Review of Blues to Blessings by Suzette Webb

Review of Blues to Blessings: Moving from Fearful to Faithful

By Suzette Webb

c. 2017

Light of Mine Publishing, Chicago, IL

Spiritual autobiography

ISBN: 978-0-9961127-2-7

$4.99  eBook

$14.95  Print

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble

About the Book:

Blues to Blessings: Moving from Fearful to Faithful inspires people to leap from their comfort to their miracle by renewing their faith and trust in the Lord. With fitting Bible verses and engaging, powerful stories, it guides the reader to a place of deeper connection with God and with themselves to ensure they are living the fulfilling, purposeful life they were meant to live. For more information, visit www.bluestoblessings.com.

My Review:

The author approached me to ask if I would consider posting an article on my blog. I was impressed with her content which was about evaluating your life, supposedly in time for its name day on October 16. I happened to be in the middle of a move and, unusual for me, ended up missing the date, but posted anyway. Read it here. Suzette was gracious and later asked if I’d considered reviewing the book that inspired the message. To be honest, I work with many authors of the same type of material and was a little hesitant to read another one.

What I found was a raw, emotionally packed journey. Webb told her story with emotional candor, sparing no one and nothing, not even herself, as worked through self-discovery to learn what was causing her to sabotage her outwardly perfect life. Financially secure, upper class, married with children in a nice home in Chicago, Webb had achieved everything she thought was the epitome of success during her dysfunctional and abusive childhood in New Orleans. But more than being passed over for promotions during the economic downtown that was the early 2000s, more than increasing dissatisfaction with her career path, even more than reigniting her religious faith, she realized the only way she was going to effect a positive change in herself was to go deep and heal pain she wasn’t aware she’d harbored.

Even though I wanted to tread lightly through her story, I found myself eager to pick it back up every time I had to put the book down. I was fascinated by the way Webb learned to evaluate her motives and shared her life lessons with her readers. Written in an engaging manner, readers are encouraged to participate in the transformation process, the same way a butterfly moves from egg to flight.

Recommended for those who appreciate biographies with deep lessons, self-exploration and evaluation, and spiritual matters.

About the Author:

An accomplished entrepreneur, Suzette Webb founded Light of Mine (“LOM”) in 2006, a company that designs and manufactures high-performance lighting systems for military armored vehicles. The opportunity to support our military men and women has been an honor for her both professionally and personally.

She also produces and hosts a devotional podcast called B Moments, which airs daily on Moody’s Christian radio station. This unique devotional allows time-crunched people to pause, reflect on their faith, and set positive intentions for their day. B Moments encourages listeners to take a moment to “Be still…to Be fed by the Word of God, and to Be grateful.” For a catalog of these daily devotionals visit www.bmoments.org.

Suzette holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, and a BA in Communications from Loyola University, New Orleans. She serves on the Board of Directors for International Teams, and is a member of Chicago Women in Publishing (CWIP). She is also a fund development services consultant for By the Hand Club for Kids, a faith-based after-school program that helps children who live in high-risk, inner-city neighborhoods have abundant resources and a fulfilling life. Suzette and her husband live in Chicago and have three sons. Visit her at: www.bluestoblessings.com.

New novel by GE Kretchmer

Bear Medicine

G Elizabeth Kretchmer

Women’s Fiction

Ebook $5.99

Print $18.93

ISBN 978-0-9961038-6-2

October 2017, Dancing Seeds Press

Buy on Amazon 

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

About the Book

Alternating between contemporary and historical times, Bear Medicine is a story about women helping women in a complicated, male-dominated world.

When Brooke sets off on a trail in Yellowstone National Park to train for an upcoming marathon, she is savagely attacked by a grizzly bear. One hundred forty years earlier, Anne accompanies her husband on a camping trip in the nation’s first national park and awakens one morning to find he’s been captured by Nez Perce warriors.

Both women encounter a sacred but savage landscape. Both fall under the care of American Indian women. Ultimately, Brooke and Anne will need to overcome multiple obstacles, with the help of their new friends and native lore, to find what she seeks.

My Review

Seeking and Finding are complicated…discovering what you need and what you want, and how you are needed can result in very different journeys from your starting point. In Kretchmer’s new novel, a simple camping trip, and a week away from distractions turn into life-altering challenges for two women separated by centuries.

The author maintains her story is about women helping women in a male-dominated world. That was certainly true for Anne, the nineteenth century wife who was forced to accompany her husband on an adventure in the wild west. Brooke, the twenty-first century wife, chose her destination, as well as her destiny. In this lengthy novel, Kretchmer weaves a story of how sacrifices in the past provided a haven in the present. Both main characters of different times were enslaved by societal ideals and customs; both discovered they were capable people in their own ways.

While the journeys of both historical and contemporary women parallel the other, the author takes time to flesh out events that lead them on the route to self-discovery. Historically, a widowed Nez Pierce woman and Anne team up to create a new settlement; Brooke finds a place of healing and communal healing as a result of that teamwork. I found Brooke hard to take on many levels. She was a compliant wife to an endlessly clueless and snarky overbearing man who, once on her own, became attractive to several different men in her new environment, even while whiny and needy. Her kids were disasters, but her journey to self-discovery was worth following. I wasn’t always sure where the author was going to take me, and at times, it seems she wasn’t, either.

The setting of the story was lush and rich and the characters nicely developed. Readers who appreciate historical struggles for women’s independence and modern day struggles for women’s assertion will love Bear Medicine. I found myself wishing to spend a couple of weeks at Maggie’s Place, the haven Kretchmer created as the Wyoming settlement strictly for women.

From the Author

Bear Medicine is my third full-length work. Originally from Chicago, I’ve also published The Damnable Legacy, a novel set in Alaska about how far we’ll go to achieve our goals and at what cost, and Women on the Brink, a collection of short stories about women facing life’s unwelcome realities. My short work has appeared in The New York Times as well as various anthologies and other publications. I hold an MFA in Writing from Pacific University and a BS in Accounting from Indiana University. When I'm not writing, I'm facilitating wellness-writing workshops, advocating for the environment, or working on my organic farm in the Pacific Northwest.

