Get to Know the Author: Gail Pallotta

Today our Get to Know the Author guest is Inspirational romance author, Gail Pallotta.

JDP: Welcome, Gail! Thank you so much for joining us today. Did your mother read to you as a child?

Gail: Yes, my family loved books. My grandmother gave me A Child’s Garden of Verses. My mother read them to me so often the binding unraveled. She read The Wizard of Oz over and over because I asked her to.

JDP: Do you remember a favorite book from your childhood?

Gail: When I started reading, I loved any Nancy Drew books.

JDP: Name a favorite author as an adult.

Gail: I love to read, and I enjoy almost any genre, so it’s hard to pick just one author. For classic books, I’d say Theodore Dreiser. He hooked me with An American Tragedy. For fun, I read the Anne George mysteries; for classic love stories, Jane Austen.

JDP: Share a book you’ve read multiple times.

Gail: I rarely read a book or see a movie more than once. I read Pride and Prejudice a couple times because of papers I was writing about it. I also read Of Human Bondage a second time. I wrote guidelines to compare and contrast it to the Scriptures for an educational program with a Christian publisher.

JDP: That must have been a very interesting project! I’ll bet it led to some fascinating discussions. Okay, here’s a very important 21^st Century question: Kindle, Nook, or good old hard copy?

Gail: I’d love to have an e-reader, but I don’t. I have read several e-books on a laptop and loved lying back, relaxing and flipping the pages. I’ve read so many hard copy books and have so many, they’re like old friends. As far as I’m concerned, I just want to read a good book, either way is fine.

JDP: What’s your favorite place to read?

Gail: Lying on the sofa or propped up in bed. Is there any other place? I guess there is. I sometimes read books on trips when my husband is driving. It’s a great way to pass the time. I have read while waiting for an appointment, but it isn’t relaxing for me. I know many read on the beach or by the pool, but that doesn’t work for me either. The sun’s too bright for my eyes, even with sun glasses.

JDP: What are your three favorite reading genres.

Gail: Mysteries, Christian romance, and mainstream.

JDP: What’s the last book you read?

Gail: Journey to Forgiveness by Laurean Brooks. It’s a sweet romance with a feisty heroine. It was fun seeing how she and the hero got together.

JDP: What are you’re reading now?

Gail: Right before Christmas I started Last Writes by Sheila Lowe. She’s a handwriting analyst who uses her skill to help solve mysteries in her books.

JDP: Oh, that sounds interesting! I may have to check that series out. What’s next on your reading list?

Gail: I’m not sure. I have a long to-be-read list.

JDP: What you would like to read more of? (author, genre, etc)

Gail: Any book that has a good story and hope. I’ve only read one book that I absolutely didn’t care for. I won’t give the name of it, but it was a book without hope.  

JDP: Share a favorite book that you’ve read in the last 12 months.

Gail: All the Way to Heaven by Elizabeth Sherrill. A best-selling author who was a co-writer for God’s Smuggler among other books, she also has written about people such as Corrie tin Boom. She also wrote for “Guideposts.” This book tells how she became a Christian. It’s filled with wonderful stories of her travels and some of the people she met along the way. Each chapter is written with depth and insight.

More about Gail! : Love Turns the Tide is Gail’s first romance, but she’s been writing for as long as she can remember. Her first story appeared in a grammar school newspaper. Much later, she worked as an editor and copywriter. After she married she helped her husband with his business, but continued to write. Between the feature stories she wrote at work and the freelance pieces she placed, she published several hundred articles. After some of them were selected for anthologies and two ended up in museums friends and family nudged her to “do more.” Then, she undertook a lifelong dream and wrote a novel. In 2004, the year she published her first book, Now Is the Time, the American Christian Writers Association named her a regional writer of the year. In late 2009, she published her first romance, Love Turns the Tide, an e-book. This past November an excerpt from Love Turns the Tide won the Clash of the Titles Contest in the best nature / weather scene category. Learn more about Gail on her website and blog

Books by Gail Pallotta:

Now Is the Time

Love Turns the Tide

Summary of Love Turns the Tide: In this Christian romance with a bit of mystery twenty-six-year-old Cammie O'Shea is shattered by a heartbreaking split-up with her fiance and challenged by a new job in Destin, Florida. A feature writer, she dreads meeting her boss, the editor of The Sun Dial newspaper. But, her real source of angst turns out to be Vic Deleona, the influential real estate developer she must write about to generate interest in the paper. While she refuses to open herself to another painful relationship he attempts to court her. When he makes extra business appointments with her, she resents having to spend so much time with him. But after a break-in at her friend's condo and her unit, Vic comes to their rescue. When he tries to solve the mystery, Cammie sees a different side of him. He even takes her to church. But, she has an offer to return home. Will Vic catch the criminal and win Cammie's heart or will she leave Destin?

Love Turns the Tide can be purchased through Awe-Struck Publishing.