REBECCA'S REDEMPTION - Lee Carver - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I’ve loved every one of Lee’s novels, especially those set in the Brazilian Amazon. I did a final read-through of Rebecca’s Redemption for Lee. It’s my favorite of the Brazilian novels. The multi-layered characters dealt with issues that will touch the lives of many readers. They drew me into their lives and kept me there long after I finished reading the book.

BIO:  Lee Carver lived in Sao Paulo for six years and then in the Brazilian Amazon for another six.  She and her husband served as volunteer missionaries with a Brazilian organization, formerly MAF-Brazil, in which he flew an amphibious ten-seat Cessna Caravan over jungle area half the size of the United States. Their home in Manaus was a free guesthouse for missionaries, pilots, mechanics, and medical volunteers. She went on missions, speaks the language, and knows the people whose story she tells.

www.LeeCarverWriter.com
http://LeeCarverWriter.blogspot.com
www.amazoncurrents.homestead.com
https://www.facebook.com/lee.carver.507

Welcome Lee, you’ve been a guest on this blog several times before, for such diverse novels as Counterfeit—a European art world suspense—and Retreat to Shelter Creek—a schoolteacher’s life restart after divorce. During 2017, you self-published a trilogy set in Brazil, where you lived for twelve years. How did that come about?

A publisher specifically requested through my agent that I write a missionary romance novel with a foreign setting of 50,000 words—longer than a novella but short for a novel. Later, that request expanded to a series of three. Two weeks after I turned in the whole series, that publisher was sold out and the line discontinued. I was distraught. I’d put a year into the effort. Unable to sell the series to another publisher due to its unusual parameters, I decided to expand and deepen the novels and publish them myself. I’m a freelance editor, and I format and upload books for other people. I could do this.

So you did your own editing?

No author can read her own composition for the first time. That’s a mistake many independent authors make. This series has been proofed by professional editors, my critique group, and beta readers.

You wrote a traditionally published missionary romance set in Brazil, Love Takes Flight. Is this series similar to that one?

Katie’s Quest and Piper’s Passion also have missionary flight in their plots and handsome pilots as the love interests, but Rebecca’s Redemption is different from anything I’ve ever written before. Airplanes and pilots only provide transportation. The main characters are a nurse and doctor for a hospital deep in the Brazilian jungle. As the tagline states, “A nurse seeking redemption for past sins joins a doctor contending against the jungle. Both healers need healing.”

This novel has lots of internal conflict because it deals with issues such as guilt, the motivation for medical missions, and a possible distracting romantic interest. And sweet little girls, Mara and Keila, the daughters of Dr. Ed. Throw in the orchids, the monkeys, and a few tropical diseases, and you’ve got a genuine tale of the jungle.

Call to the Jungle

Book 3

Rebecca Singer once was the kind of nurse who partied all weekend and closed the bar with the last karaoke tune. Then she met the Lord and vowed to make up to Him for those wasted years by serving in the worst place in the world. She determined to earn her redemption in the Brazilian Amazon jungle.

Dr. Ed Pierce, a widower with two young daughters, operates a Christian hospital in the Brazilian Amazon. A lifelong believer, he struggles with the tragedy of losing his wife—his love, the mother of his children. When the mission board agrees to hire a nurse, he requests an American who can split her time between the hospital and home schooling his children.

Chapter One

The floatplane hit an air pocket and dropped suddenly toward the jungle. Rebecca Singer thought she’d die as a martyr for the Lord before arriving on the mission field. Riding beside the mission pilot in the small floatplane, she saw more than she wanted to see.

“Don’t be afraid.” His calm voice came through the headphones. “It’s just like riding over holes in a bumpy road.”

The smart khaki pants and shirt she’d worn, with prayers for safety stuffed in every pocket, wouldn’t impress the mission hospital administrator if this nausea worsened. Having never needed motion sickness medication before in her life, she came unprepared.

“We’re almost on top of the village now.” He nodded toward a break in the clouds. “We’ll descend there. It might get a little rough.”

A little rough? They’d been bouncing around like a roulette ball for three hours, which described her odds of arriving safely. Her first flight in a light plane, terminated by her first water landing, terrified her.

She clenched an armrest and placed the other hand on her stomach as the pilot, Kyle, pierced the cloud layer and descended sharply.“See that? There’s your new home.”

She peered out the window as the pilot dipped his wing for her to look down on the village. The maneuver gave her the absolute certainty that she’d fall out of the plane, like spilling from the top basket of a Ferris wheel. Below, sunlight flashed off tiny tin roofs, and ant-sized people scurried about. Only a few houses stood near a long wharf into the river, so the rest of the town must be covered by trees. A wide boat floated beside the wharf, and several people had gathered there. She strained to see if Dr. Pierce might be waiting for her arrival, but her line of sight changed before she could spot anyone who might be him.

“Now we’ll head upriver a mile or so to check that the landing area is clear . . .” He banked over the Madeira River. “Let me know if you see any boats or debris.”

He expected her to offer an opinion on safety of the landing? Like a copilot? Twisting to check out the river and jungle rising to meet her, she prayed this wouldn’t be the end of her budding career as a missionary nurse.

The motor sound decreased so much that she thought it had stalled. Her head whipped around to the pilot, whose calm smile seemed out of place. Then the floats dragged on the river, and a glistening wall of water sprayed up on both sides of the plane. It rocked, settled, then chugged toward the main wharf of downtown Arçelos, a medium-sized river town with a population edging toward ten thousand.

They hadn’t crashed. Spots danced in her vision for a moment. She was light-headed with relief. Then stifling heat blanketed the cockpit.

