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Betsy Lowery

Goodreads Author

Born

Reidsville, NC, The United States

Website

https://calledoutlife.wordpress.com/

Twitter

hiyabets

Genre

Christian, Romance, Mystery

Influences

Grace Livingston Hill, Betty Cavanna, Beverly Cleary

Member Since

June 2019

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With the December 2021 release of her third novel, Love Ever Green, Betsy Lowery has achieved an even greater alignment with favorite romance author Grace Livingston Hill than was obvious in No Doubt It's Love (2019 sequel to A Stranger's Promise).

Love Ever Green is a Christian Romance set in Auburn, Alabama and employing the backdrop of a family making their livelihood in the timber industry. This story offers some classic romance elements such as "they meet and initially clash", and it presents those vintage-feel family and home scenarios so characteristic of Grace Livingston Hill.

The instability of frequent childhood moves in a pastor’s family was offset for native North Carolinian Betsy Lowery by the stability of being taught, not only With the December 2021 release of her third novel, Love Ever Green, Betsy Lowery has achieved an even greater alignment with favorite romance author Grace Livingston Hill than was obvious in No Doubt It's Love (2019 sequel to A Stranger's Promise).

Love Ever Green is a Christian Romance set in Auburn, Alabama and employing the backdrop of a family making their livelihood in the timber industry. This story offers some classic romance elements such as "they meet and initially clash", and it presents those vintage-feel family and home scenarios so characteristic of Grace Livingston Hill.

The instability of frequent childhood moves in a pastor’s family was offset for native North Carolinian Betsy Lowery by the stability of being taught, not only by her parents, but also by the people in the communities where she lived, about God’s unfailing love and about Jesus’ sacrificial, atoning death for her.

While studying business administration at Mars Hill College, Betsy worked one summer at Camp Mundo Vista in the Uwharrie Mountains, experiencing God’s call into vocational ministry during a counselors’ sleepover at the scenic outdoor chapel. She obtained a master’s degree in Christian Education from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and found her next step in God’s unfolding plan at the Woman’s Missionary Union national office in Birmingham, Alabama. She married Jeff Lowery and worked at home as a mom of two, later returning to Baptist work in church staff support, employing skills in data entry, publicity, communication, website and social media.

Her wide-ranging writing endeavors have included word puzzles purchased by Dell/Penny Press, worship drama scripts, a Christmas-themed novella, and the 2004 book Pause: Everyday Prayers for Everyday Women.

In 2019 Betsy retired from full-time employment in order to share with interested audiences about her debut pair of novels and about the faith lessons associated with them. Inspired during a 2011 vacation to Gatlinburg, A Stranger’s Promise was still in the making when a sequel, No Doubt It’s Love, began to take shape. Both books were released through WestBow Press in early 2019.

Love Ever Green's release is the springboard for 2022 and beyond in terms of book signings, blog posts, and speaking engagements. Find more on the Facebook page Books By Betsy Lowery.
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Popular Answered Questions

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Betsy Lowery Regardless of the fact that my debut novel pair is self-published, I am so humbled and delighted by the doors that seem to open for a person who has b…moreRegardless of the fact that my debut novel pair is self-published, I am so humbled and delighted by the doors that seem to open for a person who has books in print. This situation has been "a long time coming," and the very most fun, now that the difficult hurdle of getting my books finished and to market has been cleared, is all of the "metadata" I'm creating through social media and when invited to speak. Writing ABOUT my writing is, as a Brady Bunch character might say, the most! And, with a plethora of characters who are quite "real" to me, I'm enjoying their personalities greatly and am just beginning to explore what may be up next for some of them if there is a book 3.(less)

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What are some things you've learned during the year since your novel series was released?

Betsy Lowery In my second book, No Doubt It's Love, the minister counseling engaged couple Sam and Grace reminds them that they will gain from their sessions with …moreIn my second book, No Doubt It's Love, the minister counseling engaged couple Sam and Grace reminds them that they will gain from their sessions with him according to how much effort they invest. I'm finding that the same principle applies to being a new author. While it takes an incredible amount of time and creativity and hard work to produce a novel, that investment does not stop once the book is released. And I'm happy to report that it has been both fun and energizing to produce the "metadata" that includes social media posts, scripts for speaking engagements at libraries and at book clubs, and answers to questions like this one.

Sadly, COVID-19 has robbed me of at least three important engagements in 2020, such as author fairs and library events. Like so many folks, I am having to work from home, looking to find new ways to do what I otherwise would have been doing in a traditionally public setting. One of the most important and exciting ways I have used this time at home is to create an audiobook reading of each novel! I am only now beginning to experiment with distribution of these audio products, but I can tell you I had an absolute blast doing the reading in the best "studio" on my property over a period of weeks. Now... I'm not the greatest voice actor you'll ever hear in terms of the different characters' voices, but I did lower my pitch a notch when men were speaking. :0-) Furthermore, as author I feel I have the best understanding of how to read with every ounce of my characters' feelings in mind as I relived all of the events that happen in these two books.

A byproduct of the recording sessions was the motivation to engage seriously in "literary criticism" of the sequel, No Doubt It's Love. I'll be very transparent and humble here, telling you that defending some nagging discomfort about consistency or timeline issues was the starting point of that evaluation. I surely hope for more author speaking opportunities post-COVID during which I can explain what I mean by that. The good news is, I didn't actually reach the conclusion that there are "errors" of those types - just two or three things that happen basically behind the scenes, and pretty much logically so. There's one point in that category that remains open-ended (that is, the reader is welcome to supply his or her favorite explanation)! I cannot be more specific without spoiling, but it has to do with somebody's shoes!

Not everything in my 9-page "lit crit" is about the kind of matters just described. I extracted and listed 7 examples of characters' actions or words that tie directly to the book's theme about self-reliance. Hints: "control" "planning" "accomplishment"

I identified and explained cases of foreshadowing that I will really enjoy discussing with fans who have read the books - because, for anyone who knows the entire story, it's fun to look back and go, "Aha! I did or didn't connect that little detail with what came later."

I noted a wonderfully illustrative example (on page 80) of one character's really insensitive dialogue in the presence of another character, which type of tactlessness we hope the speaker will grow to recognize and to avoid thereafter! And I documented some cases where members of the same family, independently of one another, exhibit similar coping methods for similar challenges.

In contrast to that, I also found a stellar example of opposing opinions within the Ryan family, and I posted about that on Facebook on July 7. April (sister of the groom) feels one way about whom the wedding plans should appease (page 53), and her brother, the prospective groom, says something to the contrary on page 35. (#SiblingFriction I hope is worthy of comparison to what Betty Cavanna accomplished in Accent on April)

In summary, I've learned since release date that to be the best possible steward of the significant story that "really happened" in the pages of these two books means making the most of the finished product: finding new angles to talk about, telling new people what I have written and why, and accessing additional resources to help me get the word out. My inspirations Grace Livingston Hill, Betty Cavanna, and Beverly Cleary deserve no less.(less)

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Betsy Lowery’s books

Average rating: 4.23 · 22 ratings · 3 reviews · 4 distinct works

	A Stranger’s Promise 4.40 avg rating — 10 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	No Doubt It’s Love 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Love Ever Green 3.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pause: Everyday Prayers for Everyday Women it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2004	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars