Thursday, December 5, 2013

Holiday book launch and prize drawing with Michelle Dennis Evans

 

For a chance to win a $200 Amazon gift card, between December 1 and December 16, 2013, enter the John 3:16 Marketing Network Rafflecopter drawing at: http://bit.ly/Christian_Books

 
Five Favorites:
Favorite city you’ve visited - Sydney - I love the views of the harbour - but my favourite city is the one I live in - the Gold Coast
Favorite food - Cheese! Avocado, Mango ... I love food! 
Favorite authors – God - it's my cop out answer because if I start naming authors I love I'll never stop and even then I might miss someone! Maybe check out my 5* ratings on Goodreads
Favorite book you’ve read in the last three months - Treasures of Darkness: A Prison Journey by Trish Jenkins
Favorite historical person (fiction or non) - Jesus - so many wow moments that are still talked about over 2000 years later
 
About the Book:
Temptation, depression, seduction, betrayal ... Not what Stephanie was expecting at fifteen years of age. Uprooted from her happy, all-girl high school life with a dream filled future and thrown into an unfriendly co-ed school, Stephanie spirals into depression. When charismatic high school senior, Jason notices her, Stephanie jumps in feet first and willingly puts all her faith and trust in him, a boy she barely knows. Every choice she makes and turn she takes leads her towards a dangerous path. Her best friend is never far away and ready to catch her … but will she push Tabbie too far away when she needs her most? 

Set in Australia, this novel contains adult themes. 
Recommended reading audiences 15+ 
Purchase Spiralling Out of Control.
 
 
About the Author:
Michelle writes to inspire, take people on a journey and escape their world. She believes you can find healing or hope when you read about someone else’s story – fiction or truth. Michelle is married to an awesome man. She spends most of her days educating, socialising and sporting their four children and her nights writing. Her life is full and at times overflowing but she wouldn’t have it any other way.




Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Five Favorites with Carole Brown - chance to win a Kindle


Welcome Fellow Author Carole Brown on this special John 316 Marketing Group Holiday promotion.

For a chance to win a $200 Amazon gift card, between December 1 and December 16, 2013, enter the John 3:16 Marketing Network Rafflecopter drawing at: http://bit.ly/Christian_Books



Favorite city you’ve visited:  Probably New York city. Love the Statue of Liberty and the busyness of the city. 

Favorite food: Just one? I’m in trouble. Potatoes--anyway! 

Favorite authors:  Sigh. Love so many. Okay, I’ll throw a name out there: Louis L'amour--he’s just fabulous with his knowledge of his settings!  

Favorite book you’ve read in the last three months:  Tamera Kraft’s Soldier’s Heart: great Civil War story. 

Favorite historical person (fictional or non):  President Ronald Reagan


About the book:

How far would YOU go to avenge a daughter’s cruel death? Cara is considered rebellious and inappropriate to befriend. Dayne is the apple of Elder Simmons’ eye—until he takes a stand against their teachings. Can his prayers and love reach Cara and show her the way to redemption? Will Cara realize God’s love and forgiveness before she goes too far?

The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman is a novel of hope shining through the darkness with strong elements of suspense and romance. This novel was a semifinalist in the Genesis contest and is receiving raving reviews! Release date was October 21, 2013 from the Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. The link for the book which is on SALE NOW is:
 


About the Author:
Besides being a member and active participant of many writing groups, Carole Brown enjoys mentoring beginning writers. She loves to weave suspense and tough topics into her books, along with a touch of romance and whimsy, and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas. She and her husband reside in SE Ohio but have ministered and counseled nationally and internationally. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons?

 

Connect with her here:

 
I also am part of several other blogs:
Barn Door Book Loft: http://www.barndoorbookloft.net/

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Excerpt Tour and More - $200 prize drawing Dec 1-16

I'm excited to be part of John316 Marketing Network's December Launch tour. Our grand prize drawing is a $200 Amazon gift card.
 
 

My blog stops already started on December 1, with visits to my friends Sharon Lavy, Susan Craft, Martin Roth, and Anne Evans.

Everyone's Story blog, with Elaine Stock

Working Writers blog: Cherie Burbach


December 3 - Patty Wysong

December 5 - Secrets of 7Scribes Blog, with Katy Lee
                          Katherine Harms – about writing for children
 

December 6 - Michelle Evans

December 8 - Books for Book Lovers, Kimberley Payne
                      Barbara Ann Derksen
 
December 10 - Carole Brown

December 14 - Deborah Heal

 
 
 



The Excerpt Tour - six days of excerpts from The Potawatomi Boy, with a special drawing at the end of a copy of The German Girl for a commenter each stop.


December 2: Kevin Smith – 1


December 3: Paulette Harper – 2

December 4: Lorilyn Roberts – 3

December 5: Emma Right – 4

December 7: Carol A. Brown – 5

December 16: Janis Cox – 6   



Holiday Books on special and great prize drawing with Jill Richardson


From December 1-16, 2013 these fellow John 316 Marketing Network authors invite you to join in our special holiday book push. Sign up for a chance to win great prizes, and take advantage of the special e-book pricing during these few weeks. I'll also be featuring tidbits of news about my fellow authors, and I'll have a turn on other blogs.


Today, meet Jill Richardson!


Five Favorites:

Favorite city you’ve visited -Tough question, because I LOVE to travel. My favorite cities have been Paris and Venice, and I would return any day. Here, I love Seattle (lived there). But how about if I be different and tell people they really should visit Halifax? It's far less known, but it's got tons of charm, great food, and the Atlantic Ocean at its doorstep. Small enough to not feel crowded. I love anywhere I can see tall ships and eat fresh seafood.
 
Favorite food -I could get by on chocolate and cheese, if necessary. 
 
Favorite authors – JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo. Favorite living people I read lately? Malcolm Gladwell, Jen Hatmaker, Tim Keller.
 
Favorite book you’ve read in the last three months - Just finished The Divine Commodity, Skye Jethani. It really makes you think and struggle with how much we view church, and God, as things we can consume rather than a community we live with and give to and a Lord we worship. Fantastic wake up to living in a messy world with commitment and love instead of choosing what aspects of God and his people we want to take in and which we don't. 
 
Favorite historical person (fiction or non) - Wow. I'm going to go with fictional and pick my favorite character I look at in my book--Eowyn. She's tough and vulnerable and fearless and terrified all at the same time. Fascinatingly complex. And so relatable. I love strong female characters who are still frightened by the world but not afraid to take it on.

http://www.amazon.com/Hobbits-You-Spiritual-World-Middle-Earth/dp/1938499913/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1384606571&sr=8-8&keywords=Jill+Richardson
 


About the Book: 
Hobbits, elves, and dragons have become common fantasy characters but do they have more relevance to your life than you think? Are they as real as, or the same as, people you meet every day? Maybe not literally, but J.R.R. Tolkien's famous characters bring to life real character qualities we all can learn from, whether good or bad. What can the bravery of a hobbit, the faith of a elf, or the greed of a dragon teach teens about themselves? How can their stories lead us to the real Kingdom where God is working out way more than a fantasy for his people? Dig in to these familiar characters and relevant Bible passages to find out. Come out understanding how to live your own epic story!


About the Author:
Jill Richardson's love for hobbits and elves comes from her time as a literature teacher and as a lifelong reader of great stories. She also loves an epic challenge and a chance for grace wherever they exist. Jill has a BA in English and Education and an MDiv in theology and is an ordained minister who has served as a worship, preaching, and discipleship pastor. She has published five books, as well as articles in national magazines such as FamilyFun, Discipleship Journal, and Today's Christian Woman. Jill loves to speak on a variety of topics to many age groups. With three daughters, three cats, and one husband, she keeps busy otherwise with community theater, gardening, scrapbooking, and traveling.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Holly Jolly Blog Hop



It’s a Holly Jolly Blog Hop
 
 
 
I love collecting holiday Christmas ornaments. We like to travel, and I've often collected a mug from a particular place...but you know how that can go. Too many mugs, not enough space, and you break your favorites. When we were in Maine several years ago, I saw a miniature ship in a bottle and had to have it for the tree the next year.


