This Month's Clash Champ: Congrats to One Thursday Morning and T.K. Chapin!

Congratulations to T.K. Chapin

and his novel

One Thursday Morning

for taking home this month's Clash crown!

PURCHASE ON Amazon

About the book:
Running not only for her own life, but that of her unborn baby, Serenah moves across the country to a little town outside of Spokane Washington called Newport. It's here she'll begin to build a new life and go by a different name in the hopes of staying hidden from her abusive husband John. Can Serenah find happiness in her new life? Or will the past eventually catch up to her?

From the best-selling Inspirational Christian Romance Author T.K. Chapin comes a story of love, faith and passion that will keep your fingers turning the page to see what happens next.

One Thursday Morning is book one in the Diamond Lake Series by T.K. Chapin.

What Voters had to Say:

Thank you T.K. Chapin for providing real life in your books.

I really like books by T.K.Chapin, Because he writes with a theme of religion and hope. I especially like One Thursday Morning.

Excellent story. I have also read Friday Morning. Good story line Makes me feel like I am at the Lake with them.

T.K. Chapin, I was enticed by the beautiful cover and description of the novel, One Thursday Morning. Can't wait to read it.

I love your stories. Very enjoyable, heartwarming and inspiring. Keep them coming,

I enjoy finding new authors and found T.K. Chapin's writing adding to my authors' list.

I think "One Thursday Morning" by T. K. Chaplin will be one popular book. I love the plot and can't wait to read it.

I love to read and discover new authors. T.K. Chapin is quickly becoming a favorite! He tackles tough topics, and tells the story in such a way as to keep you interested. Ups and downs, twists and turns, T.K. knows how to keep the plot line tight and the story believable and uplifting.

Sounds like a good book. I hope you have a great career!

Keep writing. It helps me escape my everyday life.

TK - love your writing and your interest in your reader's lives.

I love TK CHAPIN books!

Have a blessed week, everyone!

From your friends at Clash of the Titles!

Crystal Stuart from Time Trap by Danele Rotharmel

An interview with Crystal Stuart

Character from Time Trap by Danele J. Rotharmel

Today, I’m talking with Crystal Stuart, a lab technician from the Temporal Counseling Program at National Science University. Crystal, I’ve heard that there’s an emergency at TEMCO. Can you confirm that two cadets have been kidnapped and that Director Peter Matthews and Dr. Laura Nelson have been sent through a time portal to investigate?

I’m sorry, Lisa, but I’m not at liberty to say. Commenting on the current situation could be extremely dangerous. As you know, TEMCO deals with time travel, and if we don’t handle things with extreme caution, the entire timeline could be jeopardized. I’m sure you understand.

Yes, I do. Let’s change topics. Marc Kerry, a professional time counselor with the TEMCO program, has become a popular figure in Washington D.C. Is it true that you’re dating him?

Wow! I’m not sure how that particular rumor started. Marc and I have never dated. Our interactions have been rocky, to say the least. In fact, we didn’t even speak to each other for four years. In the past, I wouldn’t even classify us as friends.

You said “in the past.” Have things changed recently?

Well… Lately, we’ve gotten along better. I used to think that Marc was pretty egotistical, but I’ve discovered that he’s actually a very nice man with an extremely kind heart. I’ve been told that we’ll be working together in the future. I’m looking forward to it.

Would you be willing to date him?

I can’t deny that Marc is extremely handsome. Nor can I deny that I like him now. But, Lisa, look at me! I’m not his type at all. He always goes for glamorous, gorgeous girls. I’m just a lab tech with big glasses. He’s out of my league, and I know it. It’s nice of you to think I could catch his eye, but we’re not living in a fantasy dreamland. Things like that just don’t happen in real life.

What would you say if I told you that I’ve heard he’s attracted to you?

I wouldn’t say anything, Lisa. I’d just laugh. If your sources told you that, you may need to check them for accuracy. You know that I enjoy crunching numbers, and I’ve run the statistics. Statistically, there’s less than a 7.8 percent chance of Marc asking me for a date.

You may be surprised.

