I am pleased and honored to feature author Carolyn Miller today on my blog post. Be sure to enter for a chance to win an ebook copy of her book The Breakup Project at the end of the interview.
Welcome Carolyn. I ask this of most feature authors—what inspired you to start writing?
I was here in Australia watching the closing ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 and saw an Aussie female athlete walking into the stadium holding hands with an American guy, and I was instantly struck by how two elite athletes from countries on opposite sides of the world could meet, let alone find the time between their busy training and competition schedules to sustain a relationship. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find out who they were, so I eventually wrote ‘their’ story, which is how Love on Ice began. I made her a short track speed skater (because hello: awesome toughness right there!) and he was an ice hockey player (bc: tough). This led to another book, this time set in Muskoka, Ontario, where again I used a hockey player as my hero. These two books are now part of The Original Six, a sweet and swoony, slightly sporty, Christian contemporary romance series, which early readers are saying they L.O.V.E!
For those out there who have considered writing themselves, what advice would you give a new writer or someone just starting out?
Finish the story, then write the next one. I spent a long time tweaking my first book trying to reach the elusive sense of perfection, but I don’t think any stories are ever completely perfect to the author. There’s a stage where you need to release it to others to read, whether they be beta readers or editors, to get the honest feedback we all need. I found entering online writing contests great for this, because the judges didn’t know me so they didn’t feel like they needed to pull any punches. And yes, criticism hurts, but it helped build a thicker skin which is helpful now.
So don’t get hung up on one story. Write the next, then the next, and if you can, do something like NaNoWriMo which can teach you to write faster than you thought you could. I wrote my Regency Miss Serena’s Secret this way (80,000 words in a month), and could write quickly because I’d just finished writing Winning Miss Winthrop, which used many of the same characters and settings, so Miss Serena’s story could just flow. And there’s something to be said for writing in a series – publishers (and readers) love series, so if you can plan to revisit your setting or find a secondary character with a story readers will connect with, that can be super helpful. Having stories up my sleeve meant I was able to publish 9 books in 3 years, so I’m a big believer in writing the next story (which helps us improve in our craft, too).
I couldn’t agree more. That was the advice I was given, too. How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
Ooh, good question! At the moment, I have 14 published books, with another nine releasing over the next year or two, all of which are written and ready to go. I tend to vacillate between favorites, as I have a few favorite historicals (including The Elusive Miss Ellison and Miss Serena’s Secret), but my current favorite would be one from my Original Six series, possibly the sixth, Muskoka Blue, which I wrote after a visit to that gorgeous part of Canada, two hours north of Toronto. Or it might be Checked Impressions (written after a trip to Chicago, and which early readers are saying is one of my most fun books). Or it might be The Breakup Project, which just feels really strong and polished, and like what a good contemporary Christian romance novel should be.
Can you tell us what inspired The Breakup Project?
A few years ago, I got a manuscript appraisal for Love on Ice (my Winter Olympics-themed book that 
was the first I ever wrote), and the editor suggested that Mike and Bree’s story could prove to be the prequel, and thus The Breakup Project was born. This was a good challenge and involved finding all the little mentions of them from Love on Ice and weaving them together for a new story. It was actually really fun, as I already knew who Mike and Bree were as characters, so to get to know them and their story more deeply was really interesting.
Having visited Boston, I was keen to incorporate a few (okay, nearly all!) of the fun places my husband and I saw on our all-too-quick visit there, so readers will see mentions of such weird and wonderful places as the Mapparium, Orchard House in Concord, Salem, etc. I always love to take lots of travel photos, so people can visit my website and see some of the places I literally used as inspiration for this story.
Another inspirational factor was learning that my imagined online Bible study group for NHL players actually exists (well, a form of it anyway). It’s been super cool to see Christian athletes bold enough to share their faith and share online as they study and apply Bible truths to their world. Each book of The Original Six focuses on a different player (based in a different city: Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, New York and Toronto) and the faith and romance challenges they face along the way.
The Breakup Project centers around Bree Karlsson, the twin sister of a hockey star, who often feels like she’s overlooked, and her quest to find a boyfriend who doesn’t just want to use the connection to get to know Brent, her famous brother. Brent’s best friend, Mike Vaughan, has been warned off Bree, which means he’s kept his feelings for Bree a secret, until circumstances draw them closer.
I think we all want to feel ‘seen’, and to know we are valued for who we are, so I think readers will relate to Bree’s story. And I loved having the freedom to pursue other factors so it’s not just a typical romance. Along the way to romance Mike visits a missions organization in the Philippines, which is based on a real missions organization friends of mine started, and I LOVED being able to incorporate true miraculous stories among the fiction. So readers will find a lot to enjoy about this book.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
I hope that readers will feel encouraged to trust God with His timing, that even though we can be tempted to play the Holy Spirit’s little helper, that ultimately God is in control, and we can trust Him. I know that at times we can all feel overlooked, that things don’t seem fair, and it can be hard to stay faith-filled, but I hope this story encourages us to deepen our trust that God is working all things for our good. So yes, I want readers entertained and encouraged and to finish reading with a big smile on their face and a glow in their heart, but I also want readers to feel strengthened in their faith, that no matter what happens, to know that God loves us and has good plans for our lives.
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share?
Yes! I’m actually rapid-releasing the Original Six series, so I have a few books I’m juggling at the moment, between various rounds of editing and formatting. The next book after The Breakup Project is Love on Ice, which is timed to release at the end of January just in time for the Winter Olympics next year, and I’m SO excited that this story (much reworked and edited!) will finally have its release. This story deals with identity and how we see ourselves when we are in a competitive, performance-based world, and how this contrasts to how God sees us and His unconditional love. This story is available to preorder, and I can’t wait for people to get a taste of the adrenaline-fueled world of skating, and the challenges of sustaining a long-distance relationship from opposite sides of the world. Readers tell me it’s not too sporty, and the romance is definitely swoon-worthy, so if you’re someone who likes Christian fiction that delves beneath the surface, and stories of hope, heart and humor, then I hope you’ll check out the Original Six romance series!
Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. Together with her husband she has pastored a church for ten years and worked as a public high school English and Learning and Support teacher.
A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and LM Montgomery, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her contemporary romance series includes the Original Six hockey romance series, and the Independence Islands series, and her historical series include the Regency Brides and Regency Wallflowers series.
Connect with Carolyn:
Website: www.carolynmillerauthor.com
Social media: website | facebook | pinterest | twitter | instagram
You can purchase a copy of The Breakup Project through the following links:
Comments 3
I found it interesting to see how The Breakup Project came about.
Thanks so much for having me, Jennifer! Happy reading to you and your readers!
Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. Merry Christmas.