This post comes with an apology to Joanna and my friends at Revell Books. Joanna completed her Reading Habits Q & A last year and I’ve only now discovered it, much to my embarassment.

But it means you still get the delight of learning what a talented author like Joanna enjoys reading, what her TBR stack looked like in the year that was 2020, and have the chance to get your hands on a copy of The Love Note.

Enjoy!

Joanna’s Reading Habits

When is your optimal time to read?

I love curling up on the couch to read when the house is quiet. I’ve dedicated Sunday afternoon, while my kids nap, to total pleasure reading. I sometimes sit in the midst of unfolded laundry and scattered toys, but those breaks are good for my soul.

Are you faithful to a genre, an author, or simply quality writing?

I love a great story!  Keep me guessing and I’ll be back for more. Bring me truth in the midst of that story and I’ll be telling all my friends to read it too. I often gravitate toward stories with a mystery element and a historical setting, but some writers have that certain quality in their words and I can’t help but be drawn into the most unlikely of genres.

Which factors most influence your selection of a book?

Authors that have wowed me in the past—I trust them to do it again. I also get a sense of whether or not I’ll like a book by who is talking about it and what they say. I know a lot of book people, and I always listen!

Your fiction pet peeve?

Good stories coming to an end! I hate leaving a fictional world that has sucked me in. Beyond that, stories that aren’t realistic or believable are hard for me to read.

What book have you read this year that you could not put down, and why?

Jamie Jo Wright’s book, The Curse of Misty Wayfair was really good. What kept me reading was a few main characters who were so well drawn that I was drawn into their story. Also, I had questions. So many questions! I had to keep reading to figure out how everything connected.

How do you mark your spot – folded page corner, bookmark, dollar bill, whatever is at hand?

Usually a stray receipt or piece of paper, although I now have a pack of lovely bookmarks to use.

When reading, what makes or breaks a story for you?

If I feel something deeply, and if I’m kept guessing, that’s a book that lingers for a long time. I feel deeply when there are solid characters and when truth comes shining through.

Snack/drink of choice while reading?

I love snacking on dry cereal. Especially something that has cinnamon on it. Odd snack, but I love it!

What book cover has really caught your eye?

Everything by Sara Ella! Especially Unraveling. I could stare at that cover forever.

What book do you wish you had written? Why?

Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. It had me completely enthralled, then totally shocked me. I’d say the same for Wilkie Collins’ Lady in White, too.

What are you reading now?

I’m reading an old Phyllis Whitney mystery called The Trembling Hills. I’ve loved every book this author has released! I’m about to start Rachel McDaniel’s second novel, and I can’t wait.

The Love Note

Focused on a career in medicine and not on romance, Willa Duvall is thrown slightly off course during the summer of 1865 when she discovers a never-opened love letter in a crack of her old writing desk. Compelled to find the passionate soul who penned it and the person who never received it, she takes a job as a nurse at the seaside estate of Crestwicke Manor.

Everyone at Crestwicke has feelings–mostly negative ones–about the man who wrote the letter, but he seems to have disappeared. With plenty of enticing clues but few answers, Willa’s search becomes even more complicated when she misplaces the letter and it passes from person to person in the house, each finding a thrilling or disheartening message in its words.

Laced with mysteries large and small, this romantic Victorian-era tale of love lost, love deferred, and love found is sure to delight.

What do you love most about this story, or the process of writing this story?

This story came about through a very terrible, very frustrating first draft. I had to drag the words out of thin air, and I really didn’t connect with it for a while. Then I sent it to a friend for feedback and spent some time in deep prayer and I realized through both avenues that I had been chasing down the wrong theme. It was like standing up on a chair to view a room entirely differently (which is often how I find misplaced things!) and suddenly the story took on a whole new shape. I broke free from what I was trying to do and let God do what he’d intended from the beginning. I ended up loving this story so much as it took me on many, many surprise turns, and the ending sunk deeply into my heart. I think it may be my favorite!

Share a little about one of your characters – what makes them unique?

Aunt Maisie is one of those people who take off in their own direction when you write them into a story. Her family calls her “Crazy Maisie” but really, she’s just delightfully eccentric for her era. She’s lived long enough to know too much, have too many wild plans, and to be undervalued by those around her. As her mind begins to slip just a little in her age, she starts collecting words and holding onto them for the time when she forgets them. She sees what’s going on in the house and silently influences it, even though most people in the family have written her off. I just can’t help loving this character!

Share a favourite line or paragraph from your book.

Make your heart a deep well of the Almighty by saturating yourself in his presence, and your words will come out drenched in him no matter what you say.

This advice comes from Aunt Maisie, and it continually convicts me as I write and as I live. It takes me back to my knees and keeps my heart focused.

Thank you SO much, Joanna. Sorry you had to wait so long for me to share this feature!

Joanna Davidson Politano is the award-winning author of Lady Jayne Disappears, A Rumored Fortune, and Finding Lady Enderly. When she’s not homeschooling her small children, she spends much of her time spinning tales that capture the colorful, exquisite details in ordinary lives. She is always on the hunt for random acts of kindness, people willing to share their deepest secrets with a stranger, and hidden stashes of sweets. She lives with her husband and their two children in a house in the woods near Lake Michigan and shares stories that move her at www.jdpstories.com.

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Buy from Amazon: The Love Note or Koorong