Friday, February 29, 2008

Revell (February 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Virginia Smith left her job as a corporate director to become a full time writer and speaker with the release of her first novel Just As I Am.

Since then she has contracted eight novels and published numerous articles and short stories. She writes contemporary humorous novels for the Christian market, including Murder by Mushroom (Steeple Hill, August 2007) and her newest release, Stuck in the Middle (Revell, February 2008), book 1 in the Sister-to-Sister Series.

Her short fiction has been anthologized, and her articles have been published in a variety of Christian magazines. An energetic speaker, she loves to exemplify God’s truth by comparing real-life situations to well-known works of fiction, such as her popular talk, “Biblical Truths in Star Trek.”

Virginia is a speaker, and an avid Scuba diver. She and her husband Ted, divide their times between Kentucky and Utah, and escape as often as they can for diving trips to the Caribbean!


ABOUT THE BOOK:

BLURB:

Joan Sanderson's life is stuck. Her older sister, Allie, is starting a family and her younger sister, Tori, has a budding career. Meanwhile, Joan is living at home with Mom and looking after her aging grandmother. Not exactly a recipe for excitement-or romance.

That is, until a hunky young doctor moves in next door. Suddenly Joan has a goal--to catch his eye and get a date. But it won't be easy. Pretty Tori flirts relentlessly with him and Joan is sure that she can't compete. But with a little help from God, Allie, and an enormous mutt with bad manners, maybe Joan can find her way out of this rut and into the life she's been hiding from.

Book 1 of the Sister-to-Sister series, Stuck in the Middle combines budding romance, spiritual searching, and a healthy dose of sibling rivalry that is sure to make you smile.


REVIEWS:

"A gentle story of one young woman's season of growth, deftly blending the tangle of family relationships with gifts of whimsey and revelation. A joy to read."
-- Sharon Hinck, author of Renovating Becky Miller and Symphony of Secrets

"Virginia Smith has created a charming and humerous novel that celebrates small-town life, generations of women caring for each other, and the value of finding a deeper, more active faith."
-- Sharon Dunn, author of the Bargain Hunters mysteries


Stuck in the Middle by Virginia Smith
ISBN-10: 0800732324
Publisher: Revell
Release Date: February 1, 2008
Genre: Contemporary Romance
$11.19 from Amazon.com


Purchase Stuck in the Middle by Virginia Smith HERE!!!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Susan D. Hill is an award-winning feature writer and a leader of interdenominational women’s groups, where she has sought answers to the common longing for a more authentic spiritual experience. She also serves on the board of the Uganda Orphans Fund, a non-profit Christian relief organization building orphan homes for victims of AIDS and war. Susan and her husband, Duncan, have three children and live in Montana.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

If you crave the real experience of God’s presence in your daily life…

If you sense there’s more to Christianity than service, study, and superficial spirituality…

If you’re ready to go beyond knowing about God
to truly knowing Him…

Here’s where life with God begins.

Is God really like a father who cares about the details of our everyday lives? Then why does He often seem so far away, distant in the moments when we could most use a personal touch from Him?

So many of us have lived in that unspoken longing. In these incredible stories, you’ll see how one person found that God is not always content to wait for us to discover Him amid the clutter of life. Instead, when we simply hold out our hands, He illuminates our ordinary world and gives us new eyes to see.

Closer Than Your Skin traces the journey of an ordinary Christian who longed to move beyond the trappings of faith to genuine life with God. Her story reveals how to overcome the obstacles that most often block such intimate connection. Through this remarkable account, you’ll gain tangible insight into what a daily, vibrant companionship with the Creator really feels like once you wake up to the eternal reality all around you.

Interactive study guide included.

SUMMARY:

Author Susan Hill traces her discovery of a vibrant companionship with God and shows how it can become an everyday reality for anyone. Through stirring stories from her life, she assures readers that knowing God is more than spiritual rhetoric; it’s reality for those who learn to recognize His voice.

REVIEWS:

“Warning: Susan Hill has written a deceptive book. It looks like another woman-with-a-fragile-marriage-struggles-in-her-relationship-with-God book. Yet her life and spiritual experiences become compellingly honest and transparent.”
– Cecil Murphey, co-author of 90 Minutes in Heaven, Heaven Is Real, and more than 100 other books.

“Over the last sixty years I have read numerous works on Christian spirituality. But I must say that Susan Hill has made the best case I’ve ever read for intimacy with God. It is biblically sound, psychologically real and personally honest. I’ve never heard any theologian or Bible teacher portray the true intimacy with God as Jesus promises in the relation of the branch and the vine (John 15:1-9) as powerfully as Susan does. I think this is the book that millions of Christians have been waiting for!”
— James W. Tharp, founder and president of Christian Renewal Ministries and author of Revival Must Come! and The Spirit of Prayer.


Closer than your Skin by Susan D. Hill
ISBN-10: 1400073820
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Release Date: February 19, 2008
Genre: Christian Fiction
$11.19 from Amazon.com


Purchase Closer than your Skin by Susan D. Hill HERE!!!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Survivor Offers Hope to Cancer Patients & Their Families

(Yorktown, VA) -- Would you go to work wearing a surgical mask and surgical gloves? Yvonne Ortega did during aggressive
chemotherapy. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and it's important to realize that cancer is a difficult illness to face. Ortega gives a message of hope and encouragement for those who are struggling with the devastating effects of cancer in her book Hope for the Journey through Cancer.

The book offers 60 short
inspirational readings, each
containing a part of Ortega's own story from diagnosis to recovery. She shares her personal triumphs and setbacks with humor and refreshing candor, with hope builders to remind us that even when it looks like we are alone, God is with us each step of the way. Hope for the Journey through Cancer is written in a caring and compassionate voice from one who has been there.

Ortega says, "Receiving a diagnosis of cancer is a devastating experience. Our lives are never the same. We are not losing our minds. We are frightened, and this is natural. It's okay to cry. If we look around, we will see we are not alone. God would never think of abandoning us." In sharing this experience, Ortega helps readers see that, though cancer is a difficult illness to face, they do not have to face it alone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Yvonne Ortega is a licensed professional counselor, a licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner, a clinically certified domestic violence counselor, and a member of the Virginia Board of Counseling. She celebrates her sixth year as a breast cancer survivor. Ortega is an inspirational speaker to groups of all sizes and makes her residence in Yorktown, Virginia.

Visit her on the web at
http://www.yvonneortega.com


INTERVIEW:

With all the books on cancer survivors already out there, why did you chose to write this book on cancer?
Cancer shattered my world. I wanted a book full of Scripture, prayer, and hope that would assure patients and their families that God would never leave them or forsake them. I also wanted a book that, with honesty and boldness, would address the emotional roller coaster ride that cancer patients, even Christian ones, endure.

Was there anything good that came about through your illness?
Oh, yes. I am a stronger Christian today. I know God loves me and that he is faithful. I no longer doubt his call on my life as a counselor as well as an author and speaker. After going through the trauma of cancer, I counsel with more effectiveness. When clients tell me they are scared, depressed, or angry, I understand because I've experienced those same emotions.

During your illness and now in recovery, have you ever asked God, "Why" or "Why me?"
I didn't ask, but I lashed out in anger at God. I knew he called me to be a counselor. So I spent hundreds of hours studying, writing papers, and completing projects and paid thousands of dollars for my master's degree in counseling. Half-way through my residency, I received my diagnosis of cancer. I thought the timing was outrageous and let God know it.

Is there ever a time when you can laugh about cancer?
I asked God to help me keep my sense of humor. The day my hair started to fall out, I went to work with wet hair. My colleagues thought I had a power outage. I told them I was afraid to blow dry my hair because I might blow it all off and arrive looking like a Buddhist monk. I laugh now about how angry I was with God. I thought he had made a mistake. Now I understand he used the cancer for good in my life and the lives of others. I laugh every time I reminisce about George, my radiation therapist. He entertained me with stories about his childhood adventures.

What is the most important lesson you learned from your experience in having cancer?
In God's economy, nothing is wasted, not even cancer. Romans 8:28 (NIV) says: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I prayed that God would use cancer for good in my life and the lives of others, that it would be to his honor and glory, and for furthering his kingdom here on earth. I never dreamed he would do that through the publication of my book, much less through TV and radio interviews and speaking engagements.

Was the Bible real to you during treatment?
The Bible filled me with hope and peace. I clung to God's precious promises during treatment and wrote verses with special meaning in my 3x5 notebook. Within days, I memorized those passages and repeated them daily. Terrified after my diagnosis, I slept with the Bible literally over my heart. I took my 3x5 notebook with me daily to radiation and reviewed my Bible memory verses on the way to treatment.

Why do some cancer survivors say cancer is the best thing that ever happened to them?
We say this because God has used cancer as a refining fire for us. He has used it to make us better people, stronger Christians, and more powerful in our careers and outreach.

How do you live differently today as a result of having had cancer?
I've learned to listen to my body. When I get tired, I take a nap. When I'm thirsty, I stop and drink water. Short breaks from my work help me relax. A weekend at the beach revives me. I don't put off my plans and dreams because "next year" may never come. I signed up for a phone package with unlimited long-distance calls. Now I can call my family and friends any time. I appreciate the little things in life--thirty-minute walks to enjoy God's beautiful world, a ride in my friend's convertible, and sunrise and sunset at the beach. I also left teaching to become a full-time counselor because I felt God leading me to do so. I've never looked back.

How did you keep your spirits up while going through the cancer treatments?
I played praise and worship music every day and watched videos and DVDs by Christian comedians. During treatment, I planned the party I would have after completing my residency and obtaining my state license. I selected the music for the dance my friend would choreograph for us to perform. I dreamed about the sheet cake with white icing and hot pink roses with "Yvonne Ortega, LPC" and "To God be the glory" on the cake. I chose the Bible verses for my party invitations. After my diagnosis, I accepted an invitation to present a workshop on writing devotionals at the Maine Christian Writers Fellowship state conference the following August. I listened to tapes and researched the topic to prepare for my workshop and looked forward to the reunion with fellow writers in Maine and snacks of delicious Maine blueberries.

Did you ever think about giving up--that the treatments were too hard?
After my second treatment, my blood counts dropped to 500. Normal is between 4,000 and 11,000. My doctor hospitalized me. She said she would release me when my counts rose to 1,000. My counts dropped two days in a row. I called my parents to come see me, but Dad's heart condition prevented them from doing so. I feared I would die alone in a military hospital more than an hour from my home. After my final chemotherapy treatment, I thought I would never stop vomiting. I experienced a weariness that made my bones ache. I had to keep reminding myself that it would soon pass and in a few months I would travel to Maine for the writers' conference.

What kinds of emotions did you experience during this time?
I experienced denial. If I didn't talk about the cancer, maybe it would go away.I experienced anger at God, the government, the Food & Drug Administration, televangelists who preached health and wealth, and anyone who told me Christians couldn't be angry with God. Fear overwhelmed me after my diagnosis and at times during treatment.Depression forced me to my knees in prayer. When I found out the cancer had traveled to one lymph node and adjacent to another, I became depressed.

Are these emotions typical for every cancer patient?
Not every cancer patient will experience all of them. However, these emotions are typical. Also cancer patients don't experience one feeling, get over it, and then go on to another one. They can go back and forth.

What can people do to help friends who are going through cancer treatments?
Listen without judging them. Expect cancer patients to ride an emotional roller coaster. Send cards, post cards, or e-mail greeting cards, especially humorous ones. Phone and visit them. Prepare a meal for them and take it in a disposable container or help with yard work and house work. Buy groceries and run errands for them. Take cancer patients to their chemotherapy and radiation treatments and pray with them and for them.


Hope for the Journey through Cancer:
Inspiration for Each Day
by Yvonne Ortega
ISBN-10: 0800731867
Publisher: Revell
Release Date: May 1, 2007
$10.39 from Amazon.com


Purchase Hope for the Journey through Cancer by Yvonne Ortega HERE!!!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
I think people are born as writers. You get black hair, you get blue eyes, and you get writing. I cannot remember when I was not a writer.

What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
I like going into the writing trance and conjuring up characters, letting them speak through me, and seeing the world as they see it. Norman Mailer called writing the “spooky art.”

The hard part of writing is taking rejections.

How do you balance your personal and writing time?
It’s not a job to me, it’s an art. So you just do your art, you have to.

How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
One writer said that a story can fall on your lap like an apple falling from a tree – there it is, perfect and whole. Sometimes it comes that way. Sometimes it comes the way Madeleine L’Engle said, you just start writing and the writing itself provides inspiration, takes you over and sends you on your way.

What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
I go on kicks. I went on a crime kick and wrote Walk Me to Midnight and several CSI and Law and Order scripts. I was also on a daring hero kick and wrote screenplays about a lion tamer and another about the Red Baron. At that time I was into answering why some people have physical courage. Lately, I have been writing a philosophical novel about women and babies.

I’m not sure why I write, I just do. It’s all mystical, mysterious and magical to me.

What is the biggest misconception about being an author?
That once you are published, the whole writing thing gets easy.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
Both. Mostly they are composites of people I met either in life or in literature. When Walk Me to Midnight got published, a friend recognized herself and that was embarrassing.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
I loved writing Billy Carolina in Walk Me to Midnight, who is a little like Truman Capote, a little like my next-door neighbor when I lived in Greenwich Village, and a little like my Aunt Sylvia. He is terribly funny and warm, yet brave and creative too. He is very hard to write because he is so witty. I mean, it’s hard to be witty and it took me a long time to think up his repartee.

If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?
I would like to write more great roles for women. There are actors who “never get to play their instruments” because there are no great parts written for them. I think about actors like Susan Sarandon, Kathie Bates, Sally Fields, Annette Bening – there are so very many and so few good roles for them.

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
What we do as writers is tell stories. It’s an ancient art – we would be the ones talking when humanity was still sitting in caves around a campfire. Yet story telling is about putting events in an order and finding meaning. When you read a storybook – i.e., a novel-- you should be looking at human events and finding patterns and realizing it’s not all random and life and events have meaning.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Willa Cather asked Sarah Orne Jewett the same question. The older writer told Cather, “Writing is a solitary art. No friend can do it for you. To work in silence and with all one’s heart, that is the writer’s lot; he is the only artist who must be solitary, and yet needs the widest outlook on the world. Cultivate detachment and write from the standpoint of a looker. Write for the world and not for your friends. Work in silence and with all your heart.”

Who are your favorite authors?
Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson.

What are you reading right now?
The Lion in the White House (about Theodore Roosevelt), The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio and How to See Yourself as You Really Are by His Holiness the Dalai Lama


AUTHOR's BIO:

Jane St. Clair grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and worked her way through Northwestern University with a variety of odd jobs such as factory welder, beauty shop attendant, commercial sign maker, cocktail waitress and more. After earning a degree in journalism, she was a welfare caseworker in the Chicago ghettoes as a welfare worker. Later she was a production staff member of the television program, “Sesame Street” and at Channel 11/PBS-TV in Chicago. She has also been a newspaper reporter/photographer for the Louisville-Courier Journal and weekly papers in rural Indiana and Appalachian Kentucky.

Jane has published over fifty children’s short stories, and adult fiction in literary magazines and anthologies. She is the 2007 winner of the True Life Story contest, 2006 first place winner of The Writers Network contest, American Accolades, Hollywood’s Next Success, and 2005 winner in television writing for Scriptapalooza.

As a free-lance writer, Jane authored two non-fiction books and hundreds of web articles. Her series on financial literacy for children won a national award and has had over a million hits. Walk Me to Midnight is her first novel.


Walk Me to Midnight by Jane St. Clair
ISBN-10: 1602900485
Publisher: Capstone Fiction
Release Date: November 26, 2007
Genre: Medical Thriller
$15.95 from Amazon.com


Purchase Walk Me to Midnight by Jane St. Clair HERE!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jane St. Clair grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and worked her way through Northwestern University with a variety of odd jobs such as factory welder, beauty shop attendant, commercial sign maker, cocktail waitress and more. After earning a degree in journalism, she was a welfare caseworker in the Chicago ghettoes as a welfare worker. Later she was a production staff member of the television program, “Sesame Street” and at Channel 11/PBS-TV in Chicago. She has also been a newspaper reporter/photographer for the Louisville-Courier Journal and weekly papers in rural Indiana and Appalachian Kentucky.

Jane has published over fifty children’s short stories, and adult fiction in literary magazines and anthologies. She is the 2007 winner of the True Life Story contest, 2006 first place winner of The Writers Network contest, American Accolades, Hollywood’s Next Success, and 2005 winner in television writing for Scriptapalooza.

As a free-lance writer, Jane authored two non-fiction books and hundreds of web articles. Her series on financial literacy for children won a national award and has had over a million hits.

Walk Me to Midnight is her first novel.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

BLURB:

Bitsy Thatcher-Cole is an American princess, the beautiful heiress to a vast fortune.

On the eve of her honeymoon, she commits suicide.

Her two best friends, psychologist Susan Rutledge and Billy Carolina, a flamboyant crime writer, suspect something more sinister.

Their trail takes them into the strange worlds of New Age culture in mystical Sedona, snake farming in Mexico, cowboy ranching in old Tucson, and celebrity nightlife in Manhattan.

What happens when the whole world thinks you’re wrong?

What happens when you’re running for your life -- from the doctor who’s saving humanity?

How fast can you run when time is running out?

Walk Me to Midnight is guaranteed to keep you reading until you find everything out and reach its horrifying conclusion.

EXCERPT:

"Assisted suicide? No, it was murder of course," Billy Carolina declared as he lit a brown cigarette held in a diamond and gold filter. "It was absolutely a murder and the police covered for little Pepper Pruitt and Doctor Dracula. I hate both of them.”

Susan looked at him in disbelief as he continued.

"Don't you think I'd know a suicide from a murder? I've been through at least twenty suicides in the past year. Besides Bitsy would've called you and me."

"I think she was trying to call me," Susan said.

He patted Susan's hand and gave her a monogrammed linen handkerchief for her tears.

"You still have emotions," he observed. "I like that in a person."

"It's just that I loved Bitsy, and I thought if she were suicidal, she would have confided in me, and now I feel ..."

"...slighted from the grave."

"Exactly," Susan agreed.

"Well, she didn't slight you, she thought the world of you, and she wouldn't have checked out without leaving us a forwarding address."

"I was afraid I was being a narcissist thinking that."

"They did her in and we both know it."

"What about her will?" Susan asked.

"Forged."

"The medical records?"

"Purchased."

"The video?"

"Spliced."

"The mask she put on her face?"

"Forced on her."

"The police report?"

"Officialese."

"How do we prove it? It's the perfect crime."

"There's no such thing," Billy asserted. "But they'll get us first, that's the only thing."


Walk Me to Midnight by Jane St. Clair
ISBN-10: 1602900485
Publisher: Capstone Fiction
Release Date: November 26, 2007
Genre: Medical Thriller
$15.95 from Amazon.com


Walk Me to Midnight by Jane St. Clair is NOW available at:
Amazon.com
Capstonefiction.com
BarnesandNoble.com
Target.com

Grab a copy NOW and be prepared to be overwhelmed!

Friday, February 22, 2008

(Thomas Nelson April 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ted is the son of
missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life
among headhunters in
Indonesia has been told in several books.
Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own
interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and
behavior. This, he
believes, is the foundation of his writing.

After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.

Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. Dekker's body of work encompassing seven mysteries, three thrillers and ten fantasies includes Heaven's Wager, When Heaven Weeps, Thunder of Heaven, Blessed Child, A Man Called Blessed, Blink, Thr3e, The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White), and Obsessed, with two more...Renegade, and Chaos to be released later this year.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

BLURB:

He died once to stop the killer...now he's dying again to save his wife.

FBI behavioral
psychologist Daniel Clark has become famous for his well-articulated
arguments that religion is one of society’s greatest antagonists. What Daniel doesn’t know is that his obsessive pursuit of a serial killer known only as “Eve” is about to end abruptly with an
unexpected death-his
own.

Twenty minutes later
Daniel is resuscitated, only to be haunted by the loss of memory of the events immediately
preceding his death.

Daniel becomes
convinced that the only way to stop Eve is to recover those missing minutes during which he alone saw the killer’s face. And the only way to access them is to trigger his brain’s memory dump that occurs at the time of death by simulating his death again…and again. So begins a carefully researched psychological thriller which delves deep into the haunting realities of near-death experiences, demon possession, and the human psche.

"As always with a Ted Dekker thriller, the details of ADAM are stunning, pointing to meticulous research in a raft of areas: police and FBI methods, forensic medicine, psychological profiling-in short, all that accompanies a Federal hunt for a serial killer. But Dekker fully reveals his magic in the latter part of the book, when he subtly introduces his darker and more frightening theme. It's all too creepily convincing. We have to keep telling ourselves that this is fiction. At the same time, we can't help thinking that not only could it happen, but that it will happen if we're not careful."


New York Times best-selling author Ted Dekker unleashes his most riveting novel yet...an elusive serial killer whose victims die of unknown causes and the psychologist obsessed with catching him.


ADAM by Ted Dekker
ISBN-10: 1595540075
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Genre: Christian Fiction > Mystery
$17.15 from Amazon.com


Purchase ADAM by Ted Dekker HERE!!!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

CONTEST ALERT! Scroll down to find out how to win!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan May Warren is the
award-winning author of seventeen novels and novellas with Tyndale, Steeple Hill and Barbour
Publishing. Her first book, Happily Ever After won the American Fiction Christian Writers Book of the Year in 2003, and was a 2003 Christy Award finalist. In Sheep's Clothing, a thriller set in Russia, was a 2006 Christy Award finalist and won the 2006 Inspirational Reader's Choice award. A former missionary to Russia, Susan May Warren now writes
Suspense/Romance and Chick Lit full time from her home in northern Minnesota.

Visit Susan's website at:
http://susanmaywarren.com or drop by her blog at
http://susanmaywarren.typepad.com/scribbles/.

Also check out Rafe's Own Blog:
http://susanmaywarren.typepad.com/whosrafe

The TRAILERS for the Noble Legacy Series can be viewed HERE!


INTERVIEW:

Why did you become a writer? Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
I’ve always been a writer. I began writing in first grade when I won my first book contest! I wrote my first novel at 15, but I never really thought I’d be a full –time writer because I was a missionary, and there didn’t seem to be any room for that in my life. I did, however, determine to write the very best missionary newsletter I could – and to my surprise that led to my first published article. I suppose that is when I caught the bug – the first time I saw something I wrote in print! But I was still living and working overseas (in Siberia !), so I couldn’t keep on top of the magazine market, so I asked the Lord what I should write…and God directed me to novels. I dove in and wrote my first novel (approximately 800 pages – a James Michener epic about Russia from 1938-1980) in about a year. I learned a lot about pacing and setting and storytelling and characterization in just “doing it.” I did get great feedback from a couple publishers and also landed my first agent. However, I really didn’t know what I was doing, and I spent the next four years writing more novels, and gobbling up everything I could about writing and craft. I read books, and joined ACFW, and attended online chats, and submitted my work for critiques and contests. My big break came after a traumatic experience – I was locked in an elevator during one cold November night for about 2 hours, and after relating my experience to my ACFW friends, they encouraged me to write a book about it. At the time Tyndale was having “novella” contests….so I wrote “Measure of a Man,” and submitted it the day before the deadline. I thought for sure nothing would come of it because I had talked to another author who said the two things publishers didn’t want were missionary stories and international stories (and mine was both!) But, Tyndale took a chance on me, and bought it! I couldn't believe it when I got “the call” (or, in my case, the email, since I lived in Russia at the time.) That opened the door to my “arsenal” of books that I’d been writing for the past four years. Oh, but the epic is still sitting unpublished on my shelf. (It makes a great footstool!)

What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?
I love creating stories!! I love words, and story, and seeing how they work together. I love the magic of watching a character come to life on the page. A well-written book is thing of joy and beauty. *grin*

I don’t love all the technical savvy I have to have to do promotion – beyond corresponding with readers, that is. All the technical stuff about blogging, or promotional tours…ack! (but I have very good help!).

How do you balance your personal and writing time?
Balance? Oh, you said the B-word! I once lamented that I go in cycles – sometimes my house is immaculate, but I haven’t written a word in weeks. Then I’m a writing maniac but no one has any clean clothes. My girlfriend, who also happens to be a life-coach said balance isn’t when everything is perfect all the time – balance is an average, say a month, where if you put it all together, you managed to accomplish it all, just not all in one day. I really liked that definition. Mostly, I prioritize my family and my time with the Lord, and if the house gets cleaned, if I have balanced meals, if we have clean clothes and if I get my allotted writing done, well then life is very good. I do have to interject that 1. I ask for help from the kids. 2. On my gravestone, I am okay if it never reads, “And she had a really clean house.” (Although I have to say, my house is pretty clean…*g*)

How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?
I start with a premise, or an idea, and then match a character to that premise (or sometimes that premise includes the character). Then I have a unique plotting system that unearths the story particular to my character. I then do research and refine the plot, and the world and the setup.

What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?
I write romantic suspense – with different degrees of suspense in all of those. I am a huge fan of romantic suspense, but I also just love a well-written book with great characterization, and that’s what I try to deliver. I write stories I’d like to read. *grin*

What is the biggest misconception about being an author?
That you are immediately rich and famous. Most of us write in quiet obscurity, with normal paychecks and lives that are more distinguished by our work at church or home than by our books. Only 1-2% of authors of all the books out on the market make it big… Regardless of where I am in publishing, for me it’s about writing a great book, enjoying the journey and trusting God for the outcome.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
Oh, I take outside characteristics from actors or magazine pictures – I like to see what my character looks like. Beyond there, they are a unique creation.

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why?
I love Josey – (Everything’s Coming up Josey, Chill Out! Josey,) – she’s adventurous and strong, yet willing to be the person God directs her to be. And, for heroes, my current heartthrob is Rafe. *grin*

If you were writing a script for the big screen, who would you want to act in your movie?
Gerard Butler (oh, that accent!), and Kate Hudson. She’s just so cute!

What would you want readers to take away from your books?
I believe firmly that our time here on earth is meant to prepare us for eternity – and that starts with a relationship with God. So, having been a recipient of so much grace in my life, I try and pass that in into my stories – filling them with hope, and encouragement, filled with real characters who struggle with real issues. Of course, I like to do it all against a great backdrop of intrigue or suspense, or even the beauty of a state like Montana! My desire is that, when people finish my stories, they are inspired to seek after the God they met in my books.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book?
Pick your favorite book and figure out the structure, and why you like it. Start a writing notebook that details elements of storytelling that you learn from other authors. Join a critique group and get honest feedback. And go to www.mybooktherapy.com and get my daily blog on writing craft! (shameless self-promotion there!)

Who are your favorite authors?
Dee Henderson, Francine Rivers, and some new favs – Rachel Hauck, Sharon Hinck , Karen Hancock. The CBA is so rich in great authors, it’s hard to choose

What are you reading right now?
The Light of Eidon series by Karen Hancock


ABOUT THE BOOK:

Taming Rafe is Book 2 in the Noble Legacy series!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Hotel heiress Katherine Breckenridge just wants to make a lasting difference in her world by running her late mother's charity foundation. But she fears she lacks the passion and courage to be as successful as her mother was--a fear that's realized when money from the foundation goes missing and Katherine's one shot to recover it is ruined by Rafe Noble. Two-time world champion bull rider Rafe Noble is at the top of his game when tragedy hits. Guilt stricken over the loss of his best friend, Rafe accidentally drives his truck into the lobby of the Breckenridge Hotel during Katherine's fund-raiser. With a broken knee, a ruined reputation, and the threat of several lawsuits, Rafe goes back to his family's ranch--the Silver Buckle--to recover. Desperate to save the foundation, Katherine heads to the Silver Buckle to talk Rafe into helping her raise the needed funds. But a few days under the bright Montana skies give her more than she bargained for, and Kat discovers there's more to both herself and Rafe Noble than she realized.

FROM THE BACK COVER:

Two-time world champion bull rider Rafe Noble had no idea how quickly his world could end.

In less than eight seconds, he lost his title, his career, and his best friendall on the dirt floor of a noisy rodeo arena.

Katherine Breckenridge just wants to make a difference by running her mothers charity foundation. But the mysterious disappearance of half a million dollars has forced it to the brink of bankruptcy. Her last chance to save it is the annual fund-raiser, an event thats destroyed by an out-of-control Rafe Noble.

Desperate to rescue the foundation, Katherine heads to the Noble family ranch to enlist Rafes help in raising the money he cost her in lost donations. What she doesnt know is that Rafe is brokein cash and in spiritand that helping her could end up costing him his life.

PROLOGUE:

Rafe Noble, two-time world champion bull rider and current king of the gold buckle, had never met a bull that he feared. Oh, sure, he knew well the tension before a ride that buzzed his nerves and slicked his hand inside his taped-tight leather glove. But normally he shook it off the second he wound the bull rope, sticky with rosin, around the animal's chest and wedged it into his grip. Then the adrenaline, the heat, took over.

And for eight long, harrowing seconds, it was just man against beast.

In Rafe's world, man usually won.

However, as Rafe straddled the champion bull known as PeeWee, which had to be some sort of joke because the bull was the biggest, orneriest creature Rafe had ever ridden, coldness rushed through him. Something foreign and overwhelming ignited a tremble from deep within his bones.

For the first time since he was thirteen he felt . . . terror.

Maybe it was just the residual agony of watching one of his fellow bull riders being carried out on a stretcher only minutes earlier. Maybe it was the roar of the crowd hammering at the raging headache he'd nursed most of the day. It could be the fact he rode in pain, that he'd had to tape his hand, wear his knee brace, and the sports medicine doctor had reminded him that one more fracture to his neck would land him in a wheelchair permanently.

Or perhaps it was just the eerie feeling that hung in the air, along with the smells of animal sweat and popcorn and leather and dirt, a surreal sense that tragedy lurked right outside the arena of spectators. (Read the rest HERE)...


ABOUT THE CONTEST:

Win a steak dinner with Rafe (an Omaha Steaks gift certificate and a copy of Taming Rafe!) by signing up for the Dinner with Rafe drawing HERE.


Taming Rafe, Noble Legacy Series #2 by Susan May Warren
ISBN-10: 1414310188
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Release Date: December 26, 2007
Genre: Romantic Suspense
$10.39 from Amazon.com


Purchase Taming Rafe by Susan May Warren HERE!!!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sharon Dunn is the author of Death of a Garage Sale Newbie, book one in the Bargain Hunters Mysteries, and the Ruby Taylor mystery novels including Sassy Cinderella, which was voted Book of the Year by American Christian Fiction Writers. She earned a BA in television production and a master’s in history Sharon lives in Bozeman , Montana , with her husband of twenty years, three children, two cats, and lots of dust bunnies.

Visit her website at www.sharondunnbooks.com


ABOUT THE BOOK:

SUMMARY:

When a man turns up dead in a teddy bear costume, Ginger and the other ladies of the Bargain Hunters Network learn a lesson about trusting in God rather than in wealth as they try to solve the crime and clear one of their own.

BLURB:

Another murder mystery for the Bargain Hunters Network–only this time, one of them is a suspect!

Ginger and her husband, Earl, are in for a wild ride in Calamity, Nevada, along with the other BHN ladies–college student Kindra, mother-of-four Suzanne, and sassy senior Arleta. They came to town for the Invention Expo and some outlet shopping, but instead they endure lost luggage, broken air conditioning, and a long line of people angry at hotel owner Dustin Clydell. With the Invention Expo and the Squirrel Lovers’ convention both in town, the Wind-Up Hotel has somehow overbooked.

Before the night is over, a man has been found dead in a teddy bear costume, the Invention Expo has been canceled, Binky the water-skiing squirrel has gone missing…and the authorities want to talk to one of the BHN ladies! What else could possibly go wrong?

Once again, the Bargain Hunters Network swings into sleuth mode to solve the murder–and this time, clear one of their own. Along the way, Ginger discovers something even better than a bargain.

REVIEWS:

“A quirky ‘who done it,’ Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear is the perfect mystery for women who love bargains and surprise endings.”
- Melanie Dobson, author of Together for Good and Going for Broke

“If you enjoy whimsy, humor, and fun characters with your mystery, Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear is for you! But beware! Under the laughs are buried strong spiritual truths. A delightful, thoughtful read.”
- Gayle Roper, award-winning author of Fatal Deduction

“The bargain hunter gals are at it again! Dunn’s riotous romp seamlessly tucks in truth and light and leaves us in stitches. A must-read for those who think living by faith is boring.”
- Lois Richer, author of Healing Tides

“Sharon Dunn’s uncanny sense of the hilarious, her gift for creating unusual but deeply human characters, and her ability to get them into (and out of) outrageously believable predicaments make Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear a read that’s just plain fun.”
- Kathy Tyers, author of Shivering World and the Firebird trilogy


Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear by Sharon Dunn
ISBN-10: 1590526902
Publisher: Multnomah Books
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Category: Fiction - Mystery & Detective
$10.39 from Amazon.com


Purchase Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear by Sharon Dunn HERE!!!

January 20

PRIZE: Every Good and Perfect Gift by Sharon K. Souza
WINNER: Kim (kimfurd at hotmail dot com)

January 25

PRIZE: 101 Cups of Water: Relief and Refreshment for the Tired, Thirsty Soul by C.D. Baker
WINNER: g.i. george (george_kazaam@yahoo.com)


Kim and George, please email me at raeshylle@yahoo.com to claim your prizes!

There's still time to enter for Trish Berg's contest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of her book, Rattled.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born in Wales, Chris Walley grew up in northern England. He studied earth sciences at university and has a doctorate in geology. He taught at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon from 1980 to 1984 and then returned to Wales and spent ten years as a consultant with the oil industry. He began writing in the late eighties and had two novels, Heart of Stone and Rock of Refuge, published under the pseudonym of John Haworth. In 1994, along with his family, Chris returned to Lebanon to teach again at AUB. In 1998, he came back to Wales and began writing again. He is currently fitting his writing in between teaching geology, environmental science, and geography at a local college. Chris is also an adjunct professor of geology at Wheaton College. Chris and his wife live in an old cottage on the edge of Swansea and are very involved in a local Baptist church.

Visit him on the web at http://www.chriswalley.net or at his blog at
http://chriswalley.blogspot.com


ABOUT THE BOOK:

SYNOPSIS:

In the spirit of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lamb among the Stars series weaves the worlds of science and the spirit, technology and supernatural into something unique and haunting. On the faraway planet of Farholme, humans live in peace under the gentle rule of the Assembly. War and evil are ancient history. But suddenly, almost imperceptibly, things begin to change. Slowly a handful of men and women begin to realize that evil has returned and it must be fought.

FROM THE INSIDE FLAP:

Imagine a future that todays generation can only dream of. A trillion people live under the gentle rule of the Assembly on over a thousand Made Worlds. Peace and stability have reigned for nearly twelve thousand years, and war and evil are merely ancient history. But all that is about to change.