Since then, I've collected ornaments from several states and Canada. From our fabulous Holiday Folk Faire in Milwaukee, I've collected other ornaments from around the world, as well as the UNICEF one--when I can get there.




I have special ones that were handmade.


One leather babushka doll from Sitka, Alaska:



Very cool and expensive clay one from Acoma, Sky City--the oldest continually inhabited city in North America:


The latest ones are from my trip last summer to Canada.

Rug making from the Acadians at Nova Scotia:

 
 

The flags of Newfoundland and Labrador on shells. Okay, it's corny, but I love the Labrador (The Big Land) flag: white for snow, green for land, blue for water. The spruce twig for the three first nations: Inuit, Innu, and European settlers.


 

What are your special ornaments?
 
 
Lisa Lickel is an award-winning Wisconsin author of cozy mystery, romance, and new children's historical stories. She is also the editor of Creative Wisconsin magazine for Wisconsin Writers Association, a freelance editor and book reviewer. Her latest project, First Children of Farmington, a series of six ethnically-based pioneer children's life events, are in publication progress. The first two books, The Potwatomi Boy and The German Girl are now available in electronic and print format.

 

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Edgar-winning mystery writer Sally Wright

I'm so happy to have Sally Wright visiting again. Please welcome her as she talks about her new book, Breeding Ground.



Kindle $2.99

About the book:

BREEDING GROUND

A Jo Grant Horse Country Mystery
Lexington, Kentucky, 1962:
Another painful death in Jo Grant’s family . . another injured relative she suddenly has to care for while running the family broodmare business she wants to leave behind . . another casualty from WWII turning-up in need at her door – right when she and a WWII OSS vet are trying to stop the killer of a friend caught in the conflicts of another family horse business in the inbred world of Lexington Thoroughbreds, where the family ties from grooms to estate owners have tangled together for a hundred years.

 

What do I love about this book?
I love the horses, and most of the folks in Breeding Ground who take care of them on working farms around Lexington.
When I visited there on a book tour years ago, I met two Woodford County women who opened their homes as B&Bs. I stayed in their classic 19th century brick farmhouses and grilled them about the history of the houses, and local tales as well.
They and their husbands and friends became friends, and I kept going back - till my husband and I wished we could move there.
Friends from Ohio too - who’d had a broodmare farm next to us (caring for mares that belonged to other people, birthing and training their babies) - had moved to Versailles (in Woodford County just west of Lexington) to start another broodmare business, and they took me to meet owners and trainers – and then I met Secretariat at Claiborne, and became obsessed. (I had a horse for years, which was part of the Lexington appeal, and I’d still be riding now if I hadn’t gotten hurt.)
But it wasn’t till I did research there for the Ben Reese mystery, Watches Of The Night, that I knew I had to write a series set in that world of hills and horse farms and well-remembered history.
I’d been reading about the French Resistance too, and the British (SOE) and US (OSS) espionage services that helped them in WWII. I got so caught up in the stories of the agents and the danger and the death, I wanted to work with that too.
I saw the horse people and the OSS veterans as part of an on-going horse country community in which most would be workers in three family businesses – a small hands-on broodmare farm, a ma-and-pa horse van manufacturer, and a family firm making equine pharmaceuticals.
I grew up in a small family business. For my father was an orphan, raised in a Christian orphanage, who (because a teacher helped him get a college scholarship in 1929) was able to become a chemist, who dreamed for years about inventing a product and starting his own business – and did, with my Mom, when I was four.
It’s been a pivotal part of my life, and I wanted to examine the conflicts that come when whatever-family-members-are-in-charge have to choose between what they think is good for the business (all the employees and customers included) and their children’s (or siblings’) feelings. Christian decision makers can find the choices especially difficult, and with eighty percent of American businesses still family owned, I thought I ought to talk about it.
I also decided to write about a caregiver who’s reached her emotional limits – or at least feels as though she has. Jo Grant put aside her work as an architect to care for a mother with terminal brain cancer, then has to cope with her brother’s sudden death, plus two more situations that force her to abandon everything she wants – again - and care for them too.
God’s place in all that – allowing the suffering, and helping you through it – gets considered (subtly, I hope, and indirectly) in Breeding Ground as the fundamental struggle we face living on this earth. God’s gotten me through two years of pancreatic cancer, and I’ve wanted to talk about something of what I’ve experienced – the peace and joy and sense of God’s care in spite of outward appearances.


