Today I have the pleasure of interviewing an intriguing author Cara Putman (NOT PutNAM). She is a sweetie AND  a powerhouse! Quite a combination. Here’s a few interesting Q & A’s.

LYN:      Tell us a little about your writing and your real life.

I love writing stories that draw people to a deeper realization that God is real and that His hope overlays our lives, even when we can’t see Him. Some of those stories have contemporary settings and involve women confronted with situations filled with mystery or suspense. The other half are set during World War II, a time-period filled with little, known stories I love to use as part of a larger romance.

LYN: Was there a time in your life when you think God challenged you to become stronger? Please share.

Because I was blessed to grow up in a Christian family, I’ve had faith in God and Jesus from a young age. My heart’s cry from my earliest memories was to serve and please God. My life was also pretty easy for the most part—though I’m sure there are times I would have told you it was anything but. Then in 2007 I had my first miscarriage. That experience shook me to the core. I say now that it stripped the candy-coating from my faith and made me examine whether I really believed everything I claimed. This trauma and a second miscarriage forced me to dig deep and determine whether God was who He said He was and I still believed Him. My faith is stronger and I have an area of ministry to other women who suffer this pain, that I wouldn’t have had without the miscarriages. I still have questions for God, but my faith survived and the roots sunk deeper.

LYN-In what ways does your heroine show strength? And where does she draw this strength?

Alanna Stone has spent the last eleven years running from a painful experience in her past. She’s adopted the philosophy that avoidance and busyness are the ways to deal with a pain she can’t change. As the story opens, she’s forced to return home and confront the past and the people and situation that brought her pain. In the process she learns that uncovering the truth is where she can find the freedom from the past she’s longed for. She gains the strength to push to the truth from her deep faith.

LYN-Share one fun fact about your life or books.

I have a passion for World War II and uncovering its unique stories. This is illustrated by the way I find links to WWII stories just about everywhere I travel. I may be the only writer who visits places like the Biltmore in Ashville, NC, and uncovers World War II stories.”–Cara

BIO:

Cara C. Putman lives in Indiana with her husband and four children. She’s an attorney and a teacher at her church as well as lecturer at Purdue. She has loved reading and writing from a young age and now realizes it was all training for writing books. She loves bringing history and romance to life.

An honors graduate of the University of Nebraska and George Mason University School of Law, Cara left small town Nebraska and headed to Washington, D.C., to launch her career in public policy.

Cara is an author chasing hard after God as she lives a crazy life. She invites you to join her on that journey.

Links:

Website: http://www.caraputman.com

Blog: http://blog.caraputman.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/caraputman

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cara_putman

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/caraputman

Have any of you ever been to Mackinac Island? Or Upper Michigan? Or to Lake Michigan? I grew up in Waukegan IL on the shores of Lake Michigan and I remember when our family took a summer ride all around it. Do any of you know what jam-jelly company is BIG in Michigan? You may get a surprise for the correct answer!–Lyn