On Farholmea Made World at the edge of the Assemblystrange and troubling things are happening. Slowly, incredulously, a handful of men and women come to recognize the unthinkable: Evil has returned once more, and it must be fought. Forester Merral DAvanos and his friends are entrusted with the daunting task of confronting their worlds elusive enemy.

Now isolated from the rest of the Assembly, Farholme must fight its battles alone. It falls to Merral to lead the untried forces of Farholme into war against opponents well-hidden and armed with strange powers. Yet even as he faces extraordinary and terrifying foes, Merral finds he has an unexpected enemyhimself.


The Shadow and Night (The Lamb Among the Stars)
by Chris Walley
ISBN-10: 1414313276
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Release Date: October 2006
Genre: Futuristic
$15.59 from Amazon.com


Purchase The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley HERE!!!

Monday, February 18, 2008

COMMENT on this post for a chance to win a print copy of Rattled by Trish Berg.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Trish Berg is a national speaker for Hearts at Home, author of The Great American Supper Swap and Rattled. She has been published in Today’s Christian Woman, MOMSense, CBN.com, P31 WOMAN, and numerous regional and national publications.

Trish earned her MBA before leaving the workforce for motherhood, then earned her Doctorate in Diaper Changing in Ohio where she and her husband, Mike, keep busy raising their four children on their family cattle farm.




INTERVIEW:

Why do you think it's so easy for moms to get rattled during their baby’s first year?
Motherhood is simply draining and exhausting. Hands down the toughest job I have ever had.
But moms are not alone, and I want moms to know that God walks with them through these exhausting years.

What stresses moms out the most?
I think moms put a lot of pressure on themselves to do it all by themselves, and to do it all the right way. They need to simplify, let go of many details, and ask for help, from their husbands, and from neighbors and friends.

Rattled actually begins by looking at the months of pregnancy. How can moms use this time to prepare to survive baby’s first year?

Nine months is not nearly enough time to fully prepare for motherhood. I am not sure there is enough time to fully prepare.

I remember when our first child, Hannah, was born, I felt that my world had been turned upside down. Hannah did not like to sleep, and so we spent many nights walking the floor, bouncing her up and down, trying desperately to settle her down. My husband, Mike, and I took turns walking laps around the house, like the Indy 500 with a lot more bouncing.

I am not sure I could have prepared for that.

But during your pregnancy, you can prepare in other ways. Like arranging for help. Ask your mom or mother-in-law if they can spend one day with you each week during the first few months. Just knowing someone is coming in the morning to help with the baby can make the being up all night not seem so terrible.

You talk about surviving motherhood. How do you help moms do that?
In Rattled, I talk about a mom’s survival kit. If you were thrown out into the wilderness, you would need FOOD, SHELTER, FIRE and WATER to survive.

Well, moms have been thrown out into the wilderness of motherhood, and to survive, they will need:

Water from the word (2 Samuel 22:3a) –To be in God’s Word.

A fire like desire for prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17) – Moms can pray their way through their day.

Nourishment body, mind and spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13) – Love on all levels nourishes us.

Shelter from life’s storms (Proverbs 17:17)-Friends to lean on, trust, and support us.

In Rattled, I spend some time talking about how moms can use that survival kit to get back to the joy of mothering.

You spent a lot of time listening to what other mothers had to say. Share with us your best advice for new moms.
I would tell moms to relax. No one does it right all the time. Let the laundry pile up. Leave the dishes in the sink, and just enjoy holding your baby today.

Don’t worry about doing “it” right, just enjoy the moments you have.

But what aboud dads? Give us a few tips into what dad is going through during the first year.
Dads are just as insecure as moms are about parenthood. Even more so in many cases.

Moms do much of the baby feeding, diaper changing, and baby care. So dads can sometimes feel left out, and incapable of caring for their own baby.

One thing moms can do is encourage dad to be involved. But in doing so, moms must let go of “their way” of doing things, and let dad discover his own way.

For example. When Hannah was a baby, every time Mike would change her diaper, I would criticize the way he changed it. I tried to teach him how to put his fingers under the leg elastic and make sure it wasn’t bunched up, preventing a future leak.

But every time I criticized him, he stepped back and became less involved. And you know what? Even when I did the diapers the “right way” they still sometimes leaked.

So I had to learn to let Mike change her diaper his own way. I let him put her to bed his way, bathe her his way, and be the dad God wanted him to be.

That can be difficult for moms who can tend to be slight control freaks when it comes to baby care.

But let me just encourage you that the help you will get from dad if you can let go of those details will bless you in more ways than you can imagine!

In Rattled you’re very open about the loss of your own pregnancy in 2002. How has that loss changed your outlook on motherhood?
I in the 2nd trimester of my fourth pregnancy when I went in for a regular check up. I was not having any problems at all, and went in alone.

My OB/GYN performed an ultrasound just to check for twins, and suddenly my world turned upside down when he could not find a heart beat.

I was completely devastated. Mike and I had two weeks of further testing before we had assurance that our baby had died. And through it all, I prayed for a miracle, my miracle, that my baby would be alive again.

But in the end, God’s miracle was not that my baby survived. God’s miracle was the reassurance that He used me as a vessel to bring a tiny soul to Heaven.

A year later, I lost another child to miscarriage.

Today, I have a greater sense of love and appreciation for my four children here on earth whom I hug with my arms, and a closer tie to Heaven where my two babies are waiting for me, whom I can only hug with my heart for now.

Today you’re the mom of 4 happy and healthy children. What do you see as the greatest blessing about being a mom?
I would say learning patience, but my husband would laugh out loud at that…since I am probably one of the most impatient people there is.

So I guess I would have to say enjoying the journey. I live Psalm 118:24 every day of my life.

“This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Life is messy. Things break. Kids get sick. But moms need to remember to enjoy the journey no matter where the journey leads.

Today at the Berg house, our washing machine is broken. Our mini van needs new tires. We are hanging onto Mike’s 1986 Jeep on a wing and a prayer, hoping it makes it another year or so.

There is mud on my kitchen floor, crumbs on my carpet, and I can honestly say that I love my life. Just as it is.

Now, I certainly have moments where I get stressed and discouraged, and can even lose my temper (just ask my kids), but I am also learning to enjoy each moment of every day as a gift from God.

And thorough it all, my simple hope and prayer is that I can be the mom that God wants me to be.

Where can readers learn more about you, Rattled, your other books, and your ministry to moms?
My website at www.TrishBerg.com offers tons of FREE resources, links and downloads for moms, as well as mor information on my books and ministry.

Moms can also purchase their own copy of Rattled by clicking HERE.

And I will be speaking at all 3 Hearts at Home Conferences in 2008, I would LOVE for you to join me there. The National conference is in March in Illinois, and in the fall there is a conference in Michigan and Minnesota. You can get more information and register at http://www.hearts-at-home.org/


ABOUT THE BOOK:

BLURB:

Welcome to the Adventure of Motherhood

Clutter? Chaos? Exhaustion got you down? You must be a mom. And you’re not alone. Perhaps you thought you had it all together…then your baby was born and your world was turned upside down. If new motherhood has you filled with doubt, guilt, and confusion, Trish Berg wants to offer companionship, hope, and help–plus a lot of humor along the way.

With practical advice and scriptural reminders, Berg presents two pillars of motherhood: Keep it simple and keep it biblical. Relax as you learn that every mom shares your stresses, challenges, and “Aagghh!” moments. In the midst of sleep deprivation and Cheerio dust, you’ll learn to savor the simple joy and privilege of mothering.


REVIEWS:

“Trish Berg’s advice will turn you from rattled to relaxed. Her solid tips and sense of humor make Rattled the perfect book for new moms.”
- Tim Bete, author of In the Beginning...There Were No Diapers and Guide to Pirate Parenting

“Honest, informative, humorous, well-researched, encouraging, and practical are some of the words describing Rattled. We can never have enough high-quality childrearing books and Trish Berg has outdone herself in this modern manual on capable, competent parenting in the first year. I recommend it.”
- Brenda Nixon, speaker and author of Parenting Power in the Early Years

“This precious book comes straight from the heart. It's personal stories, humor and excellent tips and insights kept me reading ... and smiling ... nodding in agreement. Thank you, Trish, for this most wonderful gift to first year mothers.”
- Michele Steinhauser, author and Founder of Club M.A.W. ~ Encouraging, Equipping and Connecting Mothers and Wives

“Rattled is the perfect resource for an overwhelmed new mom. Trish Berg has broken down helpful information into bite-sized portions — perfect for a mom who desperately needs encouragement and practical help but only has moments of time to read. Trish has provided something for everyone — practical tips, humorous stories, and advice from a mom who’s been there.”
- Glynnis Whitwer, Senior Editor Proverbs 31 Ministries, author of work@home: A Practical Guide for Women Who Want to Work at Home


Rattled: Surviving Your Baby's First Year
Without Losing Your Cool by Trish Berg
ISBN-10: 1590529138
Publisher: Multnomah Books
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Genre: Non-fiction > Parenting
$11.19 from Amazon.com


Purchase Rattled: Surviving Your Baby's First Year Without Losing Your Cool by Trish Berg HERE!!!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Zondervan (March 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Michael Snyder has spent the bulk of his professional career in sales, has fallen in love, and continues to struggle with the balance between art and vocation. He's never investigated a murder, much less that of an allegedly clairvoyant dog.





ABOUT THE BOOK:

Russell Fink is twenty-six years old and determined to salvage a job he hates so he can finally move out of his parents house for good. He's convinced he gave his twin sister cancer when they were nine years old. And his crazy fiancée refuses to accept the fact that their engagement really is over.

Then Sonny, his allegedly clairvoyant basset hound, is found murdered.

The ensuing amateur investigation forces Russell to confront several things at once-the enormity of his family's dysfunction, the guy stalking his family, and his long-buried feelings for a most peculiar love interest.

At its heart, My Name is Russell Fink is a comedy, with sharp dialogue, characters steeped in authenticity, romance, suspense, and fresh humor. With a postmodern style similar to Nick Hornby and Douglas Coupland, the author explores reconciliation, forgiveness, and faith in the midst of tragedy. No amount of neurosis or dysfunction can derail God's redemptive purposes.


My Name Is Russell Fink by Michael Snyder
ISBN-10: 0310277272
Publisher: Zondervan
Release Date: March 1, 2008
Genre: Mystery
$10.39 from Amazon.com


Purchase My Name Is Russell Fink by Michael Snyder HERE!!!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Thomas Nelson (January 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:




Stephen Arterburn is the founder and chairman of New Life Ministries—the nation’s largest faith-based broadcast, counseling and treatment ministry—and is the host of the nationally syndicated “New Life Live!” daily radio...





By 1996 Nancy Rue was a full-time writer. The
Christian Heritage Series made that possible. She was writing those books from the early 1990's until 2000.

And then a new opportunity came along--the Lily series. If she ever doubted that she was going to make it as a writer, man, that little
red-head put those fears to rest! And, of course, Sophie followed Lily, with some teen and grown-up books in between -- plus the
non-fiction books designed just for you.

Nancy and her husband live in Tennessee now
, overlooking a beautiful lake, lots of sycamore trees, and the rocky Tennessee hills. They have a bright yellow power boat named BANANA SPLIT which you can find us on no matter what the weather. Marijean and her husband live nearby with my three grand-dogs and three grand-cats (and two grand-snakes . . .)



ABOUT THE BOOK:

With one flash of a camera, Demi's private life becomes public news. She doesn't know it yet, but her healing has just begun.


Christian college professor Demitria Costanas had vowed to end her affair with a colleague. But she gives into temptation one last time...and a lurking photographer captures her weakness for all to see. Quite literally, she's the woman caught in adultery. And almost everyone--herself included--has a stone to throw.

Enter Sullivan Crisp, a decidedly unorthodox psychologist with his own baggage. He's well-known for his quirky sense of humor and incorporation of "game show" theology into his counseling sessions. And yet there's something more he offers...hope for a fresh start.

Reluctantly the two of them begin an uplifting, uneven journey filled with healing and grace. By turns funny and touching, this story explores the ways humans hurt each other and deceive themselves. And it shows the endlessly creative means God uses to turn stones of accusation and shame into works of beauty that lead us onto the path of healing.

An auspicious debut for a candid yet tender series about pain, healing, and God's invitation for second chances.


Healing Stones by Stephen Arterburn & Nancy Rue
ISBN-10: 0849918901
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: January 1, 2008
Genre: Christian Fiction
$10.19 from Amazon.com


Purchase Healing Stones by Stephen Arterburn & Nancy Rue HERE!!!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Did you always want to be a writer, or is it something you fell into in your adult life?
Always. As soon as I could hold a pencil. My mind was always filled with some kind of story. As a child, I was punished for lying, now I get paid for it!

Your love of Texas history is displayed throughout the book, especially since it takes place in 19th century Texas. Why do you think this would appeal to your readers?
Texas is known for it's rugged and courageous people. The folk lore and legends could fill volumes--and has. Those people who were not born here got here as fast as they could. The good people are the best, and the outlaws were the worst. That makes for grand stories. Awaken My Heart shows the beginnings of Texas from a Spanish and Mexican perspective. Where would this state be if not for those who stood up to tyranny?

Marianne is in love with Armando Garcia, her father's arch enemy. How is Marianne able to suppress her feelings for Armando around her family?
Marianne understood that above all things, she should obey her parents. Outwardly, she respected their wishes, but in her heart, she could not deny her growing feelings for Armando.

Weston Phillips is a hard man to understand, perhaps an even harder man for his wife and daughter to love. Do you have people like him in your life?
All of us have unlovable people in our lives. Sometimes we attempt to be indifferent or ignore them, but it doesn't change the way that person hurts us.

Armando is confused by his feelings for Marianne. He feels like his heart has betrayed him. How does his past drive those feelings? Do you understand his hesitation?
Armando's parents were involved in a forbidden relationship--his father a member of the Spanish aristocracy and his mother a peasant. When it appeared that Armando's father had deserted his mother and son, Armando despised him. Now Armando has fallen into the same trap--forbidden love. He doesn't want to experience the same rejection again, but his heart is more powerful than his logic. He begins to understand the powerful force of love between two people.

Armando and Marianne admit their love, but social and political environment of the day frowned on their relationship. Forbidden love often pulls two people together, but what does God say is the foundation for His gift of love?
The foundation for God's gift of love is rooted in His Son Jesus Christ. Those who have put their faith and trust in Him understand that all are equal in the eyes of God.


Awaken My Heart by DiAnn Mills
ISBN-10: 0061376019
Publisher: Avon Inspire
Release Date: February 5, 2008
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
$9.95 from Amazon.com


Purchase Awaken My Heart by DiAnn Mills HERE!!!

Friday, February 08, 2008

Broadman & Holman Books (February 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rebeca Seitz is Founder and President of Glass Road Public Relations. An author for several years, PRINTS CHARMING being her first novel.

Rebeca cut her publicity teeth as the first dedicated publicist for the fiction division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. In 2005, Rebeca resigned from WestBow and opened the doors of GRPR, the only publicity firm of its kind in the country dedicated solely to representing novelists writing from a Christian worldview.

Rebeca makes her home in Kentucky with her husband, Charles, and their son, Anderson.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

Sisters, Ink marks the first in a series of novels written by, for, and about scrapbookers. At the center of the creativity and humor are four unlikely young adult sisters, each separately adopted during early childhood into the loving home of Marilyn and Jack Sinclair.

Ten years after their mother Marilyn has died, the multi-racial Sinclair sisters (Meg, Kendra, Tandy, and Joy) still return to her converted attic scrapping studio in the small town of Stars Hill, Tennessee, to encourage each other through life’s highs and lows.

Book one spotlights headstrong Tandy, a successful yet haunted attorney now living back in Orlando where she spent the first eight years of her life on the streets as a junkie’s kid. When a suddenly enforced leave of absence at work leads her to an extended visit with her sisters in Stars Hill, a business oppor­tunity, rekindled romance, and fresh understanding of God’s will soon follow.

ENDORSEMENTS

"What more can any woman want? Sisters, Ink weaves the love of sisters, the fun of scrapbooking, and a romance as sugary and tingling as Sweet Home Alabama. A must read for those who love southern fiction."
-- DiAnn Mills, author of Leather and Lace and When the Nile Runs Red

"Fun . . . funny . . . fantastic! Rebeca Seitz has brought together scrapbooking and sisterhood in a lively romp, with a love for going home again."
-- Eva Marie Everson, coauthor of The Potluck Club series.


Sisters, Ink by Rebeca Seitz
ISBN-10: 0805446907
Publisher: B&H Books
Release Date: February 1, 2008
Genre: Christian Fiction
$11.69 from Amazon.com


Purchase Sisters, Ink by Rebeca Seitz HERE!!!

Sunday, February 03, 2008

It is February, time for the FIRST Day Blog Tour! The FIRST day of every month we will feature an author and their book's FIRST chapter!

SISTERS, INK

B&H Books (February 1, 2008)

Rebeca Seitz is Founder and President of Glass Road Public Relations. An author for several years, PRINTS CHARMING being her first novel.

Rebeca cut her publicity teeth as the first dedicated publicist for the fiction division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. In 2005, Rebeca resigned from WestBow and opened the doors of GRPR, the only publicity firm of its kind in the country dedicated solely to representing novelists writing from a Christian worldview.

Rebeca makes her home in Kentucky with her husband, Charles, and their son, Anderson.


AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER

Chapter 1


Tandy’s purple stiletto heel tapped in perfect rhythm to the pulse that threatened to leap out of her neck. She stared at the phone, willing it to ring and someone on the other end to declare this a joke. Her boss did not just call her into his office. Now.

