BUTTERFLY PALACE - Colleen Coble - One Free Book

Readers, I’ve known Colleen Coble for a number over a decade, and I’ve loved reading her novels. Butterfly Palace is another excellent read. It has romance, mystery, and an interesting historical setting. As usual, the characters drew me into their lives from page one. You won’t want to miss this book.

Welcome back, Colleen. Why did you become an author?

I don’t know. I have wanted to write since I was a little girl, but I don’t know the why of it. I think God just created me that way. J

With the talent you have, I’m sure of it. If you weren’t an author, what would be your dream job?

I would be a naturopath. I love natural medicine and I am always advising someone about something!

If you could have lived at another time in history, what would it be and why?

I love the turn of the century, which is the time period of Butterfly Palace. It’s somewhat similar to today with lots of new technology beginning to happen and great social change. It’s very interesting to me.

What place in the United States have you not visited that you would like to?

I’ve been to every state in the country. J

That’s quite an accomplishment. How about a foreign country you hope to visit?

I was privileged to visit Cambodia last February and I want to go back. A fascinating country and I love the people!

What lesson has the Lord taught you recently?

My friend Diann Hunt helped pound home the important lesson about living every day for the Lord. We don’t know if we will have tomorrow, so we need to squeeze every bit of joy and love out of today.

Tell us about the featured book.

Elegance and wealth. Privilege and politics. The extravagance of the Butterfly Palace overwhelmed Lily’s senses and nearly smothered her painful memories. She pushed away her misgivings ... She was perfectly safe in this huge house.

Austin, Texas—1904: Abandoned by the love of her life and still mourning the loss of
her mother, Lily Donaldson has turned her back on the pain and come to Austin
for a fresh start, working for the Marshall family as a kitchen maid in their
luxurious mansion, the Butterfly Palace. The tasks before her are legion, and her
mistress less than pleasant, but at least Lily’s new life will be, if nothing
else, distracting.

But one night, while serving at a dinner party, Lily recognizes the man who abandoned
her, Andy, her liaison from the livery stable, the blacksmith’s son ...
sitting among the distinguished guests. Though he recognizes her, Andy does not
acknowledge her aloud, and Lily is left reeling, flabbergasted, and
irate. 




But before she can get an explanation, the path of the Servant Girl Killer swerves
very close to the Butterfly Palace, sowing terror among the maids. Having come
to Austin to start anew, Lily suddenly feels trapped in a spider web. How can
she know who to trust in a house where lies come dressed in fine suits and
deceit in silk gowns the colors of butterfly wings?

I’ve read the book, but please give us the first page of the book for my readers.

Larson, Texas 1900

Lily Donaldson tiptoed to the front door and winced when it opened with a creak. The last thing she wanted was to awaken her mother who was sleeping down the hall. Even though Lily was over twenty, her mother would take a switch to her if she knew she was sneaking out like this. The lights still shone from the livery, attached to their house.

She peeked in the window as she passed and saw her father at the desk with his partner as they poured over figures for the new expansion. There was a stack of money on the desk beside them. It would be hours before the meeting came to an end. The talk of a new livery in the next town over had been going on for several weeks, and both men never seemed to tire of the topic.

The night air touched her heated skin, and she shivered as she hurried along the path to the barn. Crickets chirped as if to keep time to the ragtime tune tinkling from the tavern’s piano down the street. The threat of discovery added another thump to her pulse.

The familiar scent of hay and horse greeted her when she stepped into the darkened building. “Andy?” She twisted the unfamiliar weight of the engagement ring on her finger. Her lips curved when Andy Hawkins stepped from the shadows. “I thought maybe you hadn’t been able to slip away.” She kept her voice barely above a whisper.

“I told him I wasn’t feeling well. I’d much rather be with you.” His warm hands came down on her shoulders, and he pulled her close for a kiss. “That meeting will go on for hours.”

Heat ran through her at his words. She’d tried to resist the pull of their passion—they both had—but they’d been weak, so weak. The warm press of his fingers closed around her hand, and he pulled her to a comfortable stack of hay. She fell into his arms without a protest. His lips came down on hers, and she forgot everything but his touch.

Then he lifted his head and sniffed. “Do you smell smoke?”

Cries of alarm began to filter into her consciousness muddied by the feel and scent of Andy. He helped her to her feet, and they both rushed to the door to view a scene that made her shudder.

Fire shot through the roof of the livery. “Papa!” Andy restrained her when she would have rushed forward.

More shouts came from town, and a line of men burst from the saloon and ran toward the burning building. The windows of the livery exploded, spewing broken glass onto the ground, then smoke poured from open frames.