Tell us something you learned doing the research, and any research tip you’d like to share.
            After I’d read a biography of Mack (MacKenzie) Miller, interviewing him meant a lot to me. He’s a Hall Of Fame trainer, and a self-effacing Christian gentleman, who trained for years for Paul Mellon, and he and his wife couldn’t have been kinder. He’s a well-documented example of how, even though racing can bring out the worst and the ugliest, honesty and family commitment and real concern for the horses still exists and succeeds (or did, when he was training).
It was my research on the French Resistance, and the US Office of Strategic Services that nearly drove me to distraction.
I read book after book on the French Resistance – all over France, all through the Nazi occupation – and became totally overwhelmed. I couldn’t make sense of it without going to France. But my mother (who was ninety-nine, and lived next door, and was very sadly demented, with care-givers round the clock) was my responsibility, and I couldn’t stay long. I also had no one in France to help me the way I’d had in Scotland when I wrote the Ben Reese mysteries.
            So God led me to the book I needed, then to a tiny B&B in an old mill in the Loire Valley where He gave me a gift I’ve been given before – the kind that saves books.
Sitting beside black-and-white ducks, green glass river sliding by, the mill owner spoke of the Resistance in the Lorraine with real knowledge and passion. He’d filled the whole mill with WWII books, and though we talked hour after hour, it was his description of a real event in the village beside the mill – and the local reaction in 2010 – that I put into Breeding Ground (which takes place in ‘62) that gave me the perspective for the OSS backstory that helped drive three characters to do what they needed to do.
Which leads me, finally, to a research tip. Studying the French Resistance across France was too broad an approach. A History professor at Hillsdale College handing me a paperback on the French Resistance in the Lorraine region alone narrowed my focus to the Loire Valley - and made the research doable.
So. When you get bogged down in research that seems overwhelming, narrow the search till it’s manageable.
Just as importantly: If your setting’s a real place (and you can get there) take a ridiculous number of photographs; Interview as many people as you can think of who relate to the book, and record every conversation; Make yourself stop when research becomes an excuse for not writing the book.

How do you hope readers will talk about the book after they’ve read it?
            I hope readers will be drawn to the horses. They’re not pets. No, but they can be twelve-hundred-pound partners. They can read your mind and your body. And we need to train and treat them well. As Jo Grant says in the preface, “. . . the horses we’ve got here, I’ve got to tell about them. The ones that run our lives, and get planned and pampered and brutalized by us too, for the best and the strangest and the worst of reasons.”
I hope readers will be interested in the folks who plan and pamper and care for them – the grooms, white and black, the aristocratic owners, the everyday folks doing their best to make horse vans, and de-wormers, and teach a foal manners.
I want readers to feel as though they understand more about family businesses from the inside out, and that knowing a little about the stresses involved ends-up being useful.
            I’d also like readers to learn enough about the OSS and the French Resistance in Breeding Ground that they want to read more. There’re wonderful books about both that have a whole lot to teach.
            I also hope that by the end of Breeding Ground, readers – like Jo Grant, the narrator - see the mercy of God at work in her life, and in others’ as well, and recognize the good that can come out of suffering.
            It’s enemy occupied territory here (as C.S. Lewis said). And character comes with living through difficulties; for as strength and perseverance develop, they can lead to joy and hope - the kind that’s a gift from God. 
 
About the author:

 
Sally Wright is the author of six Ben Reese mysteries: Publish And Perish, Pride And Predator, Pursuit And Persuasion (a Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist in 2001), Out Of The Ruins, Watches Of The Night (published in June 2008) and Code Of Silence, a prequel to the series (published in December 2008).

Wright was born obsessed with books, and started pecking-out florid adventure stories with obvious endings by the time she turned seven. She wrote and performed music in high school and college, earned a degree in oral interpretation of literature at Northwestern University, and then completed graduate work at the University of Washington. She published many biographical articles, including pieces on Malcolm Muggeridge and Nikolai Tolstoy, Leo's grandnephew, before she wrote her Ben Reese books.

