Writers With Dienece-Christine L. Henderson
Updated: Sep 23
Hello, Readers!
Welcome to another Writers with Dienece. Today, we are having a chat with inspirational author Christine L. Henderson from the west coast of Florida, USA. She writes women's fiction and romance as well as children's picture books.
I met Chrstine through Our House on Jakaranda Laan, and not only did Christine write House #9 in the series, she also put together a wonderful recipe book from all the authors. You can download it for free here, and I do mean free. You are not signing up to anyone's newsletter. It's just a download.
Lovely to have you with us, Christine. Your latest book is set in South Africa, a place I'm coming to love through the books I've read lately, but what makes your home in Florida special?
Christine: My home is a 15-minute drive to Siesta Key – usually voted #1 or #2 as one of the best beaches in the country. The beauty of the beach is the pure white sand which doesn't get too hot to step through.
Dienece: I've made a few mad dashes through hot sand to understand how lovely that would be!
But does its popularity make it hard to get to the beach?
Christine: There is usually lots of open spaces (the parking lot holds spaces for just under 1,000 cars) except when our snowbirds (people from the cold northern states) come to visit in the winter. That’s when the lot gets filled by 10:00 am.
Dienece: Oh wow, I'm having trouble imagining a parking lot for almost 1,000 cars! We tend to have multi-story car park buildings where I live, but I vaguely remember those huge, spread-out car parks of my childhood in America. And I'm thinking that must be a walk to reach the beach!
Do you go to the beach much?
Christine: I don't go visit the beach as much as I'd like to, but I do enjoy sitting on my back patio and looking out on the pond behind my house to see what feathery friends may be visiting.
Last year a pair of Sandhills built a nest at the marsh area of the pond, and we got to watch the baby colts hatch and take their first steps. It was awesome.
Dienece: Aw, I love watching baby birds! That would have been so special.
Now, just excuse me a moment while I google what a Sandhill looks like... [Dienece types into her computer search bar.]
Oh, my favourite colour is red! I love the warm splash of colour on their heads. I imagine they must be interesting to watch walking around on their long legs. Are they graceful?
Christine: They are graceful but a bit arrogant. Once they land (which is a beautiful sight) they start a loud squawk that can be heard up to 2 miles away. Luckily, they only do the squawks for a few minutes. They will saunter across streets as if they own them and cars will need to wait. They are a protected species here. They don’t fear cars or humans.
[Dienece laughing] I shouldn't laugh because that sounds kind of awful, but I love the way you have with words. I can totally see them strutting down the road as if they own it, totally uncaring about the poor person banging their head on the wheel of their car because they are already late for their appointment.
Now, before I get too lost down the rabbit hole of birds and beaches, why don't you tell me about your latest book?
Christine: My book for the current “Our House Series” is called The Location Scout’s Quest.
Gwen Thorton builds stories for a living…But she’s forgotten how to live her own life.
Gwen Thorton has spent the last 10 years chasing Christmas magic—scouting picture-perfect towns for feel-good romance films. But somewhere along the way, the sparkle faded.
Burned out and restless, she takes a leap of faith on a new project: a cozy murder mystery movie which is being filmed in a small coastal town in South Africa. She's never been to South Africa. It’s a world away from everything she knows—and exactly the change she needs to stretch her comfort zone.
As the cameras roll and the lines between script and life blur, she will discover what she truly believes about love, purpose, and faith. Because sometimes the most meaningful stories aren’t the ones we plan… they’re the ones that find us.
It’s available on Amazon for KU, eBook and paperback editions.
Dienece: I've heard you talk a bit about this book, and it sounds great. Your character is staying at a Bed and Breakfast, right? Have you ever stayed at one?
Christine: Yes! We’ve stayed at them numerous times. At one point, I even considered the idea of owning one. But it’s hard to travel when your business is a travel destination.
Dienece: True, it would be hard to travel when you own the place people want to visit, but who knows, maybe one day you can fulfill that dream!
Speaking of dreams coming true, I know you also write children's picture books, and I've had a look at your author page on amazon. Your picture books look amazing. I especially love the idea of the Christmas one where it's the innkeeper's son helping to look after baby Jesus. That was such a beautiful idea.
What got you into writing picture books?
Christine: I’ve always loved the fun of picture books. I’m still a big fan of Dr. Seuss books. Two of my favorites are “Oh the Places You’ll Go!” and “You’re Only Old Once.” My first writers critique group was for kids’ books, and I still keep in touch with some of those members 15 years later.
Dienece: I only know the first of those books. I'll have to check the second out of the library.
Libraries are awesome things. Am I right, Readers?
But back to you, Christine, thanks for sharing that journey with us. Can you tell us what picture book you have in the pipeline next?
Christine: I have a new picture book for children that comes out for pre-order on October 1st. It's called “Santa's Sooty Suit Solution.” This story will give children and adults a good laugh. Each year when Santa returns home from his Christmas eve deliveries, his suit is a sooty mess, and Mrs. Claus must make a new one - which takes away the time she could be using for making tasty treats for the elves. So, the elves embark on a quest to create a cover for his suit to protect it from the soot and not be too cumbersome to walk in. Their results are comical. Finding the workable solution comes as a big surprise. The book also includes a recipe from Mrs. Claus, coloring pages, find the match pages, and mazes.
