Contemporary Fairy Tale for Today with Gail Pallotta and Give Away!

A fresh new look at Jack and the Beanstalk -

with a contemporary fantasy feel!

Read this sweet new novella from award-winning author Gail Pallotta

Gail is giving away TWO signed copies of her book. Tweet this post and comment to enter a drawing. Drawing will take place Oct 20 8 AM Central Time.

About the Book:
Mountain of Love and Danger

Jack Greenthumb finds romance in Fairwilde Kingdom—a different day—a different girl. Then a cruel mystery begins. Dad’s beaten, the family farm destroyed and Jack’s true love, Gwendolyn Bante, kidnapped. Jack’s undercover operation reveals Gwenie’s a captive atop a mountain accessible only by helicopter. Reaching her is a dangerous expedition even for a champion rock climber like Jack. However, a Greenthumb Acres employee plants a miraculous seed from Heaven for the rescue. Suspense mounts as Jack scales the perilous cliff to face a brute and a treacherous descent in this retelling of the fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk.

What motivated you to write Mountain of Love and Danger and how did you go about it?

An online friend asked me to participate in a fairy tale series with three other authors and her. Mine is the fifth and last in the Fairwilde Reflection Series novellas. As soon as I saw the words fairy tale, I thought of Jack and the Beanstalk. It seemed the story could lend itself to mystery and suspense, something I enjoy writing. I wanted a touch of romance, so I thought of giving Jack a girlfriend. Unfortunately, to facilitate the mystery, she had to be kidnapped and taken to the top of a mountain impossible to reach except by a helicopter. Then I needed a way to work in the beanstalk. I decided to make Jack’s father a plantation owner to provide a source for the plant. After that it was a matter of working out the details for the seeds, how and where the beanstalk grew. Of course, the kidnapper had to be a giant, a character named Burly Man. The part I hadn’t counted on----I knew nothing about mountain and rock climbing. I did lots of research and was able to get help from a friend who’s accomplished in both sports.

Gail, what do you love about it?

I love that it’s fantasy yet realistic enough for me to think it’s real while it’s happening. Also, the characters are fun because of who they are and what they say and do.

Introduce Jack.

Jack’s a good-looking guy from a well-to-do family, and he has gotten a brand new car. He enjoys the attention of many young ladies in Fairwilde, but he’s loved Gwendolyn Bante since grammar school. He also loves his mom and dad, and is devoted to them. When Gwenie’s kidnapped, his life changes in the blink of an eye from that of a carefree person getting ready to embark on college to one with the responsibility of rescuing her. At the same time, the family plantation has been vandalized and Dad’s in the hospital suffering from wounds from an attack. Thank goodness, Dad’s able to return home before Jack undertakes his perilous journey to find Gwenie. He’s a champion rock and mountain climber, so scaling a peak presents no problem. But he must call on skills and courage he never knew he had to find out which alp she’s on and bring her down unscathed.

What do you hope readers will tell other readers? 

I hope they’ll say Mountain of Love and Danger is a fun read with an uplifting message about caring for and helping one another. One person whose read the book said, “I enjoyed it because it took my mind off of everything that was bothering me.” That’s pretty cool too.

Buy on 

Amazon - 

Smashwords - 

Barnes and Noble

Read Lisa's Review here.

About the Author:

Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. She’s been a Sunday school teacher, a swim-team coordinator and an after-school literary instructor. A former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association, she won Clash of the Titles in 2010. Her teen book, Stopped Cold, was a best-seller on All Romance eBooks, finished fourth in the Preditors and Editors readers’ poll, and was a finalist for the 2013 Grace Awards. She’s published short stories in “Splickety” magazine and Sweet Freedom with a Slice of Peach Cobbler. Some of her published articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. Coming soon: Barely above Water from Prism Book Group. Visit Gail’s web site at http://www.gailpallotta.com.

Review of Mountain of Love and Danger by Gail Pallotta

Review for Mountain of Love and Danger

by Gail Pallotta

About the book:

Jack Greenthumb finds romance in Fairwilde Kingdom—a different day—a different girl. Then a cruel mystery begins. Dad’s beaten, the family farm destroyed and Jack’s true love, Gwendolyn Bante, kidnapped. Jack’s undercover operation reveals Gwenie’s a captive atop a mountain accessible only by helicopter. Reaching her is a dangerous expedition even for a champion rock climber like Jack. However, a Greenthumb Acres employee plants a miraculous seed from Heaven for the rescue. Suspense mounts as Jack scales the perilous cliff to face a brute and a treacherous descent in this retelling of the fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk.

