REDEEMING GRACE - Ward Tanneberg - One Free Book

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

I enjoy reading good thrillers. Using this motif, I’ve written several inspirational thrillers, Without Warning, Vanished, Pursuit, and Redeeming Grace. Pastor John Cain and Marwan Dosha thread their way through all four books, along with new characters who are introduced and play major roles.

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

The day Dixie and I were married.

How has being published changed your life?

It has opened for me a broader pulpit from which to share Christ. It involves the skills of both artist and prophet (forthtelling, not foretelling). It has offered me a platform with which to speak in a variety of ways to those who have known me through the years, as well as a new audience of readers.

What are you reading right now?

Catherine Coulter’s The Sixth Day

Peterson’s Running with the Horses (third reading)

What is your current work in progress?

Blog - Perspective

Living InBetween

the promise given and the promise received - Abraham

What would be your dream vacation?

A month in the California desert

A month in Europe

How do you choose your settings for each book?

The story scenario First, then the settings. My first two novels take place in California, Maine, Boston, Israel, Jordan, Iran, and Yugoslavia. My third novel is set in California and Turkey. Redeeming Grace takes place in Georgia, the San Francisco Bay area, and Palm Springs, California.

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

The person I most love spending an evening with is my daughter.

Picking someone I don’t know - perhaps Coulter or Baldacci

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

Walks with GAGE, golf, reading, sports

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

Most recently it has been emotionally “hitting the creative wall” following the publishing of Sacred Journey.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Don’t give up if you are serious about your craft

Tell us about the book.

Seven years ago, Grace Grafton died in a boating accident while partying on the Georgia, South Carolina coast. Was her death the result of alcohol and drugs or something more sinister? Nobody knows. Her body was never recovered. Now years later, a woman reads in disbelief the note addressed to her: Hello Grace, did you think we wouldn’t find you?

Those nine chilling words end Grafton’s self-imposed witness protection. Now she and everyone she loves are in grave danger. Long believed dead, she has a secret that can change the world. She knows the man running for President is guilty of a double murder! But who will believe her?

Sounds very interesting. Please give us the first page of the book.

Sunday, 06 June—2145 local time

Palm Springs, California

“Marry me.”

           

The words floated into her ear on his soft and husky whisper. She caught her breath at their sound, fueled by Brad’s intensity. Like a match to dry kindling. “Say yes, Taylor. Please, you have to say yes eventually. I’m not giving up on us.”

           

It was the third time he had coaxed her like this, an ardent proposal of marriage. She turned to face him, gazing into eyes that teemed with adoration. 

           

“You know I love you, darling,” she said at last. “More than I can ever say.”

           

“Okay then. So what is keeping you from saying ‘yes?’” he asked, gathering her in his arms.

           

What is it?

           

A moment in time, that’s what. One she could not forget. Not ever. She wanted this man. Wanted so much to say “yes” to him. Wanted to live the rest of her life with him. In this house and in his arms. For years she had steeled herself to the fact that this could never be. Not for her, and certainly not with him. Not with any man. Yet finding Brad, getting to know him and the children these last two years, falling more deeply in love than she could ever have imagined, and right now swimming in that love’s reflection as she looked into his eyes…no more hesitation. This was it. The wall was down! Like a huge rush, the suddenness of it left her breathless. And yet …

Way to leave us hanging. How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.wardtanneberg.com

Email: ward@wardtanneberg.com

Thank you, Ward, for sharing this book with us. I’m eager to read it, and I know my blog readers are as well.

Readers, here are links to the book.

Redeeming Grace - When a murderer moves into the White House no one is safe ... Not even the dead - Paperback
Redeeming Grace - When a killer moves into the White House no one is safe ... Not even the dead. - Kindle
Redeeming Grace - Audiobook

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

SACRED JOURNEY - Ward Tanneberg - One Free Book

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

I have been in active ministry for 58 years, beginning as a young evangelist, serving as a denominational youth director, college public relations director, pastor in three churches, lecturer, adjunct professor, writer, novelist, and nonprofit organization executive director. Obviously the man can’t hold a job!

Tell us about your family.

I am a widower. Dixie and I were married for amazing 59 years. We have 2 married children, 3 grandchildren, 4 step-grandchildren and 2 great grandsons. All of whom I love dearly.

Have you written other nonfiction books?

The first book I wrote was a history of the Pentecostal movement in the Pacific Northwest, called  Let Light Shine Out. I picked the topic for a Master’s thesis while in grad school. It turned out to be a book instead.

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

I write the “almost” weekly blog, Perspective. Its target audience is “people living, learning, and leading in life’s second half.” I try to speak into their spiritual journey with stories, humor, church, life experience, and other issues relevant to the season they are in. I also invite guest bloggers to share their stories from time to time. How about it? Want to share some perspective with people who hear regularly from me?

I also have some too-new-to-talk-about fiction, non-fiction, and allegory projects that will soon be looking for a home. They don’t have names yet, although I’m thinking of a few good ones. They are like unborn babies. Not sure if they are boys or girls. It’s a surprise.

What kinds of hobbies and leisure activities do you enjoy?