Andy grabbed her hand, and they ran toward her front door. She stopped and stared at the fire, Which direction? Her mother was in the house. Their fathers were in the livery. Lily’s chest was tight as flames shot through the roof of the livery.

Her fingers closed around the doorknob. “I’ll get my mother. You get the men.” The metal was already hot to the touch. How could the fire have grown so quickly?

She yanked open the door and plunged inside. Thick, roiling smoke choked Lily’s nose and throat as soon as she reached the top of the stairs. She threw open the bedroom door and rushed to the bed. The smoke was thick in the bedroom too. Her mother slept, unaware of the danger.

Lily shook her. “Mama, wake up! You have to get out of here.” Shouts and screams echoed from outside. What was happening to her father?

Her mother lifted her head, and her eyes went wide then cleared of confusion. She threw back the covers. She stumbled to the door with Lily. One hand around her mother’s waist, Lily led her down the steps. Glass cut her bare feet, but she didn’t pause. Her chest burned both with the hot smoke and with the need to escape.

“Almost there,” she told her mother. She reached blindly for the door, and her fingers grasped the knob. She threw open the door.

The first brush of fresh air on her skin made her gasp and draw in the thick smoke in the air. She coughed at the searing pain in her chest, then stumbled onto the porch with her mother. Lily led her mother a safe distance away before turning to see bright flames shooting into the night. A fire alarm clanged behind them, and the horses pulling the fire engine came racing around the corner. As soon as it came to a stop, the firemen leaped into the yard and ran for the house.

Her mother coughed and stared at the furiously burning building. “Where’s your father?”

But Lily didn’t see her father’s tall, bald head. Dread congealed in her belly, and she shook her head. “I don’t see them, but Andy went to get them out.” She stared at the throng around the burning building. Was that Andy?

His soot-blackened face came into view by the light of the flames. He struggled with the two men holding him. “Let go of me! I have to find them.”

“It’s too dangerous,” one of the men said. “The building is fully engulfed.”

“Stay here, Mama.” Lily hurried to Andy’s side. “You didn’t find them?” Her throat closed at the hopeless expression on Andy’s face.

She turned to stare at the inferno that had engulfed both the livery and the attached house. The heat of the fire scorched her face. The breeze blew stinging cinders against her skin. Andy renewed his efforts to free himself, but the firemen propelled him back to a safer distance.

The roar of the fire was like a dragon from a fairy tale, monstrous and all consuming. Flames licked out of the upper windows, straining toward the roof. More glass shattered, and the stink of burning bedding rolled over the lawn. With a groan, the building began to sag. The firemen shoved them back even more, and they all turned to watch it give a final shudder before the weakened timbers collapsed. Sparks and flames shot higher as the fire fed on the night air and began to consume the last of the building.

Lily sank to her knees, and Andy fell with her. They held one another as the fire took their fathers.

Andy stiffened, then pulled away. “It’s my fault. I should have been there. I would have smelled it and gotten them out.”

“It went too fast, Andy. There was nothing any of us could do.” She tried to cup his face in her hands, but he flinched away, then jumped to his feet.

“Don’t look at me. I can’t even stand myself.” He stalked off and the dark swallowed him up.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is www.colleencoble.com , and I hang out constantly on Facebook at colleencoblebooks. I answer all emails personally. Love to hear from readers!

Thank you, Colleen, for sharing this new book with us.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Butterfly Palace - Christianbook.com
Butterfly Palace - Amazon
Butterfly Palace  - Kindle
Bluebonnet Bride: A Butterfly Palace Story - Kindle

Christian Book Store

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Winners!!!!!

JC (IN) is the winner of Gatehaven  by Molly Noble Bull.
Linda K (CA) is the winner of your choice of one of the featured ebooks by Kathleen Y'Barbo.
Karen G (NY) is the winner of the ebook Letters from Korea by Joan Leotta.
Cindi (PA) is the winner of A Promise Made by Norma Downing.

From the Scavenger Hunt, choose Maggie's Journey or Mary's Blessing:
Hannah P (WI) and Linda F (NY) are winners of their choice of a Kindle edition or PDF of one of the featured books by Lena Nelson Dooley.
K Sanders (S Africa) and Brenda F (NY) are winners of their choice of a PDF of one of the featured books by Lena Nelson Dooley.

 If you won a book and you like it, consider giving the author the courtesy of writing a review on Goodreads, Amazon.com, Christianbooks.com, Barnes and Noble, or other Internet sites. 

Also, tell your friends about the book ... and this blog. Thank you.

Congratulations, everyone. If you won a print book, send me your mailing address:
Click the Contact Me link at the top of the blog, and send me an Email.

If you won an ebook, just let me know what email address it should be sent to.

When you contact me, please give the title of the book you won, so I won't have to look it up.
Remember, you have 4 weeks to claim your book.

