Author Spolight - Excerpt from "Perfect on Paper"

"Are you going somewhere?" he asked. "I don't want to keep you."

"No, it's ok," she said tossing her purse and keys back on the little table by the door. "I was mostly looking for a diversion. Come on in."

"I was afraid of being too early." Jake looked a little sheepish, and she couldn't help but smile back at his disarming face.

"I've been up and at it for hours. I'm an early riser. My best work is done before
breakfast."

"What kind of work did you get into this morning?" Jake asked. "Creative difficulties
resolved?"

"Hardly." She glanced guiltily towards the pizza. "I unpacked a few boxes and ate cold
pizza."

Jake looked over at the pizza box on the table, then back at Anne questioningly. "Well,
shoot. You left the restaurant hungry last night. That really wasn't the plan."

It was Anne's turn to look sheepish. Just for a moment, she hoped he didn't notice that the pizza box was now empty... There were some things a lady never revealed, and one of those feminine mysteries was her ability to devour pizza.

"I was bitterly jealous of your steak," she admitted.

"I wish I'd known. Seriously, this wounds my small town boy sensibilities."

"Don't worry about it." She waved her hand, dismissing it. "The pizza also let me drown
my sorrows a little bit."

"That is sort of why I dropped by." His warm, brown eyes met hers and he held her gaze.
"Are you ok?"

"Why do you ask? I didn't think pizza was a cry for help." She gave him a quirky smile.

"Not the pizza," he chuckled. "I just noticed that things seemed... I don't know, strained
towards the end of our..." His voice trailed away.

"Business dinner?"

"Business dinner. Did I do anything to upset you?"

*****

Find Patty on the web at:
http://www.facebook.com/pattyfroese
http://pattyfroese.com

Author Spotlight - Do you believe in soulmates?

My heroine, Anne, is a diehard romantic. She believes in soul mates, a man created especially for her. But how do you recognize "The One?"

I'm a big romantic. I've always been this way. I read poetry. I believe in miracles. I believe my husband was made for me, and I have a few reasons, looking back over our lives before we met. I believe he's "The One" meant for me, so that means that I could never be happier with another man. Rationally, I think that my attitude makes our marriage that much more blissful. There is no Plan B here. He's IT, and I never wonder if the grass might be greener, because to me that 's impossible.

What about you? Do you believe in soul mates, or do you think that the relationships in our lives are what we make of them? I'd love to hear your take on it!

*****

Find Patty on the web at:
http://www.facebook.com/pattyfroese
http://pattyfroese.com

Author Spotlight - It's all about Meeee by Patty Froese

I love creating characters, but they aren't so unique as some might think. A lot of times, I create characters from people I've known in my life, people who have affected me in some way, or just people I've watched in the street thinking, "Well, now, that's an interesting fellow..."

Once they're on paper, I have to put myself in their shoes and figure out what I'd do if I were them. That pretty much brings it back full to circle to ME. A lot of myself goes into characters. Many of the stories from Charity Falls came from my own family history. Some of the stories are purely fiction, and others are purely fact. I wonder if you'd be able to guess which is which?

A. Jake's grandmother hits her father over the head with an iron skillet when he is drunkenly beating her mother.

B. A man married his sweetheart before going off to war and comes home to a surprise--a toddler at her knees!

C. A church is demolished, either burned down or swept away in a storm, four times during its lifetime in a little town.

D. A miner nearly walks over the edge of cliff underground and is saved by a friend who reaches out and catches him by the back of his coat.

These are all little stories from the town of Charity Fall in my novel, but two of these stories are real from my family history. Can you guess which ones?
*****

Find Patty on the web at:
http://www.facebook.com/pattyfroese
http://pattyfroese.com

Author Spotlight - Patty Froese talks about small vs big towns

One of the major tension in this book is the small town of Charity Falls versus Anne's previous home of New York City. It might seem like a bit of an overdone dichotomy for a novel, but this one is personal for me. I grew up moving all over the place in Canada. I went to high school in a small town (much like Charity Falls) and then went off to college in the largest city in Canada. I'm a city girl at heart. I love traffic and hubbub, smog and pigeons. I was in my element living right downtown.

When I got married and we moved away for work, we ended up in a small community again. I didn't think I'd settle in as well as I have, but I just love it! I love running into people I know from church in Walmart. I love that we have about five main thoroughfares, a mall that has about fourteen stores in it, and parks sprinkled liberally all over the place. This is a beautiful little place to raise our son, and I'm grateful for the change of pace. That said, there are still times that I stand, looking out the window at night thinking, "I miss pigeons. And China Town. And that smell of garbage in the summer..."

How about you? If you had to choose between small town and big city, which would it be?

*****

Find Patty on the web at:
http://www.facebook.com/pattyfroese
http://pattyfroese.com