Tuesday, March 19, 2024

new novel in the Uncharted series

 

Uncharted Peace
Keely Brooke Keith
#13 in the Uncharted Series
March 2024
Edenbrooke Press
Inspirational Fantasy Sci Fi
 
Paper
Ebook $6.99
 
Buy
Amazon

About the Book
Lena Vestal enjoys spending her days cooking for her siblings and her nights curled up with a good book… or a letter from Philip Roberts, the overseer of Falls Creek and only man ever to capture her heart. It’s safe to dream of a future with him while she is still sheltered by the older brother and sister who raised her. When Philip’s final letter announces his forthcoming arrival to take her to Falls Creek, Lena must leave all that is familiar to make her dream a reality.
Philip Roberts takes his duties as the overseer of Falls Creek seriously, not only to please God but also to prove his competence. Having been in the pastoral position for two years, Philip’s dissertation is anticipated by all the overseers of the Land, particularly his father. Producing a work of great merit would prove his worth, as would setting an excellent example of holy matrimony in his church
Lena’s yearning for the security of Philip’s love compels her to spend a month without her siblings at the isolated Inn at Falls Creek. To prepare for their nuptials, Philip informs her the Land’s tradition requires they compare family lineage. When she receives hers from her sister, a shocking secret about her true origins means she must choose between protecting her family and marrying the man of her dreams.
And when Philip’s published book is distributed before he can check it, both feel their hopes dissolve.But at the Inn at Falls Creek, no one is alone and everyone is worthy.

My Review

As with all of Keely’s books, readers may step into her world of the Land Uncharted with any story, though they’re best enjoyed in groups. We met the main characters, Lena Vestal and Philip Roberts, in previous books, but get to know them and their journey toward marriage in this latest, lovely offering.
Keely’s stories in the Land Uncharted are set in a uniquely dystopian future where war rages on earth, but not in this unique bubble of an island in the ocean, uncharted because it only exists for those who find it under very particular circumstances. The settlers who populate this land arrived in the 1860s, have spread across the island, sorting themselves into several communities. Naturally, as marriage and parenthood develops, it’s important that they keep their genealogy straight to avoid problems. It’s not an issue for Philip, who can trace his lineage back to one of the eight founding families over the past 150 years. But for Lena, it’s another story.
Lena has been coddled and protected her whole life. Raised as one of three adopted siblings, she, as a young adult, is ready to step out of her shell and accept the hand of the wonderful overseer of another community. Her brother and sister understand her extreme shyness and exact a condition on the marriage—Lena should spend a month in Philip’s community before agreeing to a wedding and moving away from her beloved sister and brother and the home where she feels safe.
Philip reluctantly agrees, and once in Falls Creek, Lena blossoms. When Philip mentions the lineage requirements, that the couple compare pedigree charts before marriage Lena writes home for hers and instead receives the surprise of her life.
Love and Loyalty come head to head in this new story of a hidden oasis of a culture hidden from the outside world…or so they think. Can the people of the Land adapt to changing times, even if they come from within?
Fans of the Land Uncharted will enjoy these sweet inspirational stories of contemporary issues framed in mores of a Biblically-based society with nineteenth-century values.

About the Author

Keely Brooke Keith is the author of the beloved Uncharted series. Her books are best described as inspirational frontier-style fiction with a futuristic twist.

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Keely was a tree-climbing, baseball-loving 80s kid. She grew up in a family who moved often, which fueled her dreams of faraway lands.

When she isn’t writing, Keely enjoys gardening and is slowly learning how to not kill plants. Keely, her husband, and their daughter live on a hilltop south of Nashville, Tennessee. She is a member of ACFW. Join Keely’s email list at keelykeith.com/sign-up so you will always know when the next Uncharted book is available.

 


Monday, March 18, 2024

Grab a Good Read and Enter to Win!

 


Need a cure for the wintertime blues? Join us at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven’s 5th annual Shake Off Winter Doldrums Book Festival: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/shake-off-winter-doldrums #booksworthreading #mustread #giveaway

My sci fi story PARHELION

is featured TODAY MARCH 18!


Enter to win a $35 Amazon giftcard below:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db7750256

Open internationally.

Runs March 1 – 31, 2024

Drawing will be held on April 1, 2024. 

Battle the winter blues at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Shake Off Winter Doldrums Book Festival. 35 books, 27 authors, a giveaway plus sure-fire ways to combat your winter melancholy! #NNLBH.

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/shake-off-winter-doldrums

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Monday, March 11, 2024

NN Light Big Book Promo with Meow Missing

 


Are you suffering from the winter doldrums? I’ve discovered the cure at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Shake Off Winter Doldrums Book Festival. 35 books featured plus a chance to win a $35 Amazon gift card.

My fun cozy mystery, MEOW MISSING

is featured TODAY MARCH 11!

Curl up with a good book, and

Enter to win a $35 Amazon giftcard below:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db7750256

Open internationally.

Runs March 1 – 31, 2024

Drawing will be held on April 1, 2024. 

Battle the winter blues at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Shake Off Winter Doldrums Book Festival. 35 books, 27 authors, a giveaway plus sure-fire ways to combat your winter melancholy! #NNLBH.

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/shake-off-winter-doldrums

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Monday, March 4, 2024

Great big Giveaway! Shake off Winter with Healing Grace

 


I’m thrilled to be a part of this event. My book, Healing Grace 

is featured TODAY MARCH 4!

Wait until you read my cure for winter doldrums. You won’t want to miss it.

