Do You Have a Speranza Team?

You may be asking, “What in the world is a Speranza?” I can’t wait to let this month’s featured guest, award-winning and bestselling author, Connie Mann explain it all to you down below and during our A2A YouTube interview.

Connie Mann loves taking readers on heart-pounding, suspense-filled adventures featuring strong, determined women who fight for what they believe—and for those they love. She is the author of the Speranza Team novels, the Florida Wildlife Warriors series, the Safe Harbor series, and several stand-alone titles. She is also a USCG-licensed boat captain and gets to introduce Florida visitors to dolphins and manatees, which is as much fun as it sounds.

What is a “Speranza Team”?

The Speranza Team is a fictional secret society created by Connie Mann. It consists of women who help women facing various challenges, particularly in the realm of justice and overcoming adversity. The team is involved in action-packed adventures, often featuring themes of treasure hunting and solving mysteries. The series first book was The Crown Conspiracy. The newest release (Tyndale, March 10th) is The Liar’s Treasure. Highly skilled team members embark on thrilling quests to uncover hidden treasures and confront threats to their safety and those they care about.

Tell us about your next installment in the Speranza Team novels.

The second book is entitled The Liar’s Treasure and focuses on team member, Camille Abernathy, a legacy member of the Speranza Team. Here’s the synopsis:

Camille ignored rumors of The Liar’s Treasure and her family’s connection to it . . . until someone put a target on her daughter, Cass’s back. Growing up in New Orleans, such tall tales were as common as beignets and gumbo. But when Cass, posts pictures of a centuries-old diary her uncle gave her, she unwittingly attracts dozens of treasure hunting fanatics who are convinced Cass and the diary can lead them to a valuable cache.

To keep her daughter safe, Camille enlists the help of Speranza, a secret society always ready to help women in need. Together, they set out on a globe-trotting journey to find The Liar’s Treasure while also investigating a suspicious death related to Camille’s childhood friend. The deeper they dig, the more they suspect it’s all connected.

Chasing clues from New Orleans to Italy to the Bahamas, Camille and her friends receive unexpected assistance—and unwanted competition—from a handsome treasure hunter from Camille’s past. Then Cass is kidnapped, and finding the treasure truly becomes a matter of life and death.

All this swashbuckling and thrilling adventure, what did you read as a child?

Ever since I learned to read, my favorite books have revolved around mysteries and suspense. There’s something so fun about trying to solve the puzzle and figure out the clues that has always drawn me in. Also, I love the confidence and quick thinking of the heroines and heroes.

I got hooked early on Encyclopedia Brown and both the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys stories. (I was a tomboy growing up, because it seemed to me that boys got to have way more fun, LOL!) But my absolute favorite children’s story will always be Harriet the Spy. I wanted to BE Harriet. I remember climbing high into a tree in our backyard with my little notebook, writing about all the goings on in our neighborhood and imagining mysteries and intrigue behind every front door. Oddly enough, like Harriet, the adults in my world were not terribly impressed with my observations.

Do you have any strange writing habits/quirks?

More than 20 years ago, a friend of mine and I walked into a New Orleans gift shop, and I stopped short, captivated, when I heard the smoky notes of Sidney Bechet’s clarinet for the first time. I fell in love with his music and ever since, at the first notes of that 1930s jazz, my brain knows it’s time to write. I’ve expanded my playlist a bit to include other jazz greats from that era, but it has to be instrumental only; if there are lyrics, I find myself singing along and not actually writing.

What is one of your favorite quotes from The Liar’s Treasure and why do you love it?

In The Liar’s Treasure, my heroine Camille is reminded of her Gramps’ favorite saying: Faith is easy when you’re standing on familiar ground. The truth of that statement resonates with me. I think when things are humming along smoothly in our lives, we can unconsciously put faith on the back burner, thinking we’ve got things all under control. But when something rocks our world, we quickly realize how little control we actually have and how very much we need to rely on God’s help and strength to get us through.

Faith also means taking risks sometimes, knowing God goes before us, and I hope those both of those truths encourage readers.

What do you hope readers know about you and your books?

My stories are always about HOPE and second chances. It is the thread that runs through my life and every one of my stories. The Speranza team’s name literally means hope. Every team member has overcome hard things, and they bring that grit and hope and determination to those they come alongside to help. More important, of course, is the promise of God’s unfailing, boundless love and grace for all of us. No matter what happened in the past. He is always there, pouring out His love on us, ready to walk with us through both the good and the hard, scary things in life.

March’s A2A Giveaway!

Yes! Thanks to Connie and Tyndale Publishing, this month’s giveaway winner will receive a softcover copy of her latest release, The Liar’s Treasure. 

How? Well, by entering! Not just once, but up to SIX times– (see the YouTube interview)!* Leave a comment below and share this blog and if you haven’t already, please subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of this blog and receive a free gift from me — and an extra entry.

NOTE: WANT TO INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING THIS INCREDIBLE GIVEAWAY?*

Check out my YouTubeA2A interview with Connie. Because, in the video interview Connie answers different fun questions–and we have some funny and inspiring discussions! 

By Liking and Commenting on the video episode, you will have one more entry.* Sharing the video, another entry.* Subscribe, and you have TWO entries for a chance to win.* 

The Deadline is March 13th  

Watch our interview–

That means, my friends, if you comment and subscribe -– or are already a subscriber -– to my blog, then watch the video and LIKE, SHARE, and COMMENT on the VIDEO, then Subscribe to my YouTube Channel, your name will be entered SIX TIMES–SEVEN!*

Next month: T.I. Lowe, bestselling and award-winning is an ordinary country girl who loves to tell extraordinary stories. Tonya is the author of 21 novels, including the #1 international bestseller and critically acclaimed Under the Magnolias and her debut breakout Lulu’s Café.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Connie–I certainly did! Until April, God bless and KEEP READING! 

*So sorry, entries from the contiguous US only.