Tuesday, March 31, 2020

CRITICAL DECISION - Richard L Mabry, MD - One Free Book


Dear Readers, I’ve known Richard Mabry for a long time, and as soon as he sold his first novel, I fell in love with his writing. I eagerly await each new book. Critical Decision once again captured me in his story. The story line is unique and kept me guessing. He always writes relatable characters, and these quickly pulled me deep into the situation. You don’t want to miss this book!

Welcome back, Richard. Where do you write?
Unlike some of my colleagues who like to take their laptop to various places (from their living room to Starbucks), I do all my writing in my office. It seems like “going to work” when I do this.

I’m with you. Most, if not all, of my books are written in my office. And on a desktop computer. When deciding on how to publish, what directed you to the route you took?
I’ve covered the waterfront, so to speak. My first four novels were published by a house that was just getting started with Christian fiction, then I had an offer from a large house that published my next three novels, and finally I went back to my original publisher for three more. I’d probably still be working with a traditional publisher, but financing problems intervened so I managed to use agent-assisted publishing (sort of like indie, but with a bit of help from them) for six novellas and three more novels. So, to answer the question, I simply followed the route that opened in front of me, and so far it’s worked out.

What kinds of things do you like to do outside of writing?
I started playing golf with a friend about 20 years ago, and we’ve tried to continue that, although lately the weather has kept us off the links. My wife puts in her time doing Grandma duty. Other than that, we’re mainly homebodies.

What kinds of advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing?
Never stop learning. And never give up. It’s disconcerting when you see how many new books are published each year, but I urge you to keep on trying.

Very good advice. What is your favorite book? Favorite author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to write?
My tastes are varied, but mainly I read mysteries, thrillers, and detective stories. The books and authors are too numerous to mention.

Where did you get the idea for Critical Decision?
My wife (who is my biggest fan and severest critic) was brainstorming with me, and she suggested a book that starts with a physician who finds a strange cell phone delivered to her house. Then it rings, and a voice tells her that she’ll never see her husband again unless she gives one of her patients a medication that will probably kill him. I took the idea and ran with it, and Critical Decision was the result.

From idea to final revision, how long did it take to write?
Most of my books are written in 6 to 8 months. This one took a bit longer—about 9 months.

Are you working on anything now?
I’m fiddling with a book, working title Medical Mystery, featuring a woman taken to the ER with an unusual EKG and slow pulse, her daughter who works as a nurse, and a family practice physician who has a crush on the younger woman.

Please tell us about the story of Critical Decision.
The book begins with a female physician who finds a package on her doorstep. It contains a cell phone, which rings. She finally answers it, and a voice tells her that unless she gives a patient a drug that will probably kill him, she won’t see her husband again.  

Please give us a peek at the first page of the book for my readers.
Dr. Kathy Hoover stood at the back door, but soon found that shouting “Go do your business” to her canine companion had little effect.  She was anxious to return to the office, but the dog didn’t seem to understand. She really hadn’t wanted to take the time to come home at lunch, but Darren was out of town, and Kathy forgot to let Archie out this morning before she left. If she didn’t want to clean up a mess on her return home, she figured it was best to go at lunch time and take care of that chore.

Finally, patience and the passage of time accomplished what she couldn’t manage by exhortations, and the deed was done. The dog at the center of all this seemed to sense that Kathy was leaving now. He whined to signal his disapproval. The master was at home and Archie was ready for playtime.

She looked down at the dog and shook her finger. “No time for play. I’ll be back this evening. Now be good.” She wasn’t certain the golden retriever understood, but when she turned toward the kitchen, the dog lay down quietly. Kathy headed for the garage but didn’t quite make it before the doorbell stopped her.

Kathy paused and listened to the door chime’s reverberation fade. The local TV news had run a feature just yesterday about packages disappearing from porches. What if… She sighed and reversed direction. It would only take another minute or two for her to open the front door, check to see if FedEx or UPS had left a package, and bring it in if one were there.

Kathy looked through the pane of glass beside her front door and saw a panel van just pulling away. It wasn’t the familiar dark brown of UPS, nor did it bear the blue and orange logo of FedEx. And it didn’t look like a Postal Service delivery truck. Didn’t she read that Amazon had their own delivery service in some areas? Were those vehicles marked in some way? Whoever brought it, she might as well look at what they’d left.