Media links:

www.gekretchmer.com
www.facebook.com/G-Elizabeth-Kretchmer
twitter.com/gekretchmer

debut historical fiction from Jennifer Trethewey

Tying the Scot

Jennifer Trethewey

Historical Romance

Series

c. November 2017

Entangled Amara

Ebook $3.99

Print – coming soon

Audible

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

About the Book:

At age eleven, Alex Sinclair pledges an oath to the Duke of Chatham promising to serve and protect his illegitimate daughter, Lucy FitzHarris. Nine years later, the duke unexpectedly takes Alex up on his vow, offering the future Laird of Balforss his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Now a man, hotheaded Alex has difficulty convincing Lucy—who would rather starve to death than marry a vulgar Scot—to go through with the arranged marriage. Once Lucy arrives in Scotland, she cannot resist the magic of Balforss or the allure of her handsome Highland warrior. But when Alex seemingly betrays Lucy right before their wedding, she is tricked into running away. Alex must rein in his temper to rescue his lady from unforeseen danger and Lucy must swallow her pride if she hopes to wed the Highlander she has come to love.

My review:

Charming and delightful debut novel, wonderfully done. As described, it’s a marriage meant to be in the best interest of all parties—the illegitimate daughter of a Duke will never be accepted in London society, so is given to her father’s good friend and business partner’s son. Unfortunately, Lucy must travel north, away from everything she’s loved and known. Fortunately, Alex has grown up into a fine man. Lucy learns quickly there is much to love about Balforss, Alex’s home, and Alex, too—temper, playfulness, loyalty. Never having had a mother, she quickly takes to Alex’s family and their ways, and just when she’s decided that marriage better come fast before she and Alex get carried away, her past catches up to her.

I must say, with all the hype anticipating this book I was prepared for a bedroom romp, but the story is far from it. Sure, there’s sensual tension, but nothing out of the ordinary, and leads up to a highly anticipated wedding night. Well done, well crafted story to avoid being another cliché romance.

Told in multiple viewpoints from several characters, the author’s first book in the series shows adept, organic handling of customs, language and historical events without banging the reader over the head with brogue or unusual, unexplained practices or words. Some language. Tender and tough in all the right places. Recommended for those who enjoy Scottish or otherwise early nineteenth century historical romance and intrigue.

About the Author

Hi, I’m Jennifer Trethewey and I write about men in kilts because, hey, what’s not to love about a man in a kilt? I was lucky enough to travel to Scotland twice. I have fallen in love with the Highlands and all things Scottish: the people, their language, cuisine, customs, idioms, humor, history, intense sense of pride, and, most of all, the land—the perfect setting for sweeping romantic tales of love, strife, and glory. As they say, Scotland is pure dead brilliant!

I’m an actress, former co-artistic director of a professional theater company, and my husband and I operate an improv comedy club. I live with my comedian husband in the Midwest where I’ve been ever since college.

I write both contemporary and historical fiction full time. I like to read romance, mystery, fantasy, and paranormal, as well as literary fiction and non-fiction. I love movies and music and dogs and good wine and I love to enjoy them all with my friends.

FREE OFFER! - read the interview below to see terms.

The Prescience 

By Lorilyn Roberts

Inspirational Young Adult Fantasy

Print: $14.95

EBook: $.99

November, 2017

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

About the book:

Seventh Dimension – The Prescience, A Young Adult Fantasy, is the fifth book in the Seventh Dimension Series that combines contemporary, historical, and fantasy elements into a Christian “coming-of-age” story. When bombs fall on Jerusalem, Shale and Daniel rescue an orphan and return to the first century. Amid supernatural tribulation, they hope to unravel the mysterious disappearance of Daniel’s father and the goal of the New World Order. When multiple realities collide, God reveals once again time is an illusion until the appointed times.

Lisa Lickel's review:

This is so far my favorite of the series. Although you do want to know what went before, it’s not necessary in order to immerse yourself in this story’s possibly real near future—the big one, where no one survives. The series takes a contemporary young lady, Shale, on journeys back in time, mostly to the biblical time of Christ where she experiences life in the first century AD. She meets and falls in love with a young man whose family is involved in the time portals responsible for these adventures. Shale and Daniel are on an ever-increasingly amazing rush toward the biblical end times.

Daniel knows he’s one of the special chosen, the 144,000 Jews of the book of Revelation, who will make the final stand against evil. He’s in love and wants to marry Shale. Problem, besides needing to find his father who may or may not be part of the events, is that the chosen are men who have not been with a woman—unmarried, or virgins. He needs to respect his calling, as well as Shale. This leads to a new phase in their relationship as they travel back to biblical times and other traumatic eras to unravel family secrets.

Temptation, more chariot racing, supernatural powers, good guys, bad guys, scary guys, and time dancing all make this thrilling next-to-last edition of The Seventh Dimension series a great inspirational read.

Told through multiple viewpoints, The Seventh Dimension series is geared for Young Adult readers, but anyone will enjoy the books. The Prescience is part of a series.

An interview with Lorilyn Roberts:

Question:  You’re near the end of the Seventh Dimension Series. Share with us some of the challenges and joys of writing a series.

Lorilyn:  The joys far outweigh the challenges. I’ve enjoyed spending the last five years with these characters talking to me in my head. The overarching story compelled me to search for answers to questions that arose as the series progressed. I wanted everything to be as historically accurate as possible. Many afternoons and evenings were spent reading the Bible and Christian nonfiction books, and I’ve watched dozens of YouTube videos about hard-to-understand topics like the Book of Revelation. Young people who read a lot have probably read scores of books about vampires, dragon slayers, and witches. I wanted to raise the bar. I wanted realism in my series, but I also wanted a taste of fantasy because that opens possibilities.

