From Fan Letters to Bestsellers: Kimberley Woodhouse and Tracie Peterson's Partnership

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Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:01

Welcome to author express. Thanks for checking us out. This is the podcast where you give us 15 minutes of your time and we give you a chance to hear the voice behind the pages and get to know your new favorite author in a new light. I'm Shawna Rodrigues, one of your hosts, a fellow author, host of The Grit Show and Authenticity Amplified Podcasts, and the founder of Authentic Connections Podcast Network, which makes this podcast possible. Let me tell you a little about today's

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:00:39

Kimberley Woodhouse and Tracie Peterson are both best selling and multi award winning authors who have been longtime friends and also write together. Often called the dynamic duo, which I need to work that into this conversation whenever I can. They have received accolades for their work together, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, the Spur Award, The Golden Scroll, and many others. With almost 200 published books between them, they love all things story, and we are going to have plenty to talk about today. I'm so excited to have you both here. Welcome to Author Express.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:01:14

Thank you. Thanks

Tracie Peterson [: 00:01:15

for having us.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:17

Yes. So the first question we always start all of our authors with is to tell us something interesting about where you are from. So which of you would like to go first on that?

Tracie Peterson [: 00:01:27

Oh, I can start that one. I'm originally a Kansas girl, flatlander. I now live in the mountains, but I was from Topeka, Kansas and born and raised. And the most interesting thing about Topeka is that at one time, it had 9, I think it was, mental health insane asylum type places, and 7 puzzle factories.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:01:50

Oh, wow, Tracie. Seven puzzle factories. I should be more amazed by the other one, but the puzzle factories, I find really intriguing.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:01:57

Yeah. No. Puzzles for the inmates, I guess. I'm not sure.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:02:02

yeah. Topeka is the capital, of course, and you know?

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:06

Those things go together somehow, I suppose.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:02:08

Well, that's what we used to joke about. Yeah.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:02:12

Belt. It all just ties together, putting together puzzles.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:16

There you go. You need something to do. I like it. I like it. What about you, Kimberley? What's something interesting about where you are from?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:02:22

Well, I grew up in Louisiana, And so I think the most interesting thing, or I should say probably the best thing about Louisiana is the fact that we know how to cook. So we have really good food. I can feed you really, really well. You can ask Tracie that one.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:02:38

She can. Absolutely. I went to undergrad in Louisiana, so I definitely got to live there for a while, and I was definitely well fed. And everyone was really, really gracious because I don't like spicy foods, which is a hard thing. Like, Tony Sachery's is like everyone's secret thing and everyone, like, it's all delicious, but you're just spicy, but people would actually make me special things that wouldn't be spicy. So I actually got to try things. I even tried okra. I tried all the things, but they would actually have to just remove the spice for me.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:08

And so I still got to have stuff, which was amazing that folks would do that for me. And I would still had the crawfish and stuff from the boils that sometimes would just burn my lips, and I just wouldn't have very much. But they would make me the etouffee and all the things without having too much spice in it, which was amazing. Yeah. So gracious as well as good cooks.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:03:24

Yes. Hopefully, gracious too.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:28

Well, it's not easy to do because that's like the secret for most of it. So that was very impressed people willing to do that for me. So Mhmm. Good things. Well, we usually dive into we will dive into a little bit each of you, but tell me how you 2 came together and met in the first place.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:03:44

I wrote her a fan letter.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:03:47

I love it. I love it. You did.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:03:50

So that was our first introduction. I wrote her a fan letter long before I had kids and before I ever started writing. And so then when I did start writing, and a friend of mine challenged me to do something with it, the only person I knew was my favorite author who I'd written once. And I thought, well, she'll never write me back again. But I'll I'll at least try. Right? And so I wrote her again.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:11

Oh, my gosh. I love it. And that led to a relationship that led to you 2 writing together.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:04:18

It did. We became actually really good friends and prayer partners, and we've just done all kinds of stuff together over the years and, you know, through some health issues with kids and grandkids and wonderful things that just really brought us together closer and closer each year. And so it's been close to 30 years now, which is kinda hard to say because now I'm feeling old.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:04:44

I know. It's amazing how once you work in those numbers, you're like, wait a minute. It cannot add up to that. Mhmm.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:04:50

But it was definitely a god thing because, I mean, we just so clicked together. And I'm so glad she wrote that letter because the friendship's been amazing. And she's dragged me kicking and screaming into technology and the 21st century. And

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:05:08

And that

Tracie Peterson [: 00:05:08

beautiful use an iPhone.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:12

Yes. The beautiful balance of what you both can offer to each other. So how do

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:05:16

you even

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:16

get the address to send that first letter? Well,

Tracie Peterson [: 00:05:20

she sent it to the publisher.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:05:21

Yeah. It was through the publisher because cause it was actually a first letter. And then the second time I wrote her, it was actually an email because she had a way for fans, you know, I think to email through our website. I think that was how it went. I mean, that's so long ago. I'm having a hard time remembering.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:05:35

Yep. That's it.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:05:37

She wrote me back and encouraged me and was just so sweet about everything and gave me some great advice. I followed the advice, and God brought us back together again just, you know, a year later through circumstances that were really funny. And that's kinda the end of the story because then from there, it was just a snowball. We just were rocking and rolling down the hill.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:05:57

That is wonderful. And when's the last time you saw each other in person?

