Tracie Peterson is the bestselling author of more than one hundred novels, both historical and contemporary, with nearly six million copies sold. She has won the ACFW Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. Her avid research resonates in her many bestselling series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana.
In this interview, Tracie gives us the inside scoop on her latest book, Knowing You, book three in her Pictures of the Heart Series.
FF: Please provide a brief summary of Knowing You?
May Parker is an American artist who happens to be half white, half Japanese. She works at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909 Seattle. As one of many Camera Girls, May spends her days adding color to postcards and taking time to visit the Japanese Building where she learns about her heritage. Lee Munro is an old friend and police detective, who has been long absent from May’s life due to prejudices felt by his family. When criminal interest in the samurai armor display suggests trouble, Lee and May are brought together to figure it out. In doing so, they also come to renew their friendship and interest in one another. Can God help them to overcome the prejudices of family and the world in order for their love to flourish?
FF: Knowing You is the final book in the Pictures Of The Heart Series. What was the connecting element for all of the books in this series?
The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909 brought millions of people to Seattle. This series shows a fictional group of “Camera Girls” who work taking souvenir photos of expo attendees and in the process, fall in love.
FF: Are there any threads that run through the whole series that will be wrapped up in this book?
There are a few in the form of the exposition itself, as well as what happens to several beloved characters.
FF: What are some of the main themes or lessons covered in Knowing You?
Dealing with racial prejudices. Facing the past to overcome the power it has on you. And not allowing other people to dictate your relationship with others, but rather looking to God for direction.
FF: Knowing You combines history and romance, but it also offers a thread of suspense. Can you provide a hint of the dangerous situation that May and her childhood friend Lee Munro encounter?
A notorious criminal comes back into Lee’s life and threatens May’s welfare, leading Lee to realize just how important May is to him.
FF: Most of your story takes place at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. When did you learn about this expo and why did you decide to use it as the setting for your book?
A few years ago I was doing research for another book when it mentioned something about the A-Y-P expo as it was nicknamed. I decided to check into it and found the exposition and the setting to be fascinating and fun. I was particularly caught up in comments about the new Kodak camera being available at an affordable price for the average family and thought it was a neat side note to include in the story.
FF: What do you hope readers will gain from reading Knowing You, and how have you been impacted by this series?
Each series always touches my heart as I explore the history and the spiritual aspects of the storyline. I believe my writing is a ministry and in that, I always want to share the Gospel as well as biblical encouragement. I want the reader to know that God is real and that He cares. I want them to see the simple ways God encourages us daily through His Word and others, and how we, too, can offer this encouragement to each other.
Knowing You
Pictures of the Heart Series #3
Tracie Peterson
Bethany House
Genres: Historical, Historical Romance
Release Date: November 7, 2023
ISBN-10: 0764237446
ISBN-13: 978-0764237447
Book Summary:
Could a captivating art exhibit hold the key to truth—and love?
Budding artist May Parker is captivated by the Japanese exhibits at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition and longs to know more about her mother’s heritage—which her mother refuses to speak of because of the heartache she left behind in Japan. Wanting to experience more of the exhibits, May works as a Camera Girl—but her curiosity leads her into danger when a suit of samurai armor becomes the target of an elusive art forger.
After ten years apart, May is reunited with her childhood friend Lee Munro, a police detective assigned to keep a watchful eye on the exposition. Their friendship immediately begins to blossom with hints of something more, but when they become entangled in a dangerous heist involving the samurai armor and their love is threatened, can they overcome the odds against them?
CLICK TO BUY
Buy Knowing You from the FF Store HERE!
CLICK TO BUY
Buy Knowing You from Amazon HERE!