Writing the Seventh Dimension Series has allowed me to explore far more than could be covered in just one book. With only The Howling left to complete the six-book series, I’m looking especially forward to finishing it. I believe the ending will capture the reader’s heart, mind, and imagination. I never thought when I wrote the first book, Seventh Dimension – The Door, that I would end up writing six in the series. God kept showing me insights and great plotlines, so I just kept writing.

Probably the biggest challenge has been keeping track of what the two protagonists knew and when they learned it. Three books have been written from Shale’s POV and three will have been written from Daniel’s POV when the sixth book is finished. So they learned different things at different times and interpreted things differently from each other. So I’ve had to go back and re-read chapters along the way to make sure my memory was accurate. When I do that, I’ll find something that I think could have been written better. So I never quit editing my own work, even after the book is published, and that drives me crazy. I want my writing to be perfect, but there probably has never been a perfect book written except the Bible.

Question: Do you have a favorite scene in The Prescience?

Lorilyn:  I have one scene that’s particularly special to me. It’s a garden scene where Shale and Daniel are waiting in the train. The scene comes from something in my own life. When I was seven, my adoptive father wanted to take me on a train trip to see the fall colors in the North Georgia Mountains, but the train never left the station because of a broken coupler. Through the years, from time to time, I would think about that train trip that we never finished, wistfully longing that someday we would. Then, when I was thirty-seven, Gene was diagnosed with a brain tumor that we knew he wouldn’t survive. Through a series of events God orchestrated, we had the opportunity to make that train trip shortly before he went to heaven.

While the scene in the book has no direct correlation to that, the broken coupler happens in the story, and what Shale learns through waiting is something God has been trying to teach me my whole life. I’m just a slow learner. Because it’s such an unusual scene, I think readers will remember it long after they read the book. At least I hope so.

Question:  You’ve been through a life challenge while working on this story. Has your experience changed your writing style?

Lorilyn:  Absolutely. I wrote the first couple of chapters at the end of December 2016 and was diagnosed with breast cancer the first week in January. I wrote like crazy through January and February to get the first draft completed before my surgery on February 22. All I could think about was if I didn’t survive the surgery, I wanted the story to “live on.” I was still consumed with it after my surgery because I didn’t quite get the first draft completed, and then when I got to ninety thousand words, I realized I couldn’t complete the story in one book. It would have to be stretched into two. So I slowed down and began editing, editing, and editing—and finally relaxed. I began to realize God wasn’t in a hurry for me to complete it. He wanted me to make the most of each day, rest in His arms, so to speak, through my treatment, and give Him the glory for every trial I encountered along the way.

I remember many, many years ago, when I was about ten, I read a book that I’ve never forgotten. I can’t remember the title or the author, but the plotline was about a young girl who was in a hurry to grow up. She got her wish and grew up really, really fast, but she regretted it in the end because she missed out on so many things.

As I’ve gone through this last year, I found I couldn’t rush the treatments. I had to take each day as it came, and make the most of it. If I wasn’t up to writing, I didn’t feel guilty. If I couldn’t blog as much, which I definitely couldn’t, it was okay. So I’ve learned, I think, to be more patient, to take my time, not work as much, get more sleep, and spend more time with friends and family. I love to write, and it draws me near to God when I do, but God wants me to find my joy in Him completely. I can’t do that if I’m in a hurry all the time. That means taking the time and not living under compulsion to accomplish something every single minute of the day. Psalm 46:10 says: “Be still and know that I am God.” God made me slow down, and to be honest, I think it’s made me a better person. I have more defined boundaries.

Instead of captioning seven days a week, I now caption only five and a half. I’m on a daily reading schedule to read through the Bible in a year. I went to see a movie with my prayer group, the first one I’ve been to in at least five years. My daughters and I have gone to three theme parks in the last couple of months. I’m learning how to live again and not work all the time. How does that translate into writing? I think it makes me more productive when I do write. I’m not so tired and not so drained. It’s hard to be creative when you’re working night and day, seven days a week.

Question:  Can you share a hint about what we might expect for the next book in the Seventh Dimension Series?

Lorilyn:  The final book, Seventh Dimension – The Howling, is written from Daniel’s POV and takes place in the future. All the characters that have been introduced in the previous books will make an appearance, including the animals. The fate of all the main players will be revealed, and the reader will be left with much to ponder as he contemplates his own future. I also promise this:  The ending will be glorious!

Question:  What are you reading now?

Lorilyn:  Currently I’m reading Gone Missing from Emma Right’s Dead Dreams Series, and when I finish that, I want to read The Landlord by Cheryl Colwell. I’ve read books by both Indy authors and like their style of writing. If readers have authors they love who write suspense, mystery, or fantasy, I hope they will leave their recommendations in the comments section below. If I see one I decide to pick up on Amazon, I’ll send him or her a free coupon for a Kindle copy of Seventh Dimension - The Prescience as a thank you. 

About the author:

Lorilyn Roberts graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama in 1993 with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities/Social Sciences. She won an award for "Outstanding Senior Project" upon graduation for her coursework that was done at the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem. Ms. Roberts received her Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Perelandra College and is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature. Follow her Facebook Fan Page, https://www.facebook.com/LorilynFanPage/, and visit her website, http://www.lorilynroberts.com

Nonfiction Book Review your fitness questions answered

Get the Skinny

Answers to 45 Frequently Asked Health & Fitness Questions

Kimberley Payne

copyright 2017

nonfiction

Health and Fitness

63 pp

$2.99 eBook

$5.99 Print

Buy Amazon US 

Amazon Canada 

Amazon Australia 

About the Book

Get The Skinny debunks the myths and promotes the practices that contribute to healthy living.

Kimberley tackles frequently asked questions such as:
* Does muscle change into fat when I stop exercising?
* Will lifting weights make women bulk up?
* Should I take vitamin supplements?
* Is a flat stomach a realistic goal?
* Can I still exercise after an injury?
* Should I take vitamin supplements?
* Is it possible to spot reduce fat?
* Can ankle weights help burn more calories?
* Are fresh fruits more nutritious than frozen?
* Is fruit juice good for me?

