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Author Interview,  Giveaway,  Hope-filled Fiction

Maryann Landers: Alaska, Super Dog, a Giveaway & More

December 7, 2022 /

I’m happy to introduce Maryann Landers to you this week. We attempted to chat on Zoom but Maryann’s internet connection wouldn’t cooperate so she provided written answers to my questions for us to get to know her.

Maryann writes Christian Women’s Fiction and is offering her Alaskan Christmas novel as a giveaway, winner’s choice of format. Be sure to comment below by December 13 for a chance to win!

Welcome to the blog, Maryann! Tell us a little about yourself and your family.

I’ve been married for twenty-two years and have three children. My oldest is a sophomore in college and the two youngest are in high school. We live in rural Alaska and have lived in a few parts of the state. 

Photos I’ve seen of Alaska are gorgeous. I’d love to visit someday. Do you have any hobbies? What do you do for fun?

I enjoy DIY projects, including making furniture. I’ve made several items in our house and love to pick up scraps and make handy items from those too. I love being outside all year long and have many interests in that regard as well from walking, running, and gardening, to hunting and fishing. 

A multi-talented woman! As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a nurse just like my mom, and I did. 

Good for you! How and when did you start writing? 

I’ve enjoyed creative writing since I could write in grade two but didn’t take on the idea or the process of writing a novel until the fall of 2020 when I was 45. 

You’ve accomplished a lot in two short years. What genre do you write and what inspired you to write that particular genre? 

I write Christian Women’s Fiction. If you get a chance to read about it on my website, I talk about how a successful moose hunt started the whole thing! 

Sounds like a fun story! How do you incorporate Christ and hope into your writing?

Every story has an inspirational component that I weave into the story. That is very important to me. 

Do you have any pets? Do they find their way into any of your stories?

We had an amazing super dog named Bubba and I hope to include stories of him in the future. 

Can’t go wrong with adding a super dog into your story. LOL What is the setting of your current novel? Is it a real location or fictional? Tell us about it.

It’s set in Alaska and is based on a true story. It’s about a woman who is facing some very difficult situations including the temptation to have an abortion. 

That’s a tough topic, but an important one. How did you select the names for your characters?

I take the middle names of those whose story I am re-writing as fiction or I take the meaning of their name and find one with the same one. 

How do you tackle research for your novels?

I’ve lived in the places I’ve written about but I also ask others in the area to give me their feedback. I listen to sermons and get in the mode of the book and usually find inspiration all around me, like in ladies Sunday school class, a song I hear, etc. 

It definitely helps to set books in a place we’re familiar with. What does your writing space look like?

A desk in my room (that I built) with lots of room for my file folder of the story and character map that I create in One stop for writers. I have everything at my fingertips with other helps I use. 

How cool to work at a desk that you built for yourself! How do you balance writing with your other life and family obligations?

It’s a constant juggle. My husband is in law enforcement with odd days off and is often out of town so it’s me holding down the fort. Also, with two teens in homeschooling I’m still active in their education and pursuing my own learning in writing. Family comes first though so I do my best to schedule times during the day where I shut my door to my room and have some quiet. 

Kudos to you for homeschooling! What did God teach you through the writing of Alaskan Christmas? 

How the Lord takes our experiences and grows us in ways we don’t even realize until we look back and see how He works through it all. 

Ah, yes, the blessed hindsight. What do you hope your readers take away from the story?

I always pray they will know that God is with them in whatever crisis in life they are facing. Also, that His word is mighty and powerful.

Amen! What is one of your favorite quotes from Alaskan Christmas?

I’m not very good at picking favorites. I love the end of the book. The epilogue makes me smile because it’s all based on a true story and seeing how my sister-in-law jumped up and conquered her obstacles and went into Grandma mode is such a delight! 

Do you have critique partners or a critique group? What are the pros and cons of participating in such a group? 

Yes, I do. There are four of us here in our town and we meet regularly to talk about the whole process of writing and our work in progress. Two write romance and two of us write women’s fiction. One is hoping to be traditionally published while the other three of us are indie. The pros are that we already share life with each other and are very close. The con is that feedback can sting at times but overall, it’s done in love and is helpful.

Thanks so much for sharing your writing life with us, Maryann. I wish you the best in your future endeavors!

Join the conversation. Have you ever been to Alaska? Have you read any books set there? Do you enjoy books based on true stories? What questions or comments do you have for Maryann?

Alaskan Christmas Book Cover

Alaskan Christmas by Maryann Landers

Click book cover for purchase link

I’d anticipated my first Christmas as a newlywed with excitement.

Then a crisis sent icicles through the core of my faith.

After completing my fall semester, I’m excited to join my family at my parents’ log cabin and show my new husband how Christmas in rural Alaska sparkles. Lazy mornings on the couch by the woodstove and helping my mom make festive treats will be the perfect way to regroup before my teaching practicum starts.

Before leaving to enjoy the holidays, we attend a friend’s wedding at a Bible camp outside of Palmer, Alaska. The rustic backdrop couldn’t be more romantic and memorable until Collin and I have a fight, threatening to crush the joy of the holidays.

As we face a blustery mishap, will I crumble in a flurry of insecurities or will I discover God’s promised peace and a resolve to plow through?

Alaskan based author Maryann Landers writes women’s faith-filled fiction based on true stories of extraordinary women of her magnificent state. She loves to showcase the unique north and give her readers a little taste of rustic Alaska. 

While writing in her log home in the woods she is also looking forward to her next adventure with her Alaskan husband, juggling mom tasks such as crafting homemade meals from moose and caribou meat, building DIY projects from scrap wood piles, and guiding her teens in their homeschooling.

To learn about her inspiration to write Alaskan based stories read her blog at www.mary-ann-landers.com

Her first novel in the Alaskan Women of Caliber Series; Alaskan Calibration released June 2021 followed by Alaska Calling in September, 2021. 

Connect with Maryann: Website / Facebook / Instagram

Head shot of Maryann Landers

Please share Maryann’s interview on social media to help spread the word about her books!

If you missed last week’s interview with Tabitha Bouldin, find it here.

As a Jesus girl for more than thirty years, Deena Adams understands how important hope is to daily life, which fuels her passion to inspire others through hope-filled fiction based on true to life stories. She is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency and is a multi-award-winning writer, an active ACFW member, and ACFW Virginia president. Connect with Deena through her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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28 Comments

  • Lynn Moore
    December 9, 2022 at 9:43 pm

    Maryann…Alaska is on my list of hopeful places to see….but living there year round…not so much! 🤣. I love writings based on real life. It’s so encouraging.
    Blessings on your home & your future writings!
    Lynn Moore

    • Deena Adams
      December 9, 2022 at 9:54 pm

      Hi, Lynn. I’m with you! I would love to visit Alaska but I don’t think I could live in that cold year-round. Thanks for reading and commenting on Maryann’s interview.

  • Doris fain
    December 9, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    I love your books and would love to have the christmas one, I have visited Tok and that makes it real. It is also special because of Sonya’s art work.

  • Jeanette Davis
    December 7, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    I too would love to visit Alaska! The book sounds wonderful…It seems to me that you are VERY busy! Homeschooling, learning more and more about writing, building furniture and actually writing. You must be very focused and committed. I love that you said ‘family comes first’ that is so improtant. Keep up the good work. Abortion is something that I am trying to fight against. God has placed on my heart to open a home for women who are pregnant and alone; but, would like to keep their baby…It is going to be called ‘Love Your Neighbor Materinty Home’ and prayfully God will let us to the right place and fill the home with with moms and babies.

    Thank you for your interview and for writing !!

    • Maryann Landers
      December 7, 2022 at 6:47 pm

      Jeanette;

      Thanks for your words of encouragment. I’m an organizer and I do tasks in time chunks which helps give me time to add writing in.
      I LOVE what you shared about opening a home for pregnant moms. This is the fullest part of supporting life is celebrating it and then participating in the hands and feet of help! If we are pro-life then we have to be pro-family, pro-adoption and so forth. What does that look like? It can mean helping with respite with a family who has adopted or is fostering kids (they need you, I know because i’ve been that mom). Or maybe it’s working with pregnant moms and offering to teach them how to cook, budgeting, offering to drive them to the store… God will impress how you can be His hands and feet and I’m so excited to hear how He has already been using you!

  • Lual Krautter
    December 7, 2022 at 10:26 am

    I’ve never been to Alaska, but have enjoyed reading CF stories about that area, or adventures depicted there (like, CF books by Dani Pettrey). However, I’d love to win a print copy in this current giveaway! Thanks for the opportunity! Lual Krautter

  • Alyssa Schwarz
    December 7, 2022 at 9:45 am

    I’ve never been to Alaska, but I have some friends who live up there and they love it! I really enjoyed reading “The Heart of Alaska” series
    by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse, a historical fiction series set in Alaska around the turn of the century. I’d be very interested now to read something contemporary! 🙂

    • Deena Adams
      December 7, 2022 at 2:36 pm

      Hi, Alyssa. I’ve read several historical books set in Alaska as well but nothing contemporary yet. Maryann’s book looks like a good place to start!

  • Heidi
    December 7, 2022 at 8:54 am

    I have never been to Alaska, but have read a few Christian fiction novels about it, including Alaskan Calibration and Love Finds You! I also have read Sarah Palin’s autobiography. If I had the chance, I would visit Alaska if nothing else but to see the Northern lights!

  • Ashlyn McKayla Ohm
    December 7, 2022 at 8:52 am

    What a fantastic story! Like Maryann, I’m also an outdoors lover. I’d be so excited to win this book!

    • Maryann J Landers
      December 7, 2022 at 1:55 pm

      Ashlyn; you have the same name as my niece! I think some places would be very challenging to live if you didn’t love the outdoors!

    • Maryann Landers
      December 7, 2022 at 1:56 pm

      Melissa; this is what I hope to convey through my stories is realistic perspectives since this is where I live. There are lots of books based in Alaska by authors who have never been here. It’s a huge state with lots to explore!