Join me in welcoming Delores Topliff as we talk about her new release!
Christina: What is your book called?
Delores: My newest book is a novella collection, Stars and Stripes for Freedom.
Christina: When was it released?
Delores: It was released August 1, 2026, written by Delores Topliff, Jennie Atkins, Ellen E. Withers, Shirley Gould, and Cindy Bonds.
Christina: Is it a series?
Delores: We aren’t planning for it to be a series unless readers request a sequel.
Christina: Can you share the blurb with us?
Delores: Five women. Five branches of the military. One flag they are eager to protect and defend at all costs.
With admiration for the women in our military, these high action stories present five intelligent seasoned warriors who risk everything to protect the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Christina: That sounds great! What inspired you to write this book?
Delores: I wrote the opening novella, Remember the Alamo, through being close friends with a woman Army MP who served in Iraq and faced many challenges, failures, PTSD, and hard-won victories that brought her wisdom and great strength of character. My protagonist, “Kacey” Collins, emancipated herself from foster care by adopting the Army as her career and family. She advances and thrives until the failed evacuation at Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan, gives her major PTSD. Now, to save others and herself, she moves beyond normal military laws to survive and redefine who she is and where she belongs.
Christina: What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
Delores: My favorite part of the writing process is overhearing a random fact or researching an event and have it fit perfectly to the character persona and story I’m developing.
Christina: Can you share any challenges you faced during the research or writing process?
Delores: A challenge with this one is that my agent loved my beginning and suggested it should be a three-book series. While I was initially willing, I realized I was more invested in writing a sequel to my popular Wilderness Wife book instead, especially after meeting and becoming friends with Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin’s living 4th and 5th generation granddaughters. Still, I didn’t want to lose my Kacey Collins story, so talked with author friends until our ideas morphed into a five-novella collection highlighting and honoring women in all five branches of the U.S. military. It’s been a fun process.
Christina: How do you develop your characters? Do they come to you fully formed, or do they reveal themselves as you write?
Delores: I had help developing my Kacey Collins character by drawing elements from my actual MP friend’s personality and others from how I might act/re-act in similar situations.
Christina: If you could give one piece of advice to budding creatives, what would it be?
Delores: Picture your story idea as a sweet, delicious orange. Squeeze every bit of juice out of it. Don’t lay any story idea aside too quickly. Ruminate and ask “what if” or “what would happen if this choice were made versus the other? That’s how good stories are born and grow.
Christina: Great advice! What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Delores: My desired takeaway for this book is: No matter what we experience, the Lord is with us in every step and protects, guides, and matures us and brings us to fuller knowledge of who we are and where we belong.
Christina: Can you name something quirky in your workspace? And can you give a little backstory about said item?
Delores: My usual workspace is a laptop in my favorite chair near the front window of my central Minnesota farm. A quirky fact is that I bought this farm one year before Amish families moved into the area but now there are many. I get (happily) distracted when they roll past in buggies and carts, often waving. I’m not complaining. It’s delightful interacting with them and sometimes driving them to where they need to go. They’ve been entertained in my home and I’ve been in theirs. That has inspired my next book, Mercy’s Rose, which will release this fall. It is an Amish book loosely inspired by my local experiences. I am grateful to have close Amish friends.
Christina: And because every writer is asked this, are you a Plotter or Pantser?
Delores: I’m largely a Pantser but in the computer-operating background of my brain, ideas sometimes roll around or connect with some random tidbit that has happened in real life, and I realize it would be a great fit to highlight a character or take a story further.
Christina: What are you looking forward to over the next few months?
Delores: On June 8th, I was in such a hurry to take a baby gift to my immediate Amish neighbors that I rushed and fell down the flight of stairs in my farm home. That led to six weeks of wearing a fracture boot day and night and lots of reading.
Thankfully, my foot is improving, so less hardware, but I’ve had to mostly stay home and read more than usual. I’ve devoured and loved Hope Toler Dougherty’s newest, some recent Michael Connelly books, and especially C.J. Box. I also teach writing monthly in our local library where we share writing plus discuss writers who inspire us.
Christina: I’m glad you’re healing!
Thank you, Delores, for sharing your heart and your books with us today!
Delores Topliff grew up in Washington state but married a Canadian so enjoys dual citizenship. She teaches university, travels, and writes illustrated Christian children’s books, historic novels, and her fun memoir/travel guide, A Traveling Grandma’s Guide to Israel: Adventures, Wit, and Wisdom. She loves her two doctor sons and five grandchildren and divides her year between a Minnesota farm with Amish neighbors and the gentler climate in Northeastern Mississippi. Find her at delorestopliff.com and https://www.facebook.com/DETopliff.
Connect with Delores here:
Website: www.delorestopliff.com (blogs every 2nd Tuesday)
Email delores@delorestopliff.com
X:@delorestopliff
Facebook: Delores Topliff Books