And many more

Lisa Lickel's Review

Wow, this is a great little book! I rarely get excited about non-fiction, but Kimberley Payne’s fitness books are packed with great advice and practical tips. Get the Skinny is an excellent addition. Filled with common-sense information and personal observation, Payne truly does answer, realistically, questions many of us feel too stupid to ask, or didn’t realize there was even an option.

Some of my favorites are about how muscle turns to fat when we age and stop working out (it doesn’t), and whether walking with weights makes a difference (it does but probably not in the way you think). Why can’t I spot-reduce, and how to buy a sports bra—just great advice, backed not just by the most reputable medical research results, but experience. Personally, I’m more likely to follow tips by someone who’s walking the walk; not just telling me how, but explaining why. Get the Skinny is a practical guide for today’s practical lifestyle choices.

About the Author

Kimberley Payne is a motivational speaker and writer. Her writing relates raising a family, pursuing a healthy lifestyle, and everyday experiences to building a relationship with God. Kimberley offers practical, guilt-free tips on improving spiritual and physical health. Visit her website www.kimberleypayne.com

Review of a personal memoir Bringing Hope by Debbie McKinney

Bringing Hope: A Disaster Relief Journey

Debbie McKinney

c. August 2017, eLectio Publishing

$4.99 EBook

$14.99 Print

Buy on Amazon

ISBN 978-1632134066

Memoir

About the Book

Sometimes the UNTHINKABLE happens!

When terrorists attack, tornadoes make homes disappear, or hurricanes have communities tumbling like building blocks, our hearts weep for those in need. With insight into a world most people are unaware of, Debbie McKinney brings us along on the true story of her volunteer adventures. Travel with her through both uplifting and emotionally challenging experiences. An engaging, honest, and heartfelt account of bringing hope to people after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, northern New Jersey flooding, and Hurricane Sandy. Her daily journals provide a unique view behind-the-scenes of what a volunteer does, experiences, and feels.

My Review

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like for those who drop everything and purposefully run into trouble, McKinney’s book is for you. The author was a long-time Red Cross volunteer with understanding bosses in her field of college administration who allowed her leave time to go and help. Although no one could respond to every disaster when called, and McKinney didn’t, she was part of the recovery efforts of some of the worst natural and man-made disasters in modern American history. Bringing Hope chronicles her time rendering aid.

McKinney shares how she became a Red Cross volunteer, a little history of the organization, and the typical responses in both her large urban community of Milwaukee, and the smaller, rural community in northern Washington County. Then she shares her personal journals and recollections from heart-wrenching major disasters such as the terrorist attacks on New York in 2001, and two of the formerly worst storms to strike American coasts.

The book is personal as well as matter-of-fact, a tell-it-like-it-was account of her role in the aftermath of tragedy. Not an immediate responder for the biggest disasters, McKinney was part of the team to go in a week or more after the event and help people mitigate their losses. Some were easy to take care of; most involved hours on the phone, deliberate decisions of how much money to give, where to find the basic necessities, or counselors, all while living away from family sometimes for weeks in situations little better than the victims.

McKinney’s story doesn’t end with her personal account, it’s a call for action, encouraging readers to respond by finding ways to help others where they are. Bringing Hope is a great story that will touch your heart, make you see red, cry, and laugh even when it feels as though things will never be the same.

About the Author

Debbie McKinney is an accidental author, convinced to share the journals of her volunteer experiences after 9/11 in Washington, D.C., Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, and Hurricane Sandy in New York. She grew up and began her twenty years of volunteering in Milwaukee. A former Financial Aid Director with a BA in Interpersonal Communication from Marquette University, McKinney currently lives in rural Wisconsin with her husband. She enjoys gardening, model trains, and traveling.

Literary Search for Truth book review Ilago Villroth

Ilago Villroth’s The Inconsistencies: A Comical Tragedy in Two Parts

Review

 

August, 2017

3.99 eBook

11.99 Print

I confess to reading this tale during a strange time in my life—newly set in a strange land in a home freshly built, so my review is strongly biased in this light.

Inconsistencies is surely that: if Kafka and Voltaire wrote together and had their essay edited by John Bunyan, perhaps part one, Confessions, would result. Augustine may not have been present much past Paris and the strange loss of a first love. It is a decades-long revision of a life of regret and experiment and more regret, and conclusion that something denied, God, is missing. Philosophical Confessions, then, becomes somewhat of a Pilgrim’s journey. Villroth’s principal narrator sets forth his reason in the opening: “This insignificant work of mine recounts my life’s Confession: all my terrible sins and failures are here told, as is my eventual journey toward Providence…my searching for and discovering Truth.”

Part two feels a bit like Ahab’s crew taking the Time Machine forward to a Brave New World with Robinson Crusoe, a land and culture well out of date and coherence, filled with characters all guiding the Pilgrim.

The Pilgrim’s last confession at journey’s end is that of repentance—“I destroy my altars! …let me repent, and so be converted, that I may be razed!”—before leaping into the watery depths to rejoin his long-lost true love.

This book is for readers who enjoy finding cues of theorists and philosophers, deists, visionaries in literature. Villroth explains his story is not necessarily “consistent”: both parts make up the whole, a cyclic story of realizing life is full of holes, many of which are self-inflicted, and the search for fulfillment. Highly literary, told in early nineteenth-century-enlightenment style.

Mattie's Choice book review with Gay Lewis

$4.99

$15.99

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble

Buy on Smashwords

About the Book:

It's 1925 in rural Oklahoma. A naïve seventeen-year-old Mattie chooses to elope with Jesse, leaving behind an ideal life with her wealthy and loving family. With hope for a happy future, she vows to stay with her husband through good times or bad, but the wonderful life Mattie dreams of is shattered by Jesse's abusive nature and his refusal to allow her to see her family.

When Jesse’s brother, Joe, brings home his new wife--the vivacious Ella--Mattie believes Ella is living the life Mattie prays to have with Jesse. As the years grow harder and Jesse and Mattie’s growing family struggles to survive The Great Depression, The Dust Bowl and illness, Jesse’s abuse worsens.