“Pop open your door for the prop breeze to cool us off.” Kyle’s instruction came as he opened his own. “Keep an eye out for kids, logs, or anything in the water.”

Rebecca pushed open her cockpit door, admitting steamy tropical air. She scanned the surface for any danger to the plane or others, realizing her inability to do anything if a threat appeared.

The plane drew closer to the center of the settlement and the pilot cut the engine. They drifted straight for the wharf while Kyle hopped out on the float and unclipped an oar from its holding place.

He pushed against the wood with the oar to break their drift and tossed a rope over a strong pillar. The prop had stopped entirely, so she opened the door wide and climbed with trembling legs down the three steps to the float. Kyle pulled the plane around by its tether to allow her to cross onto solid wood. Her legs shook so badly, she wasn’t sure she’d make it. She gripped the post for stability.

Pungent, wet wood and the odor of stale fish and tackle affronted her nose. On the other side of the wharf, villagers bartered with men on a market boat, what looked and smelled like dried fish for bags of rice. She didn’t understand the rumble of their arguments as the drama played out.

Kids swarmed the wharf, running down from town as fast as their legs could take them. “Tio Ky-lee, you came back!” Shirtless, barefoot little boys in shorts surrounded the pilot, who picked up one and swung him in a circle. The brown, wooly-haired kids laughed and, if she understood their Portuguese as well as their actions, they begged to fly in the airplane. Or maybe that they would fly like the airplane if he swung them. Her newly-acquired Portuguese often left her confused. They’d told her at language school that from this point forward, she would be immersed in Portuguese and rarely speak or hear English at all.

Kyle broke away for a moment to haul out Rebecca’s two duffle bags.

“Thanks so much for the ride.” She extended her hand for a farewell handshake. “Say hello to your lovely wife for me. I enjoyed the dinner in your home last night—”

In the moment her attention turned to the pilot, four larger boys had run down the wharf and grabbed her two duffels. “Where are they going with my bags?”

Kyle looked up and shouted something in Portuguese, but she didn’t grasp it.

She took off running behind them as they swooped away with everything she had packed to live in Arçelos. “Hey, guys, come back here.” Her yell in English got her nowhere. They didn’t look back or even pause. “Espera. Wait, you guys. You can’t take—please, don’t take my stuff.” Her plea ended in a whimper.

The boys reached the end of the walkway and climbed the cliff steps to town, not pausing until, at the top, they approached a red dirt road. Panting hard, they turned back with wide smiles. The largest stuck out his palm when she huffed up to them.

Oh. They were helping her, and now they wanted a tip. She looked back toward Kyle, who had been surrounded by villagers at the market boat. He looked and pointed toward her, and the back-slapping, happy group let him go.

Breathing hard, Rebecca swiped at her hair where it stuck to perspiration on her face. She zipped open her canvas purse, wondering how much she should give them. Despite her fear they were stealing everything she’d brought, they had done her a huge favor. Scrambling deep in the bag, she came up with four coins of a half-Real each. She had no idea of the proper amount to tip kids in a river village.

Judging by their shouts and smiles, she over-tipped. They ran off toward an open, grassy field where kids kicked at a ball that had no bounce. While studying the language in Campinas, she’d seen how poor children rolled up fabric scraps bound by string. Brazilians just had to play soccer.

Her attention turned to two girls tittering and pointing to the plane. Dr. Pierce had two daughters, but these girls looked Brazilian, barefoot and wearing tatty shorts and T-shirts. Then again, she didn’t know if his wife had been Brazilian or American. Without a mother to care for them, they might be running loose.

A beat-up truck rolled down the dirt road, more of a worn path, coming to a stop in front of her. The driver leaned across to the passenger-side window. “Senhorinha Hey-becca?”

She recognized the Brazilian pronunciation of her name. Surely this weathered, brown man wasn’t Dr. Pierce. He turned off the truck, opened its rattling door, and rushed around it. “A Infirmeira Hey-becca?” he asked around missing teeth, adding the title “the nurse” to her name. “The doctor Edu sent me for you. I take you to the hospital quick.”

Flexing wiry arm muscles, he loaded a duffle in the pickup bed and returned for the other. Dressed in worn, elastic-banded shorts and a weathered T-shirt, he opened the door for her. She balked, looking back toward the plane.

Kyle jogged her way, leading with a wide smile. “Ola, Samuel.”

“The doctor Edu, he needs her now. Is emergencia.”

“Okay, thanks for coming to meet her. Tell the doctor hello for me. I plan to return this way in three months.” He turned to Rebecca. “This is Dr. Ed’s helper. He’ll take care of you.”

“Thank you, Kyle. I appreciate the flight.” She especially appreciated arriving alive. She climbed into the truck, and Samuel did a tight U-turn. Then her greeting carriage chugged away as if it didn’t understand the concept of an emergency.

Just past the main settlement of crude, wooden houses stood a low, concrete block building that used to be white. Its bottom edge, stained by the splatter of red mud, appeared as if the structure had rusted from the ground up.

The driver crunched to a stop at the center door. “You go quick. I take your bags.”

A woman in a clean skirt and blouse, better dressed than those she’d seen on the street, motioned her to come in. “Dr. Edu is in surgery. A young boy has a ruptured appendix.” Her talking hands made a bursting motion from the region of her lower right abdomen. “He says you come assist him operate. I show you the gown.”

Rebecca hurried down a hallway behind the woman to a primitive scrub room. Its wide window looked into a surgical area, where one gowned man administered anesthetic at the head of a boy, and the back of another person bent at his side. The anesthesiologist nodded at her and said something to the surgeon.