TIDE AND TEMPEST - Elizabeth Ludwig - One Free Book

Readers, Elizabeth is another Texas author. We’ve been friends a long time. We’ve been on writing retreats together. I love her heart for the Lord, and I love her writing, and this series are three of her best books. I think you will, too.

Welcome back, Elizabeth. Tell us about your salvation experience.

I got saved when I was twenty-one. My husband and I had only been married for a couple of years, but we’d dated all through high school, and I knew that we differed on exactly what it meant to be saved. You see, I had been raised as a Catholic, and my husband was a Pentecostal.

One day, my sister approached me about some of the conversations my husband and I had been having regarding faith. She explained that salvation wasn’t about denomination, it was about surrendering my heart and life to God, and about acknowledging my need for a Savior. Though I pretended to understand, deep down, I was hiding a secret. I was holding back—afraid to commit everything to a God I didn’t really know.

About a year after this, my husband and I suffered the loss of our second child, our son, Seth, at three months of age. With the agony and grief arose questions regarding faith. Commitment. Trust.

Though I had managed to fool myself for several years, the time had finally come when God demanded an answer from me regarding my salvation. Would I trust Him with my most precious possessions? Would I commit myself to Him no matter where He led, even if it was through the Valley? Did I believe that even in the midst of suffering and fear, He was able to direct my path and protect me from evil?

I believe that when I finally answered yes to these questions, God truly became my Lord and Savior. I still remember letting go of the struggle—it was like a conscious movement, an opening of my hands. I let go of doubt, indecision, and fear, and I gained grace. I gained God.

You’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?

Only four? Oh my…

I’d say it would have to be Michelle Griep, Janelle Mowery, Kellie Coates Gilbert, and Candice (Speare) Prentice. Each one of these ladies has been such an encouragement to me over the years. They love to laugh, they love the Lord, and I know they would be a whole lot of fun.

Yes, they would. I know all of them, and two of them are dear friends. Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

Oh yes, I do! I love to talk to community organizations, writers groups, and book clubs. In just the past year, I’ve visited with over thirty local groups and taught several workshops. But it’s not always just about my writing. I’ve been invited to speak at several women’s ministry events, which is always fun because I get to combine two of my favorite things—writing and Jesus. J

For anyone who is interested in booking me for their event, I have a partial list of topics on my website at www.elizabethludwig.com.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?

LOL! This just between you and me, right? ;-)

My husband and I were at a basketball tournament once, and during half-time, I decided to get up to use the restroom. Bathrooms were across the gym, so I left and came back a short while later. As I’m walking across the floor, I see my husband frantically waving at me and pointing at something behind his back. After several seconds, I realized that he was pointing at me, so I start checking my shoes, my zipper…nothing.

Have you ever walked out of a bathroom with toilet paper stuck to your shoe?

Yeah, well…mine wasn’t stuck to my shoe. It was a piece of toilet paper about 10 inches long, and it was coming out the top of my pants, and flapping along like a flag behind me. The second I saw it, I tore it off and threw it on the floor, where it lay like a badge of shame until the game workers came out and swept it away.

Been there, done that, and it’s embarrassing. People are always telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you, too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?

I always like to encourage people to follow their dreams, so when a person says that to me, I give them my card and tell them to contact me so that I can put them in touch with some literary organizations that can help. It’s not much, but it gives them a place to start if they’re really serious about pursuing a career in writing.

Tell us about the featured book.

I am so excited for the release of Tide and Tempest! Originally, I had intended for the EDGE OF FREEDOM to be a two book series, so this was the only story that wasn’t planned. It has turned out to be my favorite. I love, love, love this hero and heroine—Keondric and Tillie. Their story amazed me, and their love was just phenomenal to write.

Also, I share a common grief with Tillie—the loss of a child. I think that’s why she resonated with me so deeply. I really hope her triumph over guilt and grief speaks to readers.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Sure! Here you go.

“Captain Morgan? Sir?”

Keondric Morgan glared over his shoulder at the deckhand waving furiously at him from the bow of the Caitriona Marie. He slowed his steps, halting the rhythmic cadence of his feet against the gangplank. “What now, Donal?”

His fingers beat with irritation against the pouch strapped to his side. He had somewhere to be, and if he had to mind every move his crewmen made, he’d never get there.

“The doctor, sir.” Donal shifted from foot to foot and tugged at the collar of his shirt.

Blowing an impatient blast from his lips, Morgan lifted his cap, dragged his fingers through his hair then gestured for him to continue. “Well? Go on, man, what about him?”

“What. . .uh. . .” Knuckles white as he gripped the rail, he glanced over his shoulder and back then cupped a hand to his mouth and leaned out over the water. “What should we do with him, sir?”

“He’s dead, Donal,” Morgan shouted back, raising his voice to be heard above the flocks of seagulls arguing overhead. “What do you think we should do with him? Contact his next of kin and see about getting him buried!”

Sighing, Donal grumbled, “’Twould have been easier if the man had died at sea.”

A lull in the noise clamoring from the vessels along the dock carried his words to Morgan’s ears. He paused mid-turn and narrowed his eyes. “What was that?”

Donal’s chin lowered. “Nothing, sir.”

“Good. See to it, then.” Jamming his hands into his pockets, Morgan hunched his shoulders, spun on his heel, and stormed down the gangplank. The doctor’s death disturbed him, but not nearly so as much as did his dying words.

“I did it, Morgan. God help me, I took the money.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I’ve made quite a home for myself on the web. Here is a list of places where people can find me:

www.elizabethludwig.com

www.theborrowedbook.blogspot.com

https://twitter.com/theborrowedbook

https://www.facebook.com/elizabethludwig102

I hope you’ll stop by. I’d love to have you visit!

Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing this new book with us.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Tide and Tempest - Christianbook.com
Tide and Tempest (Edge of Freedom) - Amazon
Tide and Tempest (Edge of Freedom Book #3) - Kindle

Christian Book Store

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

THE DEVIL WALKS IN MATTINGLY - Billy Coffey - On Free Book, Plus More

Bio: Billy Coffey's critically-acclaimed books combine rural Southern charm with a vision far beyond the ordinary. He is a regular contributor to several publications, where he writes about faith and life. Billy lives with his wife and two children in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.

Welcome, Billy. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

I try not to write a whole lot of myself, and then I’ll finish a book and think, Sheesh, that’s me all over the place. I don’t think there’s any way around it for a lot of fiction writers. Especially for me. Most times, I’ll start a story because I’m trying to work out something that’s been bugging me. I guess in that light, a lot of my own personality is bound to leak through.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

You do some quirky things when you become a parent. A lot of that strangeness has to do with being so dog tired all the time. What’s left over is usually reserved for those times when the kids are bawling so hard or throwing a tantrum so much that your only option is to do something ridiculous. Shaving only half of my face and leaving it for an entire weekend comes to mind—the kids loved that one. And there was that afternoon when the only way I could cure my son’s despair over a broken toy was to let him shoot me repeatedly with his Nerf gun.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

It took me twenty years to get published. About halfway through that long and deep valley, I decided to build my platform by pitching the idea of a weekly column to an editor at the local newspaper. I sent five of my best samples. A week later, he emailed back and said there was no way he could even entertain the idea because I was simply a bad writer. I did what I swore I never would and quit. Didn’t write a word for nearly four months. And those four months were so horrible, so heartrending, that I finally picked up my pen again. I realized that rejection hurt, but not writing hurt a whole lot more. That’s when I discovered I was a writer.

That’s so true. Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I tend to read just about everything. I love the classics—Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Hemmingway. Lately I’ve discovered Henry James. Flannery O’Conner is my hero. Stephen King is a close second. Tolkien a close third. But I read a lot of nonfiction as well—history and psychology and especially philosophy. There’s always a C.S. Lewis book on my nightstand, right beside something by Neil Gaiman.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

It helps when you live in a place where cows outnumber the people and there are four times as many churches as stoplights. Our town is a pretty quiet place; it’s easy here to shut the world out. I make it a point to put the smartphone and the tablet away once I get home from work so I can focus on family. And Sunday is always honored.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

My books are set in the South, and Southern people have some of the most exotic names out there, and also some of the most traditional. Most of my characters’ names are names of people I’ve known throughout my life. The rest are simply names of people I wish I’d known.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

I have two of the best kids in the world. I don’t think any accomplishment is greater.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

I’ve always been drawn to wolves. They’re loyal to their pack, they’re a little mysterious, and they generally prefer keeping to themselves. I’d count the first two of those attributes as positive when it comes to people. I will admit the third also applies to me. Writers tend to be introspective. They live in their heads.

What is your favorite food?

Give me pasta any day, and you’ll make me a happy man.

What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

It’s always tough starting a new book, because that nagging question of whether I can do it again always pops up. Can I really sit down and write another story? Can it be a good one? Is this when everyone realizes that I can’t do this anymore? So much of calling yourself an author is mental. You can say that time is your greatest enemy, or the gatekeepers who hold the keys to the literary kingdom, or the guy who gave you a one-star review on Amazon because he just didn’t understand your story, but the real enemy is yourself. Your doubts. And the best way to beat back those doubts is to write a single page. That’s it, that’s the secret. Write one page today, then another tomorrow. A page a day is a book a year.

