Fiction Full of Faith

Coffee with Lynnette Bonner PLUS a Giveaway!!

March 18, 2019 in coffee with paula marie

PM: I am so excited to have Lynnette Bonner with us this week for coffee! Lynnette has written so many books, both contemporary and historical, and I have been blessed to be able to read both genres and loved every moment of them! Thank you, Lynnette for taking the time to answer this nosy reader’s questions, lol!  I just have to ask this, I am sure you get it a lot, but what is your favorite time period to write in, contemporary or historical? You are so good at both of them, I imagine this a hard one for you to answer!

LB: Yes, it is hard. I enjoy both of them at different times, which is probably why I end up writing in both. My historicals take quite a bit more thought because it’s important for me to remove myself from our current time-period and ways of thinking and put myself into the characters’ time-period.

PM: What are you reading for fun right now?

LB: I’m currently reading a historical called Rose’s Pledge by Sally Laity and Dianna Crawford.

PM: I am sure your life is extremely busy with four children! When do you find the time to write? Where is your favorite place to write?

LB: Admittedly, when they were all little it was much harder. I had a lot of years of only writing a bit here and there. But now they are all adults, except for my last, who is a sophomore in high school, so I have quite a bit more time. Homeschooling does take up a good deal of my mornings, but I tell people that everyone makes time to do the things they love.

PM: Having been raised in Africa, what was your biggest ‘culture shock” upon arriving in the United States?

LB: I think one of the biggest shocks each time we came home was the sheer amount of “stuff” in all the stores. So much frivolous junk that no one truly needs. How many types of laundry detergent does one country really need? Or brands of bread? This was probably made more evident by the vast needs in the country we’d only so recently left (where one bar of soap might be shared among a group of women beating their clothes “clean” on the rocks at the edge of a muddy river bank.)

PM: What was your most beloved book to read as a child?

LB: I think I would have to go by ages, with this. The first books I remember loving and reading for hours were Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. That was when I was about eight. Then followed a phase of the Old Mother West Wind series by Thornton W. Burgess. Loved, loved, loved those books. In high school you would find me with my nose in one Christian romance book or another, but my favorites of those were the Zion books by the Thoenes.

PM: If there was a news story about your life, what would the headline say?

LB: Author Saved by Grace Hopes Others Experience Same.

PM: Do you get to travel back to Africa a lot?

LB: I do not. It is so expensive to travel to Africa. Thousands just for the tickets to get there, not to mention lodging and food on arrival. Raising four kids on a pastor’s salary has made it impossible to go back since I married in 1992. I’d love to go back on a mission’s trip someday. It just hasn’t happened yet.

PM: What is your favorite go to snack, midnight or any time?

LB: Chocolate. Is there anything else? Speaking of which…it’s nearing Easter and those Cadbury Eggs in the purple bags? Yes!

PM: What’s your favorite song?

LB: This is difficult. I think right now I have two. They are both by Zach Williams. One is Fear is a Liar. The other is Chain Breaker. I choose these because of some things our family is going through right now. So thankful to have Jesus to cling to and share my concerns with. And his Word of Truth to stand on as a firm foundation.

PM: How can readers keep up with you and your new releases?

LB: My website is: https://www.lynnettebonner.com. They can also join my newsletter and get a free short romance called My Blue Havyn at https://www.lynnettebonner.com/newsletter.

PM: Finally, coffee or tea? Cream, sugar?

LB: I drink both and enjoy both. Most mornings it’s coffee with just cream, no sugar. My preference is with a little sugar, but I’ve been trying to cut way back on sugar and since I’m a chocoholic, I choose to get my intake of sugar that way instead of in my coffee. I drink tea, both hot and iced, at other times of the day.

About Lynnette Bonner

Born and raised in Malawi, Africa. Lynnette Bonner spent the first years of her life reveling in warm equatorial sunshine and the late evening duets of cicadas and hyenas. The year she turned eight she was off to Rift Valley Academy, a boarding school in Kenya where she spent many joy-filled years, and graduated in 1990.

That fall, she traded to a new duet–one of traffic and rain–when she moved to Kirkland, Washington to attend Northwest University. It was there that she met her husband and a few years later they moved to the small town of Pierce, Idaho.

During the time they lived in Idaho, while studying the history of their little town, Lynnette was inspired to begin the Shepherd’s Heart Series with Rocky Mountain Oasis.

Marty and Lynnette have four children, and currently live in Washington where Marty pastors a church.

Lynnette is being so generous offering an ebook version of her Not A Sparrow Falls to one commenter on this post! Please comment here and tell us what your favorite childhood book was!

Previous Coffee with Elaine Marie Cooper!
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Comments

  1. Deejie–I’m not even sure that I’m spelling it correctly. It probably hasn’t been in print in 50 years.

  4. Pokey Little Puppy brings back memories! I also love Dr. Seuss books, I read them to my grandbabies. And the Golden books are wonderful. I have two grandbabies 1 & 2 years old and some Children books are very costly but I guess you can’t put a price on great books and love for Children!

  5. Love your books! It is do refreshing to be able to read faith based books without cussing in them. And the life lessons are so inspiring. Thank you!

  6. My favorite books growing up were Nancy Drew books too!
    I’m not familiar with your books yet so I need to start somewhere, do you have a recommendation of one of your favorites?
    Thank you!
    Mary

  8. I didn’t read as a child. When I started becoming a reader, I was in my 20’s. My favorite book then (and still my favorite) is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I have read children’s books as an adult and I would say that The Mysterious Benedict Society Series is quite good so far! I have just finished book two and will begin book 3 in the near future. Highly recommend them to almost any child. (Any child that gets frightened very easily may need to have their parent read it first as there are bad guys, intense moments, and mild violence (fighting).) It’s an adventure book. So good!

  10. Thank you Paula and Lynnette! I enjoyed this article very much.
    I have some friends from South Africa. So I understand exactly what you are saying, Lynnette. They have two boys and one girl. The boys were born in Africa and had a really hard time adjusting over here.
    I enjoy your books and I have this one, so don’t count me in.
    I too, am a ministers wife. So I can relate on that level. I’m always happy to hear when someone is able to homeschool. Things are so scary anymore and schools are not teaching correctly anymore. 😢
    I have a daughter in law who would love to homeschool, but they have to have both incomes. 😞
    I agree about needing so many frivolous things. I got caught up in all of that and now that I’m older I feel so foolish. We have gotten rid of so much that it’s embarrassing. Live and learn.
    Thank you for a little insight into your life.
    God bless you!
    Kathy

  11. Hi Lynette, it’s great to have ‘met’ you through CIA and now here, plus we’re going to be roomies at Camp Nanowrimo next month!
    We have lots in common. I too am a minister’s wife (now officially retired but ministers never really do!)
    Although I was born in Scotland, I grew up from the age of 5 in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and then came to Cape Town, S.Africa, to study nursing. That’s where I met my husband, and we have three South African “children” and three kids-in-law, plus 6 grandkids. Well done on your first one! They’re so special.