Isabella
Bride of Ohio
By: Debra Parmley
& Robert Arrow
This book is from the unprecedented 50-book American
Mail-Order Bride Series and is labeled and book # 17.
Isabella is from Sweden, and she has lost her parents , and
even a job where she had been working, because the factory had burnt down.
She had decided to become a mail-order bride, hoping maybe
this was something she may be successful at. In doing so, she finds the
handsome Donald Jenks, and he is wealthy.
The problem here, one of my favorites. We all know- trouble
always comes in threes. And the three in this case-is going to be the number in
the way of her happiness.
But now that Isabella thinks she has perfection, she has to
have it. She doesn’t want to let anything ruin her chances at having it, and
having the perfect dream.
Unfortunately, Isabella ends up being a victim on a train.
Tom is the agent investigating her disappearance. Worried to death , all
Isabella can think about is Donald and having their beautiful wedding and her
happily ever after.
This is why I mention threes. Isabella’s disappearance is
her third straw with bad luck. Will she be found? Where is she, why was she
taken? And will she get her happily ever after?
To get these answers and more, you must read this five star
book: “Isabella Bride from Ohio” and find out for yourself. This book is
romantic, and enchanting, and will pull at your heart strings. You too will
want to help Isabella and Donald, and even Agent Tom find her.
I even glanced at the other “Mail-Order Bride Series”
books, and these books are very detailed and interesting. I think it is a
totally clever idea to represent our fifty states like this! Kudos to whoever
thought of this!
By the way, I met Debra in one of the Facebook parties, and I wanted to review this book, because I am originally from Ohio. That however, did not prejudice my review in any way shape or form.
Here
are my questions for Debra:
As I am reading this I noted
this:
"This is a book from the unprecedented 50 book mail-order bride series"
So my first question is this:
1. What is the "50 book mail-order bride series"? As in tell us all about it and how you found them or if they found you, etc.
"This is a book from the unprecedented 50 book mail-order bride series"
So my first question is this:
1. What is the "50 book mail-order bride series"? As in tell us all about it and how you found them or if they found you, etc.
Kirsten Osbourne, who writes
mail-order bride stories, came up with the idea for The American Mail-Order
Brides Series. One book for each of the fifty states, written by Indie authors,
the largest project of its kind. One book to release every day until the series
was out and they would release in the order in which the states became states.
Kirsten knew I wrote western historical romance so she contacted me. When she
invited me to join, the series was nearly full of
authors. There were only five states left. One was Ohio. I told her I would
join if I could have Ohio.
2. What made you decide to write this book?
Right away, when I was asked to join, I knew I wanted to write an Ohio bride and her name would be Isabella, after my paternal grandmother. I was born in Columbus Ohio and raised in Springfield. Once I knew I could honor my home state and my grandmother I leapt at the chance. My grandmother’s parents came to American from Sweden, so Isabella in the book is a recent immigrant from Sweden and you’ll find Swedish touches throughout the book. I tried to write a story my grandmother would have enjoyed, with dangers and excitement for the heroine. Grandmother Isabella would have wanted an exciting book rather than a quiet one. This is the first mail-order bride story I have written so that was a challenge too. It was also one of the first books my writing partner, Robert Arrow and I wrote together so we were learning how we work together, our process and coordinating time to work on the project together. It is also the first new book put out by Belo Dia Publishing, which is my small press where I have been busy bringing out books from my backlist.
3. How long did it take you to write this book?
2. What made you decide to write this book?
Right away, when I was asked to join, I knew I wanted to write an Ohio bride and her name would be Isabella, after my paternal grandmother. I was born in Columbus Ohio and raised in Springfield. Once I knew I could honor my home state and my grandmother I leapt at the chance. My grandmother’s parents came to American from Sweden, so Isabella in the book is a recent immigrant from Sweden and you’ll find Swedish touches throughout the book. I tried to write a story my grandmother would have enjoyed, with dangers and excitement for the heroine. Grandmother Isabella would have wanted an exciting book rather than a quiet one. This is the first mail-order bride story I have written so that was a challenge too. It was also one of the first books my writing partner, Robert Arrow and I wrote together so we were learning how we work together, our process and coordinating time to work on the project together. It is also the first new book put out by Belo Dia Publishing, which is my small press where I have been busy bringing out books from my backlist.
3. How long did it take you to write this book?
I was under contract to write two other books
for two other publishers close to the same time Isabella was due. My release
dates were Nov. 1st, Dec. 4th and Dec. 5th,
with Isabella being the last of the three to release. This is not a schedule I
would recommend for an author, because it’s an incredible amount of work and
heavy deadline pressure. One of the other two books was the first that Robert
had written with me and that went so well that I asked him to step in and help
me write Isabella.
Because this was one of the first stories
Robert and I wrote together, we were still learning our process as a team as
well as how to coordinate time to work on the book together. I also had to
coordinate with the other authors in our small group. Forty-five authors,
that’s a lot of authors. We had broken into groups of four or five to tie our
books together, so we would connect in small groups rather than trying to keep
connection with everyone. Our group had a common scene where we each wrote what
our characters were saying and doing at the park where the heroines received
copies of the Grooms Gazette, a publication with letters from prospective
grooms. Robert and me, we were writing as fast as we could so my editor and my
formatter would have time to do their jobs. During this time I also fell on
stairs and broke my ankle, so there were many challenges for me in finishing
this book on time. But we had it done and out by Dec. 5th. The corrected book was released on Dec. 15th
and readers who have the first version need only to request Amazon update their
eBook for them. Isabella will be out in print in just a few days.