Possibly, but not likely. I deal with facts, and it’s a fact that I’m not Marc’s type. Gracious! It’s also a fact that I’m late! It’s been a delight talking with you, Lisa, but I need to get back to the lab. I can’t talk about TEMCO’s current situation, but it’s extremely urgent. I’m sorry, but I have to go.

I understand. Thanks for speaking with us, Crystal. Best wishes with the current situation.

About Time Trap:

When problems arise during a field exam, Director Peter Matthews and Dr. Laura Nelson are sent through a time portal to investigate.  While they search for their missing cadets, they encounter an enemy who is calculating and brutal—a mysterious nemesis who is holding a grudge against the TEMCO program.  As Peter and Laura race to unravel clues directing them to their kidnapped cadets, their own survival comes into question.  A deadly trap has been set, and they are forced to pit their wits against a serial killer who is intent on playing a deadly chess game through time itself. 

Prism Book Group

$3.99 eBook

$16.99 Print

Buy on:

Amazon

Barnes& Noble

About the Author

Danele Rotharmel grew up with a love of the literary word, and by age five, she knew she wanted to be a writer. However, her life took an unexpected turn when a mysterious illness brought her close to death. Eventually, she learned that a low-level carbon monoxide leak from a faulty furnace in her home was slowly poisoning her. This poisoning triggered severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and partial amnesia.

      

During this time, the hardest thing she faced was a crisis of faith. She had to quit her job and stop going to church. She couldn’t write, couldn’t drive, and could barely remember who she was. To say she was upset with the Lord was an understatement. She began reexamining her faith in light of her illness, and eventually, she came to the firm conclusion that God is real, God is good, God is interested and involved, and God is trustworthy regardless of tragedy.

      

When her illness became even more severe, she was put into quarantine and could only talk to friends and extended family through the glass of a window. This quarantine lasted for seven years. During this time, she wrote the first six books in The Time Counselor Chronicles.

      

Danele currently lives in Colorado where she continues to write. Although her journey back to health was long and difficult, it provided her with the opportunity to grow closer to God and to write her books. For that, she is forever thankful. You can learn more about Danele by visiting https://dragonflydanele.wordpress.com/

Connect with Danele:

Testimony: https://dragonflydanele.wordpress.com/welcome/

Books: https://dragonflydanele.wordpress.com/my-books/

Cuban Christian reflections by Roberto Ornan Roche

The Lighthouse of Asaph

Roberto Ornan Roche

Every year, with the arrival of terrible and threatening hurricanes to the Caribbean, I lose both sleep and joy, fearing that the strong winds might destroy the trees that my father planted almost forty years ago. Already some have been blown down, but others remain, and these trees are among my fondest memories of him. I can recall many occasions when my mother and I were by the door, praying, while the destructive winds outside continued to roar.

When I think of such things, I feel that our faith is like those trees, nurtured by other people. At the same time, new trees are starting to grow, like fresh ideals and good deeds, and perhaps some of these spring up from the seeds that have been stored in those old, demolished trees.

The most important thing in my book is always to discover a new way to rescue faith in the midst of the pain that exists all around.

Buy the Book on Amazon

eBook .99

Paperback 6.50

ISBN-13: 978-0987901118

132 pp

My review

It’s refreshing and energizing to read about the development of a faith life from a different perspective, one that comes from a different culture in another arena. I am too comfortable in my lifestyle and I need to step outside that zone on occasion to truly appreciate what I have been given.

Roche’s joy, fear, and desire to grow and practice his faith glow from the pages. Told through anecdotes, personal revelation, stories of meeting people on the streets where they are, and reflections on Bible verses and stories, such as that of Job (Our Job does not have a story to be told because we spend all day long rejecting it.), The Lighthouse of Asaph will give Christian readers pause. Am I living to my potential where I am, here and now? Roche will help you answer that question as you walk with him in his life as a Cuban Christian living in a land that long despaired yet retained pockets of joy.

