Fearless Destiny: Q&A with Author Annette Bower
Please join us in welcoming author Nancy Fraser from Canada to Books & Benches for an interview.
Annette is a Romance Review Readers’ Choice nominee and author of Moving On and Woman of Substance.
"Every reader of Annette Bower's powerful, third prairie romance will fall for Will, a challenged and challenging idealist and Tiffany, a plumber and sculptor torn between duty and desire. Their destinies merge, seem to part, then come together again in a story as old as the horizon yet as fresh as the crocus lifting its head beneath a young sun." —Byrna Barclay
Q&A with Annette Bower
What can you tell us about your latest release?
On August 3, 2016 I happy danced when Fearless Destiny published by Soul Mate Publishing appeared on the virtual book shelves. Close to Christmas, I will have an added thrill of opening a box of print books. When I thought about writing this book I wanted a heroine who had chosen a different career. Tiffany working along side of her father as the owner of the family plumbing business came to me.
Past assumptions have been that sons would follow in the family business however Tiffany’s younger brother has asthma so he would not be able to work beside Dad. Even though the story is set today, women working in a male field are considered unusual. Tiffany’s childhood sweetheart decided he didn’t want a wife who came home with odors associated with plumbing. After the breakup, business was slow and her parents decided that she could be spared from the business and explore her artistic side, because Tiffany had always used scraps of metal and created sculptors.
Tiffany revels in her independence and growth in her artistic talents. She’s on her way home to share good news about a mural commission with her parents and have a short rest before she returns to Winnipeg to begin using this old artistic method in a new way. Of course this is when things change again. Tiffany meets Will Cleaver who becomes her mentor about life.
What are three things people may not know about you?
Although I always wrote, I was afraid to believe I could be a writer because I couldn’t spell my way out of a paper bag. Nor do I understand grammar mechanics. Finally, after computers were invented with spell check and I realized I could hire editors my fledging confidence grew.
I spent a day at a potash solution mine as research for Fearless Destiny. I’m pale in this picture because it was at the end of the tour and I almost fainted from the heat. My handsome guide almost had to do the fireman carry up a few flights of stairs.
I have never cooked a turkey. My husband enjoys cooking so I’ve allowed him to develop those talents without encroaching on the kitchen territory. I can set a mean table.
Do you consider your books plot-driven or character-driven?
I consider my books character-driven. Even though in my romance novels there is a Happy-ever-after, I find my characters first. I need to know them well and what their growth will be. In Woman of Substance, Robbie needs to understand other women’s daily life. There are many different body shapes and the person in them is worth knowing. In Moving On, Anna needs to find her way out of grief and back into a world with a future love. And in Fearless Destiny, Tiffany needs to learn to put her needs as an artist first, even though all of her life she has been, someone’s daughter, sister, friend, fiancé, she is discovering that she is a person.
What is your favorite non-writing pastime?
I have two favorite pastimes. One at home and that is walking around my city and discovering new areas to me, or driving to a town and watching people in their communities.
My second is travelling and doing the same, walking around the city and watching people in their communities. The problem with this is that I am directionally challenged and end up discovering new areas by mistake. More than likely not where I wanted to go but enjoyable anyway.
Recently, I went to visit my cousin on her farm. I had specific directions and instead of putting the information in my GPS, I decided to go the old fashion way with a map with highlighted highways and directions of where to turn on grid roads. I ended up lost in a town without cell service. I drove with my arm out the window looking for service so I could text my cousin and ask how to find my way. She said, “Stay where you are, I’m coming to get you.”
This is the village I found myself in.
"This is a beautifully written love story. I have a vivid picture of the characters in my head. I love the way the author makes you reflect on larger social issues – the challenge of living with a disability, the consequence of industrial progress on a small community – while taking you on a heart-warming journey. Would be a wonderful book club book."
—Amazon Reviewer
Fearless Destiny
From the Romance Review Readers’ Choice nominee, Annette Bower, comes a new small-town romance, Fearless Destiny. Tiffany George, riding high on her commission as a fresco artist, returns home for some deserved rest and relaxation. The drive proves uneventful until she rescues Will Cleaver on the side of a highway. While savoring memories of a kiss and a well-formed butt, her future goals do not include a romance. Once in town, she discovers the hopes and dreams of her community hinge on the development of a new resource mine and Will’s designed neighborhood. Her parents demand she give up art and resume her working partner role in the family business. Tiffany finds herself pulled by her community roots and stretched by her newly discovered independence. Will knows about taking charge of destiny. He models the courage she uses to become the woman she needs to be.
The Author
Annette Bower’s day-to-day experiences as a nurse, administrator, town councillor, teacher’s assistant and student means that her stories are the real thing because they are about you and your neighbors. Her short stories and novels are read around the world. Her romance novels are set in Saskatchewan because she believes home is as enticing as anywhere else in the wide world she has visited.
Visit the author at www.annettebower.com.
