Davalynn Spencer’s The Snowbound Bride feels very close to home.
Her home in Colorado, that is, where she loves seeing the snow come down every Christmas!
“During my childhood, Christmas was always about Jesus, and I have continued with that joyous celebration in my home as an adult. Scent plays a part as well—the tree, clove-studded oranges, hot cider, cinnamon bread. Christmas always smells good.
After I married, I moved to Colorado and discovered snow! Of course there is snow elsewhere, but its crystalline beauty here against our blue Colorado skies is breathtaking. I wanted to express the contrasting power and beauty of a snowy holiday in my book, as well as the simple joy of receiving the Christ child.”
Set on a ranch not far from where Davalynn currently lives, her The Snowbound Bride, which releases as an ebook on December 15, tells the tale of a woman fleeing a vicious relative, only to wind up snowbound with total strangers for–more than the holidays. You can purchase it here.
The idea–Contemporary but led to the past.
The plot originally came to her as a contemporary story, but she wondered what the situation would look like in the 1880s. 
Once I began exploring the differences, the characters took on color and ran off with the tale!” Davalynn’s paternal family came west, one uncle served as the doctor on a wagon train, long ago. She used some of that experience in her research, coupled with investigations she made from a recently released trilogy of western stories.
“My characters in The Snowbound Bride are working ranchers trying to make a living off the land and their horses in the 1880s.
“Like many families of that time, they don’t have a lot of money for baubles and store-bought trinkets, so decorations as well as gifts are homemade. Dried berries and popcorn adorn the freshly cut tree, and hand-made cookie cutters fashioned from empty tins are used to make star-shaped cookies tied on the tree with yarn. One character is particularly talented, and carves a nativity scene from willow branches.”
An unexpected character turned up while she wrote: “Beetle the dog surprised me. Almost as suddenly as he surprises Ara! He stepped out of my heart and onto the page without any planning, and established himself as an important background character. I love animals, and all my stories have dogs or cats or horses—sometimes all three.”
Davalynn found a sequel for next summer’s The 12 Brides of Christmas, in one of her minor characters.
“Nate’s uncle, Buck, showed himself to be such a tender yet crusty fella, that I wanted to know more about him and his dreams. I based my sequel, The Columbine Bride, on him.” The Columbine Bride releases as an ebook on June 8, 2015. The theme of The Snowbound Bride is simple and yet important:
“Trusting God’s leading is key in my life, and I believe it is for others as well. However, I still want to see where I’m going and it doesn’t always work that way. That’s where the trust comes in. The Lord has this incredible way of using things that we think are failures or mistakes or disasters, and often those very things become our greatest blessings.”
Who is Davalynn Spencer?
Novelist and speaker Davalynn Spencer is an award-winning journalist whose background spans the city crime beat and the national rodeo circuit.
She’s both the wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters. When she’s not writing inspirational romance or teaching as an adjunct professor, she enjoys speaking and leading worship at women’s retreats. She makes her home in Colorado where she continues to be amazed by God’s creative splendor.
For more information about Davalynn, visit her webpage: http://davalynnspencer.com/
In social media, you can find Davalynn here:
You can purchase The Snowbound Bride here.
Davalynn ends with a word to readers: “I hope readers will enjoy this brief trip into Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, warm themselves by the home fires of love, and come away with a good helping of faith and fresh hope.”
Got them all? http://amzn.to/1yuptW2
Thank you, Michelle, for such a fun overview.