About the Author

Roberto Ornan Roche, a Christian writer from Cuba, is an internationally recognized author with stories published in English and Spanish. His book, A Lighthouse of Asaph, is a story collection capturing the emotions and longings of a Cuban heart. The stories were written in an attempt to reconcile the author’s life of faith with a society that discourages it. Born out of fear and sadness, sadness from praying for dreams that were never realized, A Lighthouse of Asaph is a book to encourage you and help you find meaning in your circumstances.

http://unforgettablereflections.com

August 2016 CLASH! vote through Aug 30

Hot! Hot! Hot!
Vote for your Fave!

Scroll through these FOUR new releases and cast your vote for the one you'd pick up first to read.

I know it's hard!

Fight for Liberty by Theresa Linden

Prompted by the inner voice that has guided her for years, Liberty is compelled to bring the freedom she now possesses to others suppressed by the all-controlling government. While unsure of how to carry out this mission, she is willing to risk all to accomplish it.
~~~~~~

An Elegant Facade by Krisit Ann Hunter

Lady Georgina Hawthorne has worked tirelessly to seal her place as the Incomparable for her debut season; with money and business connections, but without impeccable bloodlines, Colin McCrae is invited everywhere but accepted nowhere. As their paths continue to cross, they both must decide if the realization of their dreams is worth the sacrifices they must make.
~~~~~~

Defying Shadows by Ashley Townsend

Sarah travels back to the twelfth century and discovers that a ghost from her past has returned to Serimone, intent on changing the future. Time is quickly running out to stop him, and her life is put on the line as she must decide between returning to the safety of her world, and entrusting her future with a hero of the past as they attempt to save history.

~~~~~~

One Thursday Morning by T.K. Chapin

Running not only for her own life, but that of her unborn baby, Serenah moves across the country to a little town outside of Spokane Washington called Newport. It's here she'll begin to build a new life and go by a different name in the hopes of staying hidden from her abusive husband John.

~~~~~~

VOTE HERE!

If you have trouble viewing the entire survey, August 2016 Clash Survey click here to load a dedicated page to the survey

.

Susan Baganz and The Baron's Blunder Regency Romance

We're up to Book Number 10 in the Love Is series!
In a departure from contemporary romance, author Susan Baganz gives us a charming Regency read.

Enjoy! Love does not delight in evil, I Corinthians 9:

About the Book:

The Baron’s Blunder

“Love does not delight in evil …” 1 Corinthians: 13:6

Fighting evil has been a hobby, but fending off marriage-minded women—a chore. 

Lord Charles Percy fends off a highwayman robbing a carriage in broad daylight. Noting that he’s rescued a debutante, he lies about his title claiming to be a mere mister. But the Honorable Henrietta Allendale is suspicious that something is false in spite of his act of heroism on her behalf. She didn’t need a man to fight her battles. So why can’t she stop thinking about him? 

Meeting again in London, Lord Percy begins to enjoy the verbal sparring with the intrepid young woman and his heart is soon captivated as well. But he’s playing a deep game and her presence in his life puts hers at risk. When a successful rescue results in possible scandal, the baron’s biggest challenge will be to convince the marriage-adverse young woman that his love is true. 

Ebook: $2.99

Bundled print coming soon

Buy on Amazon

My Review:

Charming and delightful…and sinister and layered. On the outside, Henri tries to be the lady of repute her upstanding family deserves. But her country deserves so much more, and there must be something she can do to protect the innocent. Who would suspect a high-ranking woman playing such a dangerous game? Certainly not a dodgy character who keeps her from using her pistol to defend herself.

Henri, who can take care of herself, thank you, learns her rescuer misrepresented himself, and acquainted with her brother to boot, sinking her opinion of him lower than low. But when her innocence combined with hotheadedness gets her in trouble, the game shifts. She’s offered a choice that will allow her to continue her service to her country on one condition, dependent on overcoming her opinion of the baron who blundered upon first acquaintance.

Sweet story of first impressions and misconceptions working together and adding up to a greater cause. Told in alternating viewpoints, the story is fast-paced and true to the historical style this author excels in. Watch for her upcoming Regency series.

You would think the author of countless romance stories would find it easy to write one out of her own life. But it’s not.

Growing up, I would walk home and look up to heaven, spin around, and wonder if God was taking my picture. Did He care for my overly-sensitive, hurting and lonely heart? All a teacher had to do was look at me wrong and I’d burst into tears until sixth grade when I learned to hide my pain.