Tell us about the featured book.

The Devil Walks in Mattingly is about the death of a boy named Phillip McBride, whose body was found twenty years ago along the riverbank in a wilderness area known as Happy Hollow. Phillip’s death was ruled a suicide. But for two decades, three people have suffered under the burden of knowing the truth: Phillip didn’t kill himself that day. He was murdered, and they were the ones responsible. That secret has haunted each of them, drawing them to an inevitable reckoning, one that comes to a head when Phillip McBride comes back for them all.

Please give us the first page of the book.

None but my wife know of my trips beyond the rusty gate; none but my wife ever will. Kate understands why I must endure this long walk through the forest, miles of bearing up under a heavy feeling of being watched.

“Go, Jake,” she will tell me. She will say, “Mind the woods” and “See if someone’s come” and “Be home with Zach and me soon.” And even though the fear in her eyes begs me stay, Kate never asks me to keep away from the Hollow. She knows I must come to this place. It is my duty both as sheriff and as a Barnett.

And yet even as I hold my name and station in the highest regard, that is not why I dare enter this wood and strike east and north for the grove. I come to this place of darkness because it is where the light of heaven once touched. I come here for the ones who were saved on a night long ago and for the ones lost.

I come because heaven is not without the past.

I walk here now just as I walked here on the night of my salvation—uniformed and holding Bessie at my side. The blood on my old tomahawk was wet then, and a color like deep crimson. Now it is no more than a thin line of dulled brown that glimmers in this struggling sun.

Aside from that—from me—I find all is as it has always been in this wild and mountainous place. Change may come beyond this wide span of gnarled trees and gray soil, but the Hollow clings to its past and will not yield to the passing of time. It endures. That is why I both loathe this land beyond the rusty gate and give thanks for it as well. It is an anchor to hold the world in place.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

You can keep up with all my goings on at my website—www.billycoffey.com. I blog there twice a week. I also have a fan page on Facebook, and my twitter name is @billycoffey.


Billy Coffey is celebrating his new book, The Devil Walks in Mattingly, with a Kindle Fire HDX giveaway.

 
  One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• The Devil Walks in Mattingly by Billy Coffey

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 5th. Winner will be announced April  7th on Billy's blog. Watch Billy give the backstory of the book here.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Billy's blog on April 7th to see if you won.

Thank you, Billy, for sharing your life and new book with us today. I've been wanting to feature you on my blog for a while.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

The Devil Walks in Mattingly - Christianbook.com
The Devil Walks in Mattingly - Amazon
The Devil Walks in Mattingly - Kindle

Christian Book Store

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Google+, Feedblitz, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

A SKY WITHOUT STARS - Linda S Clare - One Free Book, Plus Much More

Bio: Linda S. Clare is an award-winning coauthor of three books, including Lost Boys and the Moms Who Love Them (with Melody Carlson and Heather Kopp), Revealed: Spiritual Reality in a Makeover World, and Making Peace with a Dangerous God (with Kristen Johnson Ingram). She is also the author of The Fence My Father Built. She has taught college-level creative writing classes for seven years, and edits and mentors writers. She also is a frequent writing conference presenter and church retreat leader. She and her husband of thirty-one years have four grown children, including a set of twins. They live in Eugene, Oregon, with their five wayward cats: Oliver, Xena the Warrior Kitty, Paladine, Melchior, and Mamma Mia!

Welcome back, Linda. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

My motto is “Stories of Grace for the Chronically Different.” I write books about the marginalized, the disadvantaged and outsiders because I have dealt with being different all my life. As a polio survivor, I’ve had my fair share of challenges. I’m part Native American too, so American Indians’ historical struggle is one of my big interests. I also need to include my faith in my stories, but in a way that doesn’t threaten or alienate further the ones I’m writing about. I try to realistically portray people’s problems and their sometimes bumpy road to God.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

The birth days of my four children count as joyful for me. The last two were surprise twins. I was and am happy about it, but still kind of in shock too. Never knew I was carrying twins. We had two names picked—one for a boy and one for a girl. We used them both. They are each grown with their own families now.

How has being published changed your life?

Some of my close friends have had phenomenal success in publishing (one member of my first critique group has now published more than 200 books) and for a long time I griped to God that it was never going to be my turn. But I finally piggy-backed with two of my friends on a nonfiction book and have published 5 books now. Publishing has opened up a whole world of wonderful readers to me. I never get tired of connecting with readers. Coming up with stories that offer hope and where readers can see the naked truth about life’s struggles proves to me again and again that writing them is a big part of why I’m here.

What are you reading right now?

