Takeover Tuesday with Christina Sinisi

Happy Tuesday!!

Today we have Christina Sinisi on the blog. She’ll be talking about her book, Christmas Confusion. Grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and chat with her.

The Christmas Confusion came about as a series of inspirations. I was actually in the middle of writing another book when I saw Anaiah Press’s call for Christmas novellas—on June 9 and due by the end of the month. I thought to myself, I’m not working right now, I can do this. So, I walked on the trails behind my house and played with the word Christmas. Once I hit on Christmas Confusion, I started thinking of characters. The female protagonist was inspired by a lovely young lady in my church. I, um, borrowed some of her characteristics and then dreamed of a hero for her.

Normally, I create a story board for the plot but I was under time pressure and didn’t get that done. I did use the GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict) charts in Deb Dixon’s book by the same name. I also kept notes in a notebook about the characters’, all of the characters’, physical and basic traits. By the way, Tiffany’s motivation was to deal with the debilitating fear that kept her from trusting in Nick, and by extension, God. As I wrote, I wanted there to be more to the story than simply two long lost loves finding each other and something triggered the sister disappearing and leaving Tiffany in charge of her niece. To learn more about the police work involved in a missing person investigation, I went to dinner with a past student who became a police officer after graduation and her detective husband—and learned a lot over sushi.  I also messaged back and forth with a past student who had served as a marine in Afghanistan—at a different time than the hero Nick, but once a marine, always a marine.

Finally, I had a writing friend proofread the manuscript between the time I sent in the first ten pages and the full manuscript was due—there hadn’t been time earlier given the end-of-the-month deadline. In other words, I think I may have experienced a little of my character, Tiffany’s, growth arc in that I learned to trust that I can indeed write that fast—and God provides the story.

Thank you, Toni, for letting me take over your blog for a day. I sincerely hope your readers love Christmas Confusion—and that they come back for youngest sister Shelby’s story next summer.

About the Book

When Tiffany Marano’s high school sweetheart drove off to join the Marines and never looked back, she swore off men. Now, she’s content to teach at Summer Creek, South Carolina’s local elementary school, lead a Sunday school class, and spend weekends with her niece—until Nick Walsh suddenly reappears wearing a wedding ring and with a daughter in tow. Everything about Tiffany’s calm, quiet life is now one disordered mess.

Nick Walsh comes face to face with Tiffany after all these years, and sparks fly. But not the happy glittering kind, because each of them thinks the other responsible for their estrangement. Before they can work it out, though, Tiffany’s sister disappears. Left with custody of her niece and forced to work with new police detective Nick to find her sister, old feelings begin to resurface. As they start to unravel the truths that left them confused and apart for too long, Nick must learn to let go of his past. But can Tiffany let go of her fear and learn to trust that God isn’t the only one who won’t abandon her?

Amazon

About the Author

A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Christina Sinisi writes stories about families, both the broken and blessed. Her works include a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest and the American Title IV Contest where she appeared in the top ten in the Romantic Times magazine. By day, she is a psychology professor and lives in the LowCountry of South Carolina with her husband and two children and loves a good cooking challenge.

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