📚 Book Tour with Author Interview & Giveaway ➜ A PROOF OF LOVE : Small Town Women's Friendship Fiction by Author Merida Johns
A fictional story with a memoir overlay as narrator Katie Blake reflects on life in small town America and the principles, influences, and big personalities she wants you to never forget.
It’s Memorial Day weekend, 2009, and the town gossips have their shorts in a twist about a mysterious newcomer who wears tie-dye, colorful headbands, clunky necklaces, and rings on every finger.“Who installs a ceiling fan on a Victorian porch?” cries Ned Boomer, Woodburg’s grumpiest man, and the town gossips concur, “She must be a hippie, witch, or maybe worse . . . a socialist.”
Hell-bent on preventing a neighborhood blow-up, precocious, nine-year-old Katie Blake launches a covert investigation to gather the truth about the enigmatic Rose. But when she discovers a decades-old secret binding her, Rose, and bad-tempered Ned Boomer, her world takes a turn.
Penning a memoir sixteen years later, Katie is forced to reconsider whether the real proof of love was in preventing a neighborhood war or finding friendship and comfort among three unlikely grief-stricken souls who should never be forgotten.
Read an Excerpt
Gram taught me to be independent, manage my anxieties, and have confidence in myself, showing me how to use my imagination to wiggle out of a jam or face the “grim crossroads” when confused or sad.
The first time I cried and lost it over a complicated computer problem, she said, “Be inventive, Katie! What can you do to calm down and think things through?”
We put our heads together to come up with ideas. Gram said she brewed herself a cup of tea when needing a break. Mom worked on crossword puzzles. Dad played solitaire. My one decadent delight was a FatBoy ice cream, and that’s how Gram and I hatched the plan of taking two ice cream sandwiches and hiding them under the frozen vegetables to create my private emergency stash.
“Close your eyes, breathe, take a bite, and replace the leftovers. No one will suspect anything. Our little secret. . .”
Author Interview:
What genres do you like to read? Are these the same genres you write in?
Although I enjoy reading mysteries and biographies, my favorite genre is women’s fiction and nonfiction. I find women’s diaries and letters, published and unpublished, fascinating because they provide an authentic insight into an individual’s emotions, challenges, values, and life journey. A sampling of women’s nonfiction on my bookshelf: Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinor Pruitt Stewart, Army Letters from an Officer’s Wife 1871-1881 by Frances M.A. Roe, Covered Wagon Women, Diaries and Letters from the Western Trails, 1850, and Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel. A favorite women’s historical fiction I’ve read the past year is My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie.
If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?
At one point in my life, I owned and operated a traditional bed and breakfast, so it’s not surprising that breakfast is my favorite meal, and one I like to share with friends and family. So, the menu may look like this:
- A smoothie to begin the meal, made of fresh-squeezed orange juice, pineapple, and banana with plain yogurt, and honey
- A fresh fruit course, perhaps a baked banana with golden raisins, cranberries, and pecans
- A main dish of baked praline apple French toast, complemented with scrambled eggs and maple link sausage
- Beverages, including coffee and/or a selection of teas.
Tell us about the absolute BEST fan letter you have received.
All my fan letters are received with a deep bow of gratitude. Having a reader take the time to email me and let me know what they appreciated about a novel is the biggest reward I could ever receive. The ones that share a personal anecdote about how the story helped them see things differently in their lives, sort out challenges, or make changes for a more flourishing life, fulfill me with a profound happiness that I’ve made someone else’s life easier and better.
Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?
What a terrific writing prompt! Every one of the national parks in the United States—all 63 of them. That would be terrific.
Who designed the book cover for the book you are touring?
A great question. Believe it or not, I had the generous help of 64 beta cover reviewers and the artistic Ruth Miller, a professional book cover designer.
I developed seven cover prototypes using a popular software program. I needed to learn which design was most attractive to readers who enjoyed my novels’ content. To accomplish this, I asked my social media followers for volunteers to evaluate the seven prototypes. Sixty-four followers participated and assessed designs based on both the inciting incident and the climax. Using a variety of statistical techniques to analyze the responses, the current cover representing the inciting incident received the most positive comments.