I enjoy quiet evenings, being with family, long walks with GAGE, the wonder dog, people, good books and movies, sports, swimming, golf, and travel.

Why did you write the featured book?

On Valentine’s Day 2014, Dixie was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Short of a miracle she had only a few months to live. We both had thought I’d be first to go. This was truly unexpected news.

In discussing the idea of my telling her story, at first she said, no. Eventually, however, she realized, her story written by her husband, might well bring encouragement, hope, and healing to others facing similar circumstances. She had taught us how life could be a “sacred journey.” And at the end she taught us how to die.

Dixie’s life has been filled with teaching moments and I was nowhere near ready for these moments to end. We used to laugh when she’d look at me or our children and ask her most familiar question, a question seeming to sum up who she was. As her final line in the book, she offers up this question for one last time to each and every reader on their own sacred journey. “So tell me, what do you think we’ve learned from all of this.”

Sacred Journey contains discussion questions designed for couples, book clubs, small groups, grief recovery or bereavement settings, to encourage seeking the reader’s answers to Dixie’s question, “So tell me, what do you think we’ve learned from all of this.” Each set of questions are directed to a specific chapter, making it easy for a group leader to access.

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

It is a true love story, framed in the final eighteen months of a woman’s life, written by the man who loves her still. It is not a how-to book, but you will better understand the emotional, physical, and spiritual crises you, other family members, or friends could be facing one day, or perhaps are dealing with right now.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell my readers about you or your book?

This is a book for family and for caregivers. One pastor provided all the hospital chaplains in his city with a copy. It’s not a sad book, but you will cry. It’s not a carefree read, but you will be uplifted in spirit. It is a book for pastors and pastors’ wives to read. It’s about one of their own. She was who they are now. Dixie’s journey will help them help others.

Please give us the first page or two from the book.

Calm before Storm

The year was 1935. The stock market had crashed six years before, causing a domino effect of bank failures, unemployment, disintegrated fortunes, and homes lost to foreclosures, leaving people feeling helpless and fearful. Many lived in despair, while others reached for strong inner resources and fought their despair with hope. And some just gave up on life, choosing death by their own devices. Still others existed in a living death of fear and anger, my parents included. My family were farmers in Oklahoma, and probably not greatly affected by bank failures and stock market demise. They lost their land! The lack of rain and fury of winds and irreparable farming practices collided in mid-America, creating the perfect storm for soil erosion as farms literally blew away ~ DLT diary, 2015.

✧

There is no doubt. Loss brings with it its own demons. And when crises subside, the demons are not gone with the winds. They settle in with no intention of going away. ~ WT

Early in January, after two long travel days driving south from our home in Bellevue  Washington, we arrive in Indio, California, exhausted and wondering why we left the comforts and conveniences of home to accept the inconveniences and less comfortable circumstances of a hotel situated in the middle of a desert. This is a different kind of desert however, an oasis made beautiful by money and water. Oh yes, and sun. Well, there is that! When rain is normal and seeing the sun in January a rare event, this might be enough. But there is more. 

A different place helps me gather up life’s fringes and draw them into my center. To focus and think. To plan and pray. It can happen almost anywhere, but there is something for me that is truly restorative about the desert. The warmth and sun, the barren hills and jagged mountains. I grew up in the high desert of eastern Washington state. This could be part of it. Or maybe it’s because so much of what happens in the Bible, what Jesus did, how God reveals himself to us, takes place in the desert.

It’s about roots. The desert has a way of speaking to us. The trees, the barrenness, sudden rain-flooded streams, and dry river beds. When you plant something here and water and nurture it, it grows quickly, leafs out, bears fruit, becomes a beautiful thing. I like that. It shouldn’t happen, but it does. A stick turns into an orange or lemon or grapefruit tree almost overnight it seems. A little water and the desert blooms. It’s extraordinary!

Life, I think, is like this. Even in January.

Dixie and I spend the entire month of days here in this desert where once we lived for four years. In the early morning sunshine, we stretch our legs by walking a 2.8-mile route before preparing a breakfast we enjoy outdoors on the deck. Later I go for a swim, then sit by the pool and read. I am preparing to go to Russia in a few weeks to teach in a seminary extension program. Dixie prefers the quiet of our room to do some catch up reading and meditation.

We do not tell acquaintances in the area we are here. We want to be together, but alone. Just the two of us. Something we need, especially since I will be leaving soon. Each day is a pleasant repeat of the one before. Evenings are warm and quiet and meals are simple. We enjoy desert sunsets, more beautiful, we agree, than anywhere else in the world. At least we feel that way right now.

The final day comes at last as we knew it would. Reluctantly we leave this desert hideaway to resume our real life. As we drive north on I-5, we are unaware we have just completed our last major trip together.

That passage really grabbed my heart. Where on the Internet can the readers find you?

For more author information and to subscribe to Ward’s free website, Perspective, go to www.wardtanneberg.com.

Thank you, Ward for sharing Dixie’s final days with us. I know my blog readers will be as eager as I am to read the book.

Readers, here is a link to the book.

