Smitten (48 page)
Our biggest thank-you goes to God who brought the four of us together in a bond of unbreakable friendship. We are all so different, and yet one, in our love for Christ and for one another.
1. Which protagonist (Natalie, Julia, Shelby, or Reese) did you most relate to and why?
2. After a lack of stability early in life, Natalie craved being in one place. What made Smitten special to her? Have you ever felt like that about a place?
3. Natalie believed her sister’s report about Carson. Have you ever believed gossip and wished you hadn’t?
4. When Julia returns to Smitten, long-lost feelings for her brother’s best friend Zak resurface. Has coming back to a familiar place ever brought back unresolved feelings? Did you have to deal with them the second time? How did you resolve them?
5. Julia loves her friends and her hometown, but going back to New York City feels easier. Have you ever had to make the harder choice to do the right thing? How did you know it was the right decision for you?
6. Julia has a strong independent streak, but ultimately discovers that counting on others can make life easier and more fulfilling. Have you ever tried to do something alone only to discover the lesson was in submitting to others? What was the outcome?
7. When the girls support Reese in her outfitter’s store dreams, they do things they wouldn’t otherwise be interested in—such as roller blading. Do you have friends who expand your world that way? How has it made you a better person?
8. Shelby had some major issues with her dad. Before they could have healing in their relationship, she had to truly forgive him. In fact, he had to forgive himself. Have you ever had a relationship like that? Did you choose to forgive (with God’s help) and receive healing, or are you still holding on to the bitterness? What can you do to let it go?
9. Sometimes life isn’t fair. Circumstances can change in an instant. Nick’s circumstances changed when his ex-wife died and his daughter, Willow, came to live with him. Despite the challenges, they settled into their new life together and shared a relationship they wouldn’t have had otherwise. When life hands you challenges, do you fight them or do you try to learn from them and make your life better?
10. Shelby gained strength and support from her friends. She also offered that same support back to them. Do you have someone like that in your life? Are you that someone to someone else? Reach out today.
11. The more Shelby and Nick got to know each other, the more they had to work through in their relationship, but difficulties can bring growth in a relationship and make it stronger. Think of the relationships in your life. What has truly made them grow?
12. It’s clear from the beginning of “All Along” that Reese Mackenzie is a planner, but it doesn’t take long for her plan to make Griffen love her go awry. Have you ever been so committed to your own plans that God’s will got lost somewhere along the way? How did you come to that realization? What happened as a result?
13. In what ways did Griffen balance Reese? Who provides balance for you, and in what ways?
14. Reese’s faith falters as they approach Sawyer’s wedding and the finalization of their plans for Smitten. Why do you think having faith can be so difficult? When was the last time your faith faltered? What got you through that time?
15. How did the friendship between Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese serve as a support system spiritually, emotionally, and physically? Who is your support system and how do you hold each other up?
H
ow do four best-selling authors collaborate on a highly-interconnected novella collection? Very carefully. And it helps when you’re best friends.
COLLEEN COBLE:
The four of us are more than writing partners—we’re soul mates. We are so close we can fi nish sentences for each other. Kristin and Di are the funny ones who have crazy things happen to them. Denise is the deep thinker who keeps us all organized. I’m the mom of the group and mother everyone within an inch of their lives. That fi rst picture of us all together at the coffee shop is on my website: colleencoble.com. If you think we’ve aged, don’t tell us, okay?
DIANN HUNT
: I confess to pouting over the fact that the three of them had written a novella collection or two together before I came along. I mentioned it once—okay, maybe twice—I’ve never been good at math—that I wanted to do a collection with them. I never dreamed it would happen.
DENISE HUNTER
: When we were approached about doing a collection, we were so excited. I mean, the chance to do what we love, with the people we love? What could be better?
COLLEEN
: An editor we all knew asked us if we’d consider doing a historical collection. We had never worked together on a project before and Diann really wanted to try that. For Di’s sake, I asked Ami McConnell, my editor at Thomas Nelson, if we could do it (Denise and I had an exclusive contract and needed permission), but Ami wondered if we’d want to do something very diff erent for Thomas Nelson instead. She went to Allen Arnold, our publisher, and he was enthusiastic. I talked to the girls and we brainstormed several ideas that might make a novel in four parts, which is what this story really is.