Aside from reading works-in-progress by several of my critique partners, as well as the work of writers whom I mentor, I’m reading a memoir, Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart (Random House, 2014). It’s very witty. I also love Sarah Sundin’s historical series as well as Ann Shorey’s historical. They are both terrific writers and storytellers.

What is your current work in progress?

My latest effort is called A SYMPHONY OF MOTION. It’s about a little girl named CC who’s musically gifted but in Special Ed. She’s been so traumatized by her dad’s departure from the family that she isn’t speaking. Her mom leaves her with Aunt Bassett, a high school orchestra teacher who’s taken in a boarder, Paulo “Pops” Abruzzo, a former symphony conductor in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease. He’s bitter and has only his precious grand piano left. When CC defies his command not to play the piano, his Parkinson’s symptoms begin to disappear. Is it a true miracle or is it the power of love?

What would be your dream vacation?

My dream vacation would be to tour the British Isles. I’ve always wanted to go to the UK. My birthday is St. Patrick’s Day and I’m at least part Irish, so Ireland would be exciting to visit.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

For The Fence My Father Built, the setting was originally Arizona where I was born and raised. But the moment I saw Central Oregon—which is very similar to high desert in Northern Arizona—I reconsidered and set the book in a fictional town somewhere out near Prineville, Oregon. For A Sky without Stars, I really wanted to showcase the beautiful state of Arizona. Most think of it as a dry desert, but Arizona has seven climate zones! Parts of the story take place in the desert around 1950s Phoenix (back then it was still kind of a one-horse town) but parts also are set in Navajo country, a windswept corner of northeastern Arizona with breathtaking rock formations as well as many, many Native Americans. And sheep! Navajo country has lots of sheep.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

I know this sounds nutty but I’d love to spend the day with former Beatle Paul McCartney, just to observe his songwriting/writing process. The creative process is fascinating to me (I hold a degree in Art and once worked as a singer) and whether it’s art, music, dance, or writing, I love the process of creating. I’m not a very good dancer, but in college I drew on my poems and wrote poems on my drawings. For me, it’s all interconnected, and I consider McCartney a master of creativity.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

In Oregon, you learn to love gardening. I’ve lived here 30 years and I’m still learning the names of plants and trees that aren’t desert plants. I mean, I know my cacti from years in the Arizona desert, but am decidedly less aware of the names of plants which thrive in a more temperate climate like Oregon. The weather is rainy and people often compare my city, Eugene, with England’s climate. Each summer my adult son and I plant a veggie garden, and I also have quite a flower habit. Like bookstores, I’m not really allowed in garden centers because I buy everything. I also love working with children. I have two little grandsons that are my joys.

I smiled at that last sentence, because James and I spent part of yesterday with our youngest great grandson. They are a joy. What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Physically, I have this crummy thing called Post-polio Syndrome which is kind of like MS or fibromyalgia. It’s caused from years of overuse and compensation for the muscles of my back, neck, and left arm that were paralyzed in the polio I contracted at age 8 ½ months. Yes, I type with one hand. Perhaps my other obstacle is that I love to write lots of different things and genres, so I’m late coming to the “branding” table. It probably holds me back from fabulous stardom, LOL!

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Write. Read. Lots. Your first novel will not be likely the first published. When you read about a new author hitting the big time, that writer probably has more than one early attempt at a novel sitting in a drawer. Learn everything! It does take a while to master any craft, but here’s the good news: Writing is a craft and you can learn a craft. In my mind, there are only two kinds of writing: writing that works and writing that needs work. I teach novel writing, and I offer free writing tips each week on my blog. Visit me!

Tell us about the featured book.

Can a quilt bridge the gap between two cultures?  

After her husband is killed on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Frankie Chasing Bear wants a fresh start. But in 1951, relocating through the US government’s Relocation Program didn’t just mean a new town; it meant a new way of life. Frankie quickly learns that raising her son, Harold to revere his Lakota heritage will be a challenge in the white man’s world. Searching for a way for her son to respect his ancestors but also embrace a future of opportunity, she begins a Lakota Star-pattern quilt with tribal wisdom sung, sewn, and prayed into it—something that will not let him forget where he came from.

A bed without a quilt is like a sky without stars, but neither the quilt nor her new life come easily to Frankie. Federal Agent Nick Parker, for instance, is the last man Frankie wants to trust. She’s already struggling to understand Nick’s culture; how can she embrace his Christian faith? Will Frankie learn that love is the most important ingredient for her son’s quilt—and life itself? 

Please give us the first page of the book.

PROLOGUE

Pine Ridge, South Dakota

Frankie Chasing Bear

I did not come to quilt-making easily. The urge to piece together shapes and colors wasn’t my gift. But when I was twelve, Grandmother said soon the quilt might be all that was left of what we once were. By the time your children wrap quilts around themselves, she told me, the star and all it stands for may be a dim memory, lit only by the fire of ancestors, clouded by ruddy smoke hanging in the sky.

