Thursday, October 25, 2018

SNOW ANGEL - Davalynn Spencer - One Free Ebook


Welcome back, Davalynn. Tell us about your salvation experience.
I don’t remember not knowing who Jesus was because my mother incorporated Him into our everyday life. But I came to a point of decision when I was nine years old, a point of choosing Him to be my savior. I was at a Billy Graham crusade in Fresno, California. The night sky glittered with stars, and I knew the God who made them was calling me to walk to the front of the stadium and choose Him. I never looked back.

You’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?
I would invite C.S. Lewis, Mark Twain, Laura Frantz, and Joanne Bischof. There are many more authors whose work I admire and enjoy, but these four have moved my heart and emotions on a deep level. (Yes, even Mark Twain.) As author Randy Ingermanson says, it’s that Powerful Emotional Experience that readers want. Since I’m also a reader, that’s what I want too.

Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.
I speak for luncheons, dinners, and weekend retreats, as well as teach writing workshops. One of my most popular retreat topics is “Sometimes Life’s a Rodeo.” It’s based on the idea that all of us know what it feels like to find ourselves face down in the dirt wondering what hit us and why we didn’t see it coming. (This topic segues nicely with my other calling: wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters.)

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?
I have played the guitar and sung for years, sharing music in churches and elsewhere. One Sunday during my senior year in high school, I was invited to sing at the local Methodist church. I didn’t know there were two Methodist churches in town, and I went to the wrong one. Sat right down in the front row. With my guitar. The preacher preached his entire sermon at me. During the closing prayer I slipped out the side entrance and beat it over to the other Methodist church where the pastor was bidding his parishioners farewell. He laughed and invited me to come the following Sunday. I did.

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?
Don’t wait for opportunity or for everything to fall into place or for time/money/inspiration enough to write. Just sit down and write. Everyday. If you’re not careful, “someday” will slip by without your notice.

Very good advice. Tell us about the featured book.
Lena Carver works as her physician brother’s medical assistant, housekeeper, and cook despite her disfigurement from a childhood accident. Each year, the Christmas holidays come with contradictions—cherished memories of a mysterious encounter and painful recollections of a great loss. She lives with the belief that she is beyond love’s reach until a dark-eyed cowboy arrives broken, bruised, and bent on changing her mind.

Wil Bergman wakes in a stranger’s home with a busted leg, a bullet-creased scalp, and no horse. Trail-weary, robbed, and penniless, his dreams and plans for a future are suddenly unattainable. Forced to recuperate in the home of a country doctor, he finds himself at the mercy of a surgeon whose sister’s healing touch has power to stitch up his lonely heart and open his eyes to the impossible.


Please give us the first page of the book.
Prologue
December 1864
Piney Hill, Colorado Territory
Lena pushed up the latch, slipped out the cabin door, and dashed down the front porch steps into the snow. Her brother thought he was so big because he was ten and had grown-up chores. Well, she didn’t need him. She was big enough to make snow angels alone. A whole field of them. Rows and rows, like all the people at church on Sunday.

Ahead of her, the pasture gate sagged open. She ran toward it, pushing through snow that inched above her high-topped shoes until one stuck and she fell to her hands and knees. Icy pin pricks stung all the way to her elbows, but she shook her arms and bent her fingers open and closed, open and closed, their pink tips like rosebuds against the white ground. She’d forgotten her mittens and coat.

Never mind it. If she went back now, Tay would call her a baby. But she was no baby, she was four. She’d show him.

Crack! The chock of an ax chased over the snowy field, all the way from where Tay split firewood behind the cabin.

If only she could fly, there’d be no footprints following her. Wouldn’t that be lovely? To fly like a bird, or a real angel with white wings and a shiny robe?

Twisting her fingers into her skirt, she trudged on to the gate, then squeezed through its open mouth at the fence post.

Behind her now, far away, smoke curled from their cabin chimney, thin and silvery like ribbon on a Christmas gift.

Would Christmas ever come? Papa said it would be here soon, but soon took forever.

How can readers find you on the Internet?
Quarterly Author Update and free ebook: http://eepurl.com/xa81D

Thank you, Davalyn, for sharing this Christmas novella with my readers and me. I love reading Christmas stories.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.
Snow Angel: a romantic Christmas novella

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the ebook. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

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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.

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17 comments:

Davalyn Spencer said...

Thanks for hosting me, Lena!

KarenSueHadley said...

Thank you for your time Davalyn!
I’m from Oklahoma, born here and have lived most of my life here. The cover is beautiful and puts me in the mood to start thinking about Christmas!

Pam said...

I am a fan of Ms. Spencer's books! I would love to win this one.

Pam in OH

Wendy Newcomb said...

This sounds like a touching story, thank you for the chance to win a copy. Davalyn I really enjoy your books.

Wendy in South Sioux City, NE

wfnren at aol dot com

Davalyn Spencer said...

Karen - I lived in Oklahoma for a year and loved it there. Broken Arrow/Tulsa area. You're not too early thinking about Christmas. Only two months away!

Davalyn Spencer said...

Thank you, Pam. So glad you enjoy my books!

Davalyn Spencer said...

Wendy - so glad to hear you enjoy my books. Thanks for reading!

Kay Garrett said...

Thank you for introducing me to another new to me author. Enjoyed the interview to get to know Davalynn Spencer better as well as information about her book. "SNOW ANGEL" sounds like an amazing story to read anytime of the year, but also an awesome Christmas story. One that I would greatly love the opportunity to read. After reading the first page, it definitely went on my TBR list. Thank you for the chance to win a copy!
Kay Garrett from Mountain View, AR
2clowns at arkansas dot net

Davalyn Spencer said...

Thank you, Kay. Be sure to put Snow Angel on your Want-to-Read list if you're on Goodreads. I'm glad the story draws you, and yes, I hope it could be enjoyed any time of year. Thanks for reading!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the great interview and first chapter. It sounds great. I’m from Texas where we’re still under a “boil water”notice. What fun that is (not).
perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com
Perrianne Askew

Emma said...

"SNOW ANGEL by Davalynn Spencer sounds wonderful.Thank you for the opportunity to win.Pa

Davalyn Spencer said...

Anonymous - "Boil water" is one alert I've not been under. Earthquake, tornado, flood, hail - yes. Thanks for reading!

Davalyn Spencer said...

Thanks for stopping by, Emma. My daughter lives in PA.

apple blossom said...

Sounds like a wonderful book. Thanks for the chance to win. I live in North Dakota

Davalyn Spencer said...

Thank you, Apple Blossom. Stay warm!

Connie Porter Saunders said...

This sounds lovely. Thanks for sharing!
Connie from Kentucky

Davalyn Spencer said...

Thank you for stopping by, Connie.