Today, I am ecstatic to hang out with the wise, lovely, talented author, Beth Vogt. I read her debut novel, Wish You Were Here and I gotta say, it was so much fun to read. I laughed out loud, I swooned, and I’m pretty sure I laughed and swooned some more!
Beth K. Vogt is a
non-fiction author and editor who said sheād never write fiction. Sheās the
wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said sheād
never marry a doctorāor anyone in the military. Sheās a mom of four who said
sheād never have kids. Sheās discovered that Godās best often waits behind the
doors marked āNever.ā Her inspirational contemporary romance novel, Wish You Were Here, debuted May 2012 (Howard
Books.) Her second novel, Catch a Falling Star,
releases May 2013. Beth is an established magazine writer and former editor of Connections, the leadership magazine for MOPS
International.
JP: You said
youād never write fiction. The world is a better place because you do! Tell us
why you chose romance?
BV: God turned a
season of burnout into a bend in the writing road and I found myself on the
āDark Sideā writing a novel. Iāve always loved to read romances ā contemporary,
historical, even some suspense ā so it was a natural choice for me to try
writing one.
JP: In your debut
novel, one of your male characters, Daniel, has spent years sending your
heroine, Allison, postcards. Are you a postcard fan? Do you collect them? How
did this idea come to you? It was one of my favorite things about the book,
among so many others!
BV:The title Wish You Were Here came first ā after several
misfires ā and then the idea for the postcards came after that. It just seemed
natural that Daniel would send Allison postcards ā glimpses of all his travels.
Most of the postcards are based on places that my family has lived or visited
through the years.
JP: Can you share
with us one of your favorite lines from this novel and tell us why?
BV:This is some
dialogue between Seth, Allisonās ex-fiancĆ©, and her stepfather, Will:
āIām sorry about how
things ended between you and Allison. But that doesnāt give you the right to
get physical with my daughter. Do I make myself clear?
Seth closed his
eyes, searching for a way to make amends. āLook, Mr. Denman, Allison and I had
a bit of a disagreement before Christmas. I assure you that I didnāt hurtāā
āThe only thing you
can say at this time is āYes, sir.āā
Seth gritted his
teeth. āYes, sir.ā
When I wrote this
scene I imagined what my husband would say if he were talking to Seth ā I think
I even asked him. Will represents safety for Allison ā and he comes through for
her again. I believe fathers can (should) play a crucial role in their daughterās
life ā and one facet of that role is to protect them.
JP: I remember grinning at this snippet! Daniel is a
big-time outdoorsman. What about you? Indoor girl or Outdoor? Have you ever
done any of the things he did in the book?
BV: Iām an indoor
girl who married an Eagle Scout-outdoor guy. I love to watch my husband camp.
My husband and I enjoy snowshoeing and weāve gone snowmobiling. The scene where
Daniel breaks his knee cap? That one is taken from real life. Several summers ago,
my husband broke his knee while we were hiking. After our daughters headed down
the mountain to alert the rescue team, he splinted his leg with two tree
branches, bandanas and a rolled up T-shirt and with the help of two guys,
started hiking down the mountain. We met the rescue team halfway down.
JP: Oh, wow! You
married the real MacGyver! So tell us, did you try on wedding dresses for fun,
you know as inspiration for the novel!? What kind of research, hands-on/off,
did you do?
BV:The only one
trying on wedding dresses was my oldest daughter, who got married in 2011. I
did visit a llama ranch to get up close and personal with llamas. I even shared
a few kisses with some of them.
JP: Umā¦I’ve done lots for research, never
smooched a llama! Okay, now a couple of fun questions before you have to go! If
you could be a character in any book youāve read, who would you choose and why?
BV: Oh. My. Word.
Thatās a tough one. Iāll go with Anne of Anne
of Green Gables. I love that girlās spunk and intelligence and
imagination and sense of adventure!
JP: Fill in the
blank: If I were out for the day, Iād be lost without __________ and
__________, but I could make it without __________________.
BV: If I were out for the day, Iād be lost
without my sunglasses and my iPhone, but I could make it without breakfast or
lunch..
JP: I could make it,
but I wouldn’t want to! Before you go, what would you like to ask the readers
today? They love to comment!
BV: Iāll offer them
two questions: If you could be a character in any book youāve read, who would
you choose and why? And hereās an easier one: What 2 things do you need to make
it through the day?
Good questions!
Thanks, Beth, for hanging out today!
Here’s a sneak peek of Wish You Were Here
 |
Purchase
Wish You Were Here
HERE! |
Kissing the wrong
guy days before her scheduled
wedding leads Allison to become a runaway bride. But can it also lead to
happily ever after?
Allison
Denman is supposed to get married in five days, but everything is all wrong.
The huge wedding. The frothy dress. And the groom.
Still,
kissing the groomās brother, Daniel, in an unguarded moment is decidedly not the right thing to do. How could she
have made such a mistake? It seems Allisonās life is nothing but mistakes at
this point. Danielās adventuresāchronicled through a collection of
postcardsāhave always appealed to Allisonās well-hidden desire for something
more. But how can betraying her fiancĆ©ās trust lead to a true happily ever
after?
Can
Allison find her way out of this mess? Recognizing she doesnāt have all the
answers wonāt be easy because sheās used to being in control. To find her way
again, she will have to believe that God has a plan for herāone outside her
carefully defined comfort zoneāand find the strength to let Him lead.
