Welcome to the Blog Tour for Even If Nothing Else Is Certain by Amy Willoughby-Burle, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! Doesn't this cover give you sweet & spring vibes? Check out my interview with the author below!
About the Book
Title: Even If Nothing Else Is Certain
Series: Love for Certain #2
Author: Amy Willoughby-Burle
Publisher: Fireship Press
Release Date: March 27, 2024
Genre: Historical Romance (clean)
Even if nothing else is certain … love still is.
Ruby Foster loves her job as a Pack Horse librarian, but secretly she dreams of being a nurse. Since there are no schools for nursing in the hills of rural Kentucky in 1937, Ruby contents herself with harvesting medicinal plants, delivering her beloved library books, and dreaming. Dreaming mostly of a life that doesn’t leave her living in the past. Until one day she discovers that “past” camped out by the Hell for Certain creek. Could it really be Cole, the one who left her heartbroken so many years ago? Just when she starts to believe in her dreams and hope for love again, Cole reveals his true colors. Or is the truth she sees only another illusion? When nothing else in the world seems certain, can the bonds of friendship bring one searching heart and one lost soul together again?
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More Books In This Series
Author Interview
1. Did you know a lot about medicinal herbs before you started this story?
Actually, not as much as I should have considering that my husband knows everything about them and he tells me things all the time! I’m listening, I really am. I just don’t have the brain that he and Ruby do where I can remember what each one does and how to best use it. I’m getting there now that I’ve written the book (and of course continuing to pay attention when my husband talks about dandelion roots.)
2. Do you prefer to write historical or contemporary stories and why?
A few years ago, my answer would have been contemporary all the way. That’s where I started, and I still write contemporary and love it. So when my agent and editor at the time suggested that I try out a historical romance, my face tuned up. Good thing we were on the phone and they couldn’t see it. But then, I found the Packhorse librarians in history and of course they were right here in my neck of the mountains–just over into Kentucky from my home in NC, and Mattie and Ruby and Ava introduced themselves to me and well… I fell in love with historical fiction.
3. Have you ever traveled to where pack horse librarians used to deliver books? If so, what was that like?
I have! I’ve been out to Hyden, Hazard, and Dryhill, Kentucky a few times. I’ve driven along the Middle Fork River and stopped along The Hell For Certain Creek where my particular stories take place. It’s just beautiful there. And it’s so surreal in the best of ways to be right where those ladies were. I can imagine them splashing across the creek on their horses– rain, shine, or snow, taking those bound copies of wild imaginings and volumes of useful resources of all kinds to the people of their community at a time where they had less than nothing, but words and stories and information were still available! For this book I also researched the Frontier Nursing Service started by Mary Breckinridge in Hyden. It’s amazing that both of these fantastic services manned (no pun intended) by women were going on in this same area that most of the country didn’t even know existed. It’s fascinating.
4. How do you find time to write your stories while working as a teacher, being a mom, and a wife?
I’ll admit, the time I find is short so I have to make the most of it. It’s a mix of planning and being ready to write at the drop of a hat. My schedule changes with the seasons, with the grades the kids are in or activities they’re doing. While writing this book my two younger sons were taking a computer coding class that lasted about 2 hours each Monday. Just around the block from that class was a Barnes & Noble. I set aside that time as sacred writing time. I went to the cafe, did NOT stop to look at books, and sat and wrote for 2 hours. I didn’t call friends to join me for coffee, if the phone buzzed and it wasn’t my husband or the kids program, I didn’t answer it. I didn’t scroll Instagram… I used that 2 hours, because sometimes that was all I got in the whole week, and I wrote like crazy.
Otherwise, if a moment of downtime appeared, I sat down and started writing–even if it only lasted 20 minutes. I didn’t stop to make coffee, get my favorite shirt on, find a playlist or any of the other rituals we sometimes think we “need” to write. I just wrote.
5. The cover of this book is so bright and sunny! Do you have any part in choosing your covers?
One of the things I love about working with a smaller press such as Fireship/ Cortero is that yes, I do get a part in choosing the cover. My editor lets me see what they’re thinking about and asks for my input. We toss photos back and forth until we come up with a winner. And LOVE this cover!
6. How do you decide on the setting and time period for one of your stories?
Actually that was a gift in disguise to me. It was actually the idea of another editor with a different publisher to write about the Packhorse Librarians. I have to admit, at the time I hadn’t heard of them and they had been right here in the Appalachian Mountains no more than three hours from me. I ended up writing a draft of the book that just didn’t jive with what the other editor wanted (that happens) and she graciously released the draft to me and I went on to finish it and publish with Fireship. You never know what ideas are going to come to you and from where they will arrive. I am very thankful!
About the Author
Amy Willoughby-Burle is an award winning fiction author living in Asheville, NC with her husband and five children. Her fiction focuses on the importance of family and friends and centers on the themes of forgiveness, second chances, and finding the beauty in the world around us. She is the author of the novels The Lemonade Year, The Year of Thorns and Honey, The Other Side of Certain and Even if Nothing Else Is Certain. Her short fiction has been published in numerous journals and in her collection, Out Across the Nowhere.
Connect with Amy by visiting amywilloughbyburle.com to follow her on social media and sign up for email updates.Tour Giveaway
(1) winner will win a $25 Amazon Gift Card, signed copies of The Other Side of Certain and Even if Nothing Else is Certain, and librarian & plant themed bookmarks, stickers and postcards!
(1) additional winner will win a signed copy of Even if Nothing Else is Certain!
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight April 1, 2024 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on April 8, 2024. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
6 comments:
Sounds like a wonderful read.
This looks really good. Thanks for hosting this tour.
i loved this interview! Thanks for being on the tour, Mimi :)
Stunning cover
This sounds like my kinda book! Love the cover!
Sounds like a great read!
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