Grandmother’s face was crisscrossed with fine lines showing off sharp cheekbones, a strong square jaw, hard work. A silvery gray braid, straight as the truth, hung down her back.

I tried to make my stitches as small and even as hers, but my childish hands proved slow and awkward. She said I only needed practice and showed me again: up, pulled through, and down.

Just before she died, Grandmother and I sat together one last time. She stopped to smooth a small wrinkle in the quilt top. “Lakota were favored among tribes,” she said. “Our people stood at the top of the hills. The buffalo and the deer bowed to our warriors, and we lived together in peace.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I love to connect! Find me in these various ways:

http://www.Lindasclare.com

http://www.facebook.com/Lindaclarebooks

Http://www.facebook.com/Askywostars

http://www.twitter.com/Lindasclare

Litfuse: http://litfusegroup.com/author/lclare

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2927983.Linda_S_Clare

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Without-Stars-Quilts-Series/dp/1426752792/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Don't miss this month's Quilts of Love book, A Star Without Stars, by Linda S. Clare. Linda is celebrating the release with a Kindle HDX giveaway and joining her fellow Quilts of Love authors, Barbara Cameron and Joyce Magnin, for a Facebook "Spring Fling" party on April 1st.

  One winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• Scraps of Evidence by Barbara Cameron
• A Sky Without Stars by Linda S. Clare
• Maybelle in Stitches by Joyce Magnin

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 1st. Winner will be announced at the "Spring Fling" Facebook Party on April 1st. RSVP today and connect with the authors from the Quilts of Love series, Barbara Cameron, Linda S. Clare, and Joyce Magnin, for an evening of book chat, quilt trivia, prizes, and an exclusive look at the next Quilts of Love book!

So grab your copies of Scraps of Evidence, A Sky Without Stars, and Maybelle in Stitches and join Barbara, Linda, and Joyce on the evening of April 1st for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the books, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by clicking JOIN at the event page. Spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway and party via FACEBOOK or TWITTER. Hope to see you on April 1st!

Thank you, Linda, for sharing this new book with us.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

A Sky Without Stars - Christianbook.com

A Sky Without Stars: Quilts of Love Series - Amazon

A Sky Without Stars: Quilts of Love Series - Kindle

Christian Book Store

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book on this blog. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com 

WHAT I WISH MY MOTHER HAD TOLD ME ABOUT MEN - Julie Gorman - One Free Book

Readers, we have an interesting nonfiction book today.

Welcome Julie. What would you like for our readers to know about you personally?

I love God and live to create content that inspires life transformation and faith in the lives of believers. I love the quote by Brother Lawrence who writes: “God needing nothing sees in our works only the love that accompanies them.”

Tell us about your family.

My husband Greg and I have been married for 15 + years. I have a beautiful, 19 year-old step-daughter (pursuing a worship internship with Hillsong). Our middle daughter is a brilliant and vivacious14 year old, longs to be a missionary. Our youngest is 12 years old, who since he was 4 declared his passion to be a preacher. We enjoy movie going, beach walking, and watching Sunday night food network TV together.

Have you written other nonfiction books?

Yep. I’ve contributed to When God Steps In and What I Wish My Mother Had Told Me About Marriage.

Do you have any other books in the works right now?

What I Wish My Mother Had Told Me about Marriage… a prequel written in 2007 has been re-written … and will be re-released in 2014.

What kinds of hobbies and leisure activities do you enjoy?

Reading, writing, public speaking, cooking, hanging out with family at the movies or the beach, but my favorite is holding morning talks with my hubby; we sip coffee and share together, praying and encouraging one another, every day!

Why did you write the featured book?

I wrote What I Wish My Mother Had Told Me About Men because I’m convinced that as women read my story and witness how far God ran to rescue me, they will find hope for their soul.

What do you want the reader to take away from the book?

The central theme that permeates every chapter in the book is that God fights for their affection, LOVES them passionately, and only He can satisfy the longings of their soul.

Where on the Internet can the readers find you?

http://www.Juliegorman.com

http://www.fyinspiration.org

http://www.facebook.com/authorjuliegorman

http://www.twitter.com/hisloveextended

Thank you, Julie, for sharing this book with us today.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
What I Wish My Mother Had Told Me About Men - Christianbook.com
What I Wish My Mother Had Told Me About Men: 12 Secrets Toward Greater Intimacy - Amazon
What I Wish My Mother Had Told Me About Men - Kindle

Christian Book Store

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

GOLDEN DREAMS - Patricia Pacjac Carroll - One Free Book

Readers, I’ve known Patty for years. We’ve learned the craft of writing together, and she’s a member of the critique group that meets in my home.