She unlocked the door, took one step onto her front porch, and saw a small box lying on the stoop. The package was about the dimensions of a shoebox, wrapped in plain brown paper, with her name on a label. Otherwise, it bore no address, no return data, nothing to indicate the carrier. Strange.

Kathy reached down to pick up the box. Now that the dog was taken care of, she needed to get back to the office. Then again, she couldn’t turn loose of the situation with the box. 

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?
You can learn more about me at my website, and via my blog and Facebook page. I also have a presence on Goodreads.

Thank you, Richard, for sharing this book with my blog readers and me. 

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. 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.)

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 Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, 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:

Monday, March 30, 2020

SHADOW OF THE DAGGER - Anne Greene - One Free Book

Welcome back, Anne. As an author, I know it takes a lot of people to birth each book. Who were the people involved in the birthing of this book, and what were their contributions?
My publisher is Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. Deb Haggerty is my editor. My dear husband always proofreads my books. Crystel Phelps was my editor and Joyce Hart was my agent.

If you teach or speak. What’s coming up on your calendar?
I do book signings, blog interviews, and telephone interviews. I’m thinking of authoring a book on How To Write An Excellent Novel, but my contracts are keeping me too busy this year.

If you had to completely start over in another place, where would you move, and why?
I love to live by the ocean, but in the middle of Texas that’s not possible, so I dream of starting over somewhere on the Texas coast. I don’t want to leave Texas because my children and grandchildren are proud Texans and never plan to move. I love Galveston so if I ever leave this highly-populated, congested traffic Metroplex of Dallas/Ft. Worth, I would start anew in Galveston which is on the southern coast of Texas. People here are fine, loving, neighborly as in helpful, and conservative. Texans are great people.

If you could only tell aspiring novelists one thing, what would it be?
Forget about writing what you know and write about what interests you.

That’s good advice, Anne. Early on, I was told to write what you know, and I did that for the first books, and I’ve done in a few scattered books. The rest have been what I’m interested in. You’ve been asked to be in charge of a celebrity cruise. Who would you ask to take part, and why? (AS in what program, singers, etc. [it doesn’t have to be writing related])
I would have a healthy weight loss and physical activity cruise. The cuisine would be healthy with different options of different diets or life-style menus. There would be choices of yoga, Pilates, cardio, and swimming exercises. This would be an adult only cruise.  All entertainment would be humorous and light-hearted. Music would be peppy to keep people stimulated and moving. Prizes would be awarded for the most weight lost each day by sex and age group.

That sounds like a fun cruise. Count me in. Tell us about the featured book.
SHADOW OF THE DAGGER is set in Texas and in the exotic country of Turkey where the seven churches of Revelation were as well as Paul’s journey.

Three people are murdered and one kidnapped to find the solution to a priceless treasure map.

As Nicole Phillips seeks to find her kidnapped brother, she doesn’t know whom to trust. No one is who they appear to be. All is deception.

To bring his brother’s murderer to justice, CIA Intel Analyst, Josh Baruch, lays his life on the line. Can he walk the tightrope between obeying the killers’ instructions and bringing them to justice?

Because Nicole’s husband died in a mysterious plane crash, she fears falling in love again with a reckless, danger-loving type like her late husband. Josh Baruch, the CIA Analyst using her as bait to track her brother’s kidnapper, is just such a risk-taking man. Besides living on the edge, Josh is bitter about women and questions God.

Please give us the first chapter of the book.
“My marriage can’t end this way!” Nicole Phillips gripped her brother’s arm as the helicopter door opened. Her tears blurred the desolate, wind-swept slice of Texas land abutting the Mexican border.

The hope she’d nurtured since the police helicopter left the Dallas Police Station wilted like the yellowed sagebrush dotting the arid earth. More tears veiled the officer holding up his arms to assist her off the chopper. She stumbled. The unsteady step down to the rough ground jolted her. She ducked her head beneath the whump, whump, whump of the helicopter’s blades.

Her brother thudded to the ground beside her.