Dienece: What a fantastic idea! How fun. I’m sure kids and their parents will love the addition of colouring pages, recipes, and games!
Speaking of recipes, Christine put together an awesome recipe book for the Our House on Jakaranda Laan series. Each author contributed at least one recipe, but most gave two! And you can own them all for free, thanks to Christine's wonderful generosity.
All the effort you put into that recipe book together with the way you've also been interviewing authors on your blog, reminds me of a Bible lesson from your book. Would you care to share one of the Bible verses your main character mentions?
Christine: In The Location Scout’s Quest, my main character, Gwen Thornton, often quotes the Bible and sage words of advice from her momma. Here's the Bible quote from James 1: 22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
And this is how Gwen says her momma would explain it… “If you keep asking God to move a mountain, don’t be surprised if God hands you a shovel. Praying is good, but you need to listen as well and be an active participant.”
Dienece: I can totally hear Gwen's mother saying that. I love how you wrote her, and I love her advice too. Sometimes, we really do need to be ready to do whatever is handed to us.
Which is something you had to do when handed the challenge to write a book set in South Africa. I think the movie idea was a really interesting solution to that, and yet I can't imagine that it was easy to write a book about a movie production. Was there any special research you needed to do for The Location Scout's Quest?
Christine: To provide more realism to my location scout story, I did a lot of research on what it takes to make a film. In the book, I wanted to talk about the expected time frame for a post-production editing. I learned that for every minute of filming you should expect one hour of post-production editing.
Dienece: Oh, wow. That is a lot! But then I suppose I spend most of my time editing my books, so I can kind of see that. But one hour to one minute seems a bit painful!
Just before we move on to the next question, I thought you might have hesitated to answer before, almost as if you were trying to decide between two things to tell me. Did you have something else to say?
Christine: I drew on one of my own real-life experiences while writing this story. I had the incredible opportunity to watch a scene from a major motion picture being filmed while standing beside one of the camera operators, and I even got to chat with one of the film's co-stars as she waited to shoot her next scene.
Dienece: That would have been so cool. What a special experience, and I love it when an author's real life makes it into their novels, even if it's just in a small way.
Alright, Readers, our time is sadly coming to a close today, but we have a few more minutes for Christine to share a memorable book with us.
Christine: Every time I read an author's book, I try to make sure I post at least a quick review for them. It means the world to writers knowing that people are reading their books.
Dienece: Yes, it does, and that's a great habit to have. I'm sure all those authors appreciate it. I know I love it when people review my books.
Christine: There are only a handful of fiction books I have recommended over and over. This is one of them, “The Unannounced Christmas Visitor” by Patrick Higgins. It's won several awards.
Here's the basic plot. Christmas was supposed to be a season of joy. Instead, one family finds itself watching a once-loving marriage slowly unravel beneath the weight of disappointment and unanswered questions.
Then a homeless stranger enters their lives. What begins as a simple act of compassion slowly becomes something far greater. As unexpected events unfold, one family begins to wonder if this mysterious man arrived by chance... or by divine appointment.
I read it 10 years ago after it first published and still think of it. It’s currently available on Amazon. The story is Inspired by Hebrews 13:2 and putting faith into action.
Dienece: That does sound like an amazing story. Thank you for sharing it with us. I've never heard of it before. Have you, Readers? Let us know in the comments!
Just before we say goodbye, Christine, let us know where we can keep in contact with you.
Christine: Just wanted to add before closing, that I’ve also published middle-grade stories, devotionals, and a cookbook with many of them awarded 5-star Reader Favorites. And my romance books have hit the #1 mark on Amazon’s best-selling lists. You can find them all at: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Christine-L.-Henderson/author/B09L2Y7XNP
My blog for writers and readers features weekly interviews with best-selling authors who discuss their upcoming books, tips on writing, and offer eBook giveaways. You can read it at: Christine L. Henderson... Reading and Writing Books
Or join me on Facebook for inspirational ideas and learn about upcoming events and giveaways at: https://www.facebook.com/Christine.L.Henderson.author
Dienece: Thanks for all of those! It's been great getting to know you and your books better. I've read so much about Gwen in the Our House series books which have already released, that I can wait to read her story when it releases on Friday, September 25th!
Readers, if you have any questions for Christine, be sure to pop them in the comments! And thank you for joining me for another Writers with Dienece.
We'll be taking a short break for a few weeks, and then we'll pick back up again with the author of House #13. But before then, don't forget to check out The Location Scout's Quest below, and get your free copy of the recipe booklet that Christine worked so hard to put together!
Photo [of the sandhills] by A. G. Rosales: https://www.pexels.com/photo/flock-of-whooping-cranes-20022021/ free for use without attribution but the author gives it with her thanks!
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