Life also unravels for Ella and Joe as he begins to abuse his wife. Ella makes the choice that Mattie has never considered.

Will Mattie keep her vow to stay with Jesse at the risk of her own life and the life of her children or will she leave him despite the vow?

A brief interview with the author

Gay, tell us what you love about this book.

I love the characters of Mattie and Ella. Mattie is naïve and blossoms as the book progresses. She was reared with wealth, but she wasn’t pampered. Her mother and father expected her to learn how to manage a household. She’s a talented cook and seamstress. Her problem? Well, she’s stubborn—almost to a fault. Her pride kept her from attempting a reconciliation with her father after she eloped against his wishes. Ella is eight years older than Mattie, and she’s much more sophisticated. Her parents died when she was young, but growing up, she too had an excellent work ethic. After the death of Ella’s parents, her aunt and uncle took her into their home in Galveston. She became a nurse, married and moved to Oklahoma with her husband. Her maturity and education gave her breaks that Mattie never had. She became Mattie’s mentor. Through her friendship, Mattie grew self-confidence. This book celebrates the life-long friendship of these two women.

Share two things you learned, either about the era, events, or publication process during the writing of this book.

Oh my! I learned so many. I’d known Frank Phillips created the oil company, Phillips 66, but I didn’t know he had also owned a bank in Bartlesville, OK. Phillip’s and Conoco merged into ConocoPhillips and are one company today. I love seeing how times and events evolve. I was surprised to learn Will Rogers raised $30,000 in Tulsa for the Red Cross during the Great Depression. People were starving, and these funds bought wheat to disperse to the hungry as well as to defray medical costs in hospitals. During the Great Depression, Oklahoma also experienced the Dust Bowl. Hospitals were overcrowded with starving, asthmatic folks. This money brought relief to them.

What did I learn about the publication process? I learned more than I can shake a stick at. I suppose the hardest lesson was how to present a controversial subject in Christian literature. Most people don’t realize that each genre has a formula with certain rules. For instance: no curse words in one, but that’s not difficult for me. No sex, and that’s easy to eliminate, but subjects such as divorce? Well, that horse has a different color. Divorce is red with horns. In other words, divorce is frowned upon in Christian novels. So is domestic violence.

Introduce us to the toughest character to write.

The toughest character to write was Mattie’s husband, Jesse Colby. I wanted to show he had a good side as well as the bad one. Was he a good person acting bad, or a bad person acting good?  He provided well, but he had skewed ideas of marriage and how to conduct himself as the “head of the house.” I wanted people to dislike him, but to also find a few qualities to admire. Maybe feel sorry for him a little even though they disliked him. We are all flawed, some more than others, and Jesse was definitely flawed. I wanted to show he loved Mattie, but he didn’t know how to express it. His warped ideas kept him from being the husband she wanted him to be as well as the one he wanted to be.

Lisa: I think you did that--but it was still hard to find anything redeeming about him.

You had a lot of ups and downs during the publication of this story. Would you like to share one or two of those moments and how you’re plunging through the rapids?

Yes!  Thanks for asking. Where do I begin? This book went through major transitions. It took me twelve years to write, two publishers and several editors. Prism, my original publisher, merged with Pelican Book Group while this book was under contract. The transition took extra time. And then there’s this: Editors don’t always agree with writers. Sigh. (hangs head in despair) Editors like to delete scenes that writers deem important. That happened in my case. At one point, I became exasperated—to the point of not caring if this ever book saw the light of day. I’m happy to say it did, but not without a lot of frustration on my part. And I know I caused consternation to those who worked with me too!

Lisa: It's hard to trust others with our visions - especially when you've had it so long.

Mattie’s Choice is a departure from Sarah the Love Angel. What led you to this story?

I admired my mother-in-law and my husband’s aunt. They are the inspirations to Mattie’s Choice. My mother-in-law lived with a controlling husband. He never physically hurt her, but he did emotionally. He refused to allow her to see family and wanted her pregnant.  This strong woman had fourteen pregnancies. Two miscarriages and one stillborn. If he hadn’t died when my husband was a child, I guess she would’ve had more children. He was a difficult husband, but she reared eleven children to become successful, God-fearing adults. She stayed positive during hard times. She did what I couldn’t do. I revered her and believe God blessed her with tenacity and determination. She stayed true to her convictions when most of us would have thrown in the towel.

What’s next for you?

I have the sequel written to Mattie’s Choice. It’s going by the title Rebecca’s Family Secrets. Rebecca was one of Mattie’s children. She came by way of adoption. This story is a romance and of course the mystery is the secret.  I’m in the process of fine-tuning it. This is a Christian story with no divorce or violence in it.

Lisa: I look forward to reading it. I was curious about her.

What are you reading now?

I’m reading Regency Romance right now. This is a time frame I never plan to write in.

Lisa: It's always good to read outside of our field. Enjoy!

About the author:

Gay N. Lewis

A native Texan, Gay lives in Fulshear, a small town west of Houston.  She loves to travel and engage in artistic ventures.  Two videos she produced —The Canadian Rockies, English and Japanese translations, and Psalms from the Mountains, sold well in international markets. Graphic skills kept her busy as a portrait photographer, and for over ten years, she used her imaginative insight in the interior design field.

As a pastor’s wife, she writes Faith Features for various church periodicals. She also writes articles for Texas Hill Country.  Gay is also a published author for Pelican Book Group in romance and fantasy fiction. Her current series is about a dyslexic angel who comes to earth to help humans, but Sarah, the angel, is more like Lucy Ricardo with humorous antics and bumbles.

All of the Sarah books have appeared on Amazon’s Best Seller’s List. The Sarah series is available in eBook format as well as print at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Pelican Book Group, and other book sellers. Some additions are available in Amazon Audible. Each book in the series is a standalone novel.

