Guest Blog--Jennifer Uhlarik and Love and Order *Prize of Copy of Book to Commenter

Dear Readers, I'm so grateful when authors return--that means they value being on this blog and meeting you! So, in that spirit, let's welcome Jennifer back. :)

Introduce yourself—name, where you’re from, and something people notice when they meet you.

My name is Jennifer Uhlarik, and I mostly write western and western romance stories, all from a Christian perspective. I live in West-Central Florida. (Yes, a Florida girl who writes about the Old West. LOL) I get the most compliments on my shoulder-length salt-and-pepper curls.

Tell us about your book—title and back cover blurb.

My newest novel, Love and Order, is a “Three-Part Old West Romantic Mystery.” What exactly does that mean? It means I’ve written a full-length mystery novel in the form of three interconnected novellas. One mystery spans the entire three novellas, but each novella is told from a different romantic hero/heroine couple’s perspective, and each novella focuses on a different aspect of the case—from police procedure and investigation all the way through the courtroom drama.

Here’s the blurb:

Separated as children when they were adopted out to different families from an orphan train, the Braddock siblings of Callie, Andie, and Rion have each grown up and taken on various jobs within law enforcement and criminal justice. When the hunt for a serial killer with a long history of murders reunites the brother and sisters in Cambria Springs, Colorado, they find themselves not only in a fight for justice, but also a fight to keep their newly-reunited family intact. How will they navigate these challenges when further complicated by unexpected romances?

Share one thing that you found difficult or challenging about writing this book.

So much was challenging about this book. For one, the format alone—a mystery told as three separate novellas, each with their own satisfying romance, was a big challenge. I’ve never done anything like this, so attempting to keep all the details straight was mind-boggling at times.

Another daunting aspect of writing this story was that my schedule was busier than while writing any other story I’ve published so far. Since publishing my first novella in 2015, I have been blessed to be a stay-at-home wife/mom and full-time writer, but in the last year or two, God has called my husband and me into more and more church ministry activities. We lead several groups during the month. We are in a 2-year college program, two nights a week, and more. So that was new and different. I had to learn to write much earlier in the day, rather than during my “sweet spot” of in the late afternoon/evening.

With all the activities we were involved in, I found myself three months away from my deadline, when I thought I would be nearly done writing the novel…and I still had not completed even the first of the novellas. And just as I was going into the summer break from my college program when I thought I would be much freer to write, we had a couple of different family health crises within my extended family which added much stress and, once again, diminished my writing time.

Through all of it, God was faithful to remind me almost daily that He was with me, and He would make sure that the story got finished on time. I can’t say the process was pretty, but I wrote nearly all of the story in a 3 ½ month span and turned it in on my due date. God is faithful!

Ask the blog reader a quirky question or two?

In Love and Order, the Braddock siblings have held onto the dream of finding each other after being separated in their childhood. So with that in mind, what is a long-held dream that you have seen come true in your life?

For me, probably the biggest was to get married. I know, that sounds so cliché or overdone. But I had gone through a difficult divorce and came out very wounded, and I begged God to heal me and bring me someone new who would love not only me but my son—and who I could love with my whole heart. The process took me ten years, a lot of healing, and a total surrender of my will, but God did finally open the door for me to meet my amazing husband. We’ve been married now for nearly eighteen years, and I’ve never been happier nor felt my life was more fulfilled.

Share your social media and buy links!

Website: www.jenniferuhlarik.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferUhlarikAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferUhlarik

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jenuhlarik/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferuhlarik/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jennifer-uhlarik

Now, readers, how many of you love a good Western?