With no time to shower or have a bite of lunch, she launched right into a dire situation. She relished the idea of being needed. The mission people said they had to have someone flexible who could adapt. She wanted to be that person.

After quickly slipping on disposable shoe covers and a gown, she started scrubbing. Doubts assailed her. The Dallas training hospital where she’d worked encouraged cross-training, but she hadn’t done any surgical nursing for a couple of years. No time to argue today. She popped on gloves and pushed the door with her shoulder to enter the surgical room, maintaining her hands above her waist for sterile technique.

“Good morning. Take the other side. I need some suction.” The surgeon didn’t look up to administer his terse greeting. “Welcome to Arçelos. How’s your Portuguese?”

She got into position and picked up the suction device. “Not as good as my English.” She didn’t want to kill this kid due to a language misunderstanding. The doctor had already cut away the distended appendix and was now cleaning up the abdomen. His moves, careful and sure, came from wide, thick hands. A glance at his upper body indicated solid shoulders.

From that point, he instructed her in Portuguese first and followed with English. In little time, they were ready to close. His shoulders relaxed. Naming the supplies he required, he looked up at her, and his incredibly crystal blue eyes shined beneath bushy eyebrows.

Distracted by the beauty of his eyes, she lost a beat in time. He motioned to the suture materials to one side.

“Oh. Right.” She hastened to prepare what he wanted and handed the specified items to him.

Conferring with the anesthesiologist, the surgeon checked the condition of the patient again. “I think he’ll be fine.” Still on the opposite side of the table, his mask in place, the surgeon held his stained, gloved hands above the abdomen while she bandaged the area. “I’m Ed Pierce, or ‘Dotor Edu’ locally. This is Marcos, a nurse with special training in anesthesiology.”

They nodded at each other and exchanged greetings.

He continued in English. “In our little shop here, you’ll go with the patient to recovery across the hall. Give me a minute, and I’ll join you there. Marcos will clean up after the surgery. Welcome aboard.” His eyes crinkled above his mask.

“Thank you, Doctor. It’s a pleasure to be here.” What a jump start to her arrival.

Together they transferred the boy to a gurney, and she rolled him away. Her mind filled with doubts and questions as she scoped out the rather basic work areas and the obvious lack of modern equipment. The general job description of “all-purpose nurse” hadn’t prepared her for emergency surgery. She would study up on her techniques—or better yet, learn how they did things here.

Her patient, maybe ten years old, had good color in his lips and nail beds. Few American boys his age had the muscle development of his arms. She rested a hand on his chest and prayed for his full recovery, one of the privileges she enjoyed since her conversion.

Glancing around the room, the size of a large coat closet, elation came over her. The hospital was even more primitive than she had imagined. She could earn a lot of Brownie Points with God for working in a place like this.

Thank you, Lee, for sharing your new book with my blog readers. I know they’ll love it as much as I do.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

Rebecca's Redemption (Call to the Jungle Book 3)

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, Google+, 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:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

KATIE'S QUEST - Lee Carver - One Free Book

Dear readers, Lee is a special friend of mine. I love her stories, both contemporary and historical. Her attention to details of setting make it real to me. And her characters leap off the page and grab my heart. 

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

I didn’t see those first steps as “becoming an author.” I wonder if I would have taken them if I had. But after writing as a volunteer and then part of a group of women who put together some fictional stories, my husband and I had the life-changing experience of being volunteer missionaries for six and a half years in Brazil. Many people asked us to write about how that all happened and what we did in the Amazon. Two years after retirement I began to put words on the page. I wanted to show what missionaries and mission service are like. Very good, dedicated (but not perfect) people with a strong calling from God are the modern heroes of the faith, and I dared to try to illustrate their lives in fiction.

If you weren’t an author, what would be your dream job?

I loved teaching high school biology and chemistry, but had serious issues with my vocal cords, probably due to throat surgery when I was ten. My dream job was to be a medical doctor.

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

That’s a hard question, because every era is fraught with special pleasures and difficulties. I used to dream of living in the future, but the world seems bent on a path to become more dangerous and, in my opinion, less godly. I think I’ll just take the era in which God placed me.

Me, too. What place in the United States have you not visited that you would like to?

My husband and I plan to drive through the American northeast this fall, and relish the fantastic colors of creation. I’ve been to those states, but not in that season. We visited Big Bend National Park in the spring, and Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah last fall in conjunction with a trip to the new headquarters of Mission Aviation Fellowship in Idaho. We’ve lived in seven of the states and at least traveled through most of them, including Alaska and Hawaii.

How about a foreign country you hope to visit?

I’ve visited about 49 foreign countries, but I never saw Italy’s Amalfi coast. Maybe someday. At this time, we’re enjoying the US of A.

What lesson has the Lord taught you recently?

We are blessed with remarkably good health and strength while many of our friends are contracting incapacitating or fatal diseases. The Lord is teaching us how to be helpful, comforting, and giving of our time and affection. We’re learning what to say, what not to say, and respect for the privacy of others. A very wise old man once told me, “ALWAYS tell the truth—but don’t be always tellin’ it!

Tell us about the featured book.

Katie’s Quest is the first of a series of three novels with romantic threads set in the Brazilian Amazon featuring missionaries. Here’s the blurb:

Katie Dennis committed to serve as a nurse in the Amazon even after her fiancé died on a training flight. She wouldn’t have lasted through the first mission trip if not for Matt, a pilot born and reared in the jungle. But she’d never fall for a pilot again.

Matt Gibbs, missionary pilot, finally settled on a good choice for a wife, someone known to his family all their lives. Why, then, did the new blonde nurse make him feel like doing barrel rolls in the Amazon sky?