The sweetest love story is when, after years of sensing God’s call to me, I finally understood that I could respond. That he was waiting for me to do so! James 4:8 says “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (NASB)” Really? He wasn’t some distant King high on a thrown beyond my reach. I first came to understand this at a Campus Life/Youth for Christ meeting.

For weeks I had begged some friends to let me come to a meeting. They seemed happy. They had something I didn’t. And they would go to concerts for groups like . . . Petra, who I had never heard of. Finally, I was invited and we had a conversation about misconceptions people had about Christianity. I was raised knowing about God and taught to fear Him, so I was fully engaged in the conversation. Then the biggest misconception hit me—that people didn’t understand that they could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Whoa. Really?

I prayed right then and there and my entire world shifted.

I went out and bought a Bible and started devouring it. Opposition came but I clung to Christ. To a hurting, lonely fifteen-year-old, the fact that the God of the universe wanted me—Me?—was a huge revelation. When depression plagued me, I was told I was trying to manipulate people. The only reason I never attempted to take my life was because of the love of God.

Thirty-five years have brought me through many trials and triumphs, deep pains and sweet moments. God has been there by my side through all of it. I wish I could say that I’ve been as faithful to Him as He has been to me. It’s hard when people have wounded me deeply to trust the God who allowed it to happen. Yet I wouldn’t be here without Him. He’s led me, grown me, matured me . . . and I’ve learned that in Him I have more strength than I could ever have on my own. Some trials I look back on in wonder at how I was able to respond the way I did. That couldn’t have been me, could it?

Only God.

Through abuses, betrayals, heartache, He has been my constant. My one true love. When I write my romances my hope and prayer is that at some level the reader will understand the love of God that underlies the journey’s my characters take.

God is faithful. He has never abandoned me. The fact that He gives me the opportunity to put some of those experiences into my stories to bless others is just another example of His love for me.

  

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. Visit http://susanbaganz.com

Prepare for your Christmas list with short fiction from Victoria Minks

Wind Chimes: Christmas Story Collection

Victoria Minks

Buy on Amazon 

ebook .99

paperback: 9.99

Anthology of Christmastime short stories

Christmas is a day of forgiveness, love, God, and family, no matter where you live or when you lived. These stories will take you somewhere long ago, and yet much like today.

With a touch of humor and a family-loving gentleness, these stories carry all the hope of Christmas. 


The Wind Chimes-- Still bitter over a hurtful mistake a year ago, Martin Roebuck meets the despised doctor on Christmas Eve.

The Two Runaways-- Lost while running away from home, Albert Russell is taken in by an old man, who seems to also have past grievances.

On the Fourth Floor-- Though living on the same floor, George Nolan and Christin Rimmers overlook each other-- until a common challenge brings them together the night before Christmas Eve.

The Spinster-- Wanting to avoid Christmas loneliness, Milly Lambert finds herself in the cabin of an old woman who holds a wise secret.

The Broken Man-- Criminal Arch Fisher attempts to take advantage of a kindly old settler in the woods, but things go miserably awry.

Winifred's Adventure-- Elderly couple Amias and Winifred Hambly--eager for an uncommon life--discover a dying mother the day before Christmas.

My review:

I learned of this young author through a review opportunity for her second book titled Jonas and Olivia http://livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-fiction-from-victoria-minks.html. Minks has a lovely sense of story and fluid, mature writing style which can only grow better the more she practices and grows her craft. I love short stories and enjoyed each of the six Minks put together for a historical Christmas anthology. The stories take place in America and England.

The stories are described well. Each is layered in motivation and ethics, with a sense of moral minority under skirting each theme. Even though the author will continue to advance in mechanics, I was awed by the character development in each little bite of story, the natural dialog and her ability to set place and time. Well done. Enjoy this book and watch for more work from this author.

About the Author:

Victoria Minks was born in Oklahoma but moved to Japan as a missionary kid at age 3. Since then, she has enjoyed the life of a foreigner in four different locations in Japan and has traveled all across America twice with her family.

She was saved at age 5 and is surrendered to doing whatever God wants her to do in her life. She is excited about the future, looking forward to see what God will do. 

