Today I have the pleasure of sharing my interview of Author Melanie Dobson. I think you’ll find her replies interesting and her bio impressive. And you might want to look into her latest release, Love Finds You on Mackinac Island. (BTW, that’s pronounced Mak-i-naw.)

**BTW, Melanie isn’t offering just a book giveaway. She’s offering a Kindle Fire! Read the scoop at the end!**

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

MELANIE: Ever since I was a child, I’ve been passionate about reading and writing stories. After I got out of college, I shelved my dream to write fiction for almost a decade. Not long before my thirtieth birthday, God rekindled the fire in me to pursue this desire, but it took almost seven years to publish a novel. In hindsight, the timing of this was perfect for our family. We adopted two children the year before I received my first novel contract, and I’ve been so grateful to be able to stay home with our girls during the day while I write in the evenings and often on Saturdays when Dad is home to play. God grows and stretches me a little more with every book I write, and I’m grateful to Him for the opportunity to be able to share the stories He’s placed in my heart.

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

MELANIE: I feel challenged almost every day as a mother and a writer in that I know I am not able to do anything without God’s provision. I’m grateful for His forgiveness, guidance, and grace!

Last year I also went to Haiti with a group of ladies to help lead a retreat to encourage pastor’s wives. I was terrified to go on this trip, not only because of the physical challenges but also because I didn’t think I had anything to offer these ladies who had lost so much in the last two years. I quickly discovered that I didn’t have anything to offer except a lot of hugs, but God did so very much that week. Our entire team came home marveling at all His miracles. He strengthened us when we felt incredibly weak and gave us such joy after our time with our Haitian sisters.

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

MELANIE: Elena is a young woman who chooses to fight her own feelings in order to do what she believes is right for her family. She is a strong woman who loves art and beauty. She draws strength from a place—an abandoned lighthouse where she escapes to enjoy the beauty of God’s stars in the night sky. Through the story, she learns that she can find God in other places, but she continues to draw strength from the beauty in His creation.

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

MELANIE: I love old buildings, ghost towns, and crumbling cemeteries. My husband says I need an “I brake for cemeteries” bumper sticker on my car. ? I enjoy going to these old places and wonder what life was once like in the walls of the abandoned buildings as well as wonder at the stories of people who came before us. In the absence of facts, my mind starts to fill in the blanks.

LYN: I know what you mean! Thanks for a great interview!

To purchase, click here. Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan

As the Gilded Age comes to a close, Elena Bissette’s once-wealthy family has nearly lost its fortune. The Bissettes still own a home on fashionable Mackinac Island, where they will spend one last summer in the hope of introducing Elena to a wealthy suitor. But Elena is repulsed by the idea of marrying for money. Quickly tiring of the extravagant balls, she spends most evenings escaping back into Mackinac’s rugged forest. There she meets Chase, a handsome laborer who shares her love for the night sky. The two begin to meet in secret at an abandoned lighthouse, where they work together to solve a mystery buried in the pages of a tattered diary.

As Elena falls in love with Chase, her mother relentlessly contrives to introduce her to Chester Darrington, the island’s most eligible bachelor. Marriage to the elusive millionaire would solve the Bissettes’ financial woes, and Elena is torn between duty and love.