Romance and unforeseen danger flow in the Brazilian Amazon as Katie searches for a fulfilling and meaningful life—one that quickly becomes more exciting than her wildest imagination!

Please give us the first page of the book.

Katie Dennis stepped from the seaplane onto its float with her knees still shaking. Her first flight ever in a light aircraft shook her from her dizzy head to her clenched toes. With the constant motion now stilled she no longer felt ill, and she tried to push away the lingering effects of panic at all the sudden drops and bounces in the air. Her new job as a missionary nurse in the Brazilian Amazon would require many flights like this, bouncing over the dense jungle.

She knew good people died doing this. Knew it too well. This morning’s flight might have been a shortcut to eternity.

“Come up onto the wharf, Katie.” In the deep-water inlet, the pilot, Matt, stood on the rough-hewn planks a foot above her with his hand outstretched. “Quick. The wind’s blowing the plane back.” He’d tied it to a strong post, with some play in the line.

She held her breath, willed her legs to be firm, and locked her eyes on his. Their clear blue beamed assurance at the same moment they caused a new tremor down her middle. In the two weeks since joining Outreach for Christ, she’d decided no missionary should be this handsome.

The distance between them seemed too far a leap, but he looked into her eyes with absolute confidence. If he didn’t think anything was amiss, she had to trust him. He was the one with experience at getting in and out of a float plane. Placing her hand in his, she extended one foot toward the flimsy planks. As she attempted the wide step up, her foot pushed the plane back.

She tried to reach it with her toes. Teetering over the dark water, she stretched uncomfortably. Almost in slow motion, her foot slid on the slick aluminum surface of the float behind her. Her breath caught. In an effort to save herself from plunging into the murky waters of the Rio Negro, she tightened her grip on Matt’s hand and pulled.

His eyes widened in surprise. Instead of tugging her back, he wobbled, flailed his free arm, and plunged forward.

She released his hand and hit the water spread out like a butterfly in flight. The weight of his body crashed onto her back, pushing her deep. Her last-instant half breath wasn’t enough. Unable to see anything and unaware which way was up, she fought the urge to inhale by clamping her hand hard over her nose and mouth.

She kicked, landing blows against Matt, and his shoes struck her shins. Her feet sunk into the gooey mud bottom as his strong arm encircled her waist. Instinctively she pushed back. No. Matt was trying to save her. She forced herself to quit struggling and trust him.

He gave a mighty push off the bottom, and their heads broke the surface at the same time. Katie gasped air, her eyes still shut against the river water streaming down her face.

Beside her, she heard him sucking air. “Can you swim?” His voice came from behind her, right at her ear.

Hanging in his arm, she had no space to dog-paddle. She swiped at water dripping from her hair and cleared her vision. “Yes, but not usually with my shoes on.”

Love it! How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.LeeCarverWriter.com
http://LeeCarverWriter.blogspot.com
www.amazoncurrents.homestead.com
https://www.facebook.com/lee.carver.507

Thank you, Lee, for sharing this book with us. I love the way you take a reader to places we’ve only dreamed about and making it so real to us.

Readers, here are links to the book. 
Katie's Quest (Call to the Jungle) (Volume 1) - Paperback
Katie's Quest (Call to the Jungle 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, Google+, 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:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

COUNTERFEIT - Lee Carver - One Free Book

Dear Readers, Lee is a dear friend of mine. I mentored her for several years, and now she’s helping other authors who want to Indie publish. I love her writing. Her characters are well-developed, and she does the research to make sure her stories are authentic, even though her characters and their plot lines are fiction.

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

I had just re-retired after six years as a volunteer missionary in the Brazilian Amazon, and wanted to illustrate real missionaries and life in the Amazon. The jungle is not anything like that of Tarzan movies, the missionaries are real people. I have tremendous admiration for those we worked with, yet they are faulted as we are, and most have strong personalities. They need that to face the challenges and frustrating limitations that complicate their mission. The characters in my Brazilian novels (three yet to be published) aspire to bring life and breath to these people and their surroundings.

If you weren’t an author, what would be your dream job?

I wanted to be a medical doctor for most of my life through college, but was talked out of it by friends and received no encouragement from my parents, teachers, or friends. I became a high school biology and chemistry teacher instead. If I had it to do over again, I would persist on the path to medicine. But I would never have met my husband on that path, which is the one huge compensation for my life as it played out.

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

I was a child in the 1950s, which were far more peaceful and relaxed than today. I was safe and free to roam on my bike in ways that are unimaginable today. Aspirin caps weren’t sealed and passengers just bought a ticket and walked onto an airplane—not that I did until after graduating from college. I would like to spend more time in that era in my small Alabama town.

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

My husband and I want to drive through the Northeast in autumn. We’d planned to this year, but our daughter and her teenage daughters moved in with us during their relocation from Michigan to Texas, and we felt it better to stay home with them. Maybe next year.

How about a foreign country you hope to visit?

Been there, done that. We’ve lived in Greece, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Indonesia, Brazil, and Spain, and I’ve traveled in forty-nine countries. Europe is expensive, the Middle East is dangerous, and travel has become a royal pain. Life and travel in the United States is so much better!

What lesson has the Lord taught you recently?

As I wrote in the back of my previous book, Retreat to Shelter Creek, pardon me if it sounds sanctimonious, but at this ripe age, I’ve finally learned that the only things worth spending your days on are what’s done with and for God. This includes raising a family and getting an education and holding a job, and I did those things. As a Stephen Minister and member of the Prayer Shawl Ministry, showing love and support for others has become my mission at this time and place. People hurt. Friends suffer and die. I want to be there for them and their families.