An avid bookworm ever since she can remember, she has cultivated a desire for telling stories since a young age, and still has hordes of old manuscripts from her first 15 years of life that she's too embarrassed to show anybody but too sentimental to throw out. 

When she was 16 she began the first novel she decided was going to get published, whatever the cost. Since then she has written multiple more books, all in various stages of the process to publication. A self-taught Jack-of-all-trades, she takes pleasure in learning how to web design, format books, create book covers, edit, market, budget, and finance everything. 

Homeschooled by her mum, she enjoys anything involving history, literature, language, or art.

Writing Helps to Heal Author Justine Johnston Hemmestad

by Justine Johnston Hemmestad

In 1990 my car was broadsided by a speeding city bus as I turned out of a parking lot - I was in a coma and had sustained a severe brain injury. I was paralyzed when I woke up from my coma, though I worked hard to walk again within a few months, and to relearn how to perform the basic functions of life.

I began to write when I was carrying my first child Megan, less than two years after my accident, as tool or a way to cope with feeling so alone in my disability and misunderstood. Writing, throughout the darkest part of my recovery—when everyone looked down on me and I had no one to talk to or relate with me—helped me to get my thoughts in focus, to learn new things, and to remember what was important to me. I felt bullied, my thoughts and perception were skewed, and I felt emotionally alone, isolated by my personal lacking (my speech was slurred; my reactions were slow, etc.).

But writing was my Savior. When I was so afraid and so filled with guilt for being disabled, writing offered me a safe and comforting place to go, where I could cry and feel loved. Writing was my confidante and gave me hope when the world was crushing me. Writing even helped me find out who I was, since everything about "me" seemed to have melted away with my TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). Writing helped me find my words to speak again. Writing was my purpose, and writing was my healing.

My novella, Truth be Told, is essentially the story of my recovery wrapped up in fictional characters in a different time and place. Everything is symbolic in my novella because symbolism itself taught me how to travel deep inside my thoughts and search until I found the answers. Symbolism aided my memory by the weight of its meaning.

The old man in my novella is symbolic of God, prayer, love of my children, and the inner truth I found when I dug deep, the challenges that stretched my mind and that I knew I had to face when I wanted to give up on life completely.

The Lady is the aspect of my recovery in which I felt lost, even to myself—I didn’t know who I was—but in prayer and meditation I learned to focus my mind, calm my thoughts (which were drowning in the guilt I felt for being disabled) and listen to God’s answer…what defines me?

The knight is the aspect of my recovery that was assaulted by PTSD. Not only was I recovering, but I was recovering amidst a torrent of fear, pain, and false persecution. He represents the survivor’s guilt I had for living as brain-injured, and the part of myself that felt I deserved the lies that people told about me simply because it was easy to lie about me. I illuminated my purpose— the purpose that any recovering person needs to be able to climb out of the darkness—symbolically as Jesus. When people lied about me, writing defended me and made the truth immortal. My purpose, as writing, was the well within me; writing saved me and gave me direction in life (even when I no longer had any sense of direction due to my TBI). There were people who tried to point me in the wrong direction, but my prayer, and written prayer, was always brimming with truth.

My purpose in writing raised me out of the darkness and set me on a new path. As my characters in Truth be Told founded one of the first Universities in Europe, my purpose led me to enter into college, to study tirelessly, and to set goals and reach them. For a person with a TBI, these things stretched my mind to the breaking point. And yet my savior, writing, was always there, so much that my purpose and my goals became intertwined. Every class I’ve had brought me new challenges; every professor’s pushing has helped me more than they were ever aware.

My husband and I now have seven children and I'm still writing, for both have truly been essential to my recovery. I've also earned a BLS through The University of Iowa and am now working toward a Master's Degree in Literature through Northern Arizona University. I’m grateful to have written a book that I felt so strongly, all along, could be of help to survivors, for them to recognize themselves in the characters and to know that they're not alone. I would have recognized myself in this story and it would have given me hope. My mission now is to give other survivors hope.

Justine on Amazon
Justine's Website
Justine's blog

Facebook ** Twitter