Allison Bottke

Allison! Welcome to Pencildancer.com! I have a few questions for you.

What do you do when you aren’t writing?

Oh gosh, a ga-zillion things! Currently, I’m doing a lot of packing as we are moving at the end of this month from Minnesota to Texas! However, I love to garden in the warm season (very short here in MN) and reading and going to the movies are BIG favorite pastimes of mine. I could take off for the nearby Cineplex and watch 3 movies, back-to-back with no trouble at all! I’m a movie-holic!

What other creative outlets do you have?

When I have time (make time) I love to scrapbook. I’m also somewhat of a teacher at heart, I love to encourage other writers, and to that end I’ve begun to produce a series of Teleseminars for writers, with bestselling author Randy Ingermanson. Your readers can find out more about these online MP3 workshops here: http://www.boomerbabesrock.com/eventsteleseminars.html

When did you realize there was a need for baby boomer fiction?

I read a lot. Especially what is known as “chick-lit.” But the typical “chick-lit” is written for a 20-30 year old target market. The protagonist is usually single, and struggling with her faith, career, family, love-life and things young women often struggle with. In my books, I wanted to approach the issues that baby boomers are dealing with, things like the empty nest syndrome, aging parents, a change in career, retirement, menopause, and other health issues. I wanted to look at women in the prime of their life who were suddenly stepping out in faith to achieve the dreams of their heart. Women who weren’t afraid to take risks—who had the chutzpah to dare to dream big. That’s how “Boomer-Lit” was born.

Are you leaving God Allows U Turns behind to write fiction?

Not at all! I have a passion for sharing the true stories of how God turns people around. In fact, we are currently accepting true short stories for three new volumes in the acclaimed series. Your readers can check out the Writer’s Guidelines here: http://www.allisonbottke.com/writersguidelines.htm My co-editor, Cheryll Hutchings, is collecting the stories and our submission deadline is December 30th.

You’ve written a lot of books and you’re so young! When did you start writing? How long does it take you to write a book start to finish?

Young? God bless you! (Where do I send your check? Ha-Ha) I’m 52 years old! I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil—it’s how I best communicate. However, I was 45 years old when my first book was published—volume one in the God Allows U-Turns series. It takes us about 9 months to compile and edit a volume in the compilation series. It takes me about a year to write a novel. Alas, I’m not very fast.

As a young baby boomer, I just turned 50. I look to my older sisters to see how they are handling the aging process. Many of them are turning to plastic surgery. What are your thoughts on that?

Okay, I’m going out on a limb here, but if a person can afford plastic surgery, and it’s being done for the right reasons, I’m all for it! For your readers who read my debut novel, A Stitch in Time, they know my lead character had gastric bypass surgery and lost a great deal of weight. She had a lot of plastic surgery. Well, the fact is that I had gastric bypass surgery in October of 2000 and I’ve lost 120 pounds. I’ve had plastic surgery to remove excess skin as a result of that weight loss. I say this only because there are so many stigmas in “Christian circles” regarding plastic surgery. Weight loss surgery and plastic surgery gave me back my life, I’m a big proponent of both. But again, for the right reasons.

When you look back at your twenties what do you wish you would have known then that you know now?

I’ve heard it before but it rings very true now…I should never have spent so much time sweating the small stuff! I should have chosen my battles better…and not made mountains out of molehills.

Who are your favorite three Christian music artists?

Without a doubt I am a huge fan of Bonnie Keen (from the band First Call.) Bonnie helped me to get all the musical info correct in One Little Secret. I also love Sandy Patti – what a vocal range! And Mark Schultz is amazing, his gift for story telling is amazing.

What blog or website do you try and visit every day?

FOX News and Glen Beck.

Allison, is there anything you’d like to share with readers before you go?

I encourage your readers to tell me what they think about One Little Secret. I really do want to hear reader feedback. I’m working on my next novel to release in summer of 2009 and I take to heart reader comments. They can reach me here: AB@AllisonBottke.com and please, I’d love to invite everyone to participate in the Hollywood Casting Call Contest where a lucky winner can win an all expense paid trip to Hollywood! Visit my web site and select the actors and actresses you think would make the best lead characters in One Little Secret! Check it out here: http://www.boomerbabesrock.com/bookcontests.html

And …we have a monthly newsletter that we call a “Dream-Zine,” I’d love to invite your readers to subscribe: http://www.boomerbabesrock.com/dreamzine.html

And one final thing, we have a co-authored blog with six best selling authors blogging each and every day – BOOMER BABES WITH BRILLIANT DREAMS: http://www.boomerbabesrock.com/blog/ I think that’s it – thanks for having me!

Thank again Allison for blogging today.
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