Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Tracie Peterson & Beyond the Desert Sands

I am so excited to chat with the fabulously talented Tracie Peterson today about her new historical romance, Beyond the Desert Sands!

Tracie Peterson is the award–winning author of over 100 novels, both historical and contemporary. Her avid research resonates in her many bestselling series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana. Visit traciepeterson.com to learn more.

BEYOND THE DESERT SANDS by Tracie Peterson
SERIES: Love on the Santa Fe #2
GENRE: Inspirational Historical Romance
PUBLISHER: Bethany House
RELEASE DATE: July 5, 2022
PAGES: 297

Can she reconcile who she’s become with who she’s meant to be?

Accustomed to an opulent life with her aunt, the last thing twenty-five-year-old Isabella Garcia wants is to celebrate Christmas in her parents’ small silver-mining desert town, leaving her handsome beau, Diego Morales, behind in California. Adding insult to injury, she must bear the company of Aaron Bailey, the disapproving Santa Fe Railroad businessman her father has sent to escort her home, who clearly finds her spoiled.

But she is surprised to see how much the town of Silver Veil has grown and how fragile her father’s health has become. Then a surprise visitor shows up with news that entirely upends the comfortable life she’s been leading.

Faced with all these changes, Isabella struggles to sort through her future and who she wants to be. But trouble is brewing, and there are those who hope she stays just as she is, even if it costs her everything.

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Other Books in This Series

Hi! Welcome to the blog!

Tracie: Winter – love the cold

Carrie: yes! me too!

Tracie: love both and have both and wouldn’t want it any other way.

Carrie: awww good 🙂

Tracie: Over – under is just silly

Carrie: haha so i’ve been told

Tracie: Mountains – love the splendor of God’s creation. They always remind me of how amazing God really is.

Carrie: i feel the same way ♥

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

Tracie: I would want the superpower of Mercy.

Carrie: oh i love that. Yes please.

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

Tracie: Usually because I’m traveling when I go to bookstores,  I head for Regional nonfiction for story ideas.

Carrie: what a fabulous idea!

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

Tracie: Meticulous, organized, driven to accuracy in research, open to change if it benefits the story.

Carrie: sounds like the perfect formula for a historical romance author 🙂

Q: Along those lines, do you have the whole plot outlined before you start writing, or do you let the characters dictate what comes next?

Tracie: I always have a detailed plot, but I’m open to changes. I’ve written entire books before and have a character scream for changes to their story at the end. I just go back and adjust everything. Plotting has saved me more times than I care to remember.

Carrie: oh wow!

Q: What makes Beyond the Desert Sands stand out from the other books you’ve written?

Tracie: The characters were definitely fun to work with. As I created Isabella, I could see that her stubbornness and haughtiness were all a means of self–protection. Aaron, on the other hand, put his strength in God but found it difficult to alter the plans he had for the future. Add to this the beginning of New Mexico’s statehood and the love of a father for his wayward child, and I found the story grabbed me from the start.

Carrie: I’m definitely intrigued 🙂

Q: What do you most want readers to take away from Beyond the Desert Sands?

Tracie: I want my readers to be encouraged in the Lord through each and every one of my books. Writing for me is a ministry. I share the Gospel of Jesus and Biblical encouragement for those already saved. Words are powerful influences and I want mine to glorify God.

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.

Tracie: Love on the Santa Fe series will conclude in the fall with Under the Starry Skies.  The next series I have will debut in March 2023 and is set in Seattle 1909 during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. All three books will be independent of each other just as they are in the Love on the Santa Fe series.  Hope you’ll enjoy them.

Bethany House is offering a print copy of Beyond the Desert Sands by Tracie Peterson to TWO 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.

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What about you? What makes you want to read Beyond the Desert Sands by Tracie Peterson?