The smooth tones from her CD player of Ole Blue Eyes crooning I Did it My Way mocked rather than soothed. She had to calm down, but Meg’s idea of music soothing the savage soul was not working. Fingers shaking, Tandy snatched up the receiver and dialed her sister. Calm, stoic Meg always knew what to do in a crisis. From falling off the swing set to supplying Oreos and caffeine the night before Tandy’s bar exam, Meg was a pro at handling crises and keeping her three sisters’ lives humming.

A busy signal sounded, and Tandy slammed the phone back down. Of course Meg would be on the phone right now. Why on earth couldn’t that woman understand the helpfulness of call-waiting? Tandy could hear Meg’s soft, persuasive response now: Why would I stop talking to one person before our conversation ended, T? It’s rude and I just won’t have it in my house.

Grabbing the receiver again, Tandy punched in Kendra’s numbers, jumping when yet another hawk flew into her window. Why did Orlando have to have a courthouse with the perfect nooks and crannies to build a nest? Ever since the completion of this new structure, hawks circled attorneys in the Bellsouth building across the on a daily basis.

Kendra’s melodic voice floated over the line, its harmonious tones the same as in childhood: "You have reached the voicemail of Kendra Sinclair…"

Tandy slammed the receiver down again and glared at the circling hawks. Of course Mr. Beasley was angry. He had every right to be, really. That fat deposit in her checking account every other week meant the continuation of her dedication to keeping their clients out of jail. Certainly it meant she wouldn’t hand the prosecution the very evidence they needed to obtain a conviction. She fiddled with the purple and black silk scarf tied around her neck.

Would Joy be any help at all in this situation? Joy might be the baby sister, but her quiet strength could come in handy right now. Except that Joy loved to talk and Christopher Beasley was waiting. The thought of him in his office high above the hawks, tapping his long fingers on the glass top of a heavy mahogany desk, didn’t allow for long phone conversations.

Tandy’s office phone rang and she jumped. "Tandy Sinclair."

"Tandy, it’s Anna." Tandy smiled, thinking of the gentle lady seated a few floors above her. "Mr. Beasley’s on his third cup of coffee."

Her smile vanished. "Oh, no, Anna. Couldn’t you have dawdled a bit? You know how he gets with caffeine overload."

"And you know how he gets when I dawdle. You’ve got maybe three minutes before he asks me to get cup number four."

"I’m on my way." Tandy pushed back from her desk and stood up. "Thanks, Anna."

"No problem, sweetie."

Tandy dropped the phone in its cradle, her gaze darting around the room for something, anything that would prevent the next ten minutes.

If that idiot Harry Simons had been one iota less smarmy, this predicament could have been avoided. His outright ogling of her figure had been bad enough, but certainly not the first time Tandy had been forced to ignore a man’s unwanted attentions. They all seemed to believe her red, wavy hair was a sign she’d fulfill their wildest dreams. Heck, Mr. Beasley had probably even made that assumption at some point, as evidenced by his swift promotions landing her in a cushy corner office of Meyers, Briggs, and Stratton.

Tandy swigged caffeine and paced the office. It wasn’t even Harry’s condescension. His superiority, rooted in maleness, made no effort to hide the belief that a brain resting between the pierced ears of a thirty-year-old female graduate of Yale School of Law somehow negated its existence. That idiocy didn’t even raise her blood pressure. She fingered her pearl earrings and grimaced as a hawk glided to rest on the ledge outside.

No, she would have been fine, and Christopher Beasley would not at this very moment be preparing to fire her, except for one innocent little lunch with small-minded Harry. Why, oh why, had she agreed to go to lunch with the lizard? (Honestly, his head rivaled the shape of geckos that ran in and out of every flower bed in Central Florida.) Come to think of it, his eyes were shifty like a gecko, too. Was the single life getting to her so much that she’d date a lizard? She stopped and tapped the window ledge. Meg and Kendra were on her case to date more. But who had time to meet people after spending sixty-five hours a week at the office? She sighed. The sisters just didn’t understand life in the city.

"You guys have got it easy," she said to the hawks. "Circle, eat, rest, repeat. With the occasional head bang into a window to keep us lawyers on our toes." She shook her head.

Well, it didn’t matter now. Mr. Beasley awaited her presence and it would only get worse the longer she stood here. Her heels sank into the plush pearl-colored carpet as she crossed the office, ignoring the latest sacrifice to her black thumb—a nearly dead African violet. She opened her office door and cast one last glance at what, in about ten minutes, probably would not be her office. Oh well. Maybe she could take the plant to Anna.

She picked up the violet. At least the charade of defending a slimeball, who made fun of an old homeless man to make himself seem big, would come to an end. And the day was still young; she could hit the beach before the lunch rush hit I-4.

Shoulders thrown back, chin up, Tandy made her way down the hallway and entered an elevator lined in the obligatory mahogany, brass, and mirrors, testimony to Christopher’s desire to never rock a boat even in the decoration of his law firm’s offices. She eyed her reflection and saw steel in the brown eyes staring back. Cutting Harry off at the knees in public wasn’t the best financial move to make. How would she buy food for Cooper? Pay his vet bills? Keeping an old basset hound with arthritic knees and hips in comfort was a pricey endeavor. Still, it had been worth it to see the shock on Harry’s face when she announced in her loud voice the impending completion of his career. From a 9x9 prison cell, that cardboard box would look like heaven.

She checked her chignon, tucking in a stray curl and smoothing the rest down. Picturing Harry’s smug, pudgy face behind bars did way more to calm her pulse rate than Sinatra’s croon. The elevator dinged, announcing her arrival to Christopher Beasley’s penthouse lair.

Tandy took a deep breath, tightened her grip on the sagging violet, sent up a prayer of thanks that she’d picked the Ann Taylor suit today—must look sharp when being fired--and stepped across the threshold.

"He’s waiting for you." Sympathy shimmered in Anna’s blue eyes. The Orlando sun shining through the window made Anna’s hair glow like a fresh pearl.

Tandy set the violet down on Anna’s desk. "Thanks, Anna. It’s been good knowing you. I wonder if you might coax this little guy back to life?"

Anna raised her eyebrows. "Tandy, how many times do I have to tell you? You’re a danger to plants." She smiled and wagged her finger. "You taking them in isn’t an act of kindness. You leave the greenery to us old chicks."

Tandy laughed. "Yes ma’am." She took another breath. "I guess I should go in now."

Anna sobered. "Guess so."

"Still on cup number three?"

"I just took in cup four. I doubt he’s taken a sip yet, though. He’s slowing down."

"Thanks for everything, Anna."

"You’re welcome, honey. Take care of yourself. And you call me if you need anything, hear?"

Tandy nodded, only now realizing that losing her job also meant losing Anna’s kind wisdom. She blinked hard. Crying at work would not do. She stepped to Christopher’s door and knocked.

"Come." His deep voice bellowed through the door and Tandy’s pulse kicked up again. This was it. For the first time ever, Tandy Sinclair was about to be fired from a job. When she’d moved to Orlando to take this job and declare war on the city that took her childhood, Tandy never would have guessed she’d become an actual beach bum.

"Tandy, sit down, sit down." Christopher stood, gesturing to a chair and patting the telltale stripes of his Ben Silver tie. "Seems we have a little situation on our hands." The hawks circled one story below his window, the tops of their feathered backs lit by the sun.

Tandy sat down and nodded.

Christopher’s padded leather chair creaked with his weight. He settled back, propped his elbows on the arms, and templed his fingers. "Harry tells me he’s headed for a prison cell."

She nodded again.

"He also tells me that would be your fault."

Another nod. This must be what bobbleheads felt like.

"And he says he’s ready to sue this firm for inadequate representation unless I do something about it."

She quirked an eyebrow. Score one for Harry.

"I’ve assured Harry that there must be some misunderstanding since you’re one of the most capable attorneys this firm has seen in quite some time. So, please, Tandy, explain to me how one of our biggest clients, someone for whom you serve as lead counsel, suddenly finds himself facing jail."

Tandy tilted her head. He was giving her an out, bless him. Leave it to Christopher Beasley, King of Calm and Proper Appearances, to smooth the choppy waters and restore her professional boat to proper order. An image of Harry’s sneer popped into her mind, though, and the thought of backtracking fled like money from her wallet during a trunk sale.

She smiled and adopted her lawyer voice. "Well, Mr. Beasley, I appreciate your belief in my professional abilities, but it seems Mr. Simons has some rather extreme positions regarding personal values that led me to determine he is, in fact, guilty of the crime for which he has been accused. When I asked him directly, he admitted as much to me."

It was Christopher’s turn to raise a brow. "He told you he embezzled funds from Hope House?"

Tandy nodded. "Yes, sir. I advised him I could not put him on the stand, since I would be suborning perjury, but he refused to listen. It was either let him lie to the court or remove myself from his case. I chose the latter."