Her latest books, Mattie’s Choice, and Clue into Kindness are not fantasy and romance. These books are women’s fiction. The stories are about abusive men and women who are addicted to an unhealthy relationship.

The books are available in print, eBook, and audio.

For more information, please go to http ://gaynlewis.com/

Gay would love to have you see her video trailers and become a follower of her blog.

http://www.gaynlewis.blogspot.com

https://www.amazon.com/author/gaynlewis
www.facebook.com/GayNLewis and also on Twitter @GayNLewis2.

Sarah has her own Facebook page. Follow Sarah on Facebook@ Sarah Wingspand

Book Review Kimberly Miller Picking Daisy

Picking Daisy

Kimberly Miller

Christian Romance

Prism Book Group, Pelican Ventures LLC

September 2017

Print $15.99

Ebook $4.99

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

About the Book

Daisy Parker isn’t the woman that rock star Robby Grant would have imagined himself falling for. She’s soft-spoken, sweet, and lives by a strange code the struggling musician is recognizing as Biblical.

And he’s helpless against it.

Even if Daisy is hard-pressed to believe that a man like Robby would see her—a woman long forgotten by the rest of the world—as anything more than a step back to his career.
But Robby challenges Daisy in ways she’d long avoided.

With their mutual love of music, it seems nothing can separate them—not Daisy’s wheelchair or Robby’s ego.

As Robby grows into the man he’s long dreamed of being, Daisy dares to trust again. But will this sweet melody last?

My Review

A most worthy debut by Kimberly Miller. The story of a man who can’t grow up but has promise and a woman broken and abandoned by illusions of love was such an enjoyable read. I love it when I can invest in characters and want to hug them or smack them. Robby was so redeemable with the core of people who believe in him and real that I cheered for him from the start, seeing him through the eyes of his Uncle Nick, even though I wanted to dislike him and his immense ego. But contrasting him with Daisy of the title, a woman who hid behind a wheelchair while healing from life, made me realize that we should be proud and comfortable with who we are, not settle for but graciously accept the things we cannot change and come to a understanding with the aspects of ourselves that do need to be changed.

Told from both perspectives of the hero and heroine, the formula of romance, meeting head-on, and the wonderful conflict not of person but of morals makes for a refreshing twist in the standard tried and true genre. People you root for, a dilemma that could go several ways, too-good-to-be-true vicarious lifestyle of the rich and famous add up to one delightful take-me-away romantic read. While Daisy is obviously a paraplegic, there are no gruesome details about what it’s like to have to take care of a wheelchair-bound person. Daisy was strong and at ease, but there are things that have to happen that I wondered how Robby would deal with, even though he was chair-blind. He didn’t need Daisy to save him, and the author dealt naturally and organically with his faith-growth. Daisy, however, needed someone like him to force her out of her pity-party, and the two of them together were a glorious fit.

The side characters—Uncle Nick who was the instigation for the romance and remained largely out of the picture, Daisy’s friends, and Roby’s brother, and his bodyguard—were wonderful additions. I’m normally not a huge fan of companion stories, but would enjoy reading stories about any of these people. They were integral, integrated without being overbearing, and fleshed enough to hold the story together.

Wonderful job. I enjoyed the story thoroughly and recommend Picking Daisy for those who like slightly edgy but clean contemporary romance with characters who happily inhabit your heart and mind for a while.

About the Author

Kimberly Miller enjoys the seasonal weather in Pennsylvania with her husband, two daughters, and one ornery cat. She teaches writing and film courses, and in her spare time loves reading, watching movies, making jewelry, drinking coffee and eating one of God’s amazing gifts—chocolate and peanut butter.

Book Review Susan Karsten Regency Romance

A Match for Melissa

Susan Karsten

Inspirational Historical fiction—Regency romance

Prism, a division of Pelican Book Group

July 2017

eBook $4.99

Print $15.99

Buy on Amazon 

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

About the Book

Melissa Southwood goes along with her ambitious father’s matchmaking schemes until one event throws all into question.

Amidst balls, carriage rides, dinner parties, and danger, Melissa must navigate an arranged courtship as well as the attentions of another nobleman.

Which aristocratic suitor will win her heart?

My review

A very sweet and highly inspirational Regency romance. Karsten’s debut shows a true enjoyment of the historical era. The story comes from the nouveau rich who desire to be part of London’s elite at any cost—marrying into it, if no other way.

Melissa visits her former companion, now serving as housekeeper to her bachelor minister brother, and comes across a wounded man. They later meet again through their mutual desire to serve others. The wounded man is none other than Lord Russell, reluctantly stepping in to take over the manor at his brother’s death. His new responsibilities and near-death experience lead him toward a change of heart and new-found faith.

While Melissa’s father is determined to use her as a stepping stone into high society, she is determined to find a faith-filled soulmate. Lord Russell would like nothing better than to marry a soulmate as well, but first he has to stay alive.

Karsten’s tale is the first of a series, and is a multiple-character story with many twists and a large cast. I look forward to reading future books.

About the Author

Susan Karsten lives in a small Wisconsin town, is the wife of a real estate broker and mother of three, mother-in-law to one, and grandma to two baby boys. Her hobbies include fitness (mostly jogging with her friend, Sandy and her friend's dog, Millie), quilting (definitely taking a back seat to writing), and reading. Her love for writing developed while in college where she earned a BS degree in Home Economics, with a minor in Speech. Having home-schooled her children, and with child-rearing days at an end, Susan now invests time in writing fiction and working at a bank. With a contracted three-book Regency historical romance series, a humorous chapter book, and a cozy mystery complete, she is working on a Regency novella. Her personal blog can be found at Graciouswoman.wordpress.com.

Opposites on Steroids with Susan Baganz

Bratwurst and Bridges book review

Susan Baganz

Pastor Dan Wink has suffered his greatest loss. His best friend, Sharon, died a year ago. He’s ready to walk away from ministry…and life. But the men he’s ministered to over the years won’t let him. Sometimes accountability stinks! And the redhead next door, with her precocious, adorable children, brings up desires he thought had died with his wife.

