Today I’m pleased to welcome Ann Shorey to my blog to talk about her latest release, the third book in the Beldon Grove series, The Dawn of  a Dream. Ann has generously offered a copy of the book to one lucky reader, so please leave a comment below with an email address where I can reach you to be entered to win.

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About The Dawn of  a Dream

She’s embarking on a new life—but can the past truly be left behind?

Luellen O’Connell is stunned when her husband of just one month tells her he is leaving—and his reason leaves her completely astonished. Deeply wounded by his betrayal, Luellen decides to finally follow her dream to become a teacher, a desire she had set aside when she married. But can she truly hide her past? Or will it destroy her ambitions forever?

A moving story of tenacity and perseverance in the face of opposition, The Dawn of a Dream will inspire you to discover and follow your own dreams.

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About Ann

ANN SHOREY has been a story collector for most of her life, and has been a full-time writer for over twenty years. Her writing has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Grandma’s Soul, and in the Adams Media Cup of Comfort series. She made her fiction debut with The Edge of Light, Book One in the At Home in Beldon Grove series, which released in January 2009. The third book in the series, The Dawn of a Dream, released in April, 2011. She’s tempted to thank Peet’s coffee and Dove chocolates when she writes the acknowledgments for her books.

When she’s not writing, she teaches classes on historical research, story arc, and other fiction fundamentals at regional conferences. Ann lives with her husband in southern Oregon.

She may be contacted through her website, www.annshorey.com, which also contains her blog, http://annshorey.blogspot.com/ or find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AnnShorey.

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What’s your latest book?

The Dawn of a Dream, published by Revell, released April 1, 2011.

What do you hope your readers will get out of the story?

 I hope readers will be encouraged to follow their own personal dreams. The Dawn of a Dream is about the obstacles Luellen McGarvie had to overcome to reach her goal. If I can encourage a reader or two to press on through discouragement, I’ll feel rewarded.

What a wonderful purpose for your book! Everyone can certainly use encouragement in reaching their dreams. What’s your favorite genre to write? To read?

I love writing historical novels, and historicals are my favorite genre to read, as well. The reason is the same—I like to learn about history in a painless way! It’s much more fun to learn from a novel than to memorize dates and events in a classroom.

Isn’t it though?? =) What would your dream office look like—and what does your REAL writing environment look like?

Oh, my! My dream office would have shelves and cupboards and BE ORGANIZED! Right now my office is full of boxes of books, stacks of reference materials, writing supplies, my stuffed bunny collection, and my dog. My goal for this year is to take out all the miscellaneous tables that hold “stuff” and replace them with specially designed shelves, so that one wall will contain everything in easy-to-find order. (Except for the dog—she would probably balk at being filed on a shelf. =)

LOL. You never know–sometimes dogs find weird places. And I’m glad to know I’m not the only disorganized one! Is there any one thing or reference you keep handy when writing? Anything you kept around for this particular book?

Since I write historical fiction, the one book I couldn’t do without is English Through the Ages, by William Brohaugh.

For The Dawn of a Dream, I referred often to The Town that Started the Civil War, by Nat Brandt (for descriptions of a college that accepted women in the 1850’s); US Cavalry on the Plains, 1850-90, published by Osprey Books, (for descriptions of uniforms, etc.); also Forts of the American Frontier 1820-91, published by Osprey; and, Duty, Honor, Country, A History of West Point, by Stephen Ambrose. There were several other books, but I turned to those most often.

What lessons have you learned through the publication process that you wouldn’t have guessed as a pre-published writer?

I’ve learned what a rewarding experience it is to work with talented editors. It’s a blessing to have my work skillfully edited so that the end result is far more polished than what I turned in. The team at Revell knows what sells, from the cover art to the last page in the book. I trust them completely.

They do a fabulous job! Now, a fun question: if someone were to give you $5,000 to spend on anything you wanted, what would you buy? (No saving or gifts to charities allowed!)

I’d buy new carpeting for our house! If there were any money left, it would go toward office improvement.

Nearly too practical, but I’ll allow it. 😉 Any funny family stories about living with a writer?

 I don’t know whether my husband thinks it’s funny or not, but I can be so engrossed in writing that I completely forget to stop and cook dinner. Sometimes he comes home to a dark house (except for the lights in my office) and a cold stove. Fortunately for me, he’s an easy-going guy. He keeps saying he can get by with peanut butter sandwiches, but so far it hasn’t come to that.

I just did that the other day. =) Of course, I only got away with it because the kids were with their grandmother and my hubby out too, LOL.

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Thanks so much for visiting, Ann! Readers, be sure to check out her website at www.annshorey.com and her blog at http://annshorey.blogspot.com/. And you can buy The Dawn of a Dream from Amazon and CrossPurposes.

Void where prohibited. Entry into the contest is considered verification of eligibility based on your local laws. Chance of winning depends on number of entries. Contest ends 4/29/11. Winner will have two weeks to claim prize.