My articles have appeared in local and national publications. in Journalism/Professional Writing from the University of Oklahoma, and I’m a member of America Christian Fiction Writers.

Julie’s Q 4 U: Have you ever attended a church camp? Did you have any special experiences there?Ībout Julie: I grew up in a rural community where my family farmed and raised cattle, inspiring me to set much of my fiction in small towns. Is he there to help the kids or scout out the camp as a possible development site for his family’s real estate business? With the camp in serious financial trouble, Cassie must fight her feelings for Will to protect the camp. She is determined to show her overbearing mom, perfect sister, and nosey small-town residents she can do it on her own.Ĭharming Will Overman volunteers as a camp counselor, attracting Cassie’s attention–and her suspicions. A decade later she is the new director attempting to prevent the struggling Christian camp from closing. The main character in Canyon Walls is a camp director fighting to save the struggling camp where she gave her life to Christ as a teenager.Ībout Canyon Walls: Sunset Camp changed Cassie Langley’s life as a teen. My time at camp also included the awesome experience of falling in love, making a church camp the perfect setting for my first novel. If you’ve ever attended a summer camp, you would probably agree that the time spent in the camp separated from the demands of everyday life can make it feel like another world. I’d sneak to the cafeteria kitchen after everyone was in bed to talk to him on the phone. For the rest of the summer, he would drive down to visit me. We became friends, and before the summer ended, he had asked me on our first date.

One day a cute guy showed up at the camp to spend the week as a counselor. It was also a lot of fun to spend the summer among the campers. Serving cafeteria food and cleaning bathrooms wasn’t a glamorous job, but it taught me a lot about hard work. When the campers left each week, we would clean all the cabins. My husband likes to say I was the lunch lady. During the week, I cooked in the cafeteria. I moved into a tiny cabin with three other girls. The summer after my freshman year of college, I got a job in the camp I had attended all those years. Not only did I attend a church camp I absolutely loved through my junior high and high school years, I also met my husband at church camp. The summer camp setting of my debut novel, Canyon Walls, has a special place in my heart.

Deadline: Midnight, central time April 9th. Comment on any post dated April 4 – 9 for a chance to win a copy.

Shannon here: Debut novelist shares how she met her husband and insight into her book, Canyon Walls.

Canyon Cafe by Julie Jarnagin