kisses may have to be enough.
Larry, his homeless mother, and even Robert, all haunt her. Her only normalcy is teaching the adorable three-year-olds in her preschool class. Maybe little Jackson will help put the ghosts to rest.

To order click on this: https://amzn.to/2ncpFrv

 

About Bonnie

This is the seventh book in the Candy Cane Girls series. All are set in Newport Beach, California, with a few scenes set in Scottsdale, Arizona, both places Bonnie calls home.

She and her husband, Dave, have four grandchildren in Arizona a few miles from them.

The other two boys live in Costa Rica – Pura Vida! – with their father who has taught them to surf, skateboard and fish for their dinners.

Bonnie is a long-time member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Christian Writers of the West in Arizona. She is a Pro Member of Romance Writers of America.