She followed Ian and the policeman away from the blasts of wind created by the spinning blades. Her cowboy boots kicked up dust as she walked across several hundred yards of empty flat land. She and Ian reached a dip in the vast, open landscape.

Scattered wreckage glinted in the sunlight.

Behind her, the helicopter shut down.

A cold chill settled over her. She hugged her arms to her chest. “It’s a mistake. This can’t be Paul’s plane.”
With strong, gentle fingers, Ian squeezed her shoulder. “Nikki, there’s no mistake.”

She raised her face toward her newly-deaf brother, so he could read her lips. “Of course, there is. Don’t look so worried. Paul’s fine. Fine.”

Her husband had been missing ten days, six hours, and thirty-five minutes. No, Paul wasn’t fine. She brushed numb fingers across her eyes and blinked hard at the piles of metal.

“Surely, that can’t be all that remains of a plane?”

“I’m afraid so, Sis.” Ian shrugged.
  
I can’t believe it.” Nicole clenched her fists and shook her head. “This scorched earth is no place to say goodbye.” She gazed at Ian. “No place for a man like Paul to die.”
  
“Not much left.” Ian’s scratchy voice sounded strained—unlike the usual well-spoken words he practiced each month at rehab. An early diagnosis two years ago had given both of them opportunity to learn lip reading and signing before silence shut Ian from the world of hearing.
  
“Why here?” Nicole choked, swallowed, then forced words through her constricted throat drier than the desert beneath her boots. “Even if mechanical trouble forced Paul down, he could have skid-landed here. He wouldn’t have crashed. This doesn’t make sense.”
  
Ian rubbed his square chin. “You’re right. The crash here is more than strange.”
  
Her boots crunched on the burned grass as she circled the scattered pile of twisted metal and shattered plexiglass. Stark shadows and deadly quiet added to her sense of unreality.
“Nothing here adds up,” she signed.
  
Ian’s long strides shortened to match her steps. She loosened her hand on his sleeve but didn’t let go.
  
“Bizarre.” Ian stooped by a metal fragment.
 
“Ma’am.” The police officer loomed beside her.
  
She’d forgotten him.
  
“This way, Mrs. Phillips.” He led her to a jagged, misshapen piece of metal hidden by a sheared off bush. “The FAA ruled this crash an accident. Said the plane was out of gas.”
  
She knelt, touched the metal, then jerked back.
 
“Careful, sun’s baked it hot.” Ian’s warning came too late.
  
Nicole rubbed her stinging fingers. With the tip of her nail, she traced the still legible scarlet-painted S. Her heartbeat slowed, turned bleak, deadened.
  
“I’m sorry, Nikki.” Ian’s baritone voice shook.
  
“Summer’s Girl,” Nicole whispered.
  
Ian held out his hand and tugged her to her feet.
 
“Sorry, ma’am.” The police officer’s hat shielded his eyes. His mouth was set in a hard line. “We searched the area but …” He shook his head. “… couldn’t find any remains. We think coyotes …” he paused and cleared his throat. “Wreck’s been here a few days. There’s blood ...”
  
The policeman’s voice drifted into background sound. Paul’s plane found but not Paul. Perhaps he was still alive. Nicole gazed around the vast emptiness and said vaguely, “Paul and I talked of having a baby.”
  
Ian laid gentle hands on her shoulders. “Nikki.” He drew her against his chest.
  
Her knees threatened to buckle. She leaned into her brother’s shoulder and spoke into his crisp dress shirt. “Sometimes …” She remembered Ian’s deafness and lifted her face to him so he could read her lips. “Sometimes, Paul loaned his plane to one of his buddies.”

Ian shook his head, squinting against the harsh sunlight. His blue eyes brimmed sympathy. “Not this time.” He lowered his voice. “But this was no accident.”

Where can we find you on the Internet?
I love chatting with my readers. You can find me at
Thanks so much for having me on your excellent blog, Lena. You are a fine fellow author, and I appreciate you.

It’s my pleasure to share your book with my blog readers. I’m eager to read it.

Readers, here are links to the book.
Shadow of the Dagger (CIA Operatives) - Pasperback
Shadow of the Dagger (CIA Operatives Book 1) - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. 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.)

