Today’s special guest is Charlotte Hubbard to chat with me about her new Amish inspirational novel, Christmas Comes to Morning Star.
During her virtual book tour, Charlotte will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. She’s also going to select a female reader’s name to include in her upcoming book, Hidden Away at Promise Lodge. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
In 1983, Charlotte Hubbard sold her first story to True Story. She wrote around 70 of those confession stories, and she’s sold more than 50 books to traditional or online publishers. A longtime resident of Missouri, she’s currently writing Amish romances set in imaginary Missouri towns for Kensington. She now lives in Omaha, NE with her husband of 40+ years and their Border collie, Vera.
Please tell us about your current release.
Christmas Comes to Morning Star is the 3rd book in the Maidels of Morning Star series, and it’s a double romance featuring twins, Molly and Marietta Helfing, who have a noodle making business. As their relationships with Pete, a happy-go-lucky carpenter, and Glenn, (who has lost his wife, his mother, and loses his home in a fire) develop, we see the way these four characters fall more deeply in love despite the fact that Marietta firmly believes no man would ever want “damaged goods” now that cancer has claimed her breasts—and Molly has sworn to remain single so her twin sister won’t be alone. It’s also a prime example of the way the Amish community works together to support folks who suffer great physical and emotional loss. And best of all, it’s a Christmas story! With little kids putting on the schoolhouse Christmas Eve program!
What inspired you to write this book?
Well, when you write a series, you always have the next book/story tapping you on the shoulder as you work! It’s fun to watch characters do and say things I wasn’t expecting when I was writing the original synopsis—and Molly is the QUEEN of the unexpected!
Excerpt from Christmas Comes to Morning Star:
“I like that smile on your face, Jo. You’re happiest when you’re baking, ain’t so?”
Jo’s stomach fluttered when Michael stepped into her shop. His evergreen wreath suggested that he had something other than flirtation in mind, and that was just as well, wasn’t it? “That fresh wreath smells just like Christmas,” she said. “I suppose you and your dat make those at your Queen City greenhouse, jah?”
“We do,” Michael replied. “And we’ve brought enough of them to hang on everyone’s shop entry for the holiday season.”
Jo stopped stirring her frosting to gaze at him. “That’s very generous. “You fellows have gone all out to decorate The Marketplace for us, and I really appreciate it.”
The blush that tinted Michael’s cheeks told Jo that he felt every bit as shy around her as she was near him.
“It’s been a boon to our nursery business, selling our plants here,” he said with a dimpled smile. “But more than that, Dat and I, well—we’ve really enjoyed coming to Morning Star to spend time with you and your mamm. And—and my invitation to come to Queen City and see our greenhouses full of poinsettias still stands.”
Jo swallowed hard. How many times had she dreamed of taking Michael up on his offer? “I—we’ll see,” she hedged. “Baking for the Christmas season is keeping me busier this year—”
“But if you can spare a couple of weekdays in early December, the sight of all those bright red poinsettias will take your breath away,” Michael insisted.
Jo’s heart was pounding so hard that Michael could probably hear it. What a joy it would be see those greenhouses filled with such vibrant Christmas flowers.
As she once again noticed how slim and attractive he was, however, Jo was even more aware that she probably outweighed him by thirty pounds. A guy like Michael would never see beyond her thick glasses—and even though he’d never met her deceased dat, there was no getting around the fact that Jo had been created in Joseph Fussner’s image.
What exciting story are you working on next?
I have already completed the 4th/final story in this series (Love Blooms in Morning Star, scheduled for late spring 2022), and I have returned to the Promise Lodge series—a real favorite with readers. I’ve written the 6th book (Family Gatherings at Promise Lodge, due out in 2023) and will soon begin #7 (Hidden Away at Promise Lodge, also 2023). Right now I’m almost finished with a novella for a Christmas anthology called An Amish Christmas Star (comes out fall of 2022). My story is called “Star of Wonder” and it will have you humming “We Three Kings” and it features a cameo appearance by Scrooge’s three ghostly visitors from A Christmas Carol!
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I dabbled at writing while I was still a school librarian, and I sold my first book in 1990. When I quit my part-time job at Waldenbooks because I’d sold my second book, I figured I had the right to be called a novelist—and I never looked back!
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do write full time, but when my husband retired about 5 years ago I cut back from writing 3 books a year to writing 2 (because there’s more to life than staring at a computer monitor, wishing the words would come!) Now I plan my writing schedule around cruises we love to take, and I am SO ready to board a ship again when the COVID situation allows that. Meanwhile, I’ve been very grateful to have the work to do, which has kept me sane and focused while we we’ve been holed up at home. We also have a Border collie who demands 4-5 walks a day, and I’m the chief cook and housekeeper, so my writing day is “punctuated” by these activities.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
When I begin a new series, I create a large collage of magazine photos to represent the characters in the stories I’ll be writing. It helps me remember who they are and a bit about their appearance. Some of them are famous (right now Clive Owen, Johnny Depp, and Tom Selleck are gazing at me…) and some are from ads. Every day when I enter my office, these people are looking at me as I sit down at my Mac—currently it’s the collage for Promise Lodge, which includes 28 characters! It’s pretty hard to avoid work when you have all these people gazing down at you, expecting you to tell their stories!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Back in the day, I believed I was destined to become a concert pianist—but Dad wisely insisted that I go to college and come out with a degree that would get me a steady, paying job! Turns out my dinky hands are too small to handle the big pieces by the classical piano master composers, anyway. So music, mostly church choir and bell choir, has remained a nice alternative activity for me rather than a profession.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
THANKS for spending your time with me today on my virtual tour! You might also enjoy the first two books in this series, Morning Star and First Light in Morning Star.
Zebra Books •• ISBN-13: 9781420151831 •• ISBN-10: 1420151835
Print: •• Amazon •• Amazon UK •• Amazon Canada •• Barnes and Noble •• Books-A-Million •• Chapters Indigo •• IndieBound ••Kensington •• Target •• The Book Depository •• Walmart
Ebook: • Kindle •• Kobo •• Google Play
Thanks for being here today, Charlotte.
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks so much for featuring my book on your blog today, Lisa!
Christmas comes to morning star sounds wonderful. I like to read your books.
Thanks for your kind words, Emma!
I so enjoy all books by Charlotte!
Thanks for the compliment, and for stopping by my tour, Connie!
My sister and I love your books!
Glad to hear this Jan! Thanks!
I love, love your books. Your characters are unforgettable! ❤️
What a lovely thing to say, Debbie! Thank you!