About the Book

Book: Honeymoon’s Over

Author: Carol McClain

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction

Release date: September 27, 2023

Honeymoon’s Over

For better or worse.

Easy vows for newlyweds Chantel and Charlie. Having been widowed, they knew the worst of love was years away. Furthermore, at fifty, they wouldn’t live long enough for the bad to blossom.

Then they came home from their honeymoon.

Chantel’s pregnant daughter Sissy, living with them during her husband’s deployment, must remain on bed rest. Histrionic and bored, she’s a … challenge.

Chantel’s vegetarian son Graham moves in for a few weeks to help with his sister, but something doesn’t seem right. He never got along with his military-loving, meat-eating sibling. He didn’t have ulterior motives for coming to help, did he?

Charlie’s married daughter, Margo, could certainly enumerate the issues these adult children her father’s new wife had. On top of everything, how could her father have chosen that woman?

Then there’s Charlie’s father—lost in old-age absentmindedness. Certainly, he was only forgetful.

Thank heavens for jobs they love that get them out of the house. Except …

Should they have vowed for worse or better?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Carol McClain is the award-winning author of five novels dealing with real people facing real problems. She is a consummate encourager, and no matter what your faith might look like, you will find compassion, humor and wisdom in her complexly layered, but ultimately readable work.

Aside from writing, she’s a skilled glass artist who has just made a foray into creating high-end jewelry. She’s also an avid hiker. She teaches Bible studies and mentors teens.

She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and too many animals to mention.

More from Carol

Disclaimer #1: Beware.

If we get to know each other, the humor of your life is liable to become fodder for my work. (Of course, with permission. Occasionally!) But don’t worry. I don’t write suspense, so you’ll never be in danger.

Background:

My brother married a widow when they were in their fifties.

He was a meatatarian. “Vegetables have rights,” he’d declare as he reached for a second round of bacon. He’d then heap on fried potatoes. The tubers were his nod to vegetables.

His wife was gluten intolerant and a health food lover of all foods green.

When he moved in with his wife, so did his vegan son who lived on gluten (and very few veggies). Gluten found its way onto her countertops, her refrigerator shelves, and dishes he didn’t wash.

Her son lived with her as well and came arrayed with the eccentricities my nephew lacked. The two sons made a complete, chaotic pair.

Add to them a diabetic mother who was starting dementia and my bet was on the fact this marriage was doomed.

Fortunately, I’m not prophetic. They remained happily married—despite my brother’s eating predilection. However, their situation made me laugh and became the fodder for Honeymoon’s Over.

Disclaimer #2: no HIPPA rules or privacy issues or personal matter have been disclosed. Names have been changed to protect the guilty (just don’t read the dedication, then the name change is mute.)

Disclaimer #3: If you’re expecting a sad, tearjerker, you’ll be disappointed. Oh, you will cry—tears of laughter. You’ll chortle throughout Honeymoon.

Interview with Carol

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I always loved storytelling. I dreamed a lot as a child and attempted to write down one of my daydream stories when I was in third grade. All my friends, intrigue by my ambition, wrote their own.

The teacher, seizing a teachable moment, had everyone read their stories aloud. The class clamored for the chance, and they shouldn’t have. Their stories were lame. (from the viewpoint of an eight-year-old).

The nun wanted me to read. I wouldn’t. “It isn’t finished,” I said. My little brain probably thought it wasn’t edited either—however an eight-year-old would perceive editing. I put the book away.

Flash forward to high school. I wrote poetry and short stories but could never figure out how to write a full-length book. Uh-duh. They were like over a hundred pages. Only geniuses could write one.

Later in life, I challenged myself to write a full-length novel, and here I am.

The short answer is: When I was eight-years-old.

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

This was my childhood dilemma. How does one get an idea to write a full-length book?

I find them in real life. I see a problem that can’t be solved. A “what if” that would make life unbearable.

In Borrowed Lives, I found my inspiration from people I met while working with Celebrate Recovery, a Christian addiction recovery program like AA. The second book, Prodigal Lives, continued with the issue of addiction. Treasure Lives took off on a tangent as my two protagonists charted a course their parents didn’t want. This course in life was wholesome and messy and fulfilling and frightening.

Do you have any suggestions to help someone become a better writer? If so, what are they?

Do not publish a book that was not deeply edited or read by beta readers/critique partners. I thought I wrote brilliantly—and still do. Hah! My critique partners show me otherwise.

Most importantly, you need to show us the action. For example, when humans are sad, they exhibit it different ways—not always in crying. There’s anger or a feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness and loss. Twins will exhibit sorrow differently. Show us their feelings. Don’t tell us.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I tell everyone I had no imagination. My parents sent me to school. At home, I played school. When I graduated college, there was only one thing I could do:

Go to school.

I wanted to teach and did for over thirty years. Today I help student teachers. I teach Bible studies. I edit.

Aside from my Christian faith and my family, education drives me.

What project are you working on now and how do we find your books?

My next book, a stand-alone called The Honeymoon Is Over is with Elk Lake publishing. Honeymoon will be out next summer.

I will start a new series in about two weeks.

The best place to find my books are Amazon. Those not published by Elk Lake will be found on Barnes and Noble or Apple books.

The best place to discover them is on my webpage carolmcclain.com/books. Here you’ll find some representative reviews and buy links for both print and ebooks.

Also, on my webpage, you can sign up for my newsletter and/or blog and receive all the latest updates.

Blog Stops

Girls in White Dresses, January 8

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, January 9

Stories By Gina, January 10 (Author Interview)

Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, January 11 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 11

Artistic Nobody, January 12 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, January 13

Guild Master, January 14 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Acdemy, January 15

A Reader’s Brain, January 16 (Author Interview)

Back Porch Reads, January 17 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, January 17

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, January 18 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 19

Fiction Book Lover, January 20 (Author Interview)

Simple Harvest Reads, January 21 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To  celebrate her tour, Carol is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54126