I am excited to be part of this blog tour for a new Christian Western! Faith Blum joins us today to talk about her new release, The Solid Rock. It is about a talented detective with a mission to find his kidnapped colleague who finds himself working undercover with a heinous outlaw who has more plans than first meet the eye.

Author Interview

How long have you been writing?

Since I could spell. ;) I’ve been somewhat seriously writing since I was in in high school, so probably about 10-12 years.

What's your favorite part of the writing/editing/publishing process? Least favorite?

My favorite part of the process is probably writing the first draft. Even when it’s hard to write, I enjoy coming up with the plots, letting the characters take over, or simply researching something they will be doing.

My least favorite part is usually editing, but I tend to enjoy that mostly, too.

Do you write by hand or on a computer? Why?

Yes. I do a bit of both. For my first draft, I have recently gone back to writing by hand most of the time. There are some projects, though, that I write on the computer instead. It really depends on if I’m in a handwriting mood or a computer writing mood when I start the book/story. I really like writing by hand because when I type the story up on the computer, it gives me a more thorough way to edit since I really do have to read every word of every sentence.

Which of your published books is most special to you and why? (I know, terrible question. :P)

Yes, that is a terrible question! It’s like asking a parent to pick a favorite kid. That being said, I think I would have to say The Solid Rock and not just because it’s the one I just finished. First, it was the easiest novel to write the first draft of. I wrote all 60,000(ish) words by hand in just 32 days. Second, I branched out into a slightly different genre as I tackled a mystery. And third, some of the elements of the story really helped me through a tough time as I edited the story after letting it sit for a couple of months.

Thanks for having me on your blog, Faith!

Thank you!! This book sounds amazing and I can't wait to read it. ;)

About the Book

Joshua woke with a quiet groan. As his senses woke up one at a time, he cracked his eyelids open. Sure enough, there was a silhouetted form standing at the foot of the bed. From the smell, the person was either from the brothel down the street or had recently left one. He forced himself to breathe evenly and reached for the knife in his thigh holster. With as tough and evil a voice as he could imitate, he spoke, “State your intentions.”

Pinkerton detective, Joshua Brookings, is sent on a job that seems simple on the surface. His fellow detective has been kidnapped and his boss, William Pinkerton senses foul play. Joshua is sent to investigate Edward's case in hopes of finding the kidnapped detective and helping solve the case that has taken over ten years to investigate. Arriving in Cheyenne, Joshua finds much more than a simple kidnapping. Yet again, he must go undercover, something he made his boss promise never to make him do again. The only Christian in the outlaw group, Joshua falters and almost loses faith in God’s providence. Will he stand on the solid Rock or drown in the sinking sand?

You can also preorder a paperback copy here for $14.00 plus shipping.

Excerpt

Four days later, Joshua and Poseidon left the train to ride the rest of the way to Cheyenne. He took a deep breath and marveled at how different it was from Chicago. He could hardly believe his brother-in-law, Micah, had lived that city for so long. It was so hard to breathe.

He mounted his horse and started off in a gentle canter.

“Heavenly Father.” Joshua paused and sighed. “You know how heavy my heart is right now. Protect Mr. Harris and give Elizabeth peace. I can’t imagine what it’s like for either of them right now.

“You are awesome in power, unchangeable, immutable, always present, all-knowing, all-powerful, You are the only True God. Despite my heavy heart and how my mind is racing ahead of me to figure this mystery out, I can’t help but praise You.”

Poseidon snorted and Joshua patted him. “Sorry, Boy. I’m talking too much again, aren’t I? Now, where was I? Oh, yes, praising my Savior.”

Poseidon shook his head and fought the bit. “You wanna run?” Joshua laughed and looked around.

There was nothing for miles, not even a hill. “All right, let’s go.”

He dug his heels into Poseidon’s sides as he urged the horse into a gallop. “Yeehaw!” Joshua yelled as he grabbed his hat before the wind stole it. He closed his eyes and relished the whip of the wind brushing his face and blowing through his almost too long hair.

The smile on his face couldn’t have been wiped off even if he had wanted it gone. The exhilaration and intense joy he felt was something that could only be found when galloping on a horse in the summer winds.

Joshua watched the flat farmland whiz past him, the only things marring the wheat and corn fields being the scarecrows sticking their ugly heads over the waving crops. Joshua laughed as Poseidon splashed through a stream, soaking them both.

“Thank you, Poseidon, I needed to be cooled down.”

Joshua slowed his horse down. “Nice run, Boy. I think we both needed that. I’m glad the trains didn’t connect so we could ride.”

He rode on a few more hours in silence, listening to nature, meditating on God’s Word and mulling verses around in his head, praising God, praying, and making his way one step at a time closer to Cheyenne.

Giveaway

Faith is giving away a full set of paperback books! Fill out this form to earn entries to the giveaway. Each entry gives you one point, plus there are opportunities for bonus entries.

If you haven't read any of my books and would like to try one for free, I am working on getting A Mighty Fortress available for free on all formats. It is currently free on Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and Kobo. If you also wouldn't mind helping me get it free on Amazon, I would appreciate that. To help, all you have to do is grab 1, 2, or 3 of the links where it is free and go to AMF's Amazon page, click on "tell us about a lower price" and submit a link or three. Thank you!

Facebook Party

To celebrate her release, Faith is holding a Facebook party on March 31st from 2-4 Central time. You can join her and 3 other authors here. There will be fun, games, giveaways, excerpts, and more. Some of the giveaways will stay open through Friday evening, April 1st. Fun fact: the other three authors are all homeschool moms.

About the Author

Faith Blum started writing at an early age. She started even before she could read! She even thought she could write better than Dr. Seuss. Now that she's grown up a little more, she knows she will probably never reach the success of Dr. Seuss, but that doesn't stop her from trying. When she isn't writing, Faith enjoys doing many right-brained activities such as reading, crafting, writing, playing piano, and playing games with her family. One of her dreams is to visit Castle City, Montana someday to see the ghost town she chose for her characters to live in. She currently lives on a hobby farm with her family in Wisconsin.

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Blog: http://www.FaithBlum.wordpress.com