26/21/2022

ღ About Beth Pugh ღ

Beth Pugh is a Selah Award finalist and local award-winning author who has been published by The Good Men Project, Scary Mommy, Sasee, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Lexington Herald-Leader, and On Parenting at The Washington Post. Born and raised in the rolling hills of eastern Kentucky, she learned early on that nothing compares to a home cooked meal, front porch sitting, and Sunday morning church services. Through a random ICQ chat, she met her husband and they’ve been embracing those family traditions for years. Now, she hopes to share those same traditions with her son and her readers. She has seen God turn her greatest grief into indescribable joy and tells everyone she meets about the goodness of the Father—sometimes multiple times in one sitting if there’s coffee and donuts involved. When she isn’t writing, you’ll find her jamming out in the parent pick-up line, reading on the couch, or cheering for the Chicago Cubs just like her daddy taught her to do. Sometimes, her characters do those things, too.

Tell us a little about yourself and how you were raised.

I am a mother to a rambunctious, witty eight-year-old who keeps me on my toes and I’ve been living out my real-life happily-ever-after with my husband of fifteen years. I was raised in holler in Kentucky where Sundays were for church and watching baseball. I grew up on soup beans, cornbread, fried taters, and salmon patties (what my daddy called stick-to-your-ribs grub). My mother taught me from an early age to love Jesus and that putting God first was most important. It’s because of those lessons I returned to my faith a few years after she was called home to heaven.

Can you share with us a book you have read recently, are currently reading?

I finally read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and absolutely fell in love with it. Such redemption in the story! I am ashamed it took me so long to read the book but better late than never. I am glad I didn’t miss it altogether because it would have been a shame! I have yet to watch the movie, though!

What age did you realize you loved books and when did you start writing?

As far back as I can remember, I’ve loved books. I used to beg the grade school librarian, Mrs. Belcher, to read The Giving Tree over and over to me. I adored that book! I still do! I think I was about seven when I realized I liked to write and in fourth grade I started writing poetry for fun. When I graduated high school, I had convinced myself nursing school would be better for me financially, so I chased that goal. I made it as far as LPN before I realized that wasn’t the path for me. But I still didn’t start writing books until after my daddy passed away in 2018.

What do you come up with first, when you begin a new project?

Usually a title. I know that sounds entirely backwards, but I use the title as my center and spiral outward. It always gives me the premise. That’s what I like to start with. A smidgen of an idea of a plot. The character development takes me much longer and usually happens while I write. I’m a pantser, so I don’t really know too much about the whos and whys until I start writing.

Tell us about this book.

This book is basically Hallmark meets high school reunion with a bit of insecurity struggles mixed it. When I started writing, I knew very little other than the very bare premise and that I wanted it to read like a Hallmark movie. I’m a sucker for a sweet love story! The plot is inspired by a conversation between two of my high school friends. They had vowed if they were both unattached at their ten-year high school reunion they would get married. Both of them were married by that time, but I started thinking about what would happen if they made good on that promise and what that would look like. The Valentine Proposal is that answer to my wondering as Mason proposes to Lily Anne at their reunion. Their race to the alter definitely made for a wild ride!

Too, I was able to include my personal fear of failure through Lily Anne’s arc. While I was editing this book, I was preparing to take the exit exam of my Masters program and I was terrified. I was truly living out my character’s fear and anxiety.

What advice would you give a new author?          

Write! Just do it. Get the words on paper. You don’t have to know what you’re doing. Goodness knows I still don’t. But if God gave you a story it’s because someone needs to hear it the way only you can tell it. And it’s so much fun! I wish I had known how much fun writing a book would be. I would have tried to do it so much sooner. Publishing has been a crazy ride but it’s been so fulfilling! I am beyond grateful for the opportunity I have been given.

What project is next on your list?

Book 2 of the Pine Valley Holiday series, The Santa Run, will be released this September. It’s already up for pre-order and I can’t wait for it be out in the world. Too, I’m waiting to hear if Book 3 will be a thing, but the characters are SO fun. I hope the story will make it to readers sooner rather than later. In addition to Pine Valley, I’m also working on my first romantic suspense and hope to have it ready to shop before the holiday season kicks in. In real life, I’m taking my little boy to karate and keeping my eye out for football sign-ups!

Where do we find you and your books?

The Valentine Proposal can be purchased online pretty much wherever books are sold. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christianbook.com, Walmart.com, and directly from my publisher at shoplpc.com. The Santa Run is available for pre-order on Amazon and shoplpc. I can’t wait to get this book to readers!

I love connecting with readers, so I have a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, an Instagram, and a TikTok. My videos are not professional by any stretch of the imagination, but I have fun over there. Here are my handles in case anyone wants to be friends!

ღ The Valentine Proposal ღ

Award-winning photographer Mason Montgomery is back in Pine Valley, Kentucky. Hopefully, for good, if his business proposal is accepted. On paper, he’s the perfect buyer for Forget-Me-Not Photography. Too bad the seller, Ol’ Man Rowe, doesn’t see it that way. He’s looking for a family man to take over, and Mason’s bachelor status doesn’t fit the bill.

For shy Lily Anne Dawson, life has not turned out the way she’d hoped. Working at her mother’s bakery and editing for the local newspaper is a far cry from her journalistic dream. She’s a failure. A lonely failure worrying about infertility with no romantic prospects in sight.

That all changes when a decade-old promise to marry on Valentine’s Day pushes the two together at their high school reunion. The impromptu proposal offers a solution to their problems. But marriage requires honesty—and both have secrets. Secrets that could make or break their budding love.

***

Award-winning photographer Mason Montgomery is back in Pine Valley, Kentucky. Hopefully, for good, if his business proposal is accepted. On paper, he’s the perfect buyer for Forget-Me-Not Photography. Too bad the seller, Ol’ Man Rowe, doesn’t see it that way. He’s looking for a family man to take over, and Mason’s bachelor status doesn’t fit the bill.

For shy Lily Anne Dawson, life has not turned out the way she’d hoped. Working at her mother’s bakery and editing for the local newspaper is a far cry from her journalistic dream. She’s a failure. A lonely failure worrying about infertility with no romantic prospects in sight.

That all changes when a decade-old promise to marry on Valentine’s Day pushes the two together at their high school reunion. The impromptu proposal offers a solution to their problems. But marriage requires honesty—and both have secrets. Secrets that could make or break their budding love.

ღ Follow Beth Pugh ღ

Instagram: @bethiebug77

Twitter: @bethiebug77

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

Website/blog: https://likebabybearsoup.wordpress.com/

TikTok: authorbethpugh

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