While I developed the seven prototype covers using a popular software platform, I’m no designer. With the input from my 64 reviewers, the chosen cover was handed off to my professional cover designer, Ruth Miller. Ruth designed the award-winning cover for my novel Flower Girl and has a spectacular eye for detail, color palette, composition, typography, and layout. She adjusted elements of the prototype to conform to graphic design principles. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the result for my fourth novel, inviting readers to come sit on the porch and enjoy a good read about Katie, Rose, and Ned, and the summer when their lives are reshaped by a secret that binds them.
From the book’s blurb, prospective readers can surmise that the inciting incident that raises the neighborhood’s blood pressure into the danger zone is the placement of a fan on the ceiling of a Victorian front porch by the newcomer to town, whose manner and dress don’t jive with the stereotypical village citizen. The white ceiling fan that sparks the hubbub is prominently featured on the book cover.
The porch scene gives a visual narrative of hospitality, friendship, refuge, and trust. A place for conversation and sharing. As a reference point for readers, cover elements—from the infamous ceiling fan, Boston terrier, lemonade, cookies, comfy white wicker furniture, to hanging flower baskets—each have a home within the novel’s pages that readers will recognize (and revisit) as they move through the story simulation.
About the Author: 
At heart, I am a storyteller who writes women’s fiction and stories of courage and discovery, showcasing the protagonist’s journey toward a more fulfilled self.
My passion is writing women’s fiction and exploring the human experience—how ordinary people tackle challenges, endure sorrow and betrayal, wrestle with doubt, and act on their aspirations to achieve flourishing lives. My insight into the power of fiction came during a conference call in late 2017 with a group of fellow life coaches. “What would it be like to help women and men achieve a flourishing life through storytelling?” I asked them.
After that phone call, I got started answering that question. The result was my debut novel titled Blackhorse Road, a compelling story of womanhood and the power of choice, gratitude, and forgiveness, published July 21, 2020, by Coffee Cup Press, followed by Flower Girl (2022), Flawless Witness (2023), and now A Proof of Love (2026)
Before embracing writing fiction, I was the author of health informatics and leadership textbooks. Later, I put my leadership experience to use as a leadership coach, focusing on supporting others to fulfill their leadership and economic potential. My range of nonfiction is available on my Amazon Author Page.
Substack: https://meridajohns.substack.com/
Facebook: https://meridajohns.substack.com/
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/MeridaJohns
Website: https://www.MeridaJohnsAuthor.com
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. A randomly drawn winner will receive a $25 Amazon/BN gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
At heart, I am a storyteller who writes women’s fiction and stories of courage and discovery, showcasing the protagonist’s journey toward a more fulfilled self.
My passion is writing women’s fiction and exploring the human experience—how ordinary people tackle challenges, endure sorrow and betrayal, wrestle with doubt, and act on their aspirations to achieve flourishing lives. My insight into the power of fiction came during a conference call in late 2017 with a group of fellow life coaches. “What would it be like to help women and men achieve a flourishing life through storytelling?” I asked them.
After that phone call, I got started answering that question. The result was my debut novel titled Blackhorse Road, a compelling story of womanhood and the power of choice, gratitude, and forgiveness, published July 21, 2020, by Coffee Cup Press, followed by Flower Girl (2022), Flawless Witness (2023), and now A Proof of Love (2026)
Before embracing writing fiction, I was the author of health informatics and leadership textbooks. Later, I put my leadership experience to use as a leadership coach, focusing on supporting others to fulfill their leadership and economic potential. My range of nonfiction is available on my Amazon Author Page.
Substack: https://meridajohns.substack.com/
Facebook: https://meridajohns.substack.com/
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/MeridaJohns
Website: https://www.MeridaJohnsAuthor.com
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. A randomly drawn winner will receive a $25 Amazon/BN gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
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