4. How come you have an Authors note and had to change your characters? What was the issue or problem?
Kirsten Osbourne was not happy with a scene I
had written which included the marriage broker, Elizabeth Miller, a character
she had created. Many of the authors mentioned the character in their books, as
it was one way of connecting them. It was quicker for me to pull the scene to
fix the problem, removing all mention of the character since the scene wasn’t
necessary to move the story along and the book was already out in eBook. Doing
this actually improved Isabella’s story by moving it along quicker. I’ve
learned from the experience. You won’t find a character another author has
created in my books from this point on other than those my writing partner has
written when we write together. I enjoy collaborating with a writing partner
when the writing is in sync and flows, so you will be seeing more collaborated
works in the future.
5. Your title has "Ohio" in it. Why? Are you from there? AND are trying to help put that great state on the map?
5. Your title has "Ohio" in it. Why? Are you from there? AND are trying to help put that great state on the map?
The series consists of one mail-order bride
for each of the fifty states. For Ohio I asked my cover artist to add the
special touches of the red cardinal on the front and the buckeyes on the back
cover. I did want to shine a good light on my home state. My mother still lives
in Springfield, just fifteen minutes from Yellow Springs where the story is
set. Though my husband was in the Air Force and we moved around a bit, we lived
in Ohio for several years when our sons were small.
6. Do you have any photos of your characters or descriptions, or just the cover art?
6. Do you have any photos of your characters or descriptions, or just the cover art?
I could close my eyes and see Isabella from
day one, so this time I didn’t work from pictures to inspire me. I could see
her from day one. Isabella had to be short, like my grandmother. (Not all
Swedes are tall.) She also wore her blonde hair in Swedish braids and had blue
eyes. Yellow Springs is a village I have been to many times, but Robert had
not, so my task was to describe it to him the best I could and using maps and
pictures from Google show him the area so he could write the dangerous scene by
the gorge.
7. What are your hobbies?
7. What are your hobbies?
I enjoy primitive camping and stepping back
into medieval times with the Society for Creative Anachronism, shooting
primitive archery (I have a Mongolian horse bow), shooting long guns and
shooting pool. I also enjoy belly dancing, yoga, reading and travel.
8. Have you ever met any other writers / authors?
I have met hundreds of authors/authors at the writer’s events I’ve attended and I love meeting my readers.
9. How long have you been writing?
8. Have you ever met any other writers / authors?
I have met hundreds of authors/authors at the writer’s events I’ve attended and I love meeting my readers.
9. How long have you been writing?
When I was a small girl I would imagine
stories but never wrote them down. In college I started writing short stories
and eventually switched to novels. I still write short stories and you can find
a few of those out in eBook. So I have been writing stories in my head ever
since I was a child.
10. What is your favorite book- even as a child?
10. What is your favorite book- even as a child?
Oh there was never one. I devoured books the
way a child with a sweet tooth can devour candy. I read every Nancy Drew out.
Loved fairy tales and folk tales and still do. I still read fairy tales and
folk tales and love the singsong stories of Dr. Seuss. I hope someone will read
those to me when I get too old to read for myself and that I will enjoy it and
laugh.
11. Please provide for us the links to your work and your social media sites:
11. Please provide for us the links to your work and your social media sites:
Buy link for Isabella:
Currently the series is only
available on Amazon because they are required to be in the Kindle Unlimited
program. Once the 90 days is up I will be releasing the book everywhere books
are sold.
Author Media Links:
https://threadingtheweb.wordpress.com
12. Anything to add:
Thank you for this interview and for reviewing Isabella, Bride of Ohio. These were good questions and I enjoyed answering them. I love to hear form my readers. Readers can find me online and if signed up for my newsletter can win prizes.
12. Anything to add:
Thank you for this interview and for reviewing Isabella, Bride of Ohio. These were good questions and I enjoyed answering them. I love to hear form my readers. Readers can find me online and if signed up for my newsletter can win prizes.
Isabella: Bride of Ohio by Debra ParmleyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is from the unprecedented 50-book American Mail-Order Bride Series and is labeled and book # 17.
Isabella is from Sweden, and she has lost her parents , and even a job where she had been working, because the factory had burnt down.
She had decided to become a mail-order bride, hoping maybe this was something she may be successful at. In doing so, she finds the handsome Donald Jenks, and he is wealthy.
The problem here, one of my favorites. We all know- trouble always comes in threes. And the three in this case-is going to be the number in the way of her happiness.
But now that Isabella thinks she has perfection, she has to have it. She doesn’t want to let anything ruin her chances at having it, and having the perfect dream.
Unfortunately, Isabella ends up being a victim on a train. Tom is the agent investigating her disappearance. Worried to death , all Isabella can think about is Donald and having their beautiful wedding and her happily ever after.
This is why I mention threes. Isabella’s disappearance is her third straw with bad luck. Will she be found? Where is she, why was she taken? And will she get her happily ever after?
To get these answers and more, you must read this five star book: “Isabella Bride from Ohio” and find out for yourself. This book is romantic, and enchanting, and will pull at your heart strings. You too will want to help Isabella and Donald, and even Agent Tom find her.
I even glanced at the other “Mail-Order Bride Series” books, and these books are very detailed and interesting. I think it is a totally clever idea to represent our fifty states like this! Kudos to whoever thought of this!
By the way, I met Debra in one of the Facebook parties, and I wanted to review this book, because I am originally from Ohio. That however, did not prejudice my review in any way shape or form.
View all my reviews