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 Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, 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:

Sunday, March 29, 2020

WINNERS!!!

IMPORTANT: Instructions for winners  - When you send me the email, make sure your subject line says this: Winner - (book title) - (author's name) If you don't do this, your email could get lost in my hundreds of emails per day. I WILL SEARCH FOR POST TITLES STARTING THAT WAY.

Sharon (SC) is the winner of Song in the Dark by Jessica White

Bonnie (AZ) is the winner of To Forgive, Divine by Melissa Lea Leedom.

Maryann (NY) is the winner of Capsized By Death  by Catherine Finger.

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

Also, tell your friends about the book you won ... 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 or audio book, just let me know what email address it should be sent to.
Remember, you have 4 weeks to claim your book.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

THE LETTERS - C Kevin Thompson - One Free Book

Welcome back, C Kevin. Tell us about your salvation experience.
It occurred in November of 1981. I was eighteen years old. Cindy and I had been married for about three months. We were home on a Wednesday evening, watching TV, when a knock at the door came around seven o’clock. It was the youth pastor from a local church and a friend we had gone to high school with standing on our front porch. I answered the door, and they asked me if this house was the address they had on their little note card. I informed them they were looking for the house two doors down. So while they were there, we struck up a conversation, and in the midst of it, they asked me “the question”: If I was to die tonight, would I know for sure I was going to be in heaven? I admitted I was not sure. As a matter fact, it was a different question I had pondered for over two years: Was there more to this life than working really hard, accumulating a bunch of money and assorted stuff, and then dying and leaving it all to your kids? I felt like there had to be more to this life than that, but I didn’t have a clue what that would be. If there wasn’t, then why bother to obey laws and rules? Why not eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die? I didn’t word it like that, but does that sound familiar? That’s how I felt. But something inside kept telling me such hopelessness was unwarranted. There was more to this life. That night, on my doorstep, as an eighteen-year-old newlywed who already owned his own house, I gave my life to Christ. Now, all these years later, I am rich. Not in money and stuff. But I am rich in the things thieves and rust and moths can’t touch.

I love to hear salvation stories, and yours is a good one. You’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?
 Oh, my, that’s a good question. Only four, huh? Okay, so in no particular order, they would be as follows (and you didn’t say they had to be alive, so we’re gonna swing for the fences): Charles Dickens because he wrote from his heart and believed in his work so intensely, he was willing to risk everything to see it in print; Michael Crichton because he could teach a great deal about researching cutting-edge ideas and creating plots that are ripe for the silver screen; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle because he could teach us how to develop a character that has been mimicked, copied, and spun off of, more than any other literary character in history, I think; and Tom Clancy because he believed in creating a truly good guy—a “boy scout”—and making him into a legend we all wished worked for the government.

Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.
I actually do not, per se. Because I’m the major bread winner, I do have a day job that takes up the majority of my time. I have spoken in churches in the past, filling in for pastors in various capacities. I am also going to be teaching a class to our local writers group this summer on developing proposals that get you published, which I hope to then use to get my foot in the door at some writers conferences, so we’ll see how that turns out. J

Hoping it works out all right. I’m supposed to be the keynote speaker for a one-day conference in April, but it has been postponed. What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?
When I was a language arts teachers years ago, I showed up to school and taught the first half of the day before a student came up to me at the end of class, as the bell rang and students were filing out. He said, “Mr. Thompson, did you know you have two different shoes on?” I laughed and said, “Yeah, right.” I thought he was joking. He said, “No, really. Look.” He pointed at my shoes, so I looked. Sure enough, I had two pairs of the same shoes in my closet. One pair was black. The other brown. I had one of each on my feet. “That’s what happens when you get dressed in the dark,” I told him. He laughed. I laughed. Then, I thanked him for not blurting it out in class and embarrassing me in front of everyone, as I was embarrassed enough. I added that he showed great maturity by handling it the way he did. I then proceeded to open my closet and allow him to raid the stash of candy I had stored away for various rewards. It was the least I could do. And no, I didn’t go home and change my shoes. I lived too far away. So I decided to make an experiment out of it and see if anyone else noticed. Much to my surprise, nobody did. Because you know that if a middle schooler with no couth noticed, he or she would have said something.