Mountain Laurel Publishing (October 14, 2014)

E-book – 99 cents

P-book – 4.99

ISBN: 978-1502416452

Buy on Amazon

My review:

This sweet novella is a take-me-away moment of pleasurable reading. Retelling Jack and the Beanstalk for contemporary times, but with an obvious nod to a fantastical kingdom, the author has created a suspenseful romance.

Jack, the son of famed Greenthumb Acres, supplier of all vegetable in the kingdom, lives a fast-paced love em and leave em life, all the while anchored by his mostly patient true love, Gwenie. But even Gwenie has her limits when she sees him flaunting his new sports car with a girl in the passenger seat. To make it up to her, Jack treats Gwenie to dinner at the new restaurant on the hill. When Jack’s family enterprise is threatened by the thugs who now own the restaurant, Jack and Gwenie are embroiled in a plot to overthrow not only the Greenthumbs but Fairwilde Kingdom itself.

Jack must face reality and grow up or lose Gwenie for good when she disappears. Is Jack man enough to rescue his fair lady love? From atop a mountain? Which he must climb? Jack learns a valuable lesson in love and loyalty and family support in this delightful tale.

Told through both Jack and Gwenie’s eyes and recommended for those who enjoy shorter romantic reads with elements of danger and wonderful outlandish characters in a fantasy setting.

About the Author:

Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. She’s been a Sunday school teacher, a swim-team coordinator and an after-school literary instructor. A former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association, she won Clash of the Titles in 2010. Her teen book, Stopped Cold, was a best-seller on All Romance eBooks, finished fourth in the Preditors and Editors readers’ poll, and was a finalist for the 2013 Grace Awards. She’s published short stories in “Splickety” magazine and Sweet Freedom with a Slice of Peach Cobbler. Some of her published articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. Visit her web site at http://www.gailpallotta.com

Diamond Heiress with Ruth Roberts

When two bitter rivals….

One person stands between Brielle and her inheritance, Nicholas Trenton. If she fails to serve as CEO of Santorini Jewels, her grandfathers company, for one full year then everything goes to Nick, the company, her trust fund and her home, the only home she’s ever known. 
Nick doesn’t care about the money but he wants the company his father helped build. Now was his turn to run Santorini. Brielle isn’t qualified nor does she deserve the position of CEO, one way or another he will make sure she doesn’t run Santorini into the ground.

Are forced to run a multi-billion dollar company together…

Through a clash of wills they try to learn to work together for the benefit of the company. But when they can no longer ignore the attraction building between them will they give in to it or will it ultimately be the downfall of Santorini?

From the Prism Book Group.
Purchase on Amazon and Barnes and Noble - search Ruth Roberts.
Read my review of her first novella, Tender Triumph, here.


About the Author:
Romance novelist Ruth Roberts lives in the Big D, where city life abounds but where the wide open spaces of Texas can be easily reached. Her books transport readers to the glittering life of high-society, while making the characters normal, fun people we would all like to have as friends. She loves reading, writing and Gilmore Girls. She and her teenage daughter call themselves the real life Gilmore Girls. Her very own romantic hero of twenty years is her greatest inspiration and support. She loves hearing from fans so drop her an email at ruthrobertsromance-at-yahoo.com.
RuthRobertsRomance.com

Swept Away with Vanessa Riley

Author Vanessa Riley introduces her second Christian Regency Romance, Swept Away

About the Book:

Charlotte Downing, the Duchess of Charming, wants what she wants. Today, it's a fine pair of lacy slippers crafted by the renowned Ella's Establishment. To be picture perfect for her presentation to the queen, Charlotte will survive crashed ceilings and falling bricks. Yet, has she met her match in the conservative merchant, whose autumn colored eyes make her pulse race, especially when he says no. Caught between the glittering world of the Ton and the respectable profession of selling shoes, Edwin Cinder can't understand the lady's persistence or the fire lighting her blue eyes when she's challenged. With his lack of pedigree, there's no chance for this common God-fearing man to win her hand, but he'll risk all to save the duchess from the ravishes of a London gale. Swept Away is a Regency Retelling of Cinderella with a twist.

A brief Interview with the Author:

Vanessa, what do you love about this book?

Swept Away is a Regency version of Cinderella. Charlotte Downing, the Duchess of Charming, is a strong heroine trying to be as good as her father, the late Duke of Charming. The desire to be as good, an equal to any man, makes her very focused on emulating her father, and sometimes it makes her as pushy and as set in her ways.

I really loved creating a bold, but flawed heroine. She is trying to find her way and of course, she makes mistakes. Yet, Charlotte has the heart of a fighter and when she has a chance to save herself, she can't walk away and risks all to wield an ax to save the hero. She's very different, and that's why I like her.

Share something unique we won’t learn from your website about this story.

My critique group and I developed the idea to do a series of retold fairy tales centered around a place called Fairwilde. Our collection spans over 200 years. It was very interesting to see how each of us incorporated that theme into the stories.

What was your inspiration from this book?

My inspiration for this book was to do something different and set it  in my beloved Regency. The first twist was to make Cinderella, a mister. Once I started tweaking the basic plot, I couldn't stop. So my Cinderella, Edwin Cinder, is not a pauper, but a wealthy shoe merchant. Though he's rich, he's not a gentleman. That status leads to problems with him fitting in to pedigreed classes and his needy stepfamily.

Stepfamily issues aside, he's the fellow trying to make sure everyone else is taken cared of, even at his own peril. Mayhem, romance and crashing ceilings commence in the madcap tale, as the duchess and the shoe merchant have to work together to survive.

Tell us something you learned while working on this particular project.

I loved researching storms and gales that affected London during the 1800's. Reading actual newspaper accounts of the aftermath helped to picture how devastating these weather events were.

Thank you so much for having me.

~Lisa: My honor!

About the Author:

Even as she pursued engineering degrees, Vanessa Riley's love of 19th century history yielded a hunger to take as many Western Civilization credits as possible (two classes shy of a minor). Vanessa adores Regency times with its conflicts between Church and State, the clash of the classes, and the sweeping romances. Her mission is to have the world fall in love with powerful Regency heroes and heroines who battle for peace with a flintlock and a prayer. Vanessa writes from the comfort of her southern porch with a cup of Earl Grey or Cinnamon Spice.

~ ~ ~

For more information about Vanessa, visit her website.  

Purchase Swept Away at:

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

DEEPER SHOPPING

On Tour With Trina Bresser Matous

Book Title: Paul’s Letters to the Early Church

Trina Bresser Matous

ISBN: 1941103421

Publisher: Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas

Genre: Christian, non-fiction, devotional

Release Date: Sept 2014

Available in hard copy, Kindle and Nook 

              

About the Book: Reading and studying Paul’s letters can be a daunting task. Verses often require a great deal of study, prayer, and meditation in order to gain an adequate understanding. But don’t lose heart! God reveals His Word to those who earnestly seek Him (Jer. 29:13). Paul’s Letters to the Early Church is designed to assist you in your relationship with God, help you understand difficult passages, shed new light on familiar verses, and gain an appreciation for statements made within the confines of ancient cultural practices. You will learn about Paul and his intense desire to see both Jews and Gentiles not only know about the work of his Savior, Jesus Christ, but also personally experience the love, grace, mercy, and redemption offered by the Father through the sacrifice of the Son. As you learn more about the history and purpose of each verse, you will find yourself growing in wisdom and knowledge.

Brief Interview with Trina

Trina, what do you love about this book? I love this book because God opened doors for the Christian Living Bible Study Series to be written, not because I set out to write a book.

For several years, my church encouraged the body to read through the Bible in a year, and asked me to write notes to accompany the daily reading schedule. The notes included background information, definitions, explanations of ancient cultural practices, cross-references to applicable scripture, historical context, and modern day application. Our members loved the notes. Fifty to 100 copies would be taken off the racks every Sunday. People frequently expressed their appreciation when a reference helped them understand what they were reading.

After I finished writing the notes, my husband and I attended a writer’s conference where I met Eddie Jones of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. That was the birth of the Christian Living Bible Study Series.

I had no idea when I started writing these notes for my church that God had much bigger plans than I could see at that moment.

What do you hope readers will tell other readers about it? I hope that readers will tell others readers that this book is a great tool for deepening their faith through comprehension not just of God’s word, but also of His immeasurable love. My hope is not just that readers would gain more knowledge, but that they would also fall more and more in love with God the Father who loves us beyond what we can imagine, God the Son who sacrificed His life to pay the penalty for our sins and God the Holy Spirit who empowers us with love and grace.

Please share two things you learned during the writing and publication process about your topic or yourself. Over and over in the Bible, we are encouraged to seek and do God’s will. Yet a frequent question by the participants of Bible studies I’ve been involved in is, “What is God’s will for me?” I have asked the same question more than once myself.

This project turned out to be bigger than I ever imagined when I was first asked to consider taking it on. As I look back at all the steps involved in first writing the series and then bringing it to print, I can clearly see God leading the way. Today I am more certain of God’s will for me than I ever have been. What I have learned from the experience is that we often don’t know where God is leading when He first calls us, but if we are obedient to taking the next step He is calling us to, we may find He uses us in ways we never would have imagined.

I have also learned that God does not call us to a particular project or ministry and then leave us to fumble through on our own. He provides just what we need when we need it.

When I initially wrote this for my church, I was working on a weekly deadline. I write best during the day, yet on a couple of occasions God gave me the attentiveness and focus I needed to write late into the night to meet the deadline. More recently during the proofreading process, I submitted several pages of changes. When I received the corrected copy back, all but one of the changes had been made. A closer look at the change that was not made showed that a more expansive change was needed.. Had God not prevented that one change from being made, the book would have gone to print with a confusing error.

I have loved God’s involvement in this entire process and so appreciate all He has been teaching me through it. 

About the Author: Trina Bresser Matous has a Masters of Arts in Christian Ministry from Ashland Theological Seminary and is a passionate Bible teacher and writer. For over 20 years, she has shared Biblical truths in compelling and memorable ways as a Bible study leader and a member of the Restorative Prayer Team at her church. Her three week, 2,400 mile trip through Turkey in a rental car visiting historic sites including Istanbul, Ephesus, Cappadocia, Haran and Antioch, as well as two trips to Israel’s holy sites bring reality to Trina’s teaching and writing. Additionally, Trina is an avid birder, loves to cook, travel, work in her garden, and knit, especially lace. She and her husband live in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.

Contact Information

·   Website: http://www.christianlivingbiblestudy.com

·   Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/TBresserMatous

·   Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/1/+TrinaBresserMatous/posts

·   Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/8338491.Trina_Bresser_Matous

·   Twitter: @TBresserMatous 

Writer's Digest Dear Lucky Agent contest open through October 17

17th Free “Dear Lucky Agent” Contest: Women’s/Upmarket Fiction

Welcome to the 17th (free!) “Dear Lucky Agent” Contest on the GLA blog. This is a recurring online contest with agent judges and super-cool prizes. Here’s the deal: With every contest, the details are essentially the same, but the niche itself changes—meaning each contest is focused around a specific category or two. So if you’re writing women’s fiction, this 17th contest is for you! (The contest is live through EOD, Friday, Oct. 17, 2014.)

WHY YOU SHOULD GET EXCITED

After a previous “Dear Lucky Agent” contest, the agent judge, Tamar Rydzinski (The Laura Dail Literary Agency), signed one of the three contest winners. After Tamar signed the writer, she went on to sell two of that writer’s books! How cool! That’s why these contests are not to missed if you have an eligible submission.

HOW TO SUBMIT

E-mail entries to dearluckyagent17@gmail.com. Please paste everything. No attachments.

WHAT TO SUBMIT

Your query letter, as well as the first 150-200 words of your unpublished, completed book-length work of adult women’s fiction. You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with each entry.

Please note: To be eligible to submit, you must mention this contest twice through any any social-media. Please provide a social-media link or Twitter handle or screenshot or blog post URL, etc., with your official e-mailed entry so the judge and I can verify eligibility. Some previous entrants could not be considered because they skipped this step! Simply spread the word twice through any means and give us a way to verify you did; a tinyURL for this link/contest for you to easily use is http://tinyurl.com/of5zgqz. An easy way to notify me of your sharing is to include my Twitter handle @chucksambuchino at the end of your mention(s) if using Twitter. If we’re friends on FB, tag me in the mention. And if you are going to solely use Twitter as your 2 times, please wait 1 day between mentions to spread out the notices, rather than simply tweeting twice back to back. Thanks. (Please note that simply tweeting me does not count. You have to include the contest URL with your mention; that’s the point. And if you use Twitter, put my handle @chucksambuchino at the middle or the end, not at the very beginning of the tweet.)

Here is a sample tweet you can use (feel free to tweak): New FREE contest for writers of women’s fiction http://tinyurl.com/of5zgqz Judged by agent @PaulaSMunier - via @chucksambuchino

WHAT IS ELIGIBLE?

Women’s fiction (also called upmarket fiction when dealing with women’s stories). If you’re wondering what falls into this genre specifically, this is how our agent judge explains it: “These are stories that revolve around women, women’s roles as mothers, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters, caregivers, friends, community leaders, etc., and a woman’s place at home, at work, and in society at large. They are for the most part domestic dramas. What separates them from love stories is that the heroine’s relationships with her friends and family are as important if not more important to the storyline as her love relationship. These stories explore women’s relationships—with each other, with men and children, with the world, and with herself. The themes are those that strike a chord with women: love, family, friendship, sisterhood, motherhood, self-actualization, and what it means to be a woman in the world, past, present, and future.”

