Goldeneyes by Delia Latham

I am excited to be the host of Delia Latham's blog tour on Valentine's Day. Yes, I'm about 4 hours early, but I'm a little anxious to introduce you to this sweet lady. She's a pastor's wife, so let's be gentle, folks. We all know they have enough strife to deal with in their lives.

Please welcome Delia. Tonight we will be discussing Delia's book and her writing. Tomorrow evening, Delia will be back to give us some insight into the writing life and her unique experiences along the way to publication. Don't forget to come back tomorrow while I pick Delia's brain further.

One more thing before we get started, anyone who leaves a comment to this blog and any of the other blogs on Delia's tour will be entered to win a GOLDENEYES T-shirt and an electronic version of the book.

Now let's get started.

Q. Who is Delia Latham?
A: I’m a Christian wife, married to a Pentecostal minister. My husband is the assistant pastor at our church, and I’m involved in the music ministry. I play piano and sing. I have four grown children and four beautiful, absolutely perfect granchildren – no, really, they are! We all live in Bakersfield, California. I was born here and have resided in or around this desert town my entire life.

Q: What books are on your nightstand right now?
A: Too many. I write reviews, so there’s always plenty of reading material in my room. Right now, I’m looking at Rainbow’s End by Irene Hannon, Veil of Fire by Marlo Schalesky, Abandoned Identity by Tamara Tilley – that’s just a few of the unread books. I just finished Loving Liza Jane by Sharlene MacLaren and – a little detour from the usual – The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz.

Q: Your novel, Goldeneyes, is scheduled for release in March. What is it about?
A: It’s an historical romance about a depression-era man who does something horrible to satisy his alcohol addiction, and the ripple effect his action causes in the lives of two families over twenty years later.

Q: What inspired you to write Goldeneyes?
A: I grew up in Weedpatch, the little farming community where Part One of Goldeneyes is set. I’ve always wanted to write something using that location as a backdrop. This story has been brewing in my mind for several years, but it was hard for me to get past the reality of Weedpatch in my own life and get on with turning it into a fictional tale. I prayed a lot! Once God gave me the go-ahead, He also gave me the inspiration, and I’m very pleased with the completed product.

Q: Where do you get your ideas?
A: Ahhh … the question every writer gets asked most often - and for me, quite possibly the hardest, because I’m not always sure. Sometimes I get ideas from little snippets of history; a few of my stories are major exaggerations of tiny occurrences in my own life or the lives of people I know; and sometimes I sit down to write with absolutely no idea what I’m going to write about. Oddly enough, those are the times I usually wind up being happiest with the results, maybe because I’m most open for God to take my writing wherever He wants to.

Q: So you don’t always plot or outline your book before you write?
A: How’d you guess? No, I write like I do most other things in my life – totally off the cuff. I’m what the writing community refers to as a SOTP: Seat-of-the-pants writer.

Q: Which authors have most influenced your own writing?
A: Too many to possibly mention here! As a child, I devoured just about every book I could get my hands on: Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, the Bobbsey Twins – even the Hardy Boys; I wasn’t gender specific as to reading material. As I got older, I graduated to romance and found Grace Livingston Hill, Barbara Cartland, Emilie Loring, and oh, yes – I discovered Harlequin Romance (oh, my!). Now some of my favorite writers are Joy Fielding, Lori Wick, Lori Copeland … the list goes on for miles. My favorite book of all time is Swan Song, by Robert McCammon – rather surprising for an inspirational author, I know, but it’s a beautifully written epic account of good vs. evil. Unforgettable!

Delia welcomes visitors to her website: www.delialatham.com
You can also keep up to date by reading her blog: www.themelodywithin.blogspot.com
Follow the links below to follow along on the rest of Delia's blog. The more blogs you read and the more comments you leave, the better your chances are of winning. Most importantly, spread the word about Delia and her fabulous book GOLDENEYES.

Feb. 15 – Angela Wilson - www.WickedWordsmith.com

Feb. 18 – Suzanne Woods Fisher – www.suzannewoodsfisher.blogspot.com

Feb. 20 & 21 – Cindy Bauer – www.cindybauer.blogspot.com

Feb. 24 – Shelagh Watkins – http://shelaghs.blogspot.com/

Feb. 25 – Rhonda Clark – www.freewebs.com/rhondaclark

Feb. 26 – Cindy Bauer – www.cindybauer.blogspot.com (Guest Blog)

Feb. 28 – Julie Kornhausl – www.simplyromancereviews.com

Mar. 2 – Mary Connealy – www.mconnealy.blogspot.com

Mar. 4 – Dee Owen – www.marjo-mumswritings.blogspot.com

Mar. 5 – Tabitha Robin – www.tabitha-robin.com

Mar. 7 – Tori Close – www.toriclose.com

Mar. 10 – Jennifer Hudson Taylor – www.jenniferswriting.blogspot.com

Mar. 12 – Debra Ullrick - http://www.christianromancewriter.blogspot.com/

Mar. 17 – Miralee Ferrell – www.miraleesdesk.blogspot.com

Mar. 19 – Bonnie Winters - http://360.yahoo.com/indianabon

Mar. 20 – Cynthia Hickey – http://www.cynthiahickey.blogspot.com

Mar. 24 – Pamela James - www.pammer.blogspot.com

Mar. 24 – 28 – Tracy Ruckman – www.pixnpens.blogspot.com

Mar. 25 – Christa Allen - http://cballan.wordpress.com/

Mar. 31 – Gina Conroy – http://portraitofawriter.ginaconroy.com

April 20 – Marian Merritt – http://www.marianmerritt.com

April 27 – Margaret Daley – www.margaretdaley.blogspot.com

Throughout February and March – David G. Boggs – http://www.freewebs.com/davidgboggs/delialathamsnewbook.htm

www.davidgboggs.blogspot.com