Skye O’Connell has given up much to rescue herself and her kids from her ex-husband’s drug abuse. With a new career, she’s come to the Milwaukee suburbs to start over…but something about the enigmatic pastor who lives across the hall has her asking uncomfortable questions.

A man stuck in grief is challenged by a woman who is lost…can both find their way to life and love?

4.99 eBook

15.99 Print

Buy on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0744Z1CM2

Buy on BN - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bratwurst-bridges-susan-m-baganz/1126839502?ean=9781943104956

My review:

Opposites on steroids!

A man who’s so stuck in his inability to move forward and a young woman who’s trying to move past her bad choices end up across the hall from each other in a Milwaukee apartment complex. Fuzzy pink boots and two energetic kids frazzle the uptight pastor who recently lost his wife after years of being unable to have children. Coming to terms with being a forgiven daughter of the King makes the freewheeling artist wonder why she keeps falling for the wrong men. Surely a divorced woman who doesn’t play the piano is all wrong as a pastor’s wife.

Facing a life of imperfection creates strange company as two lost souls kindle friendship, support, a new sense of purpose and commitment. Then realize that two really are better than one, especially with Christ as their cornerstone.

Loving addition to the Orchard Hill series of contemporary romances. Readers new to the series will be able to perfectly follow this story; readers familiar with the characters will enjoy running into past friends. Sweet contemporary romance suitable for late teens on up. Told from two viewpoints.

About the Author

Susan M. Baganz chases after three Hobbits and is a native of Wisconsin. She is an Acquisitions Editor with Prism Book Group specializing in bringing great romance novels and novellas to publication. Susan writes adventurous historical and contemporary romances with a biblical world-view.

Susan speaks, teaches and encourages others to follow God in being all He has created them to be. With her seminary degree in counseling psychology, a background in the field of mental health, and years serving in church ministry, she understands the complexities and pain of life as well as its craziness. She serves behind-the-scenes in various capacities at her church as well as on the board of her local ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) group. Her favorite pastimes are lazy ones--snuggling with her dog while reading a good book, or sitting with a friend chatting over a cup of spiced chai latte.

You can learn more by following her blog www.susanbaganz.com, her twitter feed @susanbaganz or her fan page, www.facebook.com/susanmbaganz

Polly's Pink Piggy Parlor childrens lit

Polly’s Pink Piggy Parlor

Written and illustrated by Lisa Hainline

Children’s literature

Hardcover $18.99

Paper $14.99

Coloring book $8.99

Buy on Amazon 

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

About the Book:

Once upon a time, there was a piggy...with a comb.

Polly is a lovable pig who just wants to do what she loves to do, and would rather play with her dolls than play in the Mud. With the encouragement of friends, Polly ends up starting her very own beauty salon, to help her friends feel unique and beautiful in their own special way. Polly's Pink Piggy Parlor encourages young girls to not only look their best but to discover what their talents and giftings are and develop them…no matter what anybody thinks.

My review:

Polly is a most unusual pig. Instead of the usual mud play, Polly prefers to brush her dolly’s hair, and fix the coiffeurs of other farmyard and zoo animals. She helps her barnyard friend Sally who wants to be “hip” for her trip to town and encourages Polly to practice her talent. No creature was too difficult to beautify – from a fly to an elephant, Polly used her gifts, pampering the animals with their special requests, dyeing, plucking, curling, and even nail/claw treatments. She became so well known that she started her own beauty treatment parlor, the culmination of her hard work and dreams. The story encourages readers and listeners to follow their hearts and work to achieve their goals.

Charmingly illustrated in shaded pastels, Hainlines a/a, b/b, c/c, d/d rhyme scheme will be sure to have kids begging for another read. Accompanied by an outline coloring book, youngsters can color along while listening to their favorite reader. A unique addition to the story is “finders keepers,” a counting list of specialty items found in the illustrations to help Polly put her shop in order. Printable activity papers are available free to download from the author’s website, http://www.lisahainline.com/.

About the author

Lisa Hainline is an award-winning and gifted graphic designer, art director and illustrator, producing/directing for ad agencies, major corporations, radio stations, hospitals, banks, manufacturers, magazines and other small boutique businesses. 

With over 40 years in the advertising industry, for the past seven years, Lisa has turned her focus to helping other authors self-publish their works, designing some of the covers seen on Amazon. You can see her book cover design work at her studio www.lionsgatebookdesign.com, where she merges her design and marketing experience with her spiritual gifts to help Christian authors promote the message God laid on their hearts. 

Founder and author of http://www.thehealingsource.org, Lisa also ministers to the hurting through her blog, articles and praying with others in street ministry.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Lisa now enjoys the continual sunshine in California near her daughter and son-in-law and plans to bring more of her own books to the surface. You can reach Lisa at Lisa@lisahainline.com and through her websites above and at http://www.lisahainline.com and http://www.lionsgatebookdesign.com

Dan Burns and A Fine Line

A Fine Line (A Sebastian Drake Novel) by Dan Burns

“I don’t need the second shot . . . but you’re worth it.” Sebastian Drake

About the Book:

When a struggling author with a secret government past is hired by a wealthy philanthropist to investigate a cold murder case, he has no choice but to expose the dark and buried secrets of a powerful political family in Chicago.

Sebastian Drake is a novelist working out of a dilapidated apartment in the city who’s trying to come up with his next story idea. But he’s stuck.

Drake receives an unexpected visit from a man interested in hiring him for a project and who thinks he has just the solution to Drake’s writing challenges. He also thinks that Drake’s past and secret life with a shadow government organization is a valuable asset. His proposition to Drake is simple: become a hired agent to investigate a cold murder case involving one of Chicago’s most powerful political families. The job comes with a decent paycheck, all the support he might need, and the types of real life experiences that can form the basis for great fiction stories.

This is a story about a man with a new lease on life, who leads a dual existence. Behind his desk, he is an aspiring author. On the streets, he is a rogue undercover and unknown vigilante. His biggest challenge is keeping intact the fine line between reality and fiction.

