Featured Book: On Distant Shores by Sarah Sundin

Welcome, Sarah! Tell us about your new novel On Distant Shores.

Lt. Georgiana Taylor has everything she could want. A boyfriend back home, a loving family, and a challenging job as a flight nurse during World War II. But in July 1943, Georgie’s cozy life gets more complicated when she meets pharmacist Sgt. John Hutchinson. Hutch resents the lack of respect he gets as a noncommissioned serviceman and hates how the war keeps him from his fiancée. While Georgie and Hutch share a love of the starry night skies over Sicily, their lives back home are falling apart. Can they weather the hurt and betrayal? Or will the pressures of war destroy the fragile connection they’ve made?

Sounds intriguing! What was one of your favorite scenes to write?

My favorite scene to write was when Georgie confronts a woman who hurt one of her friends, and she turns on her sweetest, sassiest Southern charm to do so. It was a lot of fun to write.

We’d love to know more about Lt. Georgiana Taylor and Sgt. John Hutchinson, your two main characters.

Georgie is a flight nurse, a social butterfly who loves her friends and family, but worries that she’s in over her head. Photos I’ve seen of grown-up Shirley Temple remind me of Georgie. Hutch is an Army pharmacist serving in an evacuation hospital, a quiet and steady and analytical. Gregory Peck reminds me of Hutch with his dark good looks and quiet intensity.

If your book were a movie, I’d definitely watch it with that pairing. What do you hope your readers will take away from the book?

Georgie has to learn to find courage in the Lord to face her fears, and she learns to lean on the Lord to make decisions. Meanwhile, Hutch’s goals are thwarted at every turn. He becomes increasingly bitter and has to learn to find contentment even when life doesn’t go his way. I hope readers will learn along with Hutch and Georgie. I certainly did.

Why this genre? What made you interested in writing stories set around WW II?

I enjoyed hearing my grandparents’ stories, and the era has always appealed to me. It was a time when ordinary men did extraordinary things, and when women tried on new adventurous roles, while remaining ladies.

I see from your website at www.sarahsundin.com that you’re having a big contest and giveaway. Tell us about it.

I’ve teamed up with Litfuse Publicity for the On Distant Shores Romantic Weekend Getaway Giveaway. The winner will receive a $200 Visa gift card and copies of the first two books in the Wings of the Nightingale series: With Every Letter and On Distant Shores. We’re finishing up with a big Facebook party on Tuesday, September 3 at 5 pm Pacific Time. Details are on the Litfuse website (http://litfusegroup.com/campaigns/ondistantshores ) and on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SarahSundinAuthor ).

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Sarah’s book, you can find the different locations here.

Thank you so much for stopping by, Sarah! It’s always fun to chat with you.

About the author:

Sarah Sundin is the author of five historical novels, including On Distant Shores (Revell, August 2013). Sarah lives in northern California with her husband and three children. When she isn’t ferrying kids to tennis and karate, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist and teaches Sunday school.