Stitches Thru Time: Marion Ueckermann

Angela here, and I am quite excited to introduce to you Marion Ueckermann's latest release. Though just a novella, Spring's Promise holds quite a punch. Here's the back cover:

1972. Every day in Belfast, Northern Ireland, holds risk, especially for the mayor’s daughter. But Dr. Olivia O'Hare has a heart for people and chooses to work on the wrong side of a city where colors constantly clash. The orange and green of the Republicans pitted against the red and blue of those loyal to Britain. While they might share the common hue of white, it brings no peace.

Caught between the Republicans and Loyalists’ conflict, blue-collar worker Ryann Doyle has to wonder if there’s life before death. The answer seems to be a resounding, ‘No’. His mother is dead, his father’s a drunk, and his younger brother, Declan, is steeped in the Provisional IRA. Then he crosses paths with Olivia O’Hare.

After working four days straight, mopping up PIRA’s latest act of terror, Olivia is exhausted. All she wants is to go home and rest. But when she drives away from Royal Victoria Hospital, rest is the last thing Olivia gets.

When Declan kidnaps the Lord Mayor of Belfast’s daughter, Ryann has to find a way to rescue the dark-haired beauty, though it means he must turn his back on his own flesh and blood for someone he just met.

A fast paced romance set in Ireland, what's not to love? I enjoyed Ryann's internal conflict as he had to decide between protecting his brother, and doing the right thing. Plus, as anyone can testify who has read many of my own stories, I seem to like when a main character gets shot. ;) -- as long as everyone gets a happy ending. Needless to say, I had a hard time setting this story down!

Here's the link if you want to check it out on Amazon. :)

Angela Couch here, and I am very excited about our guest today. Let me make introductions:

MARION UECKERMANN's passion for writing was sparked when she moved to Ireland with her family. Her love of travel has influenced her contemporary inspirational romances set in novel places. She now lives in South Africa in an empty nest with her husband and their crazy black Scottie, Wally.

She will be giving away a copy of her latest novella, A Match for Magnolia in e-book format today!

Hi, Marion. I am so glad you could join us today to talk about your latest book, and series! First let me say, I have really enjoyed your stories, from Helsinki Sunrise, your first Passport to Romance, to Poles Apart, one of my new favorite Christmas reads, and now, A Match for Magnolia.

What can you tell us about this latest Novella and your inspiration for it?

Hello, Angela. It's great to be here with you today. Thank you for hosting me on Stitches Thru Time.

I hadn't planned to write this story, at all. Having had such fun and success with Splash!, the first boxed set I was involved in last summer, and then the same experience with Snowflakes and Mistletoe, the Christmas boxed set I was part of, I guess I was having withdrawal symptoms to be involved in another boxed set. That, and the fact that I had a spring novella waiting to be published. However, once we'd chosen Love Blossoms for the title of our spring boxed set, and designed a cover, I no longer felt that the story I'd planned to publish was the right fit.

I spent a couple of days mulling ideas around in my head. To be honest, I cannot remember what sparked the idea, however, when the dust settled on my rethink, I was left with a plan for a seven book series about the Blume sisters, plus an additional separate three book series about their mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

A Match for Magnolia is Book 1 in my new Seven Suitors for Seven Sisters series which I will write during 2016/2017.

So much to look forward to! I love that the seven Blume sisters each is named after a flower. (Yep, I’ve already had a sneak peek!) They also seem rather industrious. In your story, Magnolia is a jeweler and is hired to make an exquisite ring for the hero—she can only assume he intends it for a woman he’s planning to propose to. What other sorts of occupations do the Blume sisters have and how did you come up with them?

This is the part of the series that I love...the idea behind the Blume sisters' careers. It was the Proverbs 31 woman that inspired my planning.

Magnolia (Maggie), the jeweler's profession was inspired by verse 10 - A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

Rose is a fashion designer, wedding dresses in particular. Verses 13, 19 and 24 speak of this heroine working with wool and flax, holding the spindle, and making linen garments to sell, and supplying merchants with sashes.

Because verses 14 and 15 speak of the Proverbs 31 woman in terms of providing food for her family and servants, Clover, the youngest sister, is a chef.

Heather is my serious social worker - verse 20: She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

Poppy, the oldest of the seven, is into real estate. She even has a mountain to sell, and the inspiration for that idea is another great story. The Proverbs 31 woman fortunately doesn't face such a challenge...she merely buys fields and plants vineyards (verse 16).

Holly is an interior designer, and she does a great makeover of Poppy's lounge in A Match for Magnolia - see verse 22, "she makes coverings for her bed."

Finally, we have beautiful Lily who is a model. I got the idea for her profession from verse 30, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty if fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." She is beautiful inside and out.

I’ve always been a huge fan of that chapter of Proverbs. The 26^th verse reminds me of you, but I’ll change one word. “She [writes] with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.”

Thanks, Angela. I consider that an honor J

What is it you hope your readers will glean from A Match for Magnolia?

I guess the best way to answer this question is to post the Dear Reader letter that is in the front of A Match for Magnolia:

Dear Reader

Often we’re quick to judge people based on what we’ve heard, what we’ve seen, what we know (or think we know). But people can change. People do change. All because of Jesus. That’s a lesson my heroine, Magnolia Blume, comes to learn. It’s a lesson I’m continually learning. Far too many times I’ve summed up people the first time I met them, only to find when I got to know them, that they’re not at all like the person I first thought they were. And I have to reprove myself for judging, for having wasted precious time viewing that person, who God loves with an everlasting love, in a negative light.

If you struggle with this, too, remember that there is something so amazing about acceptance!

Before we let you go, I think one of the most unique things about your writing is where it takes the reader. The first book I read of yours was set near Helsinki, Finland. You have other stories set in Finland, Zambia, Norway, Scotland, and England. I think that covers your published works. :)

So everyone knows, you live in South Africa, but where all have you traveled?

I love setting stories in all these unusual places, and I’ve been fortunate to have been to all the countries, with the exception of Norway. So, here’s a list of all my wanderings, starting with my neighboring African countries: South Africa (home), Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia (my country of birth), Zimbabwe, Mozambique. Moving further abroad: Australia, Romania, Hungary, Switzerland, France, Finland (including Lapland), England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and finally, the USA (Texas).

Do the airports in Germany, Spain, Singapore, Qatar, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates (Dubai) count?

I’d count airports. You did touch ground. J

Where else are you hoping to go?

In June I’ll be travelling to Scotland to visit my brother. Hubby and I would like to visit my missionary son in 2017. Not sure where he’ll be living at that time, but if it’s close enough, we hope to take a trip to Italy with him as he has friends there.

I’d still love to visit New Zealand, Norway, Italy and the Isle of Skye (off the coast of Scotland).

I can tell we still have lots of great love stories in “novel places” to look forward to!

Thanks so much for joining us Marion! And for everybody else who came by, please leave a comment for a chance to win this Novella:

Womanizer. Adulterer. Divorced. That is Lord Davis Rathbone’s history. His future? He vows to never marry or fall in love again—repeating his past mistakes, not worth the risk. Then he meets Magnolia Blume, and filling his days penning poetry no longer seems an alternative to channel his pent-up feelings. With God’s help, surely he can keep this rare treasure and make it work this time?
Magnolia Blume’s life is perfect, except for one thing—Davis Rathbone is everything she’s not looking for in a man. He doesn’t strike her as one prone to the sentiments of family, or religion, but her judgments could be premature.
Magnolia must look beyond the gossip, Davis’s past, and their differences to find her perfect match, because, although flawed, Davis has one redeeming quality—he is a man after God’s own heart.