VALLEY OF THE SHADOW - J M Hochstetler - One Free Book

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

Growing up in a family with the history the Hochstetlers have, I was naturally drawn to historical accounts by the time I was in high school. It wasn’t dates, events, and places—the usual subjects of history textbooks—that especially drew me, but people. I wanted to know what the lives of the people of bygone ages were like, whether they were leaders or the common people of the day. What did they share in common with us today? And how were they different, and why?

I believe that we can’t understand ourselves and our own time without understanding what shaped us, both events and people. Only by learning from history can we avoid the mistakes of the past and also benefit from great advances that were made. Over time, as a way of making sense of all that, I began to write novels about people set during historical eras that especially interested me.

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

I have three daughters, and I have to say that the day each was born and the day each of my grandchildren was born were the happiest I’ve experienced.

How has being published changed your life?

It’s made me feel a greater connection to my audience and a deep responsibility to write stories that not only entertain—which certainly has to be the first priority or no one will read them—but also in an organic way to educate, and then encourage readers to a higher standard. I’m committed to representing the historical period along with the people, society, and culture I’m writing about as accurately and authentically as possible; to portraying human nature realistically, in a way that communicates universal truths and offers personal insights that are life-changing for readers.

What are you reading right now?

I’m researching my next book, so I’m reading a lot of resources on Native Americans, specifically the Lenape and Seneca tribes. I just found a particularly helpful, very well researched children’s textbook published in 1985, now out of print, titled The Magic Moccasins. I’m developing a high regard for children’s and young adult stories that are deeply researched, and this is one of the most detailed I’ve found on several Native American tribes, including the two that appear in my current project.

What is your current work in progress?

I’m working on The Return, book 2 of the Northkill Amish Series, which I’m writing with my fifth cousin, multi-published author Bob Hostetler. This is the story of our non-resistant Amish Hochstetler ancestors, who came to this country from Europe in 1738 and got caught up in the French and Indian War. Readers can find more information about them and the series at www.northkill.com.

What would be your dream vacation?

I’d love to travel the Alsace region in Europe and Switzerland, where my Anabaptist ancestors originated, and follow in their footsteps as they emigrated to America. I’d also incorporate side trips to Germany, Austria, Italy, and Greece. Those are countries I’ve always wanted to visit. New Zealand and Australia also have a great appeal to me. It would be wonderful to spend several months visiting all these countries and sampling local history, culture, and cuisine.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

The historical era I choose to write about essentially determines the settings of each of my novels. The Northkill series is set along the Pennsylvania frontier and in Ohio Territory in the 1750s and 1760s because that’s when and where my ancestors lived. My American Patriot Series takes place during the American Revolution, and each volume is set in the particular theater of war the book covers. Book 1, Daughter of Liberty, is set in the Boston area, and the sequels move to New York, Philadelphia, and Fort Pitt, and also into Ohio Territory as the war impacts the Native American communities. The remaining volumes will follow the characters to France and onto the high seas with the expansion of the naval war, and then return to the Southern states as the land war in America moves south to its conclusion at Yorktown, Virginia.

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

Right now it’s Dr. Ben Carson. I’ve read his life story and seen him on TV a number of times, and I’m incredibly impressed by how he overcame a difficult childhood due to the strength and love of his mother, an emphasis on education, and a deep relationship with God to become this brilliant, compassionate, wise, and truly civil man. There’s no one like him on the public stage today. He amazes me, and I would love to get to know him better.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I love to spend time playing in my garden. I could do that all day long. And I’m getting back into scrapbooking, which I had to set aside for a couple of years because of writing projects. But I’m discovering that participating in one art strengthens others as well. Antiquing is a particular love as is playing around with my home’s décor. In another life I would have been an interior designer. Or maybe a landscape designer. Or an archeologist. Or an artist…

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Balancing research and writing is the hardest. I could easily bury myself in research for months on end, but then I would never get the story written. So there comes a point at which I have to force myself to put aside my research resources and just write!

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Read, read, read. Then write what you love to read. Write about subjects you’re deeply passionate about. Don’t worry so much about getting published. Worry about writing the very best story you can write, and you’ll find an audience.

Tell us about the featured book.

Valley of the Shadow is Book 5 of my American Patriot Series. Elizabeth Howard is a prisoner aboard a British prison ship in New York Harbor, surrounded by the might of the Royal Navy. British General William Howe has summoned Brigadier General Jonathan Carleton to surrender to him or she will be executed. Carleton knows, however, that Howe will never release her, but will surely execute them both as soon as Carleton surrenders. From heart-pounding battles on the high seas, to the rigors of Valley Forge and the Shawnee’s savagely fought wars to preserve their ancestral lands, Valley of the Shadow continues the thrilling saga of America’s founding in an inspiring story of despair, courage, and triumph.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Thursday, 30 October, 1777

11:05 p.m.

In the flickering candlelight the words swam and blurred before his eyes. Clenched in his hand, the paper shook.

Brigadier General Jonathan Carleton stared at the letter, his mind gone blank. A wave of terror and rage squeezed the air from his lungs and brought bile into his throat.

By degrees he became aware of the gusting wind that beat against the inn, the sudden bursts of freezing rain flailing the window panes, his own ragged breath. Despite the heat radiating from the hearth’s blaze, chill sweat trickled down his brow and beneath his worn buckskins, darkly rain-slicked from the downpour his Rangers had ridden through. He swallowed with difficulty and forced himself to focus on the letter’s signature.

William Howe.

Knight of the Bath. Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s forces on the North American Station.

“Jon, what is it?”