AMI MCCONNELL (EDITOR)
: I’ve worked with each of these authors on their individual, full-length novels, so I knew the wealth of talent they had for creating captivating, inspiring romances. That excited me. But I also knew fi rsthand about their dynamic as a friendship circle. I met Colleen, Kristin, Diann, and Denise at a writer’s conference years ago in California. I wanted readers to experience the energy, the laughter, the intense feeling of knowing and being known that they share. If we could capture that feeling and let the reader feel it vicariously along with some ter-rifi c romances, I knew we’d have a hit.
KRISTIN BILLERBECK
: Writing can be such a lonely sport, and I missed the connection we’d had when working on earlier projects. We already work so well together brainstorming each other’s books, so to work together on one book, where the ideas are coming so fast and furious? It was simply pure joy. You can see us brainstorming and giggling at the
SmittenVermont.com
site.
DIANN
: Since we found one another, loneliness is no more! The first person I called when I found out I had lymphoma was Colleen, who then called the other girls. Did I mention that Colleen called me on my cell phone at the hospital—as I was being rolled down the hall on a gurney after a biopsy—to tell me one of my books had finaled in the ACFW Book of the Year Contest? Through the years we had laughed a lot together and when it was time to cry, we did that together too, especially when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. But laughter always follows us.
DENISE
: Especially when we visited you in the hospital, Di! And Colleen punched your morphine button when she thought she was calling the nurse. I tried to stop her. Really I did. But it was like one of those slow motion things where you’re shouting n-o-o and nothing is coming out.
COLLEEN
: It was an honest mistake! You girls will never let me live it down.
DENISE
: Well, what do you expect when you drug our friend?
DIANN
: I went to sleep happy.
KRISTIN
: What would we do without one another? There are days when I don’t know how I will make it through everything I have to do with four kids. The girls help me keep my sanity.
COLLEEN
: And when Dave was diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, I cried on your shoulders. But you know what? I wouldn’t trade walking the valleys with my friends for anything. Anyone can have a friend who laughs over coffee. But how many of us are blessed with friends who stick “closer than a brother,” as scripture says, when the going gets tough?
DENISE
: I have to take Justin to college in a few weeks. My first little chick out of the nest. The girls know how I like to know exactly what’s going to happen. And this is outside my comfort zone. So get the DeBrand truffles ready, okay? I like the raspberry.
DIANN
: DeBrands? Did someone say DeBrands? You can do it, D. We’ll pray you through it. And get you DeBrands.
AMI
: And I’m the fifth wheel, always, but you’ve taken me in—and it’s been a bonding year for sure. I’ve prayed for each of you and felt your prayers this year as I’ve navigated a hard road, a tough divorce. Trials for all of us—and so much grace! You all have such different personalities and they complement one another. How does that work in real life?
KRISTIN
: You mean how we’re each like a character from
Winnie the Pooh
? Colleen blogged about it here:
girlswriteout.blogspot.com/2010/11/plotting-of-smitten.html
. We all laughed but she might be a little right. Though I will say Colleen is totally Tigger. Her cheerfulness can be positively annoying.
DENISE
: You said it; I didn’t.
AMI
: So you sent in your ideas for a novella collection. Several, if I recall correctly. I’m a sucker for a good romance, so that was a given. Key for me was the setting. What setting would entice readers to settle in for four great romance stories? The notion of a small town—of knowing the names of the folks you pass on the street—that just makes me smile. When you all said “Vermont,” I was swooning!
DIANN
: I remember when we heard from you that
Smitten
was your pick from the ideas list we’d sent in. There was a lot of
whoohooo!-ing
over email, and I’m certain a trip to DeBrand’s was mentioned..
DENISE
: That might’ve been me because I was pulling for
Smitten
. You can just see the joy in all our faces in that photo we took when we signed the contract (DeniseHunterBooks.com). The whole concept of Smitten excited us all. It’s about a town whose survival is threatened when their logging company closes. Then four friends devise a plan to turn Smitten, Vermont, into the country’s premier honeymoon destination— and each finds a love of her own in the process.
KRISTIN
: Why Vermont? We were looking for a setting that was highly romantic, but also remote enough where the idea of it being a “new” romantic destination spot worked. We also wanted to do a story for each season, so we needed a locale that had winter sports and summer recreation. Vermont just felt cozy and a fellow writer, Rick Acker, helped us brainstorm. His family owns a stand of trees in another state. So we liked the idea of a logging mill being abandoned and the townspeople rallying together to find new hope in their town. Community is so important to our book and to our friendship. Our image of an idyllic community naturally includes us together, something we can’t be with life going on around us. But when we are together, it’s like the image of community.