Carrie Fancett Pagels is a multi-published award-winning author of Christian historical romance. Twenty-five years as a psychologist didn’t “cure” her overactive imagination! She resides with her family in the Historic Triangle of Virginia, which is perfect for her love of history. Carrie loves to read, bake, bead, and travel – but not all at the same time!
For more, visit http://carriefancettpagels.blogspot.com/
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Welcome to the blog, Carrie. I’m so happy to have you here today. Congratulations on your upcoming release, The Blue Ribbon Brides Collection. Such a pretty cover!
I love the title of your novella in this collection – Requilted with Love. Can you tell us how you came up with the idea for this story?
My mother was a quilter and made gorgeous quilts. I was engaged three times. It took the third time to find true love! I have a wedding ring quilt that my mother made for me for my first engagement! It is beautiful and after the engagement was broken, I asked if I could still have it. She asked me what color backing I’d like to have on it and I chose a light aqua green color, which I still like. When we were working on this collection, all nine of us, I asked for the quilting exhibition aspect of the fairs. I’ve been to MANY of these exhibits over the years in a number of states. I love looking at the beautiful quilts. But of course, I don’t think any of them are as pretty as the ones my mother made because she quilted them with love. So my heroine (whose two fiancés died, unlike mine!) decides to requilt the design because she doesn’t want it to remind her of the two lost loves. She’s a rather practical young lady!
Since the theme of Blue Ribbon Brides focuses on romances at old time state and county fairs, do you have a special memory from a fair you’d like to share with us?
One of my favorite memories is going to the Michigan state fair, in Lansing, which is where my story is set albeit in 1889. My older sister and brother were “allowed” to tote me around with them while our youngest sibling stayed with my parents. My older sister, Linda Joy, whom I dedicated my story to, took me around just as cheerfully as you please. My favorite memory was of her taking me to a place where they did spun paint art (this is something you could in later times buy as a kid’s toy but at that time it was done with a large motor powering the turning of the cardboard where the paint would land. When it was done I had my “masterpiece” and was thrilled!
How fun! I love going to state fairs. 🙂
What Scripture verse recently encouraged you?
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
This is special to me because my best friend sent me the 23rd Psalm with a devotion back in early September 2001 and I ended up writing up a presentation (preaching if you want to call it that) for the residents of a nearby nursing home where I volunteered. I felt compelled to speak about the 23rd Psalm. I told them their generation had gone through so much and that we needed to hang onto the scriptures so that when we go through the “big things” like this country had never yet experienced since World War II. A few days later, September 11th happened. I was pregnant and home alone when my husband called and told me to go to the television. I watched as it all happened live and I kept praying and especially that psalm. And others, in the air, also recalled the 23rd Psalm as they did their duty for each other and our country.
Such a good verse! Thank you for sharing.
If you were to give a tour of your home state of Virginia, what would be your first stop and why?
I grew up in Michigan so I don’t think of this as my home state. BUT, one place I’d take you on a tour would be at Shirley Plantation in Charles City. It has the most COMPLETE set of colonial era buildings in the country with the longest running family owned business in the United States. It is a gorgeous plantation and I have a book set there, Return to Shirley Plantation: A Civil War Romance – it was my debut novella!
Can you share a piece of writing advice that has made a difference in your career?
This project is a perfect example of don’t isolate yourself. Don’t hide in a cave. Get out there and interact with other authors and help each other out. I’ve met so many folks in the industry through blogging and engaging in activities that help others and their writing.
Thank you so much for joining us today, Carrie! Is there anything else you’d like to add? Any upcoming projects you can share with us?
Yes, I am delighted to be one of the authors in Barbour’s new collection of novels in the “My Heart Belongs in” destination series! Susan Page Davis, Erica Vetsch, Susie Dietze and myself were the first four authors selected and I know there will be more. My Heart Belongs on Mackinac Island releases in July, 2017. I’m also part of a seven author collection in June, 2017 “Seven Brides for Seven Mail-Order Grooms” which is set in Kansas!
That sounds great! Congratulations, Carrie. Looking forward to reading more of your books soon. 😉
GIVEAWAY!!
Carrie has graciously offered to give away winner’s choice of an ebook or paperback of The Blue Ribbon Brides Collection to one lucky reader! Enter below and it could be YOU!
Thanks for entering! Contest is open to US residents only and ends October 18, 2016. The winner will be notified by email. Happy Reading, everybody!
My favorite memory of florida state fair was entering a project in the sewing department. I made a dolls dress and won a special award for it. It was really exciting one of the first times I had won a reward. 🙂 Love going to the state fair to see the crafts people make.
What a sweet memory, Amanda!!! I love looking at the crafts, too! Thanks for visiting!
That is so neat that you won an award, Amanda. The crafts are a favorite part for me too. Thanks for sharing!
Hmm. I do remember entering some macrame back in the day and winning prizes when we lived in Kansas at a local fair. I was pretty excited.
Becky
very fun, BECKY!!! I bet you were happy! My next novella is set in Kansas! Thanks for commenting!
How fun is that?! Love to hear these memories. Thanks for stopping by, Becky.
Thanks so much for having me on, Savanna! What a lovely blog and I enjoyed answering your questions! I got my copies yesterday and these books, The Blue Ribbon Brides collection, are beautiful!!!
Thank you for sharing your stories with us, Carrie. I’m thrilled to have you here. 🙂 Blessings to you and your writing!
We loved taking our kids to the county fair to see all of the animals and crafts. My favorites were always the bunnies. Loved the quilts too. Have this book on by wish list. Enjoyed reading the interview. Thank you for doing a giveaway.
For some reason, the cows really appealed to me! I’d only been out to a dairy farm once, as a child, and they’d scared me (or maybe the adults did by warning us kids not to get too close!) Love, love, love the quilts at fairs! Such wonderful art work plus functional — win win to me! Thanks for coming by!
The animals were always my favorite part when I was a kid. My grandparents would always take us there first. 🙂 Good luck in the drawing, Karen!
Great interview! Your mother’s quilt sounds lovely Carrie. I like to look at all the home sewn items at the fair, they are so pretty. Never been to a state fair.
Congratulations Carrie on your upcoming books, I can’t wait to read them!
Blessings, Tina
Thanks, Tina! I need to take some pictures for some posts to show off Mom’s quilts! I do love the home-sewn items, too! Wow, you need to go to a state fair, Tina!
Thanks and I have your book packed — now to get it mailed! Thanks again for being a fantastic Beta reader!!!
I agree with Carrie, Tina. I hope you get the chance to go to a state fair sometime. They’re a lot of fun! 🙂 Thanks for visiting.
This may sound crazy but I have never been to a fair. But our Railroad Festival that we gave in our city is like a fair. Good food that you don’t get anywhere else and rides for the kids and singing for everyone. We have crafts and booths of many things to buy. Our city has 1000s of people that come and some from other states. The main thing I like is the food.
Wow, Brenda — you and Tina are missing out on state fairs but your railroad festival sounds amazing! I’m curious about what some of the food specialties are!
One group of people does apple fritters that are so good that people are lined up to get.
Then there is chicken on a stick that is wonderful. It has a special kind of batter that three or four big chunks of chicken are rolled in twice, then bell peppers & onions are put on a long stick and deep fried. Then there is BBQ cheese fries. The cheese on top is nacho cheese. It’s delicious. Curly fries, hot fudge cake, funnel cakes and many other things are popular. Funnel cakes have almost any kind of topping you want but my favorite is chocolate and whipped cream. Oh my I’m getting hungry for it already. But it’s in April every year.
That still sounds like a lot of fun too, Brenda. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Do you have a favorite memory from a state or county fair you’d like to share with us?
A win of a blue and white teddy bear! Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House
Oh that is so sweet, Kathleen!!! Winning that teddy bear must have been special! thanks for sharing!
Oh how fun! 🙂 Thanks for visiting, Kathleen.
Enjoyed the interview, Carrie and Savanna – thank you!! Just wanted to say “hi” and congratulate Carrie on her numerous writing projects.
Love seeing the pictures of you with your beautiful baby, Savanna – congrats!!
Shared post!!
Thanks so much, Bonnie! I’ve got your book packed up and ready to ship! Thanks for sharing, you’re a blessing! Hugs!
So glad you could stop by, Bonnie! Thank you. The time is sure flying by with the little one. 🙂 Appreciate you sharing the post!
We would go to our local fair every year, and when I was very young, all of my first cousins would go together. We also often met up with a bunch of our second cousins. It was so much fun to go together.
Aren’t cousins a blessing? I’ve been fortunate to reconnect with some of my cousins recently. We had such great times as kids when they visited. Some of my closest cousins were 3rd cousins (my father’s cousin’s children) and I’m glad we’ve kept in touch.
That sounds like such fun, Connie. My grandparents would always take all of us kids and we had such a great time. A lot of memories with those fairs. 🙂
It has become a tradition that my husband and I meet my college roommate and her husband at the state fair of Texas. We have a great day of food, fun, and Big Tex.
That sounds amazing! I bet the Texas State Fair is a grand event! My sis and I liked to go to the South Carolina State Fair, too, when she moved to Columbia. Praying she can go again after her next knee replacement.
Oh how neat. Love hearing people’s traditions like that. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Melanie!
I guess my favorite memory would be when we went to the state fair and got to see all of the entries for quilts, gardening, crafting, etc.
wfnren at aol dot com
As an adult, I used to make a beeline to the quilting exhibition, missing my mom’s homemade quilts. She was constantly working on a project! I remember being a SC State Fair over three decades ago and appreciating the similarities and the differences in the quilting patterns chosen by the ladies of SC compared to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Yes, I always enjoyed seeing the variety of projects like that. So glad you could stop by, Wendy!
I love going to fairs. I especially enjoy seeing all the hand made quilts. There is always a wonderful story behind each quilt. The food is always delicious, too. 🙂 Of course, I want to sample everything. haha!
Me too, Melissa. Every time I see those quilts it makes me wish I could sew like that! 🙂
Hey Melissa! I look forward to seeing you again soon! I haven’t been to a Virginia State Fair yet, although we tried one time (my van developed some bizarre brake problems and we had to go home.) That’s the drawback of the fairs — all that yummy greasy food!
I have never been to a state or county fair
Oh my goodness, Kirsten! you are missing out! I hope you can go to a state or county fair some year soon! Blessings!
Awwww, I hope you can make it to one some time, Kirsten. You gotta experience it at least once! 😉
When I was very small my family and our neighbors went to a bazaar. Our neighbor won two soldier statues for me and my twin sister.
Marion
Hi Marion! That sounds like fun! And having a twin sister, how cool is that? Thanks for coming by!
What a sweet memory, Marion! Love it. Good luck in the giveaway.
I just had some of my paintings in the California State Fair Exhibition. It was a very cool experience to have my art among that of other very talented people! I actually won a blue ribbon for a large watercolor of my cat. Thanks for the giveaway, and I really enjoyed this interview. That is also one of my favorite Bible verses, by the way.
Wow! Congrats, Diana!!! That is really exciting! The 23rd Psalm is one you can hold in your heart, that’s for sure! Thanks for coming by! Blessings!
That’s really cool, Diana!! I always thought watercolors looked like fun. Thanks for visiting.
I can remember going to the county fair, bit only walking around and looking at the exhibits and eating fair food.
Yes, can’t miss the fun fair food! 😉 Thanks for joining us today, Dianne.
I wasn’t big on the rides, but I did like some of those on the Midway! The Teacups were one of my favorites when I was little. And the Ferris Wheel!
For the last 2 years we’ve been able to take the grand-girl to our county fair during the summer. I think her favorite part is the little petting zoo they have with baby farm animals….even a tortoise! When we went where all the other farm animals were, she was fascinated with the huge mama pig and her little piglets and the sheep. She also loved the carousel ride and didn’t want to get off…lol! Especially sitting next to her grandpa (my husband). For me, my favorite part is seeing all the delicious homemade food that was up for judging contests, especially the pies & jams!
This looks like a great collection of books and I do enjoy the sets Barbour publishing puts out. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
I loved hearing your story, Trixi. 😉 The petting zoo was always my favorite part when I was little too. How sweet that you get to take your little grand-girl and make memories.
Good luck in the drawing!!
My daughter loved the petting zoos, too, Trixi! Especially if they had ponies there! She ended up riding horses until she got into basketball in middle school. I love carousels!!! Our county fair had awesome jellies, pies, and other goodies but I never got to sample other than mom’s wonderful ones! Thanks, Trixi, for coming by!
Thank you for this interview Carrie! It’s fun and interesting getting the behind the scenes story on your books! Looking forward to your new stories,thank you for writing them.
Glad you enjoyed the interview, Lynne. Good luck in the giveaway!
Hey LYNNE! Great seeing you over here! Thanks for your kind words and thanks for being a Pal! Hugs!
My favorite county fair memory is that my now husband asked me to be his girlfriend at the fair and bought me a leather bracelet there. I also entered one of my 4H projects once and got a lst place ribbon!
Ohhh, how sweet is that?! Talk about some fun times at the fair! Thanks for sharing, Merry.
MERRY that is the sweetest Fair memory ever about your hubs! And how fun to win a blue ribbon!!! Thanks for sharing!
Several years ago I attended a football game in the Cotton Bowl at the Texas State Fair. I enjoyed seeing the exhibits.
Barbour Publishing does an excellent job with these collections! Thank you for the giveaway.
That sounds like fun, Caryl!! Hope you get a chance to read this one soon.
Hi CARYL! Just think, in June Caroline Kane, named for you, will be in a Barbour Publishing collection! Hugs!
What a nice interview! Growing up I remember my parents taking me and my two brothers to the Illinois State Fair. I enjoyed visiting the conservation area and the farm area. It was so fun looking at all the animals. There was an area with 4 H completions but I never went to look at them. We enjoyed going in the building where there were lots of vendors selling things. I enjoyed the food at the fair and I usually went down a big giant slide. I remember my dad taking me down the slide when I was 5 or 6 years old. My parents always bought taffy before we left the fair. It was so much fun. I went to the Missouri State Fair for the first time two years ago. My best friend moved to Sedalia 4 years ago so I can go with her to the fair when I go see her. I did enjoy the Missouri Fair. We enjoyed watching a pig race and my son rode on a camel. We saw a show with a live eagle and an owl. My son enjoyed that. Thank you for the giveaway Savannah and Carrie!
Competitions not completions… Gotta love spellcheck!
Oh I love hearing all these fun little memories of yours, Rebecca! I’ve gone to the Missouri Fair several times. 😉 I also enjoy the eagle and owl show. They have good music too! I cant wait to take my little girl there someday.
REBECCA that sounds like so much incredible fun!!! Thanks so much for sharing with us! Made me feel like I was there! Blessings!
I’ve only been to the Missouri State Fair one time but I always enjoyed the county fair when I was growing up. When I was young, my dad’s cousins showed hogs and I remember visiting them at the fair! I am currently reading Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter!
Hi Joan! It’s been a long time since I’ve gone, but I sure remember it being a lot of fun. My mom showed cattle growing up. She was in 4H and loved participating in that sort of thing. 🙂
Hey JOAN! I loved our Pentland Township fairs and our Luce County Fairs growing up! That is neat about your cousins showing hogs at the fair! Thanks for coming by and thanks for reading Johan and Suzanne’s story in Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter!
I met my first boyfriend at a fair! I always think of that when I go to any fair!
BETH Clark, that is really sweet! I was so shocked when my brother told me about a high school guy friend of mine whom I’d met up with at our local fair and I was never sure if it was a date or not and brother told me that he ran into this friend who told him about our fair date that I was never sure was one! LOL!
Oh how cute, Beth!! That’s a sweet memory for sure. 😉
My earliest fair memories include riding the little toddler police cars and fire engines. I also loved the pony rides until one year another pony licked my leg and it scared me cuz I thought it was going to bite me. no more pony rides after that 🙁
Now, I love the bumper cars and the exhibits.
SUSIE F. I can see where you would be scared but I bet the pony wanted some of the salt on your skin. My son loves bumper car rides but he’ll be driving real cars within two years!
Those pony rides can be entertaining, that’s for sure! Thanks for visiting us, Susie. 🙂
Have not read any of her books but would like to start reading them!
MINDY you are missing out then IMHO lol! I love writing for Christ and my stories have strong spiritual themes — and lots of history and romance!
Hope you get to start reading them soon, Mindy! 🙂
As a 4-H’er, the fair was what I lived for, entering my exhibits! As an adult, I was a county 4-H agent and home economist. So many friendships continue from those days.
I loved 4-H MELODY! I didn’t know you were a 4-H agent! That is cool!
That is so cool, Melody. I always thought it would be fun to be in 4-H.
I’ve only been to the county fair a few times, but when I went I really enjoyed myself. It was a great time just to hang out with family, with plenty of laughs!!
Thanks for the giveaway!
MEGAN,
That is a great activity for families, isn’t it? Lots of fun at the fair! Thanks for coming by!
I agree, Megan! So glad you could stop by. Good luck in the drawing.
Used to love going to the fair. I love winning teddy bears, etc. that my boy friend won for me. You would have thought they were expensive gifts. To me they were. Also loved the specialty food items. Such memories! Thanks for the giveaway and a chance to win.
BRENDA,
Such fun times and fun memories! Winning a teddy bear is super cool! Who can resist indulging in at least one high-caloric fair food while you’re there?
Awww, Brenda, your memories made me smile. Love your stories. Thanks for visiting!
I entered a painting in the county fair one time. It really wasn’t that memorable. When I went to see the display, they had my name on the wrong painting. No one seemed too interested in correcting it but me. I asked someone to do it. She ignored me. When I started moving the security fence to do it myself, then they paid attention. Felt worse for the gal who’s painting was confused for mine–she actually won something!!
Oh my goodness, JJ, that had to have been so frustrating!!! So did they never fix the names for you!? How lovely to be an artist!
Oh my, what a story! That is still really neat you entered a painting. That’s a brave step for any artist!
The rides. particularly the Ferris Wheel, because I like being high up to see the entire fairgrounds just because. =)
AMBER, It is fun to see that aerial view of the fairgrounds from the Ferris Wheel isn’t it? Blessings!
It’s been forever since I’ve been on a Ferris Wheel. Hearing you mention it makes me want to go for another ride again. 🙂 Thanks for joining us, Amber.
I love the taffy that they sell at the fair. I also like going to the concerts. Thanks for the interview and giveaway.
DONNA, I call that fair taffy “filling removal product”! It is fun to have concerts and music and dancing at the fairs, too! Thanks for visiting!
Awww, yes, there’s always such good concerts! So glad you could stop by, Donna. Good luck in the drawing!