Interview with Deborah Vogts, author of Seeds of Summer

Hi Deborah, welcome to Cindy's reviews, we are so happy to have you join us for a blog-a-view, tell us a bit about your new novel Seeds of Summer.

 Seeds of Summer is the second book in the Seasons of the Tallgrass series. A heart-warming contemporary romance set in the Flint Hills of Kansas where a former rodeo queen abandons her dreams in order to care for her deceased father’s ranch and her two half-siblings, only to realize with the help of a young new pastor that God can turn even the most dire circumstances into seeds of hope.

Seeds of Summer is a sequel to Snow Melts in Spring. What type of blessings/challenges do you face when writing a sequel? 

A blessing is that you are familiar with your setting and there is less research involved. I enjoy getting to know my characters deeper as each story progresses, but that may be a negative, because it’s going to be hard to say good-bye to them one day. LOL

It can be challenging to work with ongoing characters, especially when you come upon an aspect you’d like to change, but you’re unable to because it’s mentioned in an earlier book. For instance, in the third book, which I’m finishing up now, I almost wish I would have given Clara fewer children…but I’d already mentioned in the first book that she had three. So I couldn’t do anything about it—maybe kill one of them…but that wouldn’t be nice

Does this series of books have a theme?

There seems to be one of forgiveness in each book—as well as following the path God gives us rather than our own. Each book also deals with family conflicts. I’d like readers to remember how important family relations are and that we can get through our difficulties if we remember to love and forgive each other.

I also hope to give my readers a taste of the Flint Hills and of how God’s beauty rests on the prairie and in the hearts of those who live there.

What one thing do you hope the readers will remember from this story?

 I’d like readers to remember how important family relations are and that we can get through our difficulties if we remember to love and forgive each other. I also hope to give my readers a taste of the Flint Hills and of how God’s beauty rests on the prairie and in the hearts of those who live there.

How does your faith affect your writing?

I believe it’s important to stay in God’s word—to keep your nose in it. I have devotion time in the morning and again before bed, but I also pray for guidance and direction throughout the day, as we all should. Asking for God’s blessing on my work is a must. I also have prayer partners that I call on when I feel the need. They have been a huge blessing to me.

As far as how my faith and spiritual life affect my storytelling, if you mean creativity, then let me express it this way. Sometimes when reading through work that’s been set aside for awhile, I’ll think, “Did I write that?” It sounds so foreign to my eyes and ears that I’ll think there was no way I could have written it. My conclusion is that God must have written it for me! That probably sounds weird, but it’s the only explanation I can figure

What can we look for next from you?

I’m currently finishing up the third book in the series, Blades of Autumn, which is the story about Clara, the owner of Clara’s Café.


(Blurb for Book #3) With a café to run and three children to raise, Clara Lambert doesn’t have time for men or loneliness, despite what her heart might tell her. When two handsome cowboys vie for her attention, one of the brothers proves to be her soul mate, but at what cost? Will it tear the brothers’ relationship apart or is blood really thicker than water?



Any new series in the works that you can share with our readers here?

I'm hoping for a contract on the fourth book of the Seasons of the Tallgrass, but if that doesn't come through, then I'd like to return to a project I have about a Dad and his four daughters. The blurb went something like this: He wanted sons but God gave him daughters and a gift with horses . . .


A final word of wisdom for the readers?

Whether you are published or not, don’t give up on your dreams. Keep smiling, stay faithful to God and to yourself, and enjoy the moments He gives you . . .

My future is in God's hands . .