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 usually ask then what they want to write. Then, I steer them in the right direction, because fiction is a different animal from non-fiction. If they just want to write a memoir, then that’s an entirely different discussion. But I always tell them that books don’t write themselves, so you have to sit down and actually write it. First things first. Can’t publish an unwritten book.

I also ask them what they plan to do with it once it’s done. That also helps me answer questions and give them some pointers about next steps after it is written.

Very good advice. Tell us about the featured book.
The Letters is a book about two worlds colliding within the life of Rachel Hamar. She’s just been let go from her bank teller position as a casualty of downsizing. This happens on the twentieth anniversary of the death of her high school sweetheart, Billy Baldwin. Billy died at the hands of her father because he found out she was pregnant. As a result, her father goes to prison, and her mother lands in a psychiatric ward. At the urging of her best friend, she has an abortion.

Now, twenty years later, everything and everyone she loved has been ripped from her. All that’s left is her mother, Dorothy Hamar, who now is a psychiatric patient at a local hospital in New York City.

It’s in the midst of Rachel’s spiraling depression that a letter arrives in the mail. It’s addressed to her. No return address. Simple white envelope. Common kind. Inside is a folded-up sheet of paper with what looks like scribbles from a pencil scratched across one side. She thinks it’s weird and tosses it in the garbage. Chalks it up to a postal carrier’s error. However, as more arrive, one each day, she fishes the first from the trash and starts comparing them. When she’s in possession of several, and as they shift from scribbles to crudely written letters to pictures drawn by a small child’s hand, Rachel starts to freak out, thinking they may be intended for someone else.

She enlists the help of a local detective, who is concerned this may involve the welfare of a child. However, the detective also believes this may be the work of a serial stalker, and this launches them into a story where two worlds collide into a tale of redemption and wonder.

As Rachel says in the prologue, this is her story. Some will call it a fairy tale. Some will call it a lie. But she calls it a story of love and redemption.

Please give us the first page of the book.
West 173rd Street
Washington Heights, NY
I slammed the car door shut and dropped my car keys onto the cold pavement. Shuffling the grocery bags from one hand to the other, I crouched in a pretzel-like fashion, trying not to keel over in my high heels.

Stupid keys.

Picking them up, my thigh muscles burned as I rose and fumbled for the one I needed, attempting not to crush the eggs or shatter the glass jars of spaghetti sauce clanking together in
revolt.

A stiff winter breeze battered my face as I trudged up the four blocks of sidewalk to the entrance of my five-story apartment building.

No bigger than a wide alley designed to look like a courtyard, the entrance led to eight fractured, concrete stairs, eroded by years of ice-melting salt in the winter, blistering heat in the
summer, and a million trudging feet.

The steps spread wide under two forty-year-old doors. Their glass panes, arranged in nine squares and each framed in wood, had a slightly melted, made-in-the-seventeenth-century look
about them.

How can readers find you on the Internet?
Readers can find me in several locations:
Website:                                 www.ckevinthompson.com/
Kevin’s Writer’s Blog:          www.ckevinthompson.blogspot.com/
Facebook:                               C. Kevin Thompson – Author Fan Page
Twitter:                                   @CKevinThompson
Instagram:                               ckevinthompson
Pinterest:                                ckevinthompsonauthor
Goodreads:                             C. Kevin Thompson
BookBub:                                C. Kevin Thompson

In addition to these links above, I also am a regular contributor to the writer’s blog, Seriously Write, I am a member of ACFW and have an author’s page on “Fiction Finder” too.

Thank you, Kevin, for sharing this new book with us. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book, because it is such a departure from the first 4 books I featured on my blog.

Readers, here are links to the book.

The Letters - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. 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.)

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 Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, 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:

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

8 PILLARS OF CHICKENING IN - JJ Gutierrez - One Free Book

Welcome, JJ. What would you like for our readers to know about you personally?
I am a corporate career woman turned homeschool mom, writer, speaker and soon to be podcaster. Married for 24 years with three girls…two adult daughters and 10-year-old Hope, the mastermind behind Chickening IN. I have a passion for seeing women grow in courage and faith, and often I find myself starting new small group ministries. I love my German Shepherd- Bella and most days you’ll find me sipping a glass of fresh brewed ice tea.

