ADDITIONAL CHRISTMAS MOMENTS - compiled by Yvonne Lehman - One Free Book

Bio: Yvonne Lehman is an award-winning, best-selling author of more than 3,000,000 books in print, who founded and directed the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference for 25 years, is now director of the Blue Ridge “Autumn in the Mountains” Novelist Retreat. She mentors for the Christian Writers Guild. She earned a Master’s Degree in English from Western Carolina University and has taught English and Creative Writing on the college level. Her latest releases include eight ebooks for Barbour’s Truly Yours line and a Harlequin/Heartsong series set in Savannah GA: The Caretaker’s Son, Lessons in Love, Seeking Mr. Perfect, (released in March, August, & November 2013). Her 50th novel is Hearts that Survive – A Novel of the TITANIC

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

Just as I didn’t “intend” to become a novelist, but was led into it, and after writing 50+ novels, I didn’t “intend” to write nonfiction. However, several of us were in the lobby at Ridgecrest after conference classes, talking about God showing up in miraculous ways. Many were so intriguing, I said, “Somebody needs to put these stories in a book.” An editor overheard. That somebody became me! I write a few articles for the books but most are by others, both multi-published and never-before-published authors.

Tell us about your family.

My Pomeranian, Rigel, and I spend most of our time in my upstairs office, looking out over the neighborhood and at the mountains. Oops! I mean I spend the time writing… when not daydreaming. He’s a rescued dog named after a Titanic survivor dog rescued by the Carpathia, after the sinking of the Titanic, and cared for by an officer of the Carpathia.

Have you written other nonfiction books?

Have compiled Divine Moments, Christmas Moments, Spoken Moments, Precious Precocious Moments, More Christmas Moments, Stupid Moments, and Additional Christmas Moments. For 2017 release are Loving Moments, Why? Titanic Moments, and Merry Christmas Moments. Also compiled Writing Right to Success by 25 authors who tell of their journey and share craft articles.

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

These make great gift books. Also, lives have been changed when readers see how God has worked in the lives of the authors. Some are used as devotional books. One author’s family wouldn’t listen to her talk about Jesus, but one read her article, and now the entire family has become Christians.

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

The information below was/is on Novel Rocket Nov. 23, 2016

CELEBRATING THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS – Additional Christmas Moments

CHRISTMAS - What makes Christmas special? Decorations, carols, food, gifts, and time spent with those we love can certainly create a memorable legacy. But for Christians, Christmas is about more than personal tradition.

RECOGNIZE - It’s the day set aside to recognize the event that changed everything. It’s the celebration of the birth of Christ.

SEARCH - When the Magi recognized a star – a sign hidden in plain sight – as evidence of the birth of the Messiah, they went in search of him.

ENCOURAGE - In this third installment of Christmas Moments, 55 authors hope their stories will encourage others to recognize the evidence of Christ often hidden in plain sight in their own lives, and seek him not only at Christmas, but throughout the entire year.

BLESS - I am blessed and thrilled to share with readers and writers another Moments book that inspires, delights, changes lives, and gives opportunity for contributors to share their innermost feelings and personal stories.

CELEBRATE - In this seventh book in the Moments series, ADDITIONAL CHRISTMAS MOMENTS has 67 stories celebrating the True Spirit of Christmas.

SHARE - These stories in the series of Divine Moments books are written by multi-published and first-time-published authors who generously share their experiences without compensation, but with the joy of knowing all the royalties go to Samaritan’s Purse. Since 1970, that organization has helped victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through his son, Jesus Christ.

CONTRIBUTE - Contributors are: Cathy Ancewicz, Carolyn Barnum, Robin Bayne, Debby Bellingham, Charlotte Burkholder, Janet Campbell, LeAnn Campbell, Rebecca Carpenter, Autumn Conley Maresa DePuy, Sharon Dobbs, Susan Dollyhigh, Kristin Dossett, Terri Elders, Susan Engebrecht, Bonnie Mae Evans, Dorothy Floyd, Gayle Fraser, Janice Garey, Tommy Gilmore III, Jean Hall, Kristen Harmon, Kay Harper, Lydia Harris, Lori Hatcher, Karen Hessen, Helen Hoover, Terri Kelly, Nancy Kopp, Luke Lehman, David Lehman, Yvonne Lehman, Diana Leagh Matthews, Beverly McKinney, Mary McQueen, Norma Mezoe, Julie Miller, Lynn Mosher, Vicki Moss, Marilyn Nutter, Diana Owens, Colleen Reece, Alisha Ritchie, Robert Robeson, David Russell, Toni Sample, Beverly Sce, June Schmidt, Annmarie Tait, Donn Taylor, Denise Valuk, Jen Waldron, Barbara Wells, Kathy Whirity, Debra DuPree Williams.

Other books in this series are Divine Moments, Christmas Moments, Spoken Moments, Precious Precocious Moments, More Christmas Moments. