Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Jody Hedlund & Come Back to Me

I’m so honored to have Jody Hedlund on the blog today to chat about her brand new (just released today!) time travel romance, Come Back to Me! I can’t wait to read this one!

Award-winning author Jody Hedlund has enticed readers with her intriguing and historically accurate novels. From the bride ships of Victorian England to the heart of the Wild West to the shores of Lake Michigan and beyond, Hedlund’s gift of storytelling has brought many time periods back to life. Now Hedlund takes readers on a journey through time to fourteenth-century Canterbury in Come Back to Me, the first installment in the Waters of Time series. Visit her at jodyhedlund.com.

You can also connect with Jody on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

COME BACK TO ME
SERIES: Waters of Time #1
GENRE: Inspirational Time Travel Romance
PUBLISHER: Revell
RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2021
PAGES: 348

The ultimate cure that could heal any disease? Crazy.

That’s exactly what research scientist Marian Creighton has always believed about her father’s quest, even if it does stem from a desire to save her sister Ellen from the genetic disease that stole their mother from them. But when her father falls into a coma after drinking a vial of holy water believed to contain traces of residue from the Tree of Life, Marian must question all of her assumptions. He’s left behind tantalizing clues that suggest he’s crossed back in time. Insane. Until Marian tests his theories and finds herself in the Middle Ages during a dangerous peasant uprising.

William Durham, a valiant knight comes to Marian’s rescue and offers her protection . . . as his wife. The longer Marian stays in the past, the more she cares about William. Can she ever find her father and make it back to the present to heal her sister? And when the time comes to leave, will she want to?

Bestselling author Jody Hedlund is your guide down the twisting waters of time to a volatile era of superstition, revolts, and chivalry in this suspenseful story.

affiliate links used

Hi dear Jody! Welcome back to the blog!

Jody: Definitely cats! I have five and am known as the crazy cat lady in my family!

Carrie: haha!

Jody: Coffee all the way. Strong and black. And several cups every morning.

Carrie: Substitute ‘diet coke’ instead of coffee and you have my morning routine too lol

Jody: Audiobooks are my best friend! I listen to them all the time when driving or cleaning.

Carrie: the only time I can listen to audiobooks is when I’m driving a long distance… and even then I have to go back and read the print copy to catch all the parts where my mind drifted during the audiobook 😛

Jody: The right way, which is over! 😊

Carrie: agree to disagree LOL

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

Jody: My superpower would be creating several extra hours every day for more reading time! And also giving my favorite authors the ability to write faster so that I could fill that extra reading time with their books!

Carrie: Yes please!!!

Q: Tell me some good books you’ve read recently.

Jody: I just finished reading Melissa Ferguson’s rom-com The Cul-de-Sac War and it had me laughing out loud, literally. And I also just finished Rachel Hauck’s To Love a Prince, which fulfilled my secret inner fantasy with all things royal!

Carrie: Both of those are still on my TBR pile but I know they’ll be fantastic!

Q: How (if at all) did you have to adjust your writing process for a time travel romance, rather than a historical romance?

Jody: A major difference was in having part of the story set in contemporary times. I don’t normally get to write a modern heroine or modern settings. So that was really fun.

The other difference was that in writing the parts of the story in the past, I had to keep in mind that my heroine was a modern woman and attempt to shape everything she was seeing and doing from a modern perspective, which is very different than what I’m used to doing with my historical heroines.

Carrie: I imagine that would be both fun and challenging to write – and it will be fun to read 🙂

Q: Which character in Come Back to Me was the most difficult to write?

Jody:In Come Back to Me, the hero, William Durham was a difficult character to write. He’s a hardened and wounded knight who has spent many years on the battlefield in France (during what became known as the Hundred Years War). I wanted to portray him as accurately as possible for the time period but also make him a hero readers would love. Finding that balance was difficult.

Carrie: I have never not loved one of your heroes – just saying. lol.

Q: If Hollywood wanted to produce Come Back to Me as a movie, who would you want to be cast as the lead roles?

Jody: When writing my book, I cast Stephen Arnell as my brooding hero, and Alyssa Campanel as my lovely scientist heroine.

 
*Photos provided by author

Carrie: ooo excellent choices!

Q: What is one of your favorite quotes from Come Back to Me and why do you love it?

Jody: I love the quote on this graphic because it sums up the hero’s struggle with life and death and losing people you love.

Carrie: that’s so profound ♥

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.

Jody: Never Leave Me, Book #2 in the Waters of Time series, releases in January of 2022! I’m super excited about continuing the story of Ellen and Harrison and giving them both powerful encounters with the holy water.

Revell is offering a print copy of Come Back to Me by Jody Hedlund to THREE of my readers! This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What about you? What makes you want to read Come Back to Me by Jody Hedlund?