Welcome my guest, Lena Nelson Dooley

Note:  Lena is sponsoring presenting a copy of Maggie's Journey to one lucky commenter.  Don't miss out!

Award-winning author, Lena Nelson Dooley, has more than 675,000 books in print. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writershttp://www.acfw.com/ and president of the local chapter, DFW Ready Writers. She’s also a member of Christian Authors Network, CROWN Fiction Marketing, and Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas.

Lena loves James, her children, grandchildren, and great grandson. She loves chocolate, cherries, chocolate-covered cherries, and spending time with friends. Travel is always on her horizon. Cruising, Galveston, the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Mexico. One day it will be Hawaii and Australia, but probably not the same year. Helping other authors become published really floats her boat, with fifteen signing their first book contract after her mentoring. Three of her books have been awarded the Carol Award silver pins from American Christian Fiction Writers and she has received the ACFW Mentor of the Year award at their national conference. The high point of her day is receiving feedback from her readers, especially people whose lives have been changed by her books. And she loves chocolate, especially dark chocolate.

Her 2010 release was Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, from Summerside Press which recently won the Will Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in publishing Western literature. Lena is currently under two 3-book contracts with Charisma House/Realms. The first book released in October 2011. It’s Maggie’s Journey, book one of her McKenna’s Daughters series.

In addition to her writing, Lena is a frequent speaker at women’s groups, writers groups, and at both regional and national conferences. She has spoken in six states and internationally.

Lena has an active web presence on Shoutlife, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Linkedin and with her internationally connected blog where she interviews other authors and promotes their books.

Website: www.lenanelsondooley.com

Blog: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Five Things You Don’t Know About Me:

1.  I once interviewed one of the strippers from Jack Ruby’s night club after she became a Christian.

2.  I was a guest on the set of the movie JFK for one day.

3.  My husband taught me to drive before we were married.

4.  I was the assistant producer/director of a TV movie. (A glorified go-fer)

5.  The first time I rode a horse, it ran away with me. My father made me get right back on and ride home. At least it didn’t drag me when I fell out of the saddle.

Right now I’m in a season of writing romantic fiction set in the west in the late 1800s. I love that era. I’m featuring two books in this post. My latest is Maggie’s Journey, book one of my McKenna’s Daughters series. I am giving away one free copy of the book to someone who leaves a comment.

Maggie's Journey grabs you on page one with characters and events that reflect real-life joys and heartaches that change the characters forever. Make room on your "keepers" shelf! —Loree Lough, best-selling author of 80 award-winning books, including From Ashes to Honor.

A girl who’s been lied to her whole life…

Near her eighteenth birthday, Margaret Lenora Caine finds a chest hidden in the attic containing proof that she was adopted. The daughter of wealthy merchants in Seattle, she feels betrayed both by her real parents and by the ones who raised her.

Maggie desires a place where she belongs. But her mother’s constant criticism and reminders that she doesn't fit the mold of a young woman of their social standing have already created tension in their home. With the discovery of the family secret, all sense of her identity is lost.

When Maggie asks to visit her grandmother in Arkansas, her father agrees on the condition that she take her Aunt Georgia as a chaperone and his young partner, Charles Stanton, as protection on the journey. Will she discover who she really is and, more importantly, what truly matters most in life?

The second book is Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico. This book released in 2010, then received the Will Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in western media in 2011. I’m also offering one free copy of this book to one of the people who leaves a comment on the blog.

All that glitters is not gold.

It’s 1890, and Golden, New Mexico, is a booming mining town where men far outnumber women. So when an old wealthy miner named Philip Smith finds himself in need of a nursemaid, he places an ad for a mail-order bride—despite the protests of his friend Jeremiah. Hoping to escape a perilous situation back East, young Madeline Mercer answers the ad and arrives in town under a cloud of suspicion. But just as she begins to win over Philip—and Jeremiah himself—the secrets she left behind threaten to follow her to Golden...and tarnish her reputation beyond redemption.

"Two strangers are presented with a 'golden' opportunity for love in this quintessential East meets West tale by well-loved author Lena Nelson Dooley. I found myself swept away by the beautiful writing and enmeshed in the lives of the players, who face many twists and turns in their journey toward the ultimate happily-ever-after. Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico is truly one of the loveliest historical romances I've read in ages. Highly recommended." -- Janice Hanna Thompson, author of Love Me Tender and Swinging on a Star