Publisher: Chicago Arts Press

ISBN: 978-0-9911694-2-9 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-0-9911694-4-3 (E-Book)

Publication Date: June 6, 2017

Genre: Mystery

Website: www.danburnsauthor.com

Signed Copies AVAILABLE HERE 

Also available at Barnes&Noble, Amazon, and Independent Bookstores Nationwide

My Review

The premise of Burns’s thrilling detective story grabbed my attention. Sure, Sebastian Drake is almost a Sam Spade pulp-alike, a forties-era anti-hero for today, but honestly, how can you not love the wounded but capable man-of-few-words detective with a soft spot for his family? Who’s also an author!

Drake’s initial success has not led to the subsequent best-seller notice he needed to survive in the authorial world. His agent dug deep and found a contract for a book he has yet to complete. Time’s running out and he’s desperate. Unlikely help comes through his former secret life. His shadowy employer knows things Drake would rather not remember, but Drake is fascinated by the request to dig back into a long-cold mystery.

Drake’s hefty financial reward for a little detective work isn’t necessarily the main attraction to get his hands dirty once again. He’ll hopefully reap the material he needs to finish his novel—if he survives. Combing his acquaintances for help and returning to the scene of the crime as well as revisiting the original police files is not quite like old home week. Enemies and friends are suspiciously hard to differentiate. Drake slowly peels off layers of dust as well as fresh scabs from wounds both professional and personal, until the answers are bared.

Told through Drake’s perspective, readers are pulled into a side of Chicago off the tourist trail. A Fine Line is a tale of winners and losers, and the chance to move forward and find both retribution and redemption. Those who enjoy detective adventures, particularly set in a familiar town, will find much to like about this novel.

A Brief interview with the Author  

Dan, what do you love about this book?

What I love most about this book is the path I had to take to see the novel come to fruition. My protagonist, Sebastian Drake, appeared first in a short story, Letting Go, which I wrote back in 2012. My process for the story was simple: put him at a table in a coffee shop, have him meet a person from his past, and see what happens. When I finished the story, I learned a little about Drake—who he is and where he came from—and I thought that was the end of his story. But Drake would not leave me alone. He had more to say and forced me to develop his story further. So, I went back to work and wrote a screenplay for a feature film that put him in the middle of a cold murder case in Chicago. The process was exhilarating and fun, and again, I thought that was the end of the story. The screenplay received national recognition and won the Best Screenplay Award at the Naperville Independent Film Festival, and fans at the festival asked, “What’s next for Drake?” I thought about the question often, and it seemed to me that the story I told in the screenplay was not quite complete. I could not get the story or Drake out of my mind, so I forged on and developed the story as a novel. I love the book and the story, and through the process, I came to the realization that Sebastian Drake is a part of me. He’s taking the lead now, and his story is just beginning. Where he will take us is anybody’s guess.

Congratulations! What a great way to find a story.

Introduce us to the character you had the most fun creating.

I had the most fun creating Sebastian Drake because he needed to be a complex, conflicted, and sympathetic character. He also had to be different, with character traits, experiences, and skills that we haven’t seen in other mystery series characters. I feel I accomplished that objective. However, I also feel I’m just getting to know who he is and what he can become. He’s not a typical protagonist or hero—he’s really an antihero, since he lacks the conventional attributes of a heroic character. Drake continually walks the fine line between the past and the present, right and wrong, and reality and the fiction he writes. His life is an endless high-wire act, and there is no safety net.

In a mystery novel, there has to be a nasty character, an antagonist, and in A Fine Line, there are many of them. But I especially enjoyed developing the character of Jerry Fitzsimmons: “an older man, thin and gaunt, almost sickly looking.” “He’s always grinning, like a cat who just ate a mouse.” From his “thin lips pressed together like a cadaver” to his “yellow teeth,” I found I disliked him more with each sentence I wrote about him. He gives me the creeps, and he adds a necessary dimension and complexity to the story. Fortunately, Drake doesn’t care much for him either and effectively addresses all of Jerry’s issues.

Those are fun characteristics put together in a believable way!

Share two things you learned either researching or writing-related during the production of this book?

A Fine Line is a murder mystery set in Chicago. To make the story interesting and believable, I felt it was necessary to make the city a character and include details about the city that would pull the reader in, whether local or not. I grew up on the North Side, but the story had to take place in and around areas I didn’t know about, where I haven’t been—unknown places, darker places. The Chicago Police Department also plays a large role in the story, and I had to make sure I understood the hierarchical structure of the organization and the basics of police procedure, especially because there’s at least one character who doesn’t follow procedure.

In researching both topics, what I learned is that even though I have lived in the Chicago area for fifty-four years, there is so much I still don’t know. I find that realization fascinating. There’s always more to learn and experience, and I think Sebastian Drake will make sure my education continues.

Readers--take this and run with it! Explore your own community.

What are you reading now?

I just finished reading Speed the Plow, by one of my favorite writers and playwrights, David Mamet. I’m in the middle of a memoir by Oscar Levant titled, A Smattering of Ignorance. He was a talented musician, composer, actor, and writer, and I find his writing insightful and humorous. I used one of his quotes as the epigraph for my book: “There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.”

Dan, what's next for you?

I’m always juggling several projects. I recently completed a stage play script, Grace, and I’d love to produce it at a Chicago theatre. I am also continuing to write short stories and hope to have another story collection ready for publication next year. And Sebastian Drake continues to pester me. He has another story to tell, and together, we’re in the process of figuring out what that story is.

Theater is fun!

And I'm looking forward to seeing what trouble Drake gets into next.

Thanks for sharing about you and your work.

About the Author

Dan Burns is the author of the novels A Fine Line and Recalled to Life, and No Turning Back: Stories, the short story collection, He is also an award-winning writer of stories for the screen and stage. He resides with his family in Illinois and enjoys spending time in Wisconsin and Montana.

Author Website: www.danburnsauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/danburnsauthor/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/DanBurnsAuthor