Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Shelia Stovall & Every Window Filled With Light

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Every Window Filled with Light by Shelia Stovall, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! I’m delighted to have Shelia on the blog today to chat about her book!

EVERY WINDOW FILLED WITH LIGHT
Series: The Weldon Novels #1
Author: Shelia Stovall
Publisher: Elk Lake Publishing, Inc.
Release Date: March 23, 2021
Genre: Women’s Contemporary Christian Fiction

A heartwarming small town story of faith and forgiveness, friendship, family, and hope.

Welcome to Weldon, where the only things the locals love more than fried fruit pies are gossip and match-making.

Librarian Emma Baker, a young and childless widow, believes her dream to build a family is over. It’s been two years since a student accidentally stabbed Emma’s husband to death, and her grief has stifled any interest in romance—until she meets Pastor Luke Davis. But when Emma learns Luke is counseling her husband’s killer fresh out of jail, her temper gets in the way.

Meanwhile, Emma discovers twelve-year-old Harley, abandoned by her drug-addict mother, hiding in the library, and takes the girl in as her foster mom. Then a young mother is made homeless by an apartment fire, and Emma opens her home again. One person and one prayer at a time, Emma begins to discover hope.

“Every Window Filled with Light by Shelia Stovall is a warm and delightful story of forgiveness and hope. Stovall skillfully paints a great word picture of her fictional little town of Weldon and peoples it with characters you will be glad to meet as you follow their stories. You’ll love the generous heart of Emma and admire her resilience as she faces the challenges of life and love. If you like feel-good stories, then Every Window Filled with Light is a book you won’t want to miss.”—Ann H. Gabhart, best-selling author of An Appalachian Summer.

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 Also available to read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Hi Shelia! Welcome to the blog!

Shelia: Summer! Every season has blessings, but I love kayaking on the creek, picking fresh tomatoes from the garden, and summer reading programs for kids at the library.

Carrie: Summer reading programs are the best!

Shelia: Absolutely dogs. I can’t remember ever not having a dog. Today we have three fur babies. Bamboo is our fourth family Labrador. Lucy, a Miniature Schnauzer, is thirteen years old and blind. She is the alpha-female of our bunch. It’s fun to watch this little dog put Bamboo, who is the size of a miniature horse, in her place. Bertie, was a rescue dog. He showed up at our house in the country half-starved and flea/tick-infested. I was supposed to take him to the animal shelter but instead turned my car into our veterinarian’s parking lot. After a hefty bill, I took him to his forever home. Bertie won’t obey anyone except me unless I give him a nod of approval.

Carrie: awww i love that!

Shelia: Coffee. There is no way I could rise at four o’clock in the morning to have time to write without coffee.  I start my day with strong black coffee and prayer before turning on the computer.

Carrie: Oh wow – I generally try to pretend that four only starts the time one hour per day – in the afternoon lol

Shelia: The ocean. Last year, my long-time dream came true when my sister and I bought a beach house on Dauphin Island, Alabama. When I retire, I hope to spend January, February, and March at the beach. I write every day unless I’m at the beach. That’s my family time and God time.

Carrie: I might actually enjoy the beach during those months too! (I’m not a hot weather person lol)

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

Shelia: It may sound cliché, but Jesus is my super-power. I can’t do anything without Jesus. I certainly couldn’t write anything worth reading without His guidance. Also, I wouldn’t be passionate about Africa missions without Jesus. His Holy [Spirit] gave me the desire and the courage to travel to Niger, a Muslim country, to spread the gospel. I’ve been to Niger six times and Kenya twice within the last ten years. I’m looking forward to my eighth trip once the worst of COVID19 is behind us.

Carrie: Amen – He is the best superpower to have!

Q: Which books are “on your nightstand”?

Shelia:

1. The Mitford Bedside Companion by Jan Karon. When I’m too tired to focus, it’s relaxing to read excerpts from The Mitford Series.
2. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster. I’m re-reading this book. The forward alone is worth the price of the book.
3. Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. This is a study guide. I often pick up this workbook and review the teachings.
   

Carrie: those sound like great reads!

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

Shelia: Along a Storied Trail by Ann H. Gabart. The heroine is a packhorse librarian or “bookwoman.”; The Seeds of Change by Lauraine Snelling; Yours Cheerfully by A.J. Pearce; This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger; The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin

Carrie: excellent choices!

Q: Characters often find themselves in situations they aren’t sure they can get themselves out of. When was the last time you found yourself in a situation that was hard to get out of and what did you do?

Shelia: While in the US, preparing to visit Kenya, the missionaries organizing the visit asked who was willing to travel on a piki-piki (a small motorbike) to visit homes. If other team members were willing to ride a motor-bike, I was happy to walk. Being in Africa was enough of an adventure for me. During the first morning of our visit, we spent time teaching our national partners how to evangelize. When we broke for lunch, the missionary leaders pulled me aside and said I’d need to swap groups because my team would travel on (you guessed it) the piki-piki. I’d spent the morning bonding with the believers who’d sacrificed so much to be there, so I agreed to travel on a motorbike with a man I’d just met that morning. That afternoon as we followed another motorbike down a dry river bed, the driver stopped. I asked him why, and he said. “I’m a pastor in another district, and I have no idea where we are or where we are going. I lost sight of the lead bike.

My heart raced. How had I ended up alone, with a stranger, on the back of a motorbike, lost, in Kenya? I pictured men coming out of the brush to kidnap me.

I couldn’t do anything except pray. After I prayed, a sense of peace washed over me.  A few minutes later, the other team members returned, and we were on our way. Later that evening, I felt terrible for the thoughts that had run through my head. Today I realize, I am completely dependent upon God, whether in America or Kenya. I hope and pray I’ll learn to trust God with everything.

Carrie: oh wow! I would definitely have been praying too. I think sometimes that lesson is one we need to be reminded of frequently because we’re human and we keep forgetting it 🙂

Q: What surprised you about Every Window Filled with Light or your characters as you wrote their story?

Shelia: That there’s a side romance in the story. The first version of Every Window Filled with Light didn’t include Luke. I’m probably the least romantic person I know. If I had a choice between my husband gifting me with red roses or doing the dishes, I’d choose for him to do the dishes.

Carrie: haha! hey – sometimes that IS the most romantic thing!!

Q: If Hollywood wanted to produce Every Window Filled with Light as a movie, who would you want to be cast as the lead roles?

Shelia: Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss from The Hunger Games) would be cast as Emma. Wilmer Valderrama (Nick Torres on NCIS) would be cast [as] Luke.

Carrie: ooo i love that pairing!

Q: What do you most want readers to take away from Every Window Filled with Light?

Shelia: That to love and forgive is always the right thing to do. And that God can take a tragedy and reap good from it.

Carrie: Amen ♥

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.

Shelia: The second book in The Weldon Series will release in about six months. Its title is Every Day is Filled with Hope. The main character is Casey, who is Emma’s best friend in Every Window Filled with Light.