Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Karen Ferguson & Guess How Much God Loves You

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Guess How Much God Loves You by Karen Ferguson, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! I’m delighted to have Karen on the blog today to chat about her book!

GUESS HOW MUCH GOD LOVES YOU by Karen Ferguson
SERIES:: Guess How Much God Loves You #1
GENRE: Inspirational Children’s Picture Book
PUBLISHER: Ambassador International
RELEASE DATE: July 19, 2022
PAGES: 40

Guess How Much God Loves You is the story of seven-year-old Lucy Lu, a colorful, creatively curious first grader who is starting to have serious questions about God. Questions like: How old is He? Does He sleep? What does He do all day? And the biggest one of all – does God really love me?

After one particularly hard day at school, bullied by her classmates and feeling like she doesn’t matter, Lucy sits with her Papa Joe who has promised to answer these questions and more, launching them onto a journey to discover God’s never changing, never failing, never ending love.

What follows is a wild adventure through the Bible, where Lucy and her Papa literally find themselves in the middle of it all, on each page of the exciting story of God’s love and faithfulness for ALL people throughout ALL of history!

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Hi! Welcome to the blog!

Karen: Oranges. They don’t take as long to eat. There’s a lot of chewing required with an apple 🙂

Carrie: yeah but you don’t have to peel an apple to eat it – less messy haha

Karen: Dogs. I hope I don’t offend cat lovers, but dogs are intensely loyal, friendly, and super smart (I’ve never heard of a guide or therapy cat… :-). Plus my husband is allergic to cats. 

Carrie: so is my husband – which is convenient because I prefer dogs too

Karen: This is tough because I enjoy both, but I’ll go with coffee. If I don’t have a cup by 10am I get a ferocious headache.

Carrie: ugh, the dreaded ‘need caffeine’ headache :-/

Karen: Music. It moves and soothes me, plus I prefer to hold an actual book when I read.

Carrie: same!

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

Karen: Multi-tasking? I’m not convinced it’s healthy for our brains to be multi-tasking very much, but I do have a knack for juggling many things. Must be a mom thing… 🙂

Carrie: i think it’s a woman thing because I’m just an aunt but the sheer number of tabs I have open and active at any given moment is an example of how I multi-task all the things lol.

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

Karen: Definitely the Bibles/Christianity/Religion section. Have you noticed how this section has become smaller in many bookstores these days? That’s unfortunate, but I’m grateful for what I can find. Devotionals, Christian Living, and Christian Fiction are my favorites. 

Carrie: yes, it’s much more difficult to find those sections now 🙁

Q: If I sneaked a peek in your purse right now (which I would never do, I promise!), what would it tell me about you?

Karen: Hmmmm, well you’d find out that I’m not obsessively organized, but I do like to stay somewhat minimalist. I finally went to a much smaller purse several years ago, because my big bag had become a dumping ground. Now I have no choice but to choose carefully what I carry with me. You’d also know that I’m an essential oil fan, and lipstick is a must have. 

Carrie: I got a wallet case for my phone and never carry a purse anymore but it was difficult at first to detach myself from my need to carry everything ‘just in case ‘ haha

Q: Which of your main characters in Guess How Much God Loves You is most like you?

Karen: Being a picture book, there are just two main characters: Lucy Lu, and Papa Joe. Lucy was a compilation of a couple different people (she doesn’t look like me at all :-), but I definitely see myself in her. As a seven year old, I was curious about life and God and I struggled with bullying from classmates, unfortunately. It was also the year I accepted Jesus as my Savior, so it was a spiritually significant time for me, when I was open to soaking up like a sponge all I could about God – just like Lucy.

On a side note, Papa Joe is modeled after my own dad who went home to be with the Lord in 2019.

Carrie: that’s so sweet ♥ (That’s the age I became a Christian, too!)

Q: What do you most want young readers to take away from Guess How Much God Loves You?

Karen: Three simple but powerful truths: God is the Creator of the world, God created them in His image, and God loves them. These are essential truths that will help carry children through the ups and downs, and twists and turns, of life as they grow into young adults. And I believe it’s what will strengthen their resolve to resist the worldly messages that so often present truth as relative and life meaningless.

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.

Karen: The second book in the Guess How Much God Loves You picture book series. It’s about the First Family of God (Adam, Eve, and the Garden).

Karen Ferguson is a freelance writer and small business owner with a background in K-8 education. A grateful wife, mom, and grandmom she loves words and the Word of God and is passionate about writing stories that grab and hold young readers’ attention, while teaching them all about God’s unchangeable truths, and His unchanging love for them. She wants every child to know that their life matters.

Through her company Illuminate Communications, Karen creates online content and digital products designed to touch the heart and nourish the mind, body, and spirit. She self-published her first book in 2017, a 21-day devotional called Breath of Life: Living God’s Promise of Peace in the 7 Dimensions of Wellness. Karen’s children’s book, Guess How Much God Loves You, is scheduled for release in July 2022 through Ambassador International.

Karen loves reading, writing, staying active, and spending time with her family and their crazy Golden Retriever in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Connect with Karen by visiting karenferg.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

(1) winner will receive a signed hardcover copy of Guess How Much God Loves You + coloring book + $50 Amazon gift card!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight August 8, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on August 15, 2022. 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
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

What about you? What makes you want to read Guess How Much God Loves You by Karen Ferguson with a little one in your life?