Sacred Journey

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

REDEEMING GRACE - Ward Tanneberg - One Free Book

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

The San Francisco Bay Area pastor, John Cain, along with members of his family and congregation, plays a role, although not always the main role, in each of my novels, including my most recent, Redeeming Grace. Having my been a pastor in the Bay Area for twenty-three years, I suppose there is some of me in John McCain. He is mostly a composite of real life and imagination.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Mmm. Does sitting at a freeway crossroads with suitcases packed and flipping a coin to see which direction we would go (north or south) for our vacation qualify?

Or maybe kneeling by the side of a busy highway, watching an ant attempt to cross without getting run over? We were on a family bicycle ride from San Francisco to Mexico at the time. The ant finally made it. So did we.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

While a young man in my first church, I wrote an article for a minister's magazine. To my amazement, it was accepted and published and I got a check in the mail! I think I received six dollars. I was sure then that I was a writer! However, when it came to book manuscripts, there were more rejections than checks. Once the writer's taste of rejection set in, I began having my doubts. I was attempting nonfiction, but without success. It was years later, at a writers conference, that I submitted a few pages for review and asked if they thought I could write a story. I was encouraged me to go home and write "the great novel." The next year I returned with a story synopsis and sample chapters. Two editors expressed interest and one offered a contract. And so began my writing career as a novelist.

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

I'm often asked about my habits and what I read. One word best fits my reading habits. Eclectic. First thing every morning, I deliver coffee to our bedroom and we begin our day reading the Bible and offering first prayers. Then we read portions from our "out loud books." Most recently, Richard Rohr's The Naked Now and Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila.

Since today I continue writing fiction as well as nonfiction, I read fiction popular and otherwise, usually just before retiring in the late evening. I find it relaxing and is one of the ways that I am able to study the writing styles and story telling techniques of others.I also read religious classics, leadership, aging and generational genres. You can find a recent reading list On my blog site.

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

It's not easy. I travel more than I wish at times with speaking engagements. When at home with Dixie, it is by the fireplace in the winter or on the deck in the summertime. Reading helps. The Internet, not so much. Long walks help. Long airplane rides, not so much. Early morning quiet time by myself.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Actually, I pray about them. I think about them over time, hoping to get them right, hoping to choose a name that helps define the character, whether good or bad. One of my main continuing characters is pastor John Cain. He was named John because it is a strong name, and because the Apostle John is my favorite Bible character. Cain was chosen to subliminally remind the reader that pastors have their earthy human nature with which to deal like everyone else. I go to the Scriptures for names. I search ethnic name lists on the Internet. Sometimes I choose the name of a family member. The 12-year-old heroine, Jessica, in my novel, Vanished, is the also the name of one of our granddaughters.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

It's more my wife's accomplishment than mine, but still being happily married to the love of my life. That is the greatest.

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

I had no idea how to answer this so I asked a friend. He said, "a panther." I asked, why a panther? "Because you move quietly, but strike quickly." Still thinking about that.

What is your favorite food?

Mexican or Asian.

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

A lack of confidence in my own ability. I overcame by continuing to write. I know that may be much too simple an answer, but this is not rocket science. Unless you are one of the chosen few who are naturally gifted, keeping on keeping on is the way you become a writer. Church bulletins. News features. Writers groups (although I've never been a part of one). This is the way most of us learn how to write well.

When I was on a church staff, I wrote and designed the bulletins and newsletters. Tell us about the featured book?

I began writing Redeeming Grace under a different title fifteen years ago. It was rejected. Several times. I put it away. About a year ago, I brought it forward again. The story pieces were scattered all over my computer files. I still believed in it, however, so I decided to bring all the pieces together to complete the story, even if God and I were the only ones to ever read it. It's the first novel I've ever written end to end without a contract. Upon completion, I mentioned the project to a small group of business leaders who meet regularly in my home. They asked if they could pray about it. Two weeks later, my agent contacted me to say a publisher's acquisition team had approved it for publication. Beginning of story. And, no, you can't have the names and addresses of the guys in my group. Get your own.

I have put together a prayer team for my writing. It’s made everything easier. Please give us the first page of the book.

Daufuskie Island, South Carolina

She dropped to her knees, oblivious to the shards of glass scattered about in the dark shadows. Each second passed like the chimes of a clock on the hour.

Unhurried. Sonorous. Deliberate. Adagio.

She stared down at her best friend, crumpled grotesquely on the flagstone terrace. Reaching out, she pressed trembling fingers against BJ’s throat.

No response. Nothing.

BJ’s deep, round eyes, always dancing with fun and laughter—everything in life, a party—stared back at her now.

Interrupted. Empty. Lost. Caesura.

Gone.

Beyond her touch.

Death sliced through the sultry night, like an arrow tipped with ice, plunging deep into her soul. Taking her breath away.

She could feel it.

She just couldn’t stop it!

Her mind refused to accept whatever was next. There was no next.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

For more information or to follow my “A Further Journey” blog, visit www.wardtanneberg.com. Also Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.For speaking engagements or information about The CASA Network, write to:

ward@wardtanneberg.com  or ward@gocasa.org.

Thank you, Ward, for sharing your life and story with us today.

Readers, here is a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
Redeeming Grace


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

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

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

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