Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Erin Bartels!   Writes: Immersive, contemporary and timeslip character-driven fiction in that offers hope without ignoring the hard things in life. Perfect for individual reading but often best experienced with a book club!   About: When I’m not busy writing award-winning books, I spend my time oil painting, sewing, gardening, playing guitar, taking photos, letting my neurotic chihuahua mix in and out of the house, and driving my son to and from his martial arts school. I adore all four seasons, am an untiring ambassador for the state of Michigan (where I set my books), and I’ve never met an indoor spider I didn’t carefully catch in a cup and relocate outdoors—except in winter, when we just give them free reign of the house. Unlike most people you know, I have been bitten by an owl.   What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: isn’t afraid to get real wants to get lost in a beautiful setting doesn’t expect their protagonists to…

1–What is the title of your latest release? The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When a reader accuses her of lying and using people for her own gain, a young novelist must return to the place and the people that inspired her successful debut in order to prove to herself that she told the truth as any good writer should. But she soon discovers that the lines between fact and fiction are not as defined as she might like—and she may have missed the most important part of the story altogether. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? If it’s a summer book set in Michigan, it simply has to be on a lake. Lake culture is a huge part of growing up in a state that is 40% water. To me, it couldn’t be set anywhere else. 4–What are three words that describe your main character? Driven, passionate, contemplative 5–Which side character stole your attention the most from the main storyline? I really enjoyed writing any scene with Andreas, Kendra’s unexpected houseguest. He added so much charm and good humor to balance Kendra’s serious side….

Melanie’s heart quickened when the first tower of the Mackinac Bridge came into view. This would be her seventh time over the bridge, a significant number. Seven days of the week. Seven notes in the diatonic scale. Seven letters in the Roman numeral system. The seven in the Tarot deck was the card of the chariot—the symbol of overcoming conflict and moving forward in a positive direction. Lucky number seven. She’d need luck on this trip if she hoped to move forward in a positive direction with Olivia. She hit her sister’s upper arm with the back of her hand. “There’s the bridge!” To her surprise, Olivia smiled. A good sign. Maybe it would all work out. It had to. Because they couldn’t go on as they had for the past ten years. Something had to change. Only time together would do it. Time with no distractions. Time in the forest. Time for Melanie to explain herself. She had seven days to make it work. Seven days was enough. Her seven-day spiritual detox program was her most popular offering on Meditations with Melanie. And nothing needed detoxing like her relationship with her sister. “I know a bailiff who refuses to…

Hope. It’s a concept that can feel out of reach during tumultuous times. When our eyes and ears are flooded with the reality of national disunity and violence, a difficult family situation, broken finances, career disappointment, or frustration with ourselves for a multitude of reasons, hope can feel…flimsy. Like it belongs to some other person in some other time. But hope is something that we can have and hold on to in any time and circumstance. And here are a few ways to help you do just that: Develop perspective. No matter what is happening in our own lives, it is likely that there are others going through even more difficult circumstances. This doesn’t mean that our pain doesn’t matter. It means that we are not alone. There are people out there who understand what we’re going through because they’ve been through it—and worse. The struggles others have experienced in the past and in other parts of the world—war, genocide, displacement, religious persecution, lack of medical care, and more—help our own troubles become smaller, less scary, less insurmountable. Reading the account of a Holocaust survivor or a quadriplegic athlete is sure to put things in perspective. Count small blessings. I…