Have you written other nonfiction books?
This is my first book! However, I have written on my blog for over two years now, and I’ve done some guest post work.

Do you have any other books in the works right now?
I am working on several projects that include a 90 Day Devotional- Practical Tip for Overcoming Fear, and a companion workbook to go along with Chickening IN- from FEAR to Courageous FAITH.

What kinds of hobbies and leisure activities do you enjoy?
I am a foodie! My husband and I enjoy finding local restaurants for the food, but also, for the face-to-face conversation and connection with each other. I find it relaxing to bake, and I’ve been attempting to perfect a banana bread recipe for years! Also, we travel to Cancun every year, and it’s become my favorite place to vacation.

Why did you write the featured book?
I wrote Chickening IN for three reasons. The first is that since I was nine years old, I have been on a mission to change the legacy passed to me from my mother. A legacy of multiple divorces, brokenness, and dysfunction. This book represents the new legacy I leave my children. A legacy of courage, faith, and life in Christ.

The second reason I wrote this book is because God planted the seed deep within my heart. I tried to talk myself out of it many times, because I felt unequipped, unworthy, and uneducated. But the desire would not go away so I decided I better listen and go write the book!

The final reason I wrote this book is because I thought about other women and I wondered if they too struggled with fear, doubt, and anxiety as I have. My heart ached for the woman trapped by fear or the woman living in doubt about who she is and if she can really trust God. Over the years I have learned so much about fear and I felt God calling me to share practical, manageable wisdom and tips to all of us go from fear to courageous faith.

What do you want the reader to take away from the book?
Chickening IN is an invitation to a lifestyle of courage and faith. It’s a journey of loosening the power of fear over our lives in practical and manageable ways. With the 8 Pillars of Transformation as our guide, readers will be equipped to overcome fear and walk in faith like never before. Things like:
Identify the roadblocks that prevent courageous forward movement.
Learn the art of calculated risk taking to reduce risk anxiety.
Create action plans to overcome fear and doubt.
Learn to face your fear through the stories of people (just like us) in the Bible.

The 8 Pillars of Transformation that we will walk through are:
Facing Fear
Stepping-up to the Plate of your Life
Taking Calculated Risks
Traveling Unknown Roads
Embracing your Uniqueness 
Pursuing your Dreams
Doing it Afraid
Faith the Difference Maker 

This book is not an easy read or a quick fix. It is a process that requires deep thought and a willingness to be give an honest self-assessment. Readers can expect to be challenged … challenged to put feet to their faith and walk in courageously through the scary situations of life.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell my readers about you or your book?
God used the words Chickening IN to grab my attention. They were the vehicle He used to point me back to the Bible, the place where the most life changing words can be found. Without the Word of God, I wouldn’t be sharing my Chickening IN journey with you. Nor would I offer it to you to use as a tool against your fear, doubt, and anxiety. The power of Chickening IN lies not in the phrase, but in the truth of God’s Word that it is founded upon. Knowing the truth, studying the Scriptures, and allowing God to guide and lead your Chickening In. And I am so thankful that the power of transformation lies in God and His Word!

Please give us the first page or two from the book.
Chapter 1
A TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY
THIS IS MY STORY OF transformation. It is not just another positive transformation story, but one that shares secrets and principles as well as concrete action steps to help you have a transformed life as well! To be vulnerable and honest, my life could have been so many things ... I could have been a victim of my circumstances, I could have repeated my mother’s legacy of pain, brokenness, love-affairs, and multiple marriages. I could have sunk into a life-long depression feeling sorry for myself or become an angry person living with a chip on my shoulder. I had every right to be those things, but I wanted more. I had deep, desperate longings and needs for security, hope, and love. Life was brutal to me. It stole, extorted, twisted, and manipulated me. But, and I mean a huge BUT, God had a different plan. A transformational plan to teach me, heal me, and change me into a new person. Because of that I have learned practical ways to face my fear, create action plans, take smart chances, and be happy with who I am.

