Hello, reader friends! We are celebrating the release of the second installment of the Laurel Cove Romance series, Suddenly Forever by Teresa Tysinger with a quick visit!
about the author
Teresa Tysinger is an author of Southern Contemporary Romance inspired by grace. She writes on the fringes of being a wife, mom, and full-time communications and public relations professional. Her acclaimed debut novel, Someplace Familiar, released in 2017. Teresa is a member of ACFW, the Association for Women in Communications, and the Religion Communicators Council. She loves coffee, traveling, and prides herself in knowing and loving almost every genre of music. Born in Hawaii, raised in Florida, and educated in North Carolina, she now resides in Texas with her husband, daughter, and dog.
Visit her website or connect with Teresa on facebook, twitter, instagram!
q&a
Do you have a favorite bookish habit?
T: I’m not sure if this falls into the category of a habit, but I don’t keep books. With the exception of books written by friends or ones that have special meaning to me, I almost always give books away once I’m done reading them. I feel like stories are a consumable product so once I’ve “consumed” a story I want others to experience and enjoy them. So, you’ll find a few short stacks of books here and there around my home, but no “library” per see.
B: I’m having a hard time grasping this concept but I greatly admire your bookish generosity!
Describe yourself in five words.
T: As someone who tends to be overly wordy, this is tough! But if I had to choose just five words to describe myself as a writer, I’d say I’m descriptive, flexible, spontaneous, intuitive, and emotional. Ah…that was really hard!
B: You did it!
Share your inspiration behind Suddenly Forever.
T: The inspiration for Suddenly Forever was actually unique for me. Usually, an idea for a story develops gradually after a line from a song, event, a conversation I hear about sparks something in me. But one night after going to bed, I was struck with what felt like a flood of inspiration. The entire story—from characters to setting and even the ending—struck me as a complete big picture.
It was really wild! Within an hour, I set my phone down on my bedside table full of notes and wiped away tears cried for fictional people I suddenly cared deeply for. The next day I started writing and the entire thing was done within about five weeks. I feel like God gifted me this story. I’ve never felt more of a sense of duty to partner with God to pass along His truths of hope!
B: This gave me chills! How wonderful!
What are some of the challenges you faced while writing Suddenly Forever?
T: The challenge of writing Suddenly Forever was the same as with all my other projects. Time. I’ve talked before on my blog and in interviews about the necessity to write “on the fringes.” With a full-time day job and family and church, my writing happens in the early morning hours or after dinner, on the weekends or on lunchbreaks…in the in-between.
I’m incredibly blessed to have a very supportive husband and daughter who make sure I carve out time for writing. But the balancing act of writing/editing/designing without sacrificing too much time with family will probably always be my biggest challenge for me.
B: I can completely relate! It’s hard to keep creative/work endeavors in their place!
What did you learn or discover while writing Suddenly Forever?
T: While writing Suddenly Forever, I discovered how different grief can be for different people. As a central theme in the book, the three main characters—Cora, Luke, and Ina—all deal with the grief of losing a loved one. They each, however, process it very differently. Greif can invoke fear or bravery, gratefulness or anger, regret or determination. It struck me during the process of watching these characters work through their pain that grief can strangely be both uniquely personal and universal at the same time.
What that has taught me is that God has created us to experience life together. We have the ability and, I think, obligation as the Body of Christ to comfort each other even when our experience looks a little different and we may not fully understand. I pray that these lessons will make me a better sister in Christ to those I encounter who are grieving. I hope readers will learn that, too.
B: This is beautiful! I can’t wait to dive into this story! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with us, Teresa!
about the book
Suddenly Forever by Teresa Tysinger (Laurel Cove Romance book 2)
On the outskirts of Laurel Cove, North Carolina sits a quiet lake tucked into gentle mountains carpeted with the brilliant colors of autumn. Grief binds the lake’s only residents into an unlikely family, where old and new love build a bridge between loss and hope.
For years, best-selling author Cora Bradford has worked tirelessly to tread the unrelenting waves of grief in solitude. That is until a new neighbor moves in down the road and threatens to disrupt what she’s carefully preserved of the life she once knew. Will God ever answer her prayer for peace and calmer waters?
Following a scandal, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Luke Bassett escapes to the one place in the world he’s ever experienced peace—his mother’s cabin on the lake where he spent childhood summers. But the memory of her and the mistakes he made are hardly peaceful. To make matters worse, he gets off to a rocky start with his bitter, but breathtakingly beautiful, neighbor. Was running away from the life he’s always known the biggest mistake of all, or the beginning of something he never knew he wanted?
Spunky, opinionated, and recently widowed Ina McLean is alone for the first time in over ninety years. When Cora and Luke come together to care for their only other neighbor, Ina’s belief in God’s goodness through life’s ups and downs works to restore their hope in learning to live—and love—again.
also available
Three cheers for small-town Appalachia, I love it!
Be sure to add Suddenly Forever by Teresa Tysinger to your tbr!
Faithfully Bookish 
Sounds like a really good book. Great interview, thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
Thanks so much for having me! This was super fun!
LikeLike
Thanks for “visiting” with us for this chat, Megan!
LikeLike