Chatting With Sara Beth Williams and a Giveaway!

Posted by abakersp in Spotlights / 7 Comments

Welcome to the Celebrate Lit Blog Tour for When Hearts Collide by Sara Beth Williams! I’m thrilled to have this lovely author here today chatting about books and such!

When Hearts Collide-banner

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Hearts Colide

Book:  When Hearts Collide

Author: Sara Beth Williams

Genre:  Contemporary Christian Romance

Release Date: September 10, 2018

A reckless mistake landed Jacob “Jay” Mathews behind bars, but it was his inescapable guilt that led him to God. Upon his release, with the help of a spiritual mentor and friend, he strives to move forward with his life. Determined to graduate college, get a job, and follow God’s word, the last thing Jay needs or wants is a girlfriend. Until he meets Lacey Bennett.

When fervent prayers for reconciliation between her divorced parents go unanswered, and her older sister tragically dies, Lacey questions how God could allow such tragedies to befall her family. Turning her back on her past and God, she focuses on her future. College and theater are her ultimate goals; falling for the one type of guy she swore to avoid—a Christian—is not. No matter how much she wants to resist, Jay is irresistible.

As their relationship deepens, Jay struggles with Lacey’s unresolved anger and her unwillingness to even discuss faith. All he wants to do is reveal how God changed his life, but doing so would mean revealing his status as an ex convict. Finally, as she begins to rekindle her faith, past secrets collide, threatening to destroy everything they’ve built. Now, Jay must rely on his faith more than he ever has before. Can they learn to forgive—or is their relationship fractured beyond repair?

Click here to get your copy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Beth Williams

Sara Beth Williams is a wife, mother of two daughters, and temporary caretaker of a lovable old lady pit and a spunky Pomeranian-Shih Tzu mix. She lives in Northern California. When she’s not held hostage by the keyboard, she enjoys music, teaching, reading and spending time with her family. She is all about connecting with readers! Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Bookbub and AllAuthor.

CHATTING WITH SARA BETH

Welcome to the blog!! Can you describe your writing process?

The first thing I do – and the most enjoyable part for me – is free write. When an idea and a character comes to me, and if it sits in my head long enough, I take it to paper (ok, to Word haha)  I try to give myself big blocks of uninterrupted time (2 to 4 hours at least)  because that’s how my ideas flow. Stopping every hour hinders the process of coming up with new ideas. So I free write as much as I can to see where the characters and the story take me until I hit some kind of dead end. Sometimes that’s 10 K, sometimes that’s 30K. I don’t go in chronological order because writing all the fun, inspirational stuff keeps me motivated.

Once I hit a wall and have to stop because of research (that’s almost always the big reason) or because I need to really think more about the character and the plot, then I take a break, come back and sit down to create a rough outline of where I WANT the story to go. What do I want to see happen throughout the rest of the story? I do a rough outline in paragraph form, then later I make it more detailed. I create draft outlines just like draft manuscripts. The timeline changes, the setting changes, new ideas occur, characters come and go maybe.

Once I feel like I can connect events in the story, then I sit back down and begin writing as much of the story in chronological order as I possibly can. But part of the fun of writing is watching the characters come to life underneath my fingers and discovering just where exactly those characters want to take you.


When you are not writing, what do you like to do?

When I’m not writing, I enjoy reading of course, and anything that has to do with music. I play guitar. I like to sing. I also love graphic design, though I’m not a master by any means. It’s just something fun to do. I love hanging with my family, watching movies and playing games together. If we weren’t in a pandemic – my favorite go-to family time is a walk to the park or down to the ice cream shop with the dogs and the kids.


What’s your go-to bible verse during times of difficulty?

I have a few but recently, for the last three years, I feel like God has laid Isaiah 60:1 on my heart and has challenged me to rise up – in my faith primarily. To put off the fear of rejection as many of my friends and family have fallen away from faith. To put off the fear of stepping out of my comfort zone. To rise up to God’s expectations for my life. I thought it was going to be a one year theme – as so many people have these days – but for me it’s been a longer, slower process of really contemplating what that verse means to me personally and how I can actually accomplish said expectations.


It’s time for a fun girls weekend, and you can only invite authors to attend. Who would you pick and why?

I would love to invite Bethany Turner and Nicole Deese. They’re absolutely hilarious when they’re together. I’d also love to meet all the authors in my critique team in person. We’ve video chatted, but it’s totally not the same. I’d also truly love to meet Nadine Brandes, who’s just such a fun person! And my editor, Kara Leigh Miller, who is a YA author too, in person. Is there a limit on how many people we can invite? LOL


I love those picks! What are you working on next?

I’m finishing up final edits on book 3 in this contemporary romance series. Anchor My Heart should release in February 2021. You can sign up for my newsletter on my website to be the first to know all the launch details. www.authorswilliams.wordpress.com

Now that Anchor My Heart is nearly published, I am focusing on finishing up revisions on a new contemporary romance. This one is about a pop star who goes into hiding, and while in disguise, falls for the last person he thought possible. A summer romance on the coast of California; lies, secrets, two different worlds colliding. Trouble around every corner. As of yet, this story doesn’t have a publishing home. Hopefully it will soon!

I hope so! Thanks for chatting with me today!

BLOG STOPS

Inklings and notions, September 9

Remembrancy, September 10

Simple Harvest Reads, September 11 (Author Interview)

Godly Book Reviews, September 12

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 13

Artistic Nobody, September 14 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)

Texas Book-aholic, September 15

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, September 16

A Baker’s Perspective, September 17 (Author Interview)

Mypreciousbitsandmusings, September 17

For Him and My Family, September 18

Locks, Hooks and Books, September 19

Sara Jane Jacobs, September 20

Blossoms and Blessings, September 21 (Author Interview)

Cultivating Us, September 21

Ashley’s Bookshelf, September 22

GIVEAWAY

To celebrate her tour, Sara is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the winner’s choice of one of Sara’s books!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/10096/when-hearts-collide-celebration-tour-giveaway

7 responses to “Chatting With Sara Beth Williams and a Giveaway!

  1. James Robert

    Thank you for sharing your book with us. I always look forward to finding out about another great read.

  2. Lynn Brown

    Pretty cover. It sounds like a good clean Christian romance book. Thanks for the chance.

  3. Sonnetta Jones

    I can only imagine Beth Turner and Nicole Deese in a room together. Congrats on your book. I can relate to Lacey and wondering what is happening to my unanswered prayers but I have learned that sometimes it is best when God does not say yes to certain prayers.