Reviewers repeatedly compare Wright's work to that of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh. Wright herself says that her literary influences range from all of those to Tolstoy and Jane Austen, from P.D. James to Dick Francis.

Sally Wright moved with her husband many years ago from Cape Cod to the country near Bowling Green, Ohio, but they think they'd like to someday live outside Lexington, Kentucky. Their daughter is an opera singer (a la Out of the Ruins), and their son works for a industrial manufacturing company. The Wrights have a young boxer dog, a young mare (who’s a lot less reliable than the old one-eyed gelding), and too many gardens to take care of the way Sally would like. She loves to cook, and wants to play with painting again, if she ever stops trying to learn dressage.



           

Monday, November 25, 2013

Pilgrim Stats with Tamera Lynn Kraft

It's nearly Thanksgiving Day in the US - though of course that doesn't mean we aren't thankful the other days.
Please welcome Tamera Lynn Kraft.
 


In 1620, the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. The first thing they did was to fall on their knees and thank God for keeping them safe through the journey. But their troubles weren't over. That winter over half of the pilgrims died, most from starvation, cold, and disease.

Here are the statistics:

December - six people died.

January - eight people died.

February - 17 people died.

March - 13 people died.

Four entire families died, and there was only one family that didn't lose at least one member.

Of 18 married women, 13 died. Only three of 13 children perished. This seems to indicate that mothers were probably giving their share of food to the children.

The winter was, by local standards, a fairly mild one. The Plymouth settlers were simply not used to living on an awful diet and being exposed to the elements. Had it been a really severe winter, it's likely that all of them would have been wiped out.

When the "Mayflower" was prepared to return to England in April. 1621, its captain offered to take any survivors with him at no charge. None of the remaining pilgrims took him up on his offer.

After harvesting their crops in early Autumn, the who were still alive invited the Indians for a feast to celebrate the goodness of God.

That's how Thanksgiving got started. Sometimes I think that we Americans have become a spoiled people. We expect things to always go our way and when they don't, we don't remember to thank God for the many blessings He has given us. We forget to thank Him.

Here's some things I'm thankful for this year:

My wonderful husband of 35 years.

My two grown children who serve the Lord.

Two of the cutest grandchildren in the world.

A house to live in.

Food to eat - especially the Thanksgiving feast I'll stuff myself with.

Time saving gadgets. Remember the Pilgrims didn't even have matches to light their fires.

The publication of two of my books, Soldier'sHeart and A Christmas Promise.

Revival Fire 4 Kids, the ministry God has allowed me to lead.

My nation. United States of America is still the greatest nation on Earth.

Freedom to worship. Many Christians from other countries endanger their lives by following God.

My Salvation. No matter what else I lose, Jesus Christ died for my sins so I could have a relationship with Him. Nothing else compares to that.

So what are you thankful for?

A Christmas Promise

A Moravian Holiday Story, Circa 1773

During colonial times, John and Anna settle in an Ohio village to become Moravian missionaries to the Lenape. When John is called away to help at another settlement two days before Christmas, he promises he’ll be back by Christmas Day.

When he doesn’t show up, Anna works hard to not fear the worst while she provides her children with a traditional Moravian Christmas.

Through it all, she discovers a Christmas promise that will give her the peace she craves.

Available at these online stores:




About the Author:

TAMERA LYNN KRAFT has always loved adventures and writes Christian historical fiction set in America because there are so many adventures in American history. She is married to the love of her life, has two grown children, and lives in Akron, Ohio.
Tamera is the leader of a ministry called Revival Fire For Kids where she mentors other children’s leaders, teaches workshops, and is a children’s ministry consultant and children’s evangelist. She has curriculum published and is a recipient of the 2007 National Children’s Leaders Association Shepherd’s Cup for lifetime achievement in children’s ministry.

You can contact Tamera online at these sites:

And come visit me, Lisa Lickel, on Word Sharpeners today at this link.
I'll give away a copy of my new book, Brave New Century, during this special promotion.