Tracie Peterson [: 00:06:02

March.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:06:04

Not long ago at all. Do you guys plan regular occasions to see each

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:06:08

other? We try.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:06:11

No. We get together to work sometimes, and we have different events that we do together sometimes. And so, yeah, I don't know that we go out of our way to plan it because we have so many things in common with the work and the publisher and everything that we pretty much get to see each other several times.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:06:29

And for years, my kids would beg for us to move, you know, closer to them or them to move closer to us. And so either way, you know, we were always trying to convince each other to get closer to the other. And for a little bit, we did actually get to live in Montana about a mile and a half apart. So that was super fun.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:06:46

Yeah.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:06:48

Wow. So where do you both live currently? Because we learned about where you're from, but where do you both live currently?

Tracie Peterson [: 00:06:53

Montana.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:06:55

Colorado.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:06:56

Oh, so that's not too bad. So Kimberley is in Colorado and Tracie's in Montana, and that's not so that's how many hours apart are you then?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:07:06

Oh, I don't know.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:07:08

13, 14. I don't know. Something like that.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:12

You're always ending up in random places around writing Yes. Versus actually going to each other from where you're at.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:07:19

Last year, we met up in Grand Rapids. We met up in, Minnesota. We met up in Alaska. Yes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:27

Okay. Alaska. Now tell me, how do you both end up in Alaska? What was that for?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:07:32

We write a

Tracie Peterson [: 00:07:32

lot of books. Bookstore.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:07:33

Yeah. We write a lot of books in Alaska, and we love, love, love Alaska. So

Tracie Peterson [: 00:07:39

We do. Both of us. So That's amazing. Actually lived there on the mission field for a while, and I just make a lot of trips up there and have good friends up there. So we decided that was a great place to write about. And readers seem to love books set in Alaska, so we are even in the midst of planning a third series up there.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:07:59

So

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:07:59

Yes. Oh, that's what and a good reason to get to be up there. That makes perfect sense. I love it. Exactly. Definitely. Well, let's talk a little bit more about your book that just released at the end of May. Can you guys give me a little summary of it in just a few sentences?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:08:16

Sure. I'll do my best. We always joke when we do these podcasts because Tracie and I both have a lot of books that release each year. So by the time one comes out, we've written, you know, 5 or 6 other books. So you have to try to remember now which one was that. Let's make sure we have it straight. But this is taking place in Kalispell, Montana. This is the second in the jewels of Kalispell series.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:08:39

And it says the formation of Glacier National Park is taking place. And so Eleanor, the heroine comes up to Montana with her dad who is a conservationist. And she clashes with Carter who is a Kalispel native, and he's been there a long time. And he farms there, and he owns the flour mill. And they just really butt heads. They have different views on different things. And so intentions over the railroads departure in Kalispell when they boil over, Ellie and Carter are drawn together on a daring journey that tests the depths of their feelings and their faith in God.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:09:14

There you go.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:15

And the name of it is With Each Tomorrow. Is that correct? Yes.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:09:19

Yes. That's it.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:21

Lovely. And so this is the second book in the series you said? And how many books total do you usually have in your series?

Tracie Peterson [: 00:09:28

3.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:29

3. So there's still one book

Tracie Peterson [: 00:09:31

to go. Yes. Yes. No. We're working on it and finishing it up and Yes.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:09:37

Yeah. So you guys already know where this journey is going, don't you?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:09:41

Yes. We do. The first book in the series, we really focused in on what we wanted to do for this series was something different. And so we have a unique historic location for each of the books And a location that's still there. So like the Carnegie library was book 1. The historic train depot is book 2. And then the Macintosh Opera House is book 3, which is very cool. So it was a lot of fun kind of tying in Kalispell and all the conflicts and stuff that we, you know, have with history that happened there and Glacier National Park coming in, and then the historic places are just so much fun.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:10:19

That is really neat. And to have all those elements that you're bringing together around it to build on as well. And so did you guys choose it sounds like you mentioned Alaska. Like, talk more about how you choose the settings when you are placing your series.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:10:35