Tell us about the featured book. 

Kendra Cooper copied fine art, but she never sold the paintings as originals. As a librarian at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, she needed the extra income to pay her college and graduate school debts—tuition her father refused to pay because he considered the study of art to be useless. She’d scrimped for years to take a vacation in Europe and see the great masters. She never dreamed she’d be suspected of painting fraudulent fine art.

Richard Reed, art professor at Emory, agreed to a summer stint with the Experts Group of Interpol to identify frauds and assist in finding their source. With no detective training, no gun, this should be a fun summer in Europe. He had nothing to show Interpol until observing Kendra at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum intently studying and photographing 17^th and 18^th Century art, his specialty. Maybe she was the lead he needed. When the police raided her apartment and found her masterfully-painted copy of Vermeer’s Milkmaid, he was convinced.

Unfounded accusation moves to a tentative working relationship as Kendra and Richard combat greed and deception to gain what cannot be bought.

Please give us the first page of Counterfeit.

Richard eased his cell phone from his pocket and snapped a photo of the young woman from the back, recording little more than her clothing and height. And her slender frame. She had stood in front of the Vermeer for a good twenty minutes, sometimes taking a step left or right, backward or forward. At times she slipped a small camera out of her jeans to snap a specific area of the canvas, which the Rijks Museum allowed without flash, her attention focused on each element of The Milkmaid.

Sure, the painting was beautiful. Exquisite even. But for detail and complexity, it didn’t compare with Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, which covered most of the wall at the end of the gallery. A shifting swarm of museum visitors gaped and photographed that canvas, his personal favorite. Such intricate detail. Such masterful use of shades and focusing.

Maybe he’d finally stumbled upon a lead to the counterfeit art. He could be back on the plane in a few weeks with a feather in his professorial cap. The element of danger in this assignment had intrigued him at first, but he was way out of his element.

The woman sighed and checked her watch. Richard smoothly moved to a painting on a different wall, turning his back to her and bending his face down to the information plaque at the right. Her steps sounded toward the double glass door.

He looked up as she waltzed through the great hall as if she owned the place and was scanning it for decorating ideas about the ball she would give that weekend. Her expression, glimpsed from the side, radiated a calm pleasure.

Not what he would expect from a fraud artist.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.LeeCarverWriter.com

http://LeeCarverWriter.blogspot.com

www.amazoncurrents.homestead.com
www.facebook.com/lee.carver.507 

Thank you, Lee, for sharing this new book with us. I am eager to read it, and I know my readers will be, too.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Counterfeit - Paperback
Counterfeit - 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, Google+, 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:
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

RETREAT TO SHELTER CREEK - Lee Carver - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I’ve known Lee Carver for a long time. We are members of our local ACFW chapter, ACFW – DFW, and we’ve both served as president at different times. She’s a member of the critique group that meets in my home. It has been a joy to see her develop her voice and become a wonderful author. And her fascinating life adds interesting details to many of her books.

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

I was reared in a devout Christian family. We had prayers together every evening and prayers at every meal. When I was just short of six years old, I felt an urging to personally commit my life to God. My parents and pastor talked to me, trying to ensure that I knew what I was doing. One evening, as I assured my parents after prayer time that I understand and was making a lifetime commitment, that I felt something different come over me in a comforting way. I believe that was the moment God made me his own and gifted me with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

There were times as a college student and young adult that I felt distanced from God, but I knew who had moved. I never doubted Him. He brought me back into a close relationship, and I realize I can only be happy living there.

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

They would all be modern authors, because we write so differently now. Let’s also assume these four authors would not feel that I am beneath their league, and they would freely discuss the craft of writing with me. Kellie Coates Gilbert would bring immense energy and knowledge of marketing. Brandilyn Collins has so much to teach me about writing suspense. And two new friends, Judith Rolfs and Autumn MacArthur, have such great intrinsic sense about people and personalities. Rolfs is a professional counselor. Autumn is an Aussie who lives in England and writes fluffy romances, but she can flat diagnose the ills of my characters and help me make them realistic.

Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

I have no speaking ministry as such, though I am involved in many groups and activities and was president of ACFW-DFW Chapter a.k.a. Ready Writers for two years. I enjoy public speaking, but haven’t aligned my novels with any particular cause other than Brazilian missionary aviation.

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

When we lived in Indonesia, I was active in the American Women’s Association. My husband’s distant cousin and her family also lived in Jakarta. They enjoyed a show of wealth; we had not changed much in our attitudes since our struggling years. For the annual AWA ball, the cousin wore a chic dress which she undoubtedly had bought in the US. I made a dress of interesting Indonesian fabric—and I had made all my clothes, even coats, as a teenager. I mentioned this by phone the week before.

When my husband and I entered the ballroom, she and her husband rushed forward to greet us. Her husband said, in a very deprecating tone, “And you made your dress yourself. How … sweet.” The way he spoke, I might have been Cinderella without the fairy godmother’s magic touch. I’d come to the ball in a homemade dress. I turned several shades of red, then got over it, lost them in the crowd, and had a good time. My husband was proud to be with me and pleased with my sewing talent. Her husband’s opinion didn’t matter.

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?

Actually, I’m very active as a freelance editor, and I format and upload other people’s books. I’ve recently helped six women to publish their stories of abuse and recovery, and the leader of their class just asked me to help another group do the same.

Tell us about the featured book.

