About the Book

Book: Land of Dreams (Home to Green Creek Series Book One)

Authors: Lauraine Snelling with Kiersti Giron

Genre: FICTION / Christian / Historical

Release date: April 1, 2025

From Norway to America, they must strive for resilience amid unpromising new beginnings.

On the ship to America, Norwegian immigrant Amalia Gunderson makes a solemn promise to a dying mother, vowing to watch over her five-year-old daughter, Ruth. Together, Amalia and Ruth trek to Iowa to claim the farm and former boardinghouse that Ruth has inherited, despite opposition from a difficult cousin. Struggling with an empty house and scarce resources, Amalia resolves to return the boardinghouse to its former purpose, aided by the kindness of strangers and the resilient spirit of her young charge.

As Amalia and Ruth fight for their new home, a trail of orphans shows up on their doorstep, and Amalia makes a promising friend in Absalom Karlsson, the magistrate’s son. With each challenge they face, Amalia and Ruth find hope in believing that faith and determination can overcome even the most daunting of trials.

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About the Author

Lauraine Snelling is the award-winning author of more than one hundred books, fiction and nonfiction, for adults and young adults. Her books have sold more than five million copies. She makes her home in Tehachapi, California.

More from Lauraine

Different stories come about different ways.  One of the things I’ve learned through these years of writing is the value of slowly waking up and paying attention to what was going on in my mind. I saw a young woman standing at the railing of a ship tossing on rough seas. A gray day. And I heard the splash as her father’s body sank into the waves. I sniffed, mopped my eyes and settled back, hopefully to sleep awhile longer. But the dream, if that was what it was, continued. A little girl named Rut, or Ruthie, joined Amalia at the rail, slipped her hand into the young woman’s and asked if she could please come, her mother wanted to see her. And my internal game of what if continued for these people on a cholera attacked ship from Norway to Amerika.

I knew a new story had begun but had no idea where it was going. As I said, I treasure that time between sleeping and waking when I can part the curtains to my subconscious mind and see what it has been playing with. What a gift God has created in us.

Around about the same time, something brought a story that one of my aunts on my father’s side told me when I asked her what she remembered of her growing up years. Auntie Harriet chuckled and asked, “Have you heard of the rutabaga years?” I shook my head and settled in to listen. They were a family of eleven children, my dad being the eldest, they lived in a big two story house with a huge garden, a flock of chickens and bad weather. Late spring freeze, early fall freeze and much of the produce killed off. All but the root crops, and rows of rutabagas. Many were dug and stored in the cellar, lots left in the ground, to be dug up later. Rutabagas can be fried, boiled, mashed, grated, turned into soup and stew, mixed with other vegetables, added to pancakes, even turned into pie. Ah, yes, the rutabaga years, Auntie Harriet said she didn’t particularly care for rutabagas for a long time after that. But in the mean time, they became part of Amalia and Ruthie’s new life at a big house Ruthie inherited in Green Creek. North and West of Decorah Iowa in 1819. Come join a delightful cast of characters in Land of Dreams.

Interview with Lauraine

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

For years I had thought that the dream to write horse books for girls started when I was a senior in high school because when I wrote stories for an English class, everyone wanted to hear more. Even when I was little, I loved horses, so naturally many of my stories centered around horses with other animals thrown in.

But, after my mother passed away, I opened a box of things she had saved and in it found a notebook of mine from probably fifth or sixth grade. My mother was one of those who saved everything and through the years, I often pleaded with her to “get rid of some of that stuff.” What I found in that notebook made me grateful she’d ignored my pleas. The story was written in cursive with pencil, remember this was many years ago, and as I read, the tears started and blowing my nose, slowed my reading down. There were several chapters about a girl and a horse and the story caught my attention so I read it to “the end”. Not a long story but all of the pieces were there, characters, dialogue, description, conflict and an ending. I sat on my sofa in awe, thinking of all the years I’d been writing, the books I‘d published and all the life I’d been living. Hmm, perhaps I should get that box off the shelf in my closet and see what I can do with that story.

How do you create your main characters?

Creating characters is one of my most delightful parts of storytelling. I never know when I might meet them. I love that part of the day when I am lying in bed between sleep and truly awake; I feel sorry for writers who leap out of bed right away and don’t take advantage of that time for characters to walk in and become real. No, I’m not crazy. This is one of my writerly tools. Keeping a pen and a writing pad by the bed is a wise idea. Now of course we can dictate ideas into a phone or computer. Just beware because we can be instant forgetters. My, how times have changed.

Do you base your characters on real people?

I don’t usually base my characters on real people but Ingeborg, the star of all The Blessing series, is a combination of my mother, Thelma, and her older sister, Inga. Whoever had any idea that Ingeborg would become such a part of my life and now my readers’ lives through all Red River of the North or The Blessing books. I’m in awe when I think of it.

Any current or upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?

We, my writing partner Kiersti Giron, a gift from God several years ago, and I have a new series releasing, starting with book one, Land of Dreams due out on April 1, 2025. Set near Decorah,  Iowa in 1889, Amalia, that young woman on the ship and the little girl train across the country to find Ruthie’s inheritance in a three-story house and farmland along with all kinds of characters and adventures. We are editing book two At Morning’s Light now. Oh, how I love these characters and writing with Kiersti.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Besides reading and writing, I love gardening in season – ah, the amazing colors in my roses; playing Farkle with friends, watercolor painting, needlework, my three hens Floozy One, Floozy Two and Buff; LapCat – queen of the house, Bitty Kitty, Bozie, and a kitten named Four, all outside cats, and Basset Lucy – hound of my heart. On the human side, our two sons, Brian who lives in CA and Kevin who lives in WA. Our daughter Marie lives in heaven and husband Wayne who especially enjoyed the travel part of my writing, joined her there in September 2023. One thing I’ve learned, life changes in an instant and we have no control over it. But our God will never change. He always loves us beyond measure and delights in blessing us.

Blog Stops

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, April 12

Devoted To Hope, April 12

Life on Chickadee Lane, April 13

Texas Book-aholic, April 14

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, April 14

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, April 15

lakesidelivingsite, April 15

The Avid Reader, April 16

Girls in White Dresses, April 16

Pens Pages & Pulses, April 17

Bizwings Book Blog, April 18

Leslie’s Library Escape, April 18

Locks, Hooks and Books, April 19

Stories By Gina, April 20 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, April 20

Betti Mace, April 21

Books You Can Feel Good About, April 21

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, April 22

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, April 23

For Him and My Family, April 23

Cover Lover Book Review, April 24

Holly’s Book Corner, April 25

Jeanette’s Thoughts, April 25

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Lauraine is giving away the grand prize of a $25 gift card to the Baker Book House website and paperback copy of the book!!

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/00adcf54198