Author Jody Hedlund
Meet Jody Hedlund, the bestselling author of seven novels, including Captured By Love, Rebellious Heart, and A Noble Groom, winner of the 2014 Carol Award and Inspy Award. Jody received a bachelor’s from Taylor University and a master’s from University of Wisconsin, both in social work. Currently she makes her home in Midland, Michigan, with her husband and five busy children.
I’m delighted that Jody agreed to stop by and share her love of lighthouses with us and give away a copy of her new novel, Love Unexpected.
A Love Affair With Lighthouses
By Jody Hedlund
Over the past year I’ve become obsessed with lighthouses. It all started when I began to do research for my Beacons of Hope series my editor asked me to write regarding women light keepers who worked in Michigan lighthouses.
Michigan is a peninsula surrounded on three sides by Great Lakes. As a result, Michigan has gained notoriety for being the state with the most lighthouses. It has over 120 compared to 500 total nationwide.
Michigan also has the distinction of having the most women keepers. During my research, I was thrilled to find a well-researched book that centered on those Michigan women keepers. It’s called Ladies of the Lights: Michigan Women in the U.S. Lighthouse Service by Patricia Majher. I loved reading about the approximately 50 women who served as principal or assistant keepers to Michigan lights. They inspired me to bring their stories to life.
Since I live in the middle of Michigan, I’m within a couple of hours driving distance to many lighthouses. So of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do hands-on research to the sight of the lighthouse that I use in my free enovella, Out of the Storm, as well as in my newest release, Love Unexpected.
The name of that lighthouse is Old Presque Isle Lighthouse and it’s located on the rocky shores of northern Lake Huron. I was able to climb the 40 foot tower and walk through the unattached keeper’s house.
Not only are lighthouse beautiful and picturesque, but they bring back a sense of nostalgia, poignancy, and romance that few other historical markers do. They’re rich in historical details and stories. They’re wrought with danger and death. And they’re just plain fun to explore. Climbing the winding staircase, reaching the top, and peering out the tower windows (or in some cases going out onto the gallery) is breathtaking.
The men and women who lived in the lighthouses faced deprivation, isolation, and often great losses. Every time I visit a lighthouse, I gain a deeper appreciation for the people who devoted their lives to serve their country through manning the lights.
Love Unexpected explores both the romance and the danger of the lighthouse era. In the midst of a marriage of convenience, both of the main characters, Patrick and Emma, have to learn that no matter where they’ve wandered or no matter what they’ve faced, God is there as steady and constant as a lighthouse, bringing them safely into his harbor where they can find rest. I hope as you read the book, God will speak to you the same message!
As a gift to you (and to get you excited about lighthouses), I’m offering a FREE copy of my recently released lighthouse e-novella, Out of the Storm.
Go to one of these sites to download the FREE e-novella today: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook.com
Question for YOU: Do you like lighthouses? Have you ever visited one? If so, where and what was it like?
I love hearing from readers! Make sure you stop by one of these places and say hello!
I hang out on Facebook here: Author Jody Hedlund
I also love to chat on Twitter: @JodyHedlund
My home base is at my website: jodyhedlund.com
BOOK GIVEAWAY!
Congratulations to Cheryl Barker who won the signed copy of LOVE UNEXPECTED by Jody Hedlund!
Comments 18
I love lighthouses! We visited lighthouses on a vacation to the Outer Banks as well as a vacation to Maine. Great times, great memories!
melback at cebridge dot net
Me too, Melanie. I love lighthouses! Good to see you here. Blessings! Mona
Jody is a favorite author of mine, and being from MI originally I look forward to reading this series!
I have climbed one light house on Hilton Head Island. But I’m not sure if I was an actual light house in use at one point or if it was just built as a tourist attraction!
pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks for joining us here, Patty. Happy Reading! Mona
I have never visited a lighthouse, but I loved the novella and would really love to win a copy of this book!
Author
Good to see you here, Lindsay. I know you’d enjoy visiting a lighthouse thorugh Jody’s book. Blessings! Mona
Lighthouses are lovely. i am not sure i have ever visited one but would love to one day
I have to say, before reading the novella I wasn’t really sure what I thought about lighthouses…
I never had a particular passion for them.But the novella was absolutely beautiful, I loved it!
I never visited a lighthouse, but now I’m starting to want to 😉
I realized that lighthouses are a light in the night for ships just has Jesus is a light in the night for us.
Now I love lighthouses 😛
sbissonnettes_23 at videotron dot ca
By the way I live in Canada 🙂
No, I have never been fortunate enough to be able to visit a light house . . . so far. 🙂 I would love to win a copy of this book for my mother, who LOVES reading, and I would love to be able to take her to visit our first light house together. 🙂 Love your books and look forward to all of your books in the future – especially book #3 of this series (with the abandoned school house).
I love lighthouses! We have visited the Outer Banks lighthouses, as well as the Tybee Island Lighthouse in Georgia. I would love to visit the Michigan lighthouses one day!
texaggs2000 at gmail dot com
Hi Jody,
I love lighthouses,too! I have started a contemporary series with a lighthouse in it that I hope will be published one day!
Am reading your novella and loving it! There’s something so romantic about lighthouses and the ocean!
Love to win a copy of your new release!
Congrats!
Sue
Besides churches, lighthouses are my passion! I’ve stayed in one built by Sitka, Alaska’s veterinarian who applied to have it become an official lighthouse. For a friend’s birthday, we stayed at Haceta Head lighthouse, now a B&B on the Oregon coast. And I’ve cross-stitched a bookmark of a lighthouse with a Psalm verse on it while staying in the assistant keeper’s home at North Head lighthouse in Washington state on the Columbia River. I’ve sailed by many lighthouses in Puget Sound, WA, British Columbia, and Alaska. I met one lightkeeper via ham radio who worked at Race Rocks lighthouse before we met he and his wife at Chatham Point lighthouse halfway up Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. I have a novel planned for Turn Point lighthouse on Stuart Island in the San Juan Islands, WA and have taken many pictures and copious notes. I think I need another visit to a lighthouse to write my story! Thank you for your lovely post on Michigan’s lighthouses. I’d love to visit them someday!
I soo love lighthouses! Unfortunately I have never visited one, except the lighthouse in Jody Hedlund’s novella Out of The Storm!!! I love that book!
My e-mail is [email protected]
Would love to win a copy of Love Unexpected. Thanks for the opportunity!
ckbarker at gmail dot com
Author
Congratulations, Cheryl! You won the drawing for Jody’s new book. Blessings and Happy Reading!
Hi Everyone! Thanks for stopping by today and sharing in my growing passion for lighthouses! I’m so glad that many of you have already read and enjoyed the novella! Hope that now you’ll all have the chance to read the first book!
And thank you for having me today, Mona! You have such a lovely blog! 🙂
Author
What a pleasure to host you, Jody. Thanks so much for the fun post and for the book giveaway!
Merry Christmas !! Can’t wait to read it ! Would love to win it 🙂