Interview with Author Terri Wangard!

Welcome to Readers Write to Know! I asked you, my readers, what questions they would ask their favorite authors if given the chance, and the authors visiting my blog answered them! This week, I’m so excited to have Terri Wangard as my guest. As a lover of all things World War II, I am so jealous (in an “excited for her” kind of way) to read about her riding in a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber! Gasp! Please, enjoy Terri’s interview as much as I did. AND – Terri is giving away an ebook to one of my readers of her latest release! Read below to see how you can enter to win this awesome prize!

Tell us a little bit about yourself. I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. My first Girl Scout badge was the Writer. I’ve always loved books, and going to the library was a favorite activity. No surprise, then, that I have a master’s degree in library science, as well as a bachelor’s degree in history. I’ve lived in Michigan, Utah, and Southern California before returning to Wisconsin. A fun part of my research included going for a ride in a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress bomber.

Tell us about your current release. Carol becomes a Red Cross doughnut girl, serving GIs and boosting their morale. Believing wartime romances are doomed to disappointment, she attempts to avoid entanglements and transfers to France, away from Chet, the airman she’s falling for.

Chet’s father always belittled him. Now a well-regarded navigator, he longs to prove him wrong. After he’s ditched in the North Sea, parachuted into France, and been called before a review, his focus changes to staying alive, and winning the Red Cross girl he keeps crossing paths with.

Who was your first Screen/Musical Crush? Donny Osmond

What inspired you to start writing, or did you always want to write? In first grade the school library had a poetry book with a green cover. It fascinated me, how the words were arranged so beautifully. I scribbled stories in notebooks, which fortunately haven’t survived. By junior high, I’d stopped writing. When I found some Christian romances in a church library, I started thinking of trying to write one. I did, and a publisher had the manuscript for a year before saying no thanks. After reading Debbie Macomber’s Twenty Wishes, I started writing in earnest.

How did you determine whether to self-publish or seek a traditional publisher? A well-known, successful author like Robin Jones Gunn can self-publish, but an unknown? Who would buy my book, or even find out about it? The whole idea of self-publishing scares me silly.

Do you have your plotline and character development already laid out before you begin writing a book, or do they develop as you write? I have the general idea. I don’t write an outline, but I do have notes scattered around that I hope I’ll find when I need them. (No, I don’t have Scrivener). With my second book, No Neutral Ground, I was strengthening the main character right up to the final edit.

Who were some of your favorite authors as a child? I loved the Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka books. Later on, it was the Nancy Drew series.

Do you write your books for your own enjoyment or more for what you think people would want to read? I write what I would like to read. My first book, Friends & Enemies, was inspired by family history on the German side. Knowing very little about them, whether they favored Hitler, I created a family to be proud of. I enjoy the research, learning all I can about topics that interest me.

Find Terri online:

Website, Facebook, Pinterest

Find Terri’s book, Soar Like Eagles!

Enter to win an ebook of Terri’s latest release, Soar Like Eagles!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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4 comments

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    • Jenny Brown on December 27, 2016 at 10:34
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    I really enjoy reading books set in WWII times. This one sounds very interesting.

    • Judy Lipcsak on December 27, 2016 at 11:31
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    I enjoy books about post Civil War through the 1950s.

    • Mallory Reynolds on December 27, 2016 at 15:51
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    I love historical fiction, especially when you get to learn something new about the time period. Thanks for the opportunity to win.

  1. I have always enjoyed historical fiction. There is something about reading a story based on history that draws me in that much more.

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