Behind him, Colonel Charles Andrews’s voice sounded hollow and far away. Ignoring his friend, Carleton studied the words scrawled boldly above Howe’s name as though, if he willed it, they would say something else.

That the American cause was entirely lost. That Washington had surrendered to the British. That Howe’s entire army waited outside the door to escort Carleton to the scaffold, there to hang for treason.

Anything.

Not this.

Sounds interesting. How can readers find you on the Internet?

They’ll find my personal website at www.jmhochstetler.com. For information about The American Patriot Series, go to www.theamericanpatriotseries.com, and for information about the Northkill Amish Series go to www.northkill.com. I’m also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/joan.hochstetler .

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

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Valley of the Shadow - Christianbook.com
Valley of the Shadow (American Patriot Series) - Amazon
Valley of the Shadow (The American Patriot Series Book 5) - 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.

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VALLEY OF THE SHADOW - Stephanie Grace Whitson - One Free Book

Tell us about your salvation experience.

My mother was a believer when I was born. Daddy came to faith when I was about nine months old, so I don’t remember a time when Jesus wasn’t the centerpiece of home life. By the time I have conscious memory, Daddy was a deacon and Mother was running everything the Southern Baptists allowed a woman to run J. I don’t honestly know when I came to faith. I remember going up one Sunday night after church and asking Reverend Leininger if I could attend the classes he held on the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Everyone he baptized had to take those classes, and while I don’t remember the classes themselves, I imagine that it was at some point during those studies that I became a Christian. Reverend Leininger had explained that he would ask us to speak our name when he baptized us, and that when we did that, we were offering our lives to Jesus. As far as a nine-year-old can understand it, I did understand the gospel and the significance of what I was doing that day.

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

I would ask writers who write in a genre different from mine, because they would encourage me to get out of my “rut” and think in a new way about plots and characters. I’ve had this experience before, and it was very rewarding. I’d probably want a romantic suspense author, a mystery author, someone who writes thrillers, and someone who writes science fiction/fantasy. And if possible, I’d want half the group to be men. Again, I’d want to tap minds that work differently from mine, because I think that encourages creativity.

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

The first time someone asked me if I did public speaking, I was really surprised, and my knee-jerk reaction was to say no. But my then-husband (who died of cancer in 2001) encouraged me to consider it. I’d shared my testimony at church and taught women’s Bible studies, and so I began, very slowly, to say “yes.” Over the years I’ve developed a menu of about a dozen topics and lectures for church groups, writers conferences, and civic organizations. The most frequently requested talks this past year were “A Patchwork Life,” which is my personal testimony (illustrated with quilts in my collection), “Calico Trails,” which talks about how pioneer woman inspire my fiction (and is also illustrated with antique quilts and tops), and “Quilts and the Sod House Experience,” which is based on my recent non-fiction book Home on the Plains: Quilts and the Sod House Experience. I also teach writing workshops on various aspects of writing. I limit the speaking part of my ministry to a couple of times a month.

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

Oh, my. Let’s just say it involved a surprise that backfired when my husband unexpectedly brought his boss home for lunch. We all laughed. Later. I still laugh, and it happened over thirty years ago.

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?

“That’s wonderful! Go for it!”

Tell us about the featured book.

Valley of the Shadow (a Christy Award finalist) was inspired by the incredible sacrifice and bravery of the Christian Dakota Indians who risked their lives to save their white brothers and sisters in Christ during the Dakota War of 1862. My imaginary characters, Daniel Two Stars and Genevieve La Croix, struggle to adapt to the changing culture around them. Just when they’ve taken steps to find a way to survive, the war erupts and everything they thought they knew about God is challenged. 

Please give us the first page of the book.

            How he had managed to get that beautiful Ellen Leighton to marry him was beyond the realm of logic for anyone who knew Simon Dane. Never, people said, were two young people more unsuited for one another.

            Even though she was only seventeen, Ellen Leighton was the very definition of a lady. Why, hadn’t her own grandfather fought under General Washington himself? And wasn’t it her grandfather on her mothers’ side who had had a commission from King George? Certainly Ellen’s parents had nothing approaching marriage to the likes of Reverend Simon Dane in mind when they sent their daughter to be educated at Miss Bartlett’s finishing school in Ipswich. Ellen had gone reluctantly, but came home a vision of manners and grace that made the entire village proud. She poured tea like royalty. And those gray eyes! Well, any young man upon whom those alighted felt a thrill down to his elegant riding boots.

            And so, when the practically middle aged and almost homely Reverend Simon Dane arrived to temporarily fill the pulpit at Christ’s Church, imagine everyone’s amazement when Ellen Leighton looked upon him with something more than passing kindness.

            “He has a mind, Mother,” Ellen had explained firmly. “A girl can’t always be a girl. I enjoy flirting as much as anyone, but when it comes to marriage, I want a man with a mind; someone I can talk to late into the night, for all those long years after youthful passions fade.”

            “Ellen!” Mrs. Leighton scolded, blushing.

            Ellen’s gray eyes crinkled up at the corners. “It’s all right, Mother. You needn’t act so shocked. Miss Bartlett’s gave me a very thorough education in every manner of life.” Her peach-colored lips parted in an almost impish grin …

How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.stephaniewhitson.com

www.Facebook.com/stephaniegracewhitson

www.stephaniegracewhitson.blogspot.com

www.footnotesfromhistory.blogspot.com

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

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Valley of the Shadow (Dakota Moon) - paperback
Valley of the Shadow (Dakota Moons) - 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 Feedblitz, Facebook, 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