CONTEST DETAILS

This contest will be live through the end of Oct. 17, 2014, PST. Winners notified by e-mail within approximately three weeks of end of contest. Winners announced on the blog thereafter.

To enter, submit the first 150-200 words of your book as well as your one-page query. Shorter or longer entries will not be considered. Keep it within word count range please.

You can submit as many times as you wish. You can submit even if you submitted to other contests in the past, but please note that past winners cannot win again. All that said, you are urged to only submit your best work.

The contest is open to everyone of all ages, save those employees, officers and directors of GLA’s publisher, F+W Media, Inc.

By e-mailing your entry, you are submitting an entry for consideration in this contest and thereby agreeing to the terms written here as well as any terms possibly added by me in the “Comments” section of this blog post. (If you have questions or concerns, write me personally at chuck.sambuchino (at) fwmedia.com. The Gmail account above is for submissions, not questions.) 

PRIZES!!!

Top 3 winners all get: 1) A critique of the first 10 double-spaced pages of your work, by your agent judge. 2) A free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com ($50 value)!

Follow the contest page link to meet the Lucky Agent Judge for 2014.

The Right Ingredients by Nancy Shew Bolton

The Right Ingredients

 by Nancy Shew Bolton

Missing the right ingredients for a life of joy, a young baker learns lessons in the true recipe for love.

About the Book:

Ann’s hectic work responsibilities demand all her time and effort, and what was once a useful, satisfactory life has become a burden. Her bakery partner Susan has lost none of her enthusiasm for their business, and Ann can’t understand her exuberance, or her friend’s Christian faith. So she trudges along, hiding her dissatisfaction from Susan, resigned to a life of work, sleep and problems.

Unexpected comments offered by two different people cause a crack in Ann’s armor and her thoughts careen into unexpected directions. Attention from a young widower with a son challenges Ann’s resolve to stay safe and uninvolved. Susan’s example of faith through trial furthers Ann’s curiosity about God. Ann must choose to step toward the unfamiliar freedom of giving and receiving love, or stay in the shadows, stuck in the grip of past hurt and long-standing barriers.

Buy links:

Amazon: To buy on Amazon

Barnes and Noble: To buy on Barnes and Noble

Smashwords: To Buy on Smashwords

Prism Book Group: Prism Book Group

Nancy, introduce us to the main character.

Ann is a twenty-five year old woman who has operated a cake shop for the past 4 years with her best friend. The shop is now constantly busy, and Ann is overwhelmed by the pace, and by the bleak monotony of her life. As a teenager, she was overweight, had braces and was teased and traumatized by boys. She was also terrorized about dating by watching her two older sisters go through extreme dating turmoil. As an already shy introverted person, she decided to stay out of any romantic relationships. She wanted to be an artist, but her family of educators discouraged her from pursuing such an unstable profession. So, she is stuck in an unfulfilling existence, which now begins to change under God’s gentle prompting, and a meeting with a widowed father of a four-year old boy.

What do you love about the book? 

I love the way Ann inches toward change in her life. I find her caution endearing, as well as her sensitivity and tender heart. I love the sweet, intense romance between her and Tom, and the charming personality of four-year-old Jesse. I really love the characters, primary and secondary!

About the Author:

Nancy Shew Bolton is a wife of 41 years, mother of five grown sons, and grandmother to a boy  and girl. Ever since she learned to write, she would jot down her thoughts and impressions in little snippets of inspiration in the form of poetry, song lyrics, or short essays. About six years ago, she decided to try her hand at writing a full length book. She’s since written five works of fiction, two non-fiction, and is working on an idea for a children’s book, as well as more fiction manuscripts. Writing a full-length work is much more challenging than she thought, and she has received so much valuable assistance from other writers, especially from the ACFW critique groups. Her husband has been supportive of her long hours spent at the keyboard. Many thanks to her beloved Johnny! And now she’s under contract with Prism Book Group with a novel set to be released in September 2014! What a journey! She thanks God and His Son for her life, her loved ones and the spark of creativity inside every person. She believes each person is a unique creation, with their own special voice and place in this amazing universe. God’s handiwork amazes her every day!  

Connect with Nancy:

http://boltonnancy.com/

On Twitter

The Diamond Mine group blog

On Facebook