Well, with us both living in Montana at the time that we decided to write this series, we wanted to pick a Montana location.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:10:43

And we've tried, actually, to figure out a series idea for

Tracie Peterson [: 00:10:43

our own backyard in the Kim started talking about Kalispell, and we both love that area. Mhmm. But that just didn't come together at the time. And so, Kim started talking about Kalispell, and we both loved that area. So we took a trip up there and started doing research. Actually, read up on it before we left because we know from experience that if you don't do that, you miss a lot. Right. Yeah.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:11:07

So we read up on it and went and explored and found all these wonderful places and the people. I love the people up in Kalispell. I love Montanans anyway, but the people up in Kalispell were just so excited about their history and wanted to share, and they were just lovely.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:11:28

Oh, that's wonderful. And so do you have a common theme with the settings that they are more mountainous, west, or is it kind of because again, like Alaska's wilderness and mountainous and all those pieces, or do we have something in Kansas, Tracie? Or is it because you guys had 2 other books. I'm sure there's a lot of a lot of settings. Right?

Tracie Peterson [: 00:11:49

I haven't covered Hawaii, but that's something that's so much fun as a writer. You can pick just about any place and go there and research and read up. I love to do a lot of documentaries and videos and talk to the people. I will call the local historians, and I'll talk to the librarians, especially love, love, love our libraries. Big shout out to them for the all that they do. Thank you. But I've picked all sorts of locations, and it's usually based on all Here's some tidbit on a a documentary that really has nothing to do with anything, and I'll think, wait a minute. What did they just say? You know, I wanna I wanna know more about that.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:12:29

And so we have been all over the place and had some very interesting research sessions and and met some fun people. Just lots of fun people.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:12:41

Yes. That's wonderful. That has so much to it. Is it Kimberley? Can you talk more about the characters? Is there any specific character that you really connected to in this specific book?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:12:51

Well, I think each of us really connect with different characters, you know, a little bit heavier or more in-depth in each book that we write because as the authors, we dive into the skin, you know, of our characters. And Ellie in this one, she is searching for truth. My husband would call me an intellectual. I love books. I love researching things. I love finding out all the facts behind stuff. I love truth and the search for truth. And so Ellie is very much this way.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:13:20

But then my favorite character in the whole series, her name is Marvella. And she's an older lady that we created off of people, you know, that we've known in the past. Mhmm. And that were quite a hoot. And she has just become so much fun that the readers, I know are mailing both of us, you know, lots of comments and and questions like, oh, is Marvella coming back? Oh, do we get to see Marvella or her dog? Sir Theophilus, you know, is Sir Theophilus gonna be back? So for all the listeners, you know, this book, each one in the series is standalone.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:13:57

Uh-huh.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:13:57

They're just tied, you know, by historic locations. They're tied by Kalispell and kind of the timeline, but it's not like you have to read them in order. And Marvella and her husband, the judge, and her little dog are in all 3. So those tie them together.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:14:13

And in this particular book, one of the things that was really of interest to me and has been ever since I moved to Montana is the issue of public lands versus private lands.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:14:25

Mhmm.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:14:26

I've got friends who are, like, 5th, 6th generation Montanans who are very much private land ownership people. And then, of course, you know, we've got these wonderful national parks. We've got state set aside lands. I'm totally about people being able to come and visit too. So it's the real dichotomy of, do you support just one or the other, or isn't there a room to blend both and respect and honor both?

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:14:52

Oh, yeah. That's wonderful. That is a deep underlying piece of the work that you guys did. So that's exciting that you've been able to integrate so many themes and bring that out to that. So for each of you, what do you feel like is the best advice that you could offer somebody who is excited about writing and thinking about writing a book?

Tracie Peterson [: 00:15:13

I think the best advice ever given to me was to write what you know. Then secondly was learn what you don't. But the thing is, when you're just getting started, go with what you know and what you understand and what you feel passionate about and what you feel you can sit down and really give detail to, and still do your research. Research is so critical. I'm always after everybody to be as accurate as possible. That's a huge thing for me. I want these books to be as accurate as possible. It doesn't mean I won't make mistakes.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:15:48

And when I'm teaching class on this, I tell other writers the same thing. It doesn't mean you won't mess up. But when you're Yeah. Doing your best to get in there and dig out the details, and you're giving your readers accuracy, to me, that's a trust that you build between them and they come to expect. And that way then when they question things, you know, I feel totally competent to come back to them and explain why something is true that they think maybe wasn't or couldn't have happened.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:16:18

Mhmm.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:16:19

And so write what you know and learn what you don't.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:16:22

I love it. I love it. And what about you, Kimberley?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:16:25

