Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Cate Nolan & Texas Witness Threat

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Texas Witness Threat by Cate Nolan, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! I’m delighted to have Cate on the blog today to chat about her new book!

Title: Texas Witness Threat
Author: Cate Nolan
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Release Date: January 1, 2021
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

She saw something she shouldn’t have…

Assistant US Attorney Christine Davis is positive she witnessed a murder, but with no body, the police aren’t convinced. Now someone wants her dead, and Texas Ranger Blake Larsen is the only one who believes her.

For Blake, protecting Christine must stay more important than their growing feelings for each other. But can he keep her safe from an unknown enemy who wants her silenced?

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Hi Cate! Welcome to the blog!

Cate: Dogs all the way, though I am a latecomer to the dog love. Many years ago we had a faculty professional development day. They made us choose a corner –  CAT people in one corner, DOG people in the next. The third corner was for people who said ANY ANIMAL AT ALL. The 4^th corner was reserved for the people who said NO PETS or I don’t get this pet love. I was the only teacher in the 4^th corner. The only pets I had ever been allowed to have were fish, and my mother actually gave them away because I was so bad about cleaning the bowl.

The year after that workshop, we rescued a dog. My heart has never been the same since! We’ve seen our Fenway through 7 surgeries and chemo. He’s now lived 6 years past the date they told us was the longest possible life expectancy. He is my love and most faithful companion.  I should give the caveat that both of my daughters have had rescue cats they adored. My youngest daughter’s cat passed last New Year’s Eve. She was heartbroken, but she rescued the most adorable little pup during the pandemic and he has helped heal her heart.

Sorry I went on so long. Clearly I no longer resemble that sad person who chose corner 4!

Carrie: and i’m so glad you don’t! haha Rescue pets really end up rescuing US, don’t they? ♥

Cate: This isn’t even close. As you can tell from my bio, I’m an ocean girl all the way. I grew up on Long Island right by the Atlantic Ocean. I used to hate it when my parents would take us away to the mountains in the summer. Why leave when you live near the beach? Seriously, my soul is at peace when I am walking the beach. It’s the place I feel most at home.

Carrie: that’s how i feel about the mountains – where i feel most at home – but I do love the ocean too. Such powerful yet peaceful reminders of our Creator.

Cate: Ideally, both together, but if I had to choose, definitely sandwich. In my mind, sandwiches are the most perfect meal. I just love them and the messier the better. One of my favorites is ham with coleslaw on a roll. There is a sandwich shop that I go to near the beach in Maine that makes a wicked roast beef sandwich with horseradish mayo, lettuce and tomatoes! We didn’t get to go there last summer because of the pandemic, but now you have me craving that sandwich.

Carrie: haha i’m sorry (and yes, both together is the ideal situation!)

Cate: Either. I don’t really have strong feelings about the format because it’s all about the story. I do prefer print books for the fact that I can easily thumb back to look for things, but I love ebooks for two reasons – pre-pandemic I rode the subway to work and it’s much easier to carry an ebook on my phone. Also, sadly, as I grow older, I really appreciate being able to enlarge the print. 🙁

Carrie: being able to enlarge the font is life to me, given how much I read lol

Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?

Cate: Reading really is my superpower too. I will always be a reader first. SO, if I could have a superpower it would be to make writing be as natural and easy for me as reading is. I love creating stories, but turning the ideas into words on the page is a struggle.

Carrie: oh i love that!

Q: When you walk into a bookstore, where do you head first?

Cate: I love this question because it reminds me of the pre-pandemic joy of being in a bookstore. When he was alive, my husband and I used to go to the bookstore every Saturday. It was our version of Saturday Date Night. My first stop was always the café so I could sip my coffee or tea as I wondered the aisles. I’d often feel like I needed to pinch myself because I was so happy. I’d say to him that bookstores are my happy place.

Carrie: dates to the bookstore are the best ♥

Q: If I asked your characters to describe YOU as an author, what would they say?

Cate: This question made me laugh. They would say she is a WORLD CLASS PROCRASTINATOR. They’d be right. But I’ve done some blog posts for Seekerville on being a procrastinator and supposedly procrastination does not mean you’re being lazy. It’s just the way your brain works. So once they got done pointing at me for taking way too long to tell their story, my characters would tell you that they know I love them. I really do. They become so real to me as I’m creating the stories that I often need to bring them back in other books. They would also add that I think about them all the time. Also true. So while they think I’m procrastinating, I’m really just enjoying hanging out with them in my head. 🙂

Carrie: awww that does sound much better 😀

Q: Were there any songs that inspired you as you wrote Texas Witness Threat?

Cate: You ask such great questions! I always have a playlist when I write a book. It’s so important to get me in the frame of mind for the story.  Holly Tucker’s version of “How Great Thou Art” from The Voice is always the first song on my playlist for every book. That song was the inspiration for Callie in my first book, Christmas in Hiding. I actually remember getting goosebumps when I heard my church bells playing it the Sunday before I got the call from Emily Rodmell. I don’t want to say it was an omen, but it gave me a hopeful feeling. And then she called to say she wanted to buy my book!

Once I have that song in, it’s a matter of what else works. For Texas Witness Threat, there were two other important songs. “Fight Song” was Christine’s anthem and “Timing is Everything” by Trace Adkins because the lyrics matched the opening of the book so well.

Carrie: i love these songs – and what a great tender touch from God with those church bells!

Q: Did you have the whole plot outlined before you started writing, or did you let the characters dictate what came next?

Cate: No. NOPE. No can do. That’s my feeling about plotting. I just can’t. I’m trying to learn though because Texas Witness Threat ended up coming in at something like 190,000 words before I finally figured the story out and whittled it back to 55,000. It would be much more efficient if I could learn to plot, but my best ideas come to me as I’m writing. Many reviewers said the ending of Christmas in Hiding was a complete surprise they didn’t see coming. I love to respond that it’s because I didn’t see it coming until I wrote it!  Seriously though, I’m learning to do a really messy fast draft to get the basic story down so that I can get the books written faster.

Carrie: I’ve learned that every author has a different writing process – what matters is that it works for you!

Q: What is something God taught you while you wrote Texas Witness Threat?

Cate: I guess what God most taught me is to trust him. It’s an ongoing lesson and apparently I need to hear it a lot! I’ve had some rough times in the past few years, and learning to trust in God through the bad times as well as the good is always a struggle. That trust in God is the theme of this book. There is an Amish community that Christine and Blake visit, and one of the things Christine most admires about them is their ability to trust in the Lord and not try to solve everything themselves. There is a very brief scene where she has a discussion about this very thing with an Amish woman whose son is missing. It’s one of my favorite scenes.

Carrie: a lesson that I think most of us are continually learning!

Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.

Cate: There are a couple of things coming up – just not exactly sure when. 🙂

I’ve been writing Dylan’s story. He’s Blake’s brother in Texas Witness Threat. But that book became a Christmas story. Due to publishing schedules, I had to postpone it. So now I’m working on a new book with characters I’m just getting to know. What I know so far is there’s a mother on the run with her daughter and the baby she’s been asked to protect. Then there’s the wounded soul who becomes her reluctant hero. It’s a bit of a Beauty and the Beast story.

Carrie: ‘a Beauty and the Beast story’ = the magic words to me lol

CONNECT WITH CATE: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

(1) winner will receive a Texas Witness Threat and Christmas in Hiding (print or ebooks, winner’s choice)!

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight January 5, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on January 12, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

This giveaway is hosted by JustRead Tours, not RimSP
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What about you? What makes you want to read Texas Witness Threat by Cate Nolan?