The Inside Scoop!

Nancy Mehl

and her romantic suspense

Rising Darkness

Bethany House

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I grew up in…Wichita, Kansas.

I was inspired to write my first published novel by…Watching Murder She Wrote. Although I loved writing at a young age, it took that show for me to say, “Hey! I know who I want to be! Jessica Fletcher!” LOL!

The books that have most influenced my life are…The Bible, anything written by Charles Dickens, Nancy Drew Books (when I was young), Agatha Christie, and Arthur Conan Doyle.

My biggest challenge when writing is…Staying off Facebook! LOL!

One of my favourite authors is…Tosca Lee. She not only knows how to tell a story, her writing is lyrical, poetic…and powerful.

If I wasn’t a writer, I would be…A social worker. (It’s what I used to do.)

The superhero talent I would love to have is…I’d like to go to sleep at night and wake up with the plot of my next book completely figured out. I guess this power would belong to Super Writer! She writes faster than a speeding bullet, is more powerful than the temptation to use too much description, and is able to leap over the “boring middle” with a single bound!

Rising Darkness

Sophie Wittenbauer left her strict Mennonite hometown under a cloud of shame and regret. After a rough childhood, her teenage poor choices harmed others, leaving her with no choice but to change her life. Her entry-level writing job at a newspaper puts her in the right place at the right time to overhear office gossip about a prisoner who has information on a decades-old unsolved crime. While the other reporters write off the tip as the ravings of an angry criminal, Sophie can’t ignore it because she knows the name of this prisoner from her old life.

Upon learning from the man that one of the other suspects is hiding out in the Missouri town of Sanctuary, she takes on a false identity to investigate and meets the young pastor of a local church–the very man she’d loved as a troubled teenager. As she gets closer to finding the suspect, will the truth of her own past come out before she discovers the identity of the criminal–or the very person she’s seeking puts a fatal stop to her investigation?

My latest novel can be described by these 5 adjectives…Suspenseful, Emotional, Romantic, Redeeming, Spiritual.

My main character is… Sophie Wittenbauer (who now calls herself Sophie Bauer) is a young woman who lived through years of abuse at the hands of her parents. After committing a terrible crime in her hometown of Kingdom, Kansas, she ran away, determined to start a new life.

She has changed herself from the uneducated, dirty ragamuffin she once was. Now she is in college, has almost completely transformed her appearance, and will do whatever it takes to become a success. However, inside she is still lost and wounded. She equates her harsh upbringing with her parents’ religious beliefs and wants nothing to do with God.

Searching for a missing bank robber in Sanctuary, Missouri, she will run into someone she used to know, and her feelings for him will force her to confront her painful past.

He remembers her as the girl with the golden eyes.

My main characters resemble….The picture on my book cover. LOL! That rarely happens, but the designers hit the nail on the head this time.

A previously unknown fact about this novel is…This book is really unusual. Sophie’s story actually appeared in a different series. She was in UNBREAKABLE, book two in my Road to Kingdom series. I always felt her story was left hanging, and I wanted to bring her full cycle. My wonderful editor at Bethany House (Raela Schoenherr) allowed me to bring her back to life. Thanks, Raela!

My story’s spiritual theme is…God wants to give us beauty for ashes.

While writing this novel I learned/was challenged by…Trying to convey the pain of sexual abuse. While I couldn’t make it the main theme of the book, it was important to me to present the subject with respect and compassion.

The title was chosen by…My publisher! (They don’t seem to like my titles. LOL!)

As an author, the hardest scenes for me to write are… Romance. Hate to admit it, but I like mystery and suspense. I have to work harder on the romance. (Don’t tell my husband. LOL!)

The story I’m currently working on is…Like nothing I’ve ever written before. I am passionate about law enforcement and believe this country needs to support our LEOs who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect us. The new series revolves around the U.S. Marshal Service. I’m having so much fun writing it!

You may not know this about me, but I…Am crazy about Doctor Who!

If I could be a character in any novel, I would want to be…Only one answer. Sherlock Holmes. 🙂

Thanks Nancy!

Relz Reviewz Extras
Nancy’s Pop Quiz
Get to know Nancy
Character spotlight on Lizzie & Noah
Review of Simple Secrets
Visit Nancy’s website and blog
Buy at Amazon: Rising Darkness or Koorong

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