1–What is the title of your latest release?
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A man and woman fall in love, but she disappears right before he leaves for his military service. He comes back to his hometown irrevocably changed. And she comes back with a baby. A blizzard at the local inn traps them together where they will have to work things out or lose each other forever. This is a story full of feels, set at a cozy small-town inn where everyone is preparing for Christmas.
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I love writing about the fictional small town of Trinity Falls, Pennsylvania. And the historic inn on the lake seemed like the perfect setting for a Christmas story about revisiting the past in order to imagine the future.
4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
I would love to hang out with Grace. She would probably choose to meet at the toddler park so that her adorable baby girl, Izzy, could play while we sipped our hot apple cider.
5–What are three words that describe your hero?
Chris is tough, independent, and loyal.
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I thought that isolating my characters at a country inn would force them to get close to each other. But I learned that something I love (as a reader and a writer) is a sense of community. By the end of the book, about a dozen matchmakers are helping them along – including the baby, Chris’s service dog, the innkeeper and most of the guests who are also snowed in.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
That’s a good question! I write with my husband as my co-writer. We plot the whole story together. Then I write the entire first draft. I always write the scenes in order, straight through, – it helps with the flow, and if something feels like it needs to change, I can carry that change out throughout the book. Once the first draft is done, Mr. Pines edits and rewrites. He knows just what to do since he was part of the plotting stage where we talked about exactly what story we wanted to tell. Once that’s done, the book goes to beta readers and comes back to Mr. Pines, and then a proofreader is the final step before the finished book comes back to me. After so many people have worked so hard on it, I’m always so happy to see the book looking ship-shape. I give it one last read to make sure it feels just right and that no wily typos have snuck past everyone. Then it goes out into the world!
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I love avocados in all their forms – in plain slices, on salads and sandwiches, guacamole with chips, and yes, even avocado toast.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
I don’t have a designated office space right now. During the day I try to catch the prettiest views by moving from table to table within the house. And on nights and weekends, if I need to write when the children are around, I try to find the quietist nooks, or go out on the porch. The thing that makes every spot feel like “my writing spot” is the soft holiday music I play on my laptop.
10–Who is an author you admire?
There are so many authors who I admire, it’s hard to list them all here. But I’ve recently enjoyed books by Debra Clopton, Elana Johnson, Natalie Dean, Hannah Hart, and my absolute favorite author, Tess Thompson. I just love the way Tess’s gorgeous writing style draws you in from the very first page. Her characters are so full of love and courage and good intention. No matter if it’s a small-town contemporary romance or an adventurous historical, Tess always makes me feel like I’m right there in the story. (And, let’s be honest, I’m often sniffling or laughing so hard my husband asks if I’m okay!)
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
When I was in third grade, I received a signed copy of Tasha Tudor’s beautiful picture book, A Time to Keep. The book is a lovely story about a family celebrating various occasions and holidays throughout the year, but it is the detail in each drawing that awakened my imagination and opened my mind to the idea that a book could truly be an escape into a different and magical world. I still have and love that book!
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
My husband and I have published our books through our own small company from the very beginning, so there was never a phone call from an agent. But there was a moment when we suddenly decided that the book we were writing for pure enjoyment (Cowboy’s Christmas Nanny) had to be published. I still feel shivers of excitement thinking back to the moment when we decided we were going to share our labor of love with the world and hope that other readers wanted to read these books as much as we wanted to write them.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love clean romance, cozy mysteries, and classics like Jane Austen!
14–What’s your favorite movie?
I love The Family Stone and watch it whenever I’m feeling nostalgic or under the weather, and of course at Christmastime, too. The great big noisy family in their comfortable old house just feels like home to me. I hope my books give readers a bit of the same feeling!
15–What is your favorite season?
Wintertime is my favorite, with all the snow and the warmth of the holidays. Fall comes in a close second. Who doesn’t love the bright colors and cozy fragrance of leaves drifting down to the sidewalks?
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I’m a homebody, so my favorite thing is to have the whole extended family come to our house for a big meal. My in-laws and aunt and uncle love to regale us with funny stories from a generation ago. And my children adore any chance to show off their baking skills.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
My favorite recent read was Tess Thompson’s The School Mistress. It’s a wonderful historical tale of a young woman leaving home to run a small frontier school, and the widowed father of five young children who welcomes her into his home and heart. This story has funny moments, serious themes, a mystery, and an introduction to a whole town of wonderful characters.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I love gingerbread cookies, and sweet treats of every kind. I also love traditional American foods and deliciously spicy Indian cuisine.
19–What do you do when you have free time?
When I have free time and my children are otherwise occupied you will always, always find me with a paperback or e-reader in hand.
20–What can readers expect from you next?
Sheriff’s Treasured Teacher is coming out on March 21st! This is the story of a grumpy sheriff and the light-hearted pre-school teacher who brings the sunshine to the sheriff and his son.
SOLDIER’S SECRET BABY by Clara Pines
Trinity Falls Sweet Romance #2
Can a secret miracle give this wounded veteran a second chance at love?
Chris Bell’s world was shattered when the woman he loved suddenly left him. Now a serious injury is cutting his military career short, and sending him home to Trinity Falls years before he expected. Determined to build a life for himself and his service dog in the small town where he grew up, the last person Chris expects to see is Grace Cassidy.
Grace has always had a crush on her cousin’s achingly gorgeous best friend. Two years ago, he made her dreams come true when he let her know he had feelings for her, too. Though he was about return to the military, he gave her an unforgettable whirlwind romance.
He also gave her the greatest miracle she could imagine – one the doctors told her might never happen.
The only problem? Chris absolutely, positively doesn’t want children.
Two years have passed since Grace did the only thing she could think of, and ran with her secret miracle. Now, an unexpected Christmas blizzard leaves the three of them snowed in together at a romantic Bed & Breakfast on Trinity Falls Lake. Will the wounded hero and the love of his life grab the second chance at the romance they’ve both been longing for, and the family baby Izzy deserves?
Trinity Falls Sweet Romance is all about finding family – one clean & wholesome romance at a time.
From a widower discovering he has feelings for his kids’ nanny, to a soldier learning about a secret baby, to a single dad falling in love with his child’s preschool teacher, you’ll lose yourself in these feel-good books celebrating love, family, and the very special small-town community of Trinity Falls.
Romance Contemporary [Self Published, On Sale: November 28, 2022, e-Book, / eISBN: 9798366037136]
Buy SOLDIER’S SECRET BABY: Kindle | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Clara Pines
Clara Pines is a writer from Pennsylvania. She loves writing sweet romance, sipping peppermint tea with her handsome husband, and baking endless gingerbread cookies with her little helpers. A holiday lover through and through, Clara wishes it could be Christmas every day. You can almost always figure out where she has curled up to write by following the sound of the holiday music on her laptop!
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