I am now able to travel down unknown roads with new-found boldness and have dreams again—BIG dreams! No longer controlled by fear and triggers of a painful past, I have been transformed. You, too, can have a transformed life. I am living proof of it! If it can work for me, it can work for YOU! We need hope, faith, inspiration, and forward movement to change. I call it putting feet to your faith, and this book is written to provide you with the practical steps that worked for me. In this chapter, I want to share with you the importance of forward movement, the roadblocks that prevent us from taking positive action, examples from my life, and the phrase that has guided me to transform and write this book.

The principles laid out in this book are not something I just stumbled upon or made up myself. If it were all about me, the foundation would fail because I am just a human being with faults and weaknesses. But instead, we need something or Someone greater. What better place to go than the Bible! In fact, what I want to share is that putting feet to our faith and taking action is God’s way of transforming us! Let’s look to the Word of God for great examples of the kind of transformation action I am talking about.

Where on the Internet can the readers find you?
You can purchase my book at:
Chickening IN: From Fear to Courageous Faith, 8 Pillars of Transformation by Amazon.com
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1620206064/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_fKbwEbAEZ59F9
Or at

Thank you, JJ, for sharing this book with us today. It sounds wonderful!

Readers, leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. 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.)

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.

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Monday, March 23, 2020

SAVING SABINE - Kelley Rene - One Free Ebook

Welcome, Kelley. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
Saving Sabine is based on a personal experience. I worked hard to make Celia, Meghan, and Libby fictitious, although many of the emotions that Celia experiences when she meets Sabine mimic my own.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?
Oh my! There are soooo many to choose from. The most interesting I think is potty training my last child at 4 months old. A friend told me about an Asian method she used with her kids. I was so intrigued I had to try it. Incredibly, it worked. He was my most stubborn, and yet, potty training was a piece of cake.

There may be other mothers who would like to know that method. When did you first discover that you were a writer?
In grade school, a teacher invited me to join the Young Author’s Club. We met during lunch in the library. Our teacher encouraged us to write a story and showed us how to construct it into a book with a laminated cover. I looked forward to our meetings every week, and I was so proud of that book!

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
I love well-written biographical books. I love to meet new people and learn about their heritage/upbringing. Any time I get my hands on a book based on real life, I generally can’t put it down. I also love good (clean) romances, historical fictions, and self-help books. I’ll read just about any genre but it must be engaging to keep my attention.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?
I’m an avid crocheter. My mother taught me when I was four years old. Crocheting occupies my hands while my mind thinks (and prays). I usually crochet for 20-30 minutes just before I write to get the creative juices flowing. I never leave the house without a bag of yarn and needles.

I loved crocheting, too, until arthritis in my shoulders slowed me down. I also knit. How do you choose your characters’ names?
When a story begins to unfold in my mind, I usually go with whatever name pops into my head. As I get to know the character(s), I research the origins/meanings of the name(s), choosing the best ones for the characters’ personality and situation.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
I am most proud of being the mother to five perfectly imperfect people. Years ago, my doctor told me it would be a miracle if I ever got pregnant. Each of my children remind me of God’s miraculous power and His faithfulness in my life.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?
Lioness. They’re independent, fierce, loyal, brave, strong, graceful, agile, and highly protective over their young. Kelley means warrior, and I will fight for what I believe in.

What is your favorite food?
Ice cream. Specifically, caramel pecan praline. So yummy!

My favorite ice cream is a Blue Bell flavor, Chocolate Covered Cherry. It’s a seasonal flavor and hard to find. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
Fear of disapproval choked out my writing voice for almost my entire life. My love for writing and my conviction that writing was my true passion and calling forced me to overcome those fears. By studying the art of writing and practicing every day, God helped me to turn my experiences and imaginings into cohesive stories on paper.

Tell us about the featured book.
Saving Sabine is the first book in the European Collection, a series of novellas inspired by true experiences while living in Europe with my family.

After the death of their mother, Celia takes her sister, Meghan, and Meghan’s best friend, Libby, on a cross-country road trip to London. Unfortunately, the sights of the famous city aren’t able to erase the grief they feel. One evening, they meet Sabine in the restroom of a Hard Rock Cafe. They are faced with a decision. Will they turn a blind’s eye to this young woman’s plight or will they step out of their comfort zone and make a difference in her life?