Retreat to Shelter Creek is a story of healing from a failed marriage and forgiveness even when it hasn’t been requested. Ashley, a high school teacher, retreats to a small Texas town for the summer ostensibly to help her grandmother through chemo. The heavy subjects are lifted by the family guard-pig Beulah and two skunks. (Count them. Hint:  one walks on two legs.) Ashley has a second chance at love and marriage with Austin, whom she knew as a teenager, though she’s very cautious this time. And why should second chances be available only to the young? There’s a “mature” love story included as well.

Please give us the first page of the book.

“I’ll do the whole roof for seven thousand dollars, but I want the pig.”

Ashley squinted up at the plaid-shirted man about her own age in a wide, used-to-be-white Stetson. An effervescent sensation gurgled up from unknown depths inside her. She threw back her head and let laughter overtake her. Nothing in the past few months had triggered such lighthearted abandon.

The fellow stood there with an open-mouthed smile as if he didn’t know which way to go.

The late afternoon Texas sun streaked through the gigantic pecan tree to where he stood on the front porch. The roofer had been tromping around on top of the house. Mama Lou said he’d come and give an estimate this afternoon. He might be insulted if she didn’t recover in a hurry.

Shading her eyes, she pushed open the screen. “Would you like to come inside? It’s awful hot out there.” Even with the window air conditioner turned off, inside ran at least ten degrees cooler.

“Thank you, ma’am. It’s hot enough to fry rattlesnakes.” He stepped inside.

Now that the sun no longer stabbed her retinas, she glanced at his face. Something familiar about him tickled her memory, like thinking she recognized someone but then realizing he lived in a different state. “How about a glass of iced tea?”

“I appreciate the offer, but we’ve got ice water out in the truck. Is Mrs. Pickins here?” He peered toward the hallway, deeper into the old house.

“Grandmother’s here, and she was expecting you, but she didn’t feel well enough to stay up. I’d rather not disturb her.”

He took off his worn hat and wiped a bandana across his face. “I wouldn’t want to bother her.”

She noticed his light-colored eyes under bushy brows. He didn’t stand all that tall, probably under six feet, but muscle bulges stretching the shoulders of his knit shirt indicated a lot of strength. “You were saying about the pig?”

“Yes’um. I’d like to have that white sow as part of the deal.” He smiled with a twinkle of enthusiasm. “I saw her from up on the roof. She couldn’t be very happy in the pen all by herself.”

Ashley had never considered whether Beulah was happy. She ate, she oinked, and she created a muddy mess in the back yard. She had been making quite a lot of noise in the past half hour. Maybe she had guard-pig inclinations. “What do you want with the pig?”

“I’m raising a few on my farm, and what you have there is a fine crossbreed. She would be a welcome addition to my stock. I need a good sow, and I’m real partial to the white ones.”

“It’s just that … I don’t know if that’s possible. Beulah was my younger brother’s prize winner in Future Farmers. Years ago.” She motioned back over her shoulder. “Grandmother’s never been willing to sell her.” Heaven knows the neighbors would be pleased. She suspected some of the offers to buy the sow had come indirectly from them. Especially the lady who lived on the back side of their block.

“Could I ask your brother, then?” He fanned with his hat, and his brow raised as if the heavy line had a life of its own.

“Afraid not. He died in Afghanistan.” She hated those words, but could finally say them without crying.

“Oh. Right. I heard about that. Sorry.” He gave a long exhale and ducked his head for a second. “Look, I figure a sow like that—and I haven’t even seen her up close—but she’s probably worth a couple hundred dollars. Maybe three, depending on her age. So the price I’m offering on the roofing job is better than anyone else would do it for.”

Mama Lou had an estimate from another company for well over eight thousand. Getting rid of Beulah made the deal even sweeter, if her grandmother would go for it. “I can’t speak for her, though. I just know we need the roof fixed before it rains. It leaks pretty bad, and the TV says we may have some rain next week. Can you put us on your schedule right away?”

“Not without her approving the estimate. Say, aren’t you her granddaughter who used to stay here sometimes in the summer when we were teenagers?”

“Yes, I’m Ashley Brooker.” For now. She extended her hand, aware that his might be dirty.

He plopped his cowboy hat on his head, wiped his hand on his jeans, and took hers in a gentle but firm shake.

Dry skin, calloused by his job, surrounded her palm with plenty left over. He really did look familiar. Then she noticed the scar to the right of his upper lip, just a faint hash mark from a long-ago accident. “Trés?”

“Yes, ma’am, Stephen Austin Chism the Third, but I don’t go by Trés anymore. I prefer Austin.”

She smiled with the memory of the church youth hayride her sixteenth summer. He had been handsome but rather full of himself. The local girls fell over each other to be close to him, so she hung back and watched the show.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

I’d love to hear from readers via FaceBook (message me so I’ll know to “friend” you), and my blog will give them information on new inspirational releases, especially free and inexpensive eBooks. I welcome them to sign up for my rather infrequent reviews and offers.

www.LeeCarverWriter.com

http://LeeCarverWriter.blogspot.com

www.amazoncurrents.homestead.com

https://www.facebook.com/lee.carver.507

Thank you, Lee, for sharing this new book with us. I know my readers will be eager to read it.

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

Retreat to Shelter Creek - paperback
Retreat to Shelter Creek - 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, Google+, 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:
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

LOVE TAKES FLIGHT - Lee Carver - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I’m thrilled to bring this book to you. Lee is a dear friend and one of the authors I’m mentored for several years. I loved this book as I watched it develop. As I’ve said before, I really like books with foreign settings, and this one is partly set in Brazil. I’ve long been interested in missions, especially pilots who have taken the gospel into hard to reach areas. This book takes us there with them, and of course, there’s a wonderful love story that plays out. You won’t want to miss this book.

