Debut Author Spotlight ... Dorothy Love

MY PUBLISHING JOURNEY

by Dorothy Love

My publishing journey began in 1989 when I left a job in college teaching to pursue writing full time. I wrote and submitted constantly for five years, publishing a number of magazine pieces along the way.

My first novel for young readers was published in 1995 and I went on to publish 13 other novels for preteens and young adults in the secular market before moving to the CBA to write historicals for adult readers.

I was born and reared in a small Southern town. I  love writing about the history of my native region and love encouraging readers to explore the wonderful stories from their own family histories.

Beyond All Measure, my adult fiction debut, is the first of the Hickory Ridge novels and is set in a fictional town in  my home state of Tennessee. Though I haven't lived there since I was a young girl, I have many relatives there and I get back there as often as I can.

I recently finished line edits on the second Hickory Ridge novel, Beauty for Ashes which will be out early next year, and I'm currently writing the third book, to be called Every Perfect Gift.

BEYOND ALL MEASURE

Hickory Ridge Series #1

by Dorothy Love

Thomas Nelson, May 2011

320 pages

Ada Wentworth, a young Bostonian, journeys to Hickory Ridge, Tennessee, in the years following the Civil War. Alone and nearly penniless following a broken engagement, Ada accepts a position as a lady's companion to the elderly Lillian Willis, a pillar of the community and aunt to the local lumber mill owner, Wyatt Caldwell. Ada intends to use her millinery skills to establish a hat shop and secure her future.

Haunted by unanswered questions from her life in Boston, Ada is most drawn to two townsfolk: Wyatt, a Texan with big plans of his own, and Sophie, a mulatto girl who resides at the Hickory Ridge orphanage. Ada's friendship with Sophia attracts the attention of a group of locals seeking to displace the residents of Two Creeks, a "colored" settlement on the edge of town. As tensions rise, Ada is threatened but refuses to abandon her plan to help the girl.

When Lillian dies, Ada is left without employment or a place to call home. And since Wyatt's primary purpose for staying in Hickory Ridge was to watch over his aunt, he can now pursue his dream of owning Longhorns in his home state of Texas. With their feelings for each other growing, Ada must decide whether she can trust God with her future and Wyatt with her heart.

Dorothy Love is the author of the Hickory Ridge series, historical novels set in the beautiful Smoky Mountains region of her native Tennessee. Her well-researched, heartwarming stories of small town Southern life, faith, friends, and family reflect the emotions, concerns, and values of women everywhere.

Growing up in McNairy County, Tennessee, Doro attended Bethel Springs Presbyterian Church and the local grade school where she spent every spare moment writing stories to share with her classmates. As a college student in Texas majoring in teaching and English literature, she co-edited her university newspaper. After earning a master’s degree and a Ph.D, she authored dozens of magazine articles before breaking into book publishing with a number of award-winning novels for preteens and young adults. The Hickory Ridge series marks her adult fiction debut.

http://dorothylovebooks.com/