Please give us the first page of the book.
The Long Ride
The crescendo of my ringtone sent me fumbling for my cellphone in the passenger seat of the rental car. “Hola, que tal?”
           
“Celia!” Mercedes’ laughter bubbled through the receiver. “You’ve confused your languages.”
           
“I knew it was you.” I glanced over my shoulder, checking the gas pump.
           
“How’s the trip going?”
           
“As expected.” I rolled my eyes. “The girls were bored at Normandy Beach. They just wanted to eat Cheetos and talk about boys.”
           
“It hasn’t been that long since boys were your first priority.”
           
I snickered not wanting her to be right. “I don’t like being the adult of the group.” Cool air pricked my arms as it passed through the rental car’s open windows.
           
“I wish I were there.” She sighed.

“Me, too. Then I wouldn’t be all alone in this band of teenage giddiness.” A car pulled into the station, its driver and steering wheel perched on the right.

“A girls’ weekend to London isn’t exactly a hostage situation.”
           
The gas nozzle popped. I topped off the tank. “Trust me, with my sister and her gal pal, I feel like a hostage to a couple of teeny boppers without a care in the world.”
           
“It wasn’t a week ago that you were beside yourself with excitement over their arrival.” Static crackled through her words. “Try to have a good time.” Her voice was suddenly somber. “You’ll be sad when they’re gone.”
           
“If I don’t drop them off on a street corner first and race back to Wiesbaden in peace.” I thrust my chin in the air, smiling at the visual as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. “I’m kidding. I’ll miss them but… they’re sucking every ounce of my energy.”
           
“They’re not toddlers,” Mercedes chided. “By the way, I tucked a little surprise into your backpack.”
           
“Oh yeah? That was thoughtful.” I squinted toward the convenience store, eyeing the girls approaching the vehicle.
           
“Don’t forget about the memorial service next week. I’ll roll into town with no time to spare.”
           
“I won’t.” I winced, wishing I could. “I gotta go. This call is likely costing me a small fortune.”
           
“I’ll be praying for you.” The line went quiet.
           
“Don’t bother.” Annoyance coated my words. “It’s never worked for me in the past.”
           
“Well, I will just in case.” Mercedes’ voice was cheerful. “Love you!”
           
I didn’t respond. Stowing the phone in my pocket, I returned the pump and grabbed my wallet to complete the purchase.

********

“Don’t stop... ’til London!” Meghan shouted along with the radio, ad libbing the words to fit the occasion.
           
“Ow!” Her best friend, Libby, belted.
           
I laughed at the teen girls. “You’re making me regret hauling the two of you off to England,” I shouted over the music.
           
The yellow Mini-Cooper scooted along the highway with as much pep as its passengers’ exhilaration for a European vacation. My hands tightened on the wheel with each car that passed, reminding myself to stay on the wrong side of the road.
           
Lowering the volume, I primed my sister for info. “Now that you’ve graduated from high school, and you’re officially an Aggie, where do you see yourself in five years?”
           
“Shut up, already!” Meghan joked. “I’m on summer break. No serious conversations allowed. Only fun. Please?”
           
“Here ye, here ye. I hereby proclaim all conversations the rest of this trip to be about guys, fun, and Lady Diana. May she rest in peace forever,” Libby announced in her best regal tone.
           
Both girls chuckled, clinking their soda bottles together in agreement as Libby cranked the stereo once again.

How can readers find you on the Internet?
Readers can download a free short story, One Final May Storm at www.kelleyrene.com 

Thank you, Kelley, for sharing the story with my blog readers. I loved it when you brought each chapter to critique group.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.
Saving Sabine (European Collection Book 1)

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. 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.)

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 Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, 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:

Sunday, March 22, 2020

WINNERS!!!

IMPORTANT: Instructions for winners  - When you send me the email, make sure your subject line says this: Winner - (book title) - (author's name) If you don't do this, your email could get lost in my hundreds of emails per day. I WILL SEARCH FOR POST TITLES STARTING THAT WAY.

Melanie (TX) is the winner of Isaiah's Legacy by Mesu Andrews

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Congratulations
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Click the Contact Me link at the top of the blog, and send me an Email.


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