Christopher swiveled his chair and stared out at the courthouse. What she wouldn’t give for a hawk to barrel into the glass. Anything to break the tension. Losing this job wouldn’t be the end of the world…just of her bank account, for the time being. She really didn’t want to lose the paycheck, but Harry gave her no choice.

The man wouldn’t listen to reason if someone etched it in a brick and threw it at his head.

She thought about their lunch again, seeing the hump-backed old man picking through a dumpster across the street. His coat had been threadbare, but Tandy knew too well the value of a coat, threadbare or not, on the streets. The priceless nature of every layer between skin and street. How the three bites of cheeseburger he found wrapped in its foil was enough to fill his belly for an entire day.

Harry’s voice had faded into the background of restaurant chatter as Tandy’s mind flew back to the seven years she spent living in a box with her mother. Before she met Marian and Jack Sinclair. Hearing the trains rumble past where they camped. Begging people for money, searching for a dry place when it rained, for a piece of food that hadn’t already been discovered by bugs. Watching her mom bob and weave as she walked, that scary light in her eyes that was both mesmerizing and terrifying because it meant mom wouldn’t make sense.

Tandy knew now her childhood had been stolen the first day her mother lit a match beneath the bowl of a pipe.

"Stupid junkie. Probably lost his job because of some drug habit." Harry’s voice joined a thousand other voices that still kept her awake on too many nights. "Bet he chooses to live like that. Easier than getting a job and working for his money like the rest of us."

Tandy looked at Harry sitting there in his three-thousand-dollar pin-striped suit, black crocodile shoes, and platinum cuff links with the Brooks Brothers insignia. Thought about reminding him his money came from his father’s hard work and planning, but decided against it. Harry was, after all, a huge client.

"Oh, probably not, Harry. You’d be amazed what some of the people living on the streets have been through." She sipped her water and willed her blood not to boil at the stupidity of the man before her.

He sneered and pointed a stubby finger at her. "Don’t be naïve, Tandy. That man could get a job flipping burgers at McDonald’s just as easy as sit out there with a cup in his hand, begging me to part with my cold hard cash that I worked very hard to get."

Silence was about as possible as finding a pair of Ferragamo’s in a size ten. On sale. Never gonna happen.

"Harry, how would he get a job? I doubt he owns any clothing other than what’s on his back. What would he wear to a job interview? Where would he get enough sleep in one sitting to be awake for an entire shift? What address would he even put on his job application?"

"Why, Tandy, I didn’t know you cared so much about our fair city’s homeless degenerates." His voice, so patronizing and smooth, grated. It fought with the pockmarks on his face to portray a polished image. "I’d think, with such convictions, you would have a hard time taking my case."

"Why is that, Harry? You didn’t embezzle from Hope House. Which means you didn’t take money from the mouths of homeless people. Which means my awareness of the plight of the homeless works in your favor." She took a sip of her water and tried to relax.

He wagged his finger at her. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Tandy. There goes your naiveté again."

It took her a second to catch on. "Excuse me?"

He grinned and, for the first time, Tandy knew what jowls meant. "I think we both know what I’m saying."

"I certainly hope not. Because if you’re confessing to taking money from a homeless shelter, I can’t put you on the stand. I’d be suborning perjury."

Christopher cleared his throat, snapping Tandy back into the present. He swiveled around to face her. "I’m in a predicament, Tandy. Harry Simons brings a lot of money to this firm, been with us for years. That must count for something. Yet I find myself struggling with the thought of firing you since I understand the ethical dilemma you faced."

A tiny smidgen of hope blossomed in her heart.

Christopher placed his palms down on his glass-topped desk, an act of finality. "And yet, I see no course of action but to terminate your employment with Meyers, Briggs, and Stratton. Anything less would cause serious repercussions in our relationship with Harry Simons."

She fought to breathe normally. Blinked to hold back tears. Her savings account was basically nonexistent, which meant she and Cooper better start looking for a big refrigerator box to call home. Or maybe finding Cooper another family to live with would be a better idea. One of the sisters could take him. Meg, or maybe Joy. Kendra would be a last resort. She was as good with pets as Tandy was with plants. Well, except for Kitty, but cats were self-sufficient.

A hawk slammed into the window, making Christopher jump and spill the coffee sitting on his desk. "Dadgum it! Anna!"

Anna came rushing in, saw the mess, and snagged a roll of paper towels from the cabinet by the door without a word.

"You’ve got to call somebody about these hawks, Anna. They’re ruining my concentration!"

"Yes, Mr. Beasley. I’ll make the call today." Anna shot Tandy a sideways glance. Tandy grinned. Seeing the unflappable Christopher Beasley in a snit was worth getting fired--almost. Anna sopped up the mess and left the room.

"Now, where were we?" He pushed paper around the desk, checking to ensure all the coffee was gone.

Tandy cleared her throat. "I think you were firing me."

Christopher stopped arranging paper and looked up at her. "Right, right. Well, I don’t think we have to be that drastic. How about a leave of absence?"

Thank heaven for hawks.

"A leave of absence, sir?" Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but, hey, it had to be asked.

"Yes. I think that will mollify our good friend Harry." Christopher nodded and patted the desktop, warming to his idea. "I’ll let him know you’ve taken some time to think through your behavior and will come back to the firm when you’ve gotten some perspective. Say, two months?"

Two months? She calculated the amount in her checking account and began deducting bills. With no extracurricular spending at all, it might work. Two months to find something else or learn how to eat crow. Okay, maybe this was a good thing. There was no immediate need to take another boring job in a legal firm. Two months was a ton of time. Figuring out her professional passion should be a snap. She could almost see Meg’s eyes roll at that thought.

"Thank you for that, sir."

Christopher smiled. "It’s the least we can do. You’ve been a good employee. I just wish this mess hadn’t occurred."

Poor Christopher. Conflict between an employee and a major client. He must have been up all night figuring out ways to smooth ruffled feathers.

She shrugged. "These things happen for a reason, I think." She stood up and held out her hand. Christopher took it with his own limp one and made a motion that might optimistically be called a handshake.

"Good luck, Tandy. We’ll see you back here in two months."

"Thank you." She turned on one Ferragamo heel and walked out of Christopher Beasley’s office. Eight weeks of nothingness spread out before her like a gift. There had to be a way to make money off of this.

She tapped her chin and watched the lights over the elevator. Maybe some tourist would want her apartment for a couple of weeks. Tourists would pay just about anything for somewhere to stay during season. A couple thousand bucks, easy.

But if someone were to stay in her apartment, where could she go? The whisper of her heart tickled Tandy’s brain. Stars Hill, Tennessee’s rolling countryside, Daddy’s smile, Momma’s painted roses, the sisters’ scrapbooks…

The ding of the elevator dispelled her mind’s image, but not the idea. Stars Hill. Well, it had been a while since she’d been back. Three years, if memory served. And, with Daddy and the sisters around, there wouldn’t be any need to spend money on restaurants. Though what she’d save might be spent on scrapbook stuff. It was one thing to scrap alone and quite another to sit around Momma’s old scrapping table with the girls.

Tandy exited the elevator and smiled. If she left right now, she’d be home in Stars Hill by morning.

She walked into her office, snagged her briefcase, and whipped out a tiny cell phone on the way back to the elevator.

"Hello?"

"Meg?"

"Hey, T, what’s up in the big city?"

Tandy laughed. "Well, not me. I’ve got eight weeks of a sudden vacation."

"What? What happened?"

"I’ll tell you all about it when I get there."

Meg’s squeal pierced Tandy’s ears and she jerked the phone away from her head. "You’re coming home? To Stars Hill? Yes!! When will you be here? Wait, what happened? Did you get fired? Did something happen at work?" Tandy could hear Meg’s three kids squealing now in the background. They must have caught on to their mom’s excitement.

"Seriously, I’ll tell you when I get there. Call Kendra and Joy. Breakfast at Joy’s, 9 a.m."

"You’ve got it, sister. James, get down off that table!" Tandy could just picture Meg’s eldest. He must have grown a foot by now. "I’m telling you that child will climb on anything," Meg said.

"Go keep your kids from tearing down the house. I’ve got to get home, get all my scrapping stuff packed, call the rental company to let some crazy tourist in my place for a couple of weeks, and get on the highway."

"On the road again…" Meg’s voice blared through the phone.

"Sheesh, Sis, are you ever going to stop with the songs?"

"Not as long as there’s a breath in me." Tandy heard scuffling. "James, put your sister down! I am not kidding with you, mister!"

Tandy chuckled. "See you in the morning."

"Okay. Be careful and buckle up."

"You’ve got it."

Tandy snapped the phone closed and walked through the parking deck toward her new little silver BMW 323. Man was this car going to stand out in sleepy little Stars Hill.


Sample from Sisters, Ink by Rebeca Seitz / ISBN: 0805446907
Copyright © 2007 B&H Books.
All rights reserved.
To order a copy of this book, go to www.amazon.com