Welcome back, Lee. What are some of the spiritual themes you like to write about?

In Love Takes Flight, I particularly addressed the reality of a call from God and how it may be recognized.

What other books of yours are coming out soon?

I spent last year writing a series of three books set in Brazil at the request of a publisher and my agent. Unfortunately, that publisher was bought out by another, and the line was closed out. I’m having fun writing a novel set in a small Texas town, but it isn’t nearly finished yet.

If you could spend an evening with one contemporary person (not a family member of yours), who would it be and why?

Dr. Ben Carson, a man of remarkable intelligence, insight, and abilities.

James and I would love to meet this man as well. What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

I would enjoy chatting with the Pasteurs, who proved the germ theory of disease.

How can you encourage authors who have been receiving only rejections from publishers?

Don’t keep trying to perfect a book which has received only rejections. Start something new, something you will enjoy writing. Make it imaginative. James Scott Bell says to put a surprise on every page. Thinking that way is fun.

Tell us about the featured book.

Volunteering in the Amazon to escape a broken heart, an American nurse re-examines her life’s calling as she confronts hijackers, malaria, and her attraction to a certain missionary pilot. This is “the book of my heart,” the net of living many years in Brazil.

Please give us the first page of the book.

A child’s scream pierced the Brazilian jungle night, wrenching Camille from the tendrils of a nightmare. The wail soared through the trees again, long and desperate. She rolled out of her hammock and stumbled on numb legs, gripped the supporting rope, and got her bearings. The humid night vibrated with fear and confusion, in time with her pounding pulse.

Nearby, a mission team member hit the floor with a thud, emitting the forced unh! of having the breath knocked out of him. She could run to him or toward the shriek that woke them.

Shouted questions stabbed the moonlight and flashlights snapped on at odd angles. The child howled a Portuguese word Camille didn’t know, but she couldn’t miss the desperation.

Focus. Reacting with her nurse’s training and passion, she slipped on flip-flops, grabbed a flashlight, and dashed off the open platform in the direction of the pitiful cries. In this jungle, she and Dr. Flavio were the only ER.

“Sucuri! Sucuri!” The word rang throughout the village more like the name of a beautiful bird than the vicious anaconda.

She ran to where villagers converged on the wide footpath in front of the stilted houses. Raised machetes flashed as muscular brown arms brought knives down hard. Shouting and groaning, men hacked at an enormous snake curled in the baked red dirt.

Camille pushed into the circle of defenders and found a young boy under attack. The snake writhed, dying but not giving up its prey. A final cut severed the snake’s head from its squirming body. Blood squirted on the clay clearing and the people. Snake blood and boy blood.

She recognized Pedro as a ten year old from the previous day’s medical clinic. He cried, but no longer with curdled terror. She knelt in the dust to examine his wounds and her guts twisted. She had to get him somewhere she could treat him.

   …

Camille glanced around. Where was Dr. Flavio? She’d have to start without him. Faced with the responsibility, her mind wanted to freeze. Stop the bleeding. Compression. Disinfectant.

She spotted Jessica, the blonde fourteen year old who assisted in the dispensary. She would have the keys to supplies or know who did. “Jessica, get me some disinfectant—alcohol, Betadyne. Lots of it.”

(And by the way, Jessica is real. She is now an RN and about to return as a missionary to the Brazilian Amazon with her husband. They will serve in a very primitive jungle area near her parents.)

How can readers find you on the Internet?

For the book: http://amzn.to/12nRfpk

www.LeeCarverWriter.com
http://LeeCarverWriter.blogspot.com
www.amazoncurrents.homestead.com   

This last website has hundreds of photos from our years as missionaries in Brazil.

Thank you, Lee, for sharing this new book with my readers.

Readers, 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 Goodreads, Google+, 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:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

A SECRET LIFE - Lee Carver - One Free Book

Bio: Lee Carver and her husband have lived in several foreign countries, so some of her books, including the featured book, have foreign settings. Though officially retired, they are very active in church events. She currently serves as president of ACFW – DFW chapter.

Dear Readers, I was eager for the release of A Secret Life. Lee is in the critique group that meets in our home. I watched this story come to life. Although I don’t usually like reading war stories, this one intrigued me. It’s more about the strong characters than it is about the fighting. I wrote one of the endorsements for the novel. Lee takes the reader deep into the hearts of the characters. She keeps you enthralled to the very end of the book, and the story will stay with you. I highly recommend it.

Welcome back, Lee. God has really been moving in your writing life. Love your head shot. What do you see on the horizon?

I’m thrilled to have two books traditionally-published this year. Three shorter romances have been completed for a different publisher for 2015, and I’m writing a fun book based in Texas. Always inspirational, and always with at least a romantic thread.

A very wise woman once told me, “We’re like sailboats. God can’t direct us unless we’re moving.”

Others have said, “If your books aren’t selling, keep writing.”

Now that everything’s selling, the best advice seems to be, “Breathe slowly. In. Out.”

Tell us a little about your family.

My daughter, Kelly, was a novelist before me and has given tremendous advice on every portion of the effort from brainstorming to covers. She and her two teenage daughters are gifted writers and thrive on drama. My son is an athlete and supports his wife and three children as a software engineer. The two are totally different, yet they are bonded, loving siblings. My husband Darrel and I have been married forty-six years (unbelievable!). In my most romantic dreams as a young person, I never dreamed marriage could be so satisfying and fulfilling.

Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

I read a great deal, trying to understand what works in a novel and what doesn’t. As a publisher’s line editor, though, I see mistakes. I try not to read too slowly. The plot has too be realistic and authentic, or I become frustrated. Passages of that couldn’t have happened or she would never have done that are real turn-offs. Modern readers have such a plethora of titles to choose from now, and at good prices. We can read widely, and we can put down a book we don’t like.

What are you working on right now?

I call it “the pig and a roof book” because of its opening line. It’s set in a fictional small, Texas town, and I’m working to fold in a lot of humor around some serious subjects. It centers on a woman with an unfaithful husband who goes to care for her grandmother through cancer treatment. The working title is Retreat to Shelter Creek.

Sounds interesting. What outside interests do you have?

Ha! How much space do you have for the answer? I’m a Stephens Minister (Christian lay-counselor), crochet for the Prayer Shawl Ministry, sing in the choir, play piano, thoroughly enjoy quilting and other sewing projects, vegetable and flower gardening … the list goes on.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

The settings of my novels are essential to the story. For A Secret Life, the whole story plays against the background of World War II, and my main character is German. Voilá, the setting. In my next novel coming out in December, the setting is the Brazilian Amazon, where we lived for over six years. The setting is at least as important as a major character, and for each story, no choice existed. Okay, so Atlanta is significant in the first book. It’s a city I lived in and loved and know well enough to research with understanding. And Birmingham, Alabama, is important in the next novel. Being from Alabama, I know Birmingham well enough to see it was the perfect city and location for those scenes.

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

If Abraham Lincoln would sit down with me for a private conversation, and if he would answer questions with all transparency, that would be my choice.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

Novels are not very long short stories. As many novels as I had read in the decades before trying to write one, I never perceived the three-act structure, the significance of pacing, and certainly not the need to portray developments from the point of view of a certain character. Omniscient narrative seemed to be the norm. There’s just a lot to learn to develop the craft of writing.

Omniscient narrative was the norm in most classis literature, but I like the way having the character’s point of view takes the reader straight into the middle of the story. What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

God is teaching me to enjoy this day rather than to work feverishly toward what I hope for in the future. And He is teaching me to savor His presence and take time to worship Him.

That is so important. What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

Keep writing even when doubt looms. Associate with other writers, especially in American Christian Fiction Writers. Join a good critique group either in person or online. And fourth, read a lot.

Tell us about the featured book.

The German Army of World War II rips KARL VON STEUBEN from his family and privileged life, forcing him to conceal his American sympathies and Jewish heritage. Stripped of every tie to his home country, he determines to escape. As he crawls to the Siegfried Line, only he knows the hiding place of gold ingots melted from the jewelry of prisoners. Wounded after assuming the identity of a fallen American soldier, Karl briefly deceives even himself.

Discharged and shipped to America, he discovers God’s unmerited favor in a beautiful Atlanta nurse. But he must return to Germany or relinquish his family fortune and rear children under the name of another man.

Will Grace forgive his duplicity and accept him as a loyal American?

Please give us the first page of the book for my readers.

September, 1942

Munich, Germany

Karl knew better than to raise his voice to Father, but his anger boiled within like steam under pressure. “Why did you leave Mother in danger? And Marta, too?” He paced the width of Father’s study. “We’re the same bloodline—”

“That’s enough! How dare you question my care of the family?” Father stood from his desk, went to the dark velvet curtains, and yanked them closed. Little good that would do now.

Father’s face flushed, creating headlights of his blue eyes. “Your mother and I’ve always been careful to maintain her dual citizenship and an active church membership. They have no reason to come after us.”

With a huff, Karl dropped into the burgundy leather armchair and rubbed the back of his neck. He had said enough to get Father furious, yet he pressed further. “They could still book passage to the United States. Or somewhere in the opposite direction. Brazil. Lots of people go to Brazil.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Father slapped a dark green folder on his desk, probably the Swiss account. “Portugal, maybe.” He muttered, slipping a hand over his retreating blond hair. “I’ve heard talk about Lisbon....”

So he had considered escape.

“But I can’t leave the business here in Munich.” Father’s chest strained the worsted three-piece suit. “If I abandoned my responsibilities, the economy of the Fatherland and all our clients—some of them life-long friends—would suffer an unthinkable blow.”

Only his father’s hands touched their firm’s securities and investments of the Reichland. No one else—no one—knew how much or where they were. Certainly not himself, as a junior officer of the firm. Father would be arrested and shot as a traitor if he tried to leave Germany now.

Karl shuddered. Since university graduation, he had little excuse for not serving in the Army. Worse, his native country had the power and the will to drag him into a labor camp. “But what about Mother and Marta? They don’t have to stay. I could continue in the firm with you. Keep hoping they honor my deferment. With the British bombing farther south all the time, it just makes sense for them to leave.”

His father paced the study, pausing before the medieval tapestry. He might be seeing its idyllic forest and mountain nymphs, or simply be using the weaving to ignore Karl’s plea. “Your mother says she doesn’t want to leave me. Our home.” His voice became a rumble. “She’s comfortable here. If the Allies lost the war, she would continue to be safe.”

“And if they won?”

“She’s an American citizen. Yourself and Marta too. She’d be the salvation of us all.”

“But when both nations are at war, we have to choose. Especially me.”

A rap from the hall cut them off. “Dinner’s ready.”

Karl opened the study’s door to his mother’s troubled face. Not wanting her to realize their closed-door conference concerned family safety, he forced a smile. “Come, Father. That account will wait until we’ve taken care of this beef roast.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.LeeCarverWriter.com

http://LeeCarverWriter.blogspot.com

Thank you, Lee, 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 Secret Life - paperback
A Secret Life - 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 Goodreads, Google+, 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:
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com