Welcome back, Patty. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I write the kind of books that I would like to read. Clean with no foul language and no gratuitous sex. I do have sweet romance in my stories. : ) And my characters grow. They aren’t perfect but do learn along their journey. I love the freedom of the old West and enjoy writing about that period. It just brings out the adventurer in me.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

Now that is a hard one. When I met my sweet hubby, dated him, and then married him. He is such a blessing in my life. And then of course the birth of my son, watching him grow into the good man he is today. I am just totally blessed.

How has being published changed your life?

One word – EXCITEMENT! I love that my stories are now available to readers, and I truly hope they encourage and bless those who read them.

What are you reading right now?

Another hard one. So many things are pulling at my time that reading has taken a back seat to the many hats I wear. I’m now in major editing for my next book to come out, Bounty. So she is taking up most of my time right now.

What is your current work in progress?

Oops, answered that one in the last question. Bounty is another historical romance set in 1879 Wyoming. Cat and Luke have gotten themselves into some fine messes that I am having to write them out of. : )

What would be your dream vacation?

I love road trips. Just to get in the truck and go, explore, discover. An Alaskan cruise doesn’t sound so bad either.

I’ve been on a road trip with you. I’d love to go on the Alaskan cruise as well. How do you choose your settings for each book?

Often, they choose me. I love the west, so they are going to be somewhere west of the Mississippi. Then I have to decide what my characters are doing to determine their best location.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

Well, I tried to think of someone and could only come up with Jesus. (and HE is Alive) There is nothing like sitting at His feet.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I would have to say the thing I enjoy after writing and family would be my friends. They aren’t a hobby, but I do enjoy being with them.

I’m with yhou on that one. What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

It is ME. HELP. LOL The Lord and I are still working on that one. I tend to be a little bit disorganized and then there is that D word that I don’t like. (Hint: it’s discipline.)

But you’re also very creative. Sometime, creative people are disorganized. What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Learn the craft and write. Above all else, write. This is an amazing time to be an author – so go for it.

Tell us about the featured book.

Golden Dreams

He's going east.
She's getting nowhere.
Until their dreams collide when a killer, land grant, and tornado throw them together on the California Trail.

Katy Gilbreth escapes the harsh saloon life with nothing but a wounded heart and scarred face. Vowing not to give up, she sets her sights on California where she can get away from the hauntings of the past and start over in a land full of Golden dreams. Katy trusts no man yet needs one to take her west.

Revelation Tarver is traveling east to reconcile with his father and God. Along the way, he has visions of a golden-haired woman with a scar on her cheek. But he has no plans to fall in love again. Then he stops for supplies in a nowhere town and sees Katy, the woman in his dreams.

Because of her past, Rev shuts his heart to Katy. After all, he’s been called by the Lord to preach, and he is headed east. Until a killer, land grant, and a tornado throw them together on the California trail. Katy and Rev embark on a journey where their dreams collide as they face the wild land, a wicked outlaw, and their own fears.

Sometimes you have to go through your past to reach your dreams. 

Please give us the first page of the book.

December, 1865

Independence, Missouri

The winter wind slapped Katy Gilbreth with an icy hand. A grim reminder that she’d only made it from Georgia to Independence, Missouri. Her plans to join a wagon train to California had been quickly dashed. Women like her were not allowed. She needed a man. A husband.

Irritation knotted her insides. By April, she’d used up what little money she’d saved from the Yankee deserters. Her scarred cheek and worn clothes had sealed her place among the unwanted. Hard times and harsher people had propelled her into a life she hated. She had no lack for men, but they were men that would keep any respectable suitor far from her.

 Shod hooves clattered on the boardwalk. Katy whipped a hurried glance over her shoulder and scrambled to the wall of the nearby store. Glaring at the drunken cowboy, she pressed her back against the rough siding and held her breath as he spurred his panicked horse toward her on the wooden walkway.

He passed her. Thankfully, the beast hadn’t trampled her toes. She exhaled and shook a fist at the rowdy. Gunshots rang out. More riders galloped down the muddied street, and in minutes, splattered mud on her worn cloak. Scoundrels.

Gusts of wintry air chased open the edges of her shawl. Turning, she wrapped the flyaway cover around her and held it securely. She groused against the chill, but nothing would halt the sadness that had burrowed into her heart. Independence was a city cold in more ways than the weather.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

FB: https://www.facebook.com/patriciapacjaccarroll

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PacJac

Website: http://patriciapacjaccarroll.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Patty, for sharing this new book with us today.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Golden Dreams - Amazon
Golden Dreams - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com