Hope for Today's Heart: Adirondack

1. What made you write a romance based in the Adirondack Mountains?

The idea for Entrusted started to form nearly 20 years

ago when I first visited the real Speculator, New York, the

village I based the fictional Speculator Falls on. My friend

from college invited me there and I instantly fell in love.

As I walked around I could see the characters coming to

life. The area is too beautiful not to share.

As a reader, I also noted there are very few stories based

in Upstate NY, and none that I know of in the Christian contemporary romance category

set in the Adirondacks. This is my tip of the hat to an area I love so much.

2. Where exactly are the Adirondack Mountains?

The Adirondack Mountains are a 6 million acre park, the largest in the lower 48

states, according to visitadirondack.com. They are about 4 hours north of NYC, two

hours northeast of Syracuse, five hours from Boston and minutes from Quebec. It was

fascinating to see signs in French and English the further north I traveled.

3. When you think of the Adirondacks, what comes to mind?

Peace. There is something in the air that I haven’t experienced anywhere else. I can be

stressed and burned out as I travel and the minute I get out of the car, it melts away. I

also think of kind people. Everyone is welcoming. It’s also rural. When I wrote in

Entrusted that the county was the only one without a traffic light, which was true when I

visited. I’ve driven so deep into the mountains that there weren’t even telephone poles

or gas stations. Yet, I have to say, my GPS delivered me straight to the destination right

to the inch, which for my heroine in Entrusted, Jenna, was not the case.

4. What do you want readers to take away regarding the Adirondacks?

I’m already seeing it---readers want to live there, or at the very least visit, and that’s

just from looking at the cover, which is authentic Adirondack. Once they start reading,

they’re making new friends with the characters. I hope reading Entrusted gives people

vacation ideas. It truly is a wonderful area.

5. What in Speculator Falls is real, if anything?

The village itself is not real. I based it on Speculator, NY, which is real. JB’s grocery

store is not real, but it’s based on Charlie Johns, which is. The senior citizens at the

center have things about them that I experienced having an office at a senior center

years ago. One was a Rockette back in her day, but she wasn’t like Roxy in Entrusted. I

also mention a nice family with a maple syrup business. They are real and are the family

that first invited me to the area all those years ago.

6. Tell readers about Entrusted.

Entrusted is about Jenna Anderson, sassy city-girl, who plows–literally–into Adirondack

village, Speculator Falls with a busted GPS. She gets a warning from the sheriff but has

ideas for the senior center to prove she belongs in town as their director. Town

councilman Ben Regan is as broken as the flower box Jenna demolished. He’s grieving

and wants to shut down the center before there’s too much change and heartbreak. They

work on community projects and build a slow relationship, but the council needs to vote

on the senior center’s future. Can Jenna show Ben both her and the center are worth

trusting?

7. Will we see more Adirondack romances from you?

Yes. Next up is Entangled, Carla’s story. After that is Engaged, Trish’s story. What I love

about the Adirondack Surrender romance series is that the characters readers meet in

Entrusted stick around. You’ll still read about Jenna, Ben, Will, Kyle, Sara and the others.

8. What else are you working on?

The Love Boat Bachelor will release in early 2015 and features the authors from Write

Integrity Press and is a sequel to last year’s Valentine’s novella, A Dozen Apologies. This

time it is cruise themed and readers choose who the hero proposes to. I can’t wait!

Also, in April, Chalfont House Publishing will release A Walk Through the Valley. This is an

infertility devotional with Heidi Glick, Elizabeth Maddrey, Kym McNabney, Paula Mowery

and Donna Winters. We share our own experiences with transparency, but also with hope

that comes from the Bible. This is the book I wish I’d had when I was going through

infertility issues and miscarriage.

9. How can we find you?

My website is http://juliearduini.com and if you click on the

“books” page, you can learn how to purchase Entrusted and much

more. I also have a newsletter where for 2014 I’m

sending subscribers my Upstate NY Finger Lakes romance, Match

Made in Heaven. I’m active across social media, everything from

Facebook to Goodreads. I can be found @JulieArduini.

Thank you, Julie, for sharing your love for the Adirondacks with us today.

My pleasure!