I would have to say that from all the teaching that I've been doing the past few years and, you know, mentoring classes and critique classes and everything that you do, creatives, we're a different breed. We really are. We're wacky. We're weird. We're crazy. And I own all of that. I do. My husband, when he married me, I was a musician and he was like, music people are weird.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:16:47

And he had no idea what he was really getting into. But the fact that with creatives, we get so excited about new ideas or about specific things that we want to jump all over the place. And so a lot of young or newer authors, I find out that they haven't finished anything. Or their problem is the fact that they've written a chapter and they go back and they try to edit it, you know, 500 times. And then they write a second chapter, and they try to go back and edit it 500 times. And what most people don't understand is that in our creative brains that we have, the writing process is a totally different piece of our brain than the editing process. So I always tell people, it's like, get the story out on the page. Who cares what kind of a mess it's in? You know? Right? You're not gonna turn that in, you know, when you first write that.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:17:33

But if you could just get the story out on the page, then let yourself come back to it when it's done and edit it and fine tune it and make it better because it helps your creative flow. People always ask me how I write so fast. And I teach a class now on writing well and writing fast. And there is this wonderful thing in our brain called the flow state, but you have to get into the flow state. So you have to prepare to get into it. So I always tell writers, write, write, write, write, write. Don't allow yourself to stop and get distracted and edit and go back. You have to finish.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:18:07

So finish something.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:18:09

Yes.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:18:10

And then we can move on from there.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:18:12

I love that. That's great advice. I love that because that flow state really is an important part of the process. I love that. So why don't you both let us know what is the book or story that has inspired you most?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:18:29

Oh. No. I'll go first. I would say the book that has inspired me the most is one that probably I've read the most times. And it's actually Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. And I've read it probably 6 or 7 times now because it's such an impactful story. And to me, that's what it's all about. Tracie and I, that's what you were talking about layers.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:18:51

We have all kinds of layers and subplots and characters and all kinds of stuff in our story because we love depth. And even though we might have quirky characters or fun character, something funny, you know, in the stories, there's always a lot of depth. And so this story Safely Home has a great story, but it's also so much depth. It resonates with you and it makes you think about it over and over and over again, you know, for years after you've read it and makes you wanna go back and read it again.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:19:20

Oh, I love that. That's wonderful.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:19:23

I think for me in doing what I do now with historical series fiction, Christian fiction. I would have to say one of the greatest influences there's a couple actually, Christy, Catherine Marshall

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:19:39

Mhmm.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:19:39

And, of course, Bodie Taney and the Zion Chronicles and Zion Covenant series. I loved the fact that in both of those things, you could see the experiences of the people in these areas, And the settings become like secondary characters. I we talked about this the other day. I love to do that. I love to see the settings come alive. And so like with the Zion Chronicles and Covenants series, there was so much subplotting. And so you had one thing going on over here, and you had another thing going on over here. But everything was moving towards the middle to combine to make this big overall story, you know, this big plot.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:20:24

Everything played into the big plot. And so I really learned a lot reading books like that and just found that fascinating to see how people were putting together their stories that way. So I think those things really influenced my writing.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:20:40

Yeah. That's great to have the things that really can impact how you're doing your work. That's incredible. Thank you so much for both being here. Can we let people know the best way to find you both online?

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:20:51

Sure. And thank you very much for having us. We've really loved this and really appreciate you. Kimberleywoodhouse.com is my website. And even if you spell my name wrong, I think you'll get there. You can probably even get there, kimwoodhouse.com. Because I think I bought up all the domains. Because my name is spelled differently.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:21:06

It's le y. And all of my social media and everything is on there. And there's a contact page and book club page. There's all kinds of stuff. So you can find me there.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:15

Wonderful. I'll have that in the show notes. And what about you? What's the best way to get a hold of you, Tracie?

Tracie Peterson [: 00:21:20

Traciepeterson.com is my, website, And there are connections there, places to email me and whatnot. And then, of course, Facebook author Tracie Peterson.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:32

And everybody knows that sometimes you answer back.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:21:36

Yeah. I do. I try to always answer back. So

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:39

Yes. That's so wonderful. Congratulations on your latest release and all the wonderful success you've had. We've really enjoyed talking to people today.

Kimberley Woodhouse [: 00:21:47

Thanks so much.

Tracie Peterson [: 00:21:48

Thank you.

Shawna Rodrigues [: 00:21:52

Thank you for joining us. I hope you take a second to give a stars or a review on your favorite podcasting platform. It really makes a difference in folks being able to find us. We'll be here again next Wednesday. Follow us on Instagram at author express podcast to see who's coming up next. And don't forget, keep it express to keep it interesting.