Enter to win a $35 Amazon giftcard below:

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db7750256

Open internationally.

Runs March 1 – 31, 2024

Drawing will be held on April 1, 2024. 

Battle the winter blues at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Shake Off Winter Doldrums Book Festival. 35 books, 27 authors, a giveaway plus sure-fire ways to combat your winter melancholy! #NNLBH.

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/shake-off-winter-doldrums

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Women With Unshakeable Faith

 


Women With Unshakeable Faith

Dr. Paulette Harper
Thy Word Publishing, April 2023
Paperback, 131 pp
$20
$3.99

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

Buy on Amazon 

Dr. Harper once again provides another well-done anthology of women sharing their stories. In this book, fourteen brave women bare their souls to tell about their faith journey. Some of them come from a background of a dearth of faith, while others were raised in Christian faith and given plenty of opportunity to doubt the reality of Christ's love and protection. From public educator fighting the Pandemic and the stress that birthed a dread disease to bareness and single parenthood to homelessness to addiction, each of this women offers the precious gift of a reason to believe and act on that believe in the saving grace of Christ. I so appreciate one author allowing herself to be angry: "I said out loud, 'I am made at God. I have lost faith...'" Confession and nailing those hurts to the cross, literally, helped her heal.

Each story is short and pithy, providing encouragement.

Readers will find much to love and healing power in these stories.


Saturday, August 19, 2023

First Chapter Contest Opens

 


  CWA's 8th Annual 

           First Chapter Contest is Open for Entries

 This opportunity is open

ONLY TO DUES-PAYING MEMBERS

of Chicago Writers Association.

You may join CWA HERE.

Are you writing a novel? Submit the FIRST CHAPTER of your work, up to 10 pages, to CWA's 8th Annual First Chapter Contest.

 First prize is a full scholarship to attend either the All-Genre Novel-In-Progress (NIP) Bookcamp & Writing Retreat or the Speculative Fiction NIP Bookcamp & Writing Retreat, both being held June 16-22, 2024 at the Siena Retreat Center in Racine Wisconsin (approximate value: $1500).

 Second and third place winners will receive cash awards of $150 and $75, respectively.

 The top three entries will also be published in CWA's Write City Magazine.

 Please read and follow the guidelines before submitting.

The deadline is October 1, 2023. Winners will be announced by December 2023.

 A nonrefundable fee of Fifteen Dollars ($15) must be made online on the same date as the author’s entry is submitted.

 

 

 


Tuesday, July 25, 2023

My Neglected Gods new book from Joanne Nelson

 


 My Neglected Gods

Joanne Nelson
Creative Nonfiction
Vine Leaves Press, 130 pp
July 25, 2023

$4.99 ebook
$14.99 paperback
buy on Amazon

About the Book
We all have our rituals and talismans to protect us from the unknown, but will we admit what they are? Tarot cards, speeding cars, several saints, and old dogs make appearances in Joanne Nelson’s new collection of prose and poetry. She unravels the secular deities giving shape to her days, not only on planes, but in summer crowds, at conferences, and in long post office queues. Whether it’s a bandaid in a pocket, the backup pen in a purse, or a hidden $20 in a wallet for just-in-case, Nelson explores what we carry for comfort. She delves into the Mercury retrograde conundrum and examines the significance of kitchens as holy places. Beer runs through it. There will be coffee. Join Nelson, author of the memoir, This Is How We Leave, in this humorous and heartfelt journey through life’s often-ignored quiet moments. Ignored until, plate of cookies in hand, they come begging for a chat. All the while, the kids move out, the house gets put up for sale, and loved ones age.

My Review
Turning the last page on Nelson’s new work of art makes me feel like I have to read it again, so I start backward, meandering through the wake of time, bobbing in the waves of noticing the look in the dog’s eyes, the person I would have been if I could have stayed the whole week at the retreat house, and how my grandmother’s neck got transplanted on to mine. At times I wondered if I was reading my own mind, recalling the bop upside the head in miscreant childhood, sneaking off to smoke, closing the door after thirty years—exactly thirty years—raising my kids in the same house and wondering if the next occupant could possibly appreciate it as much as I. “Perception is everything.”

Peppered with gusto and sagacity like “Don’t get too excited, you’ll only be disappointed,” and “You’ll never know when you need a train ticket,” from Grandma’s change collection, each memory is undergirded by a strong sense of family. There’s jealousy over the humorous but poignant extra sibling—a cool bottle of beer that went everywhere with the folks, the perfect alignment of suddenly realizing all you’ll miss when you move but also the relief of knowing you won’t miss it that much. Neglected gods is a euphemism, Nelson writes, a perception wrapped in a glass of wine or humming.
 
My Neglected Gods is one of those lyric little books filled with bites of encouragement for any moment. It’s a book of stories to fit everyone; a book you’ll want to savor, then pull out again at an odd moment, maybe in the middle of cleaning or during a pop-up rain while you’re weeding the garden.
 
About the Author
Joanne Nelson is the author of the memoir, This Is How We Leave. Her writing appears in numerous journals and anthologies. She won the Hal Prize in nonfiction, as well as other literary awards, and has contributed to Lake Effect on Milwaukee’s NPR station. Nelson lives in Hartland, Wisconsin, where she teaches at the university level and leads community programs. She gives presentations on mindfulness and writing, creativity, and the second half of life. Nelson holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars, an MSSW from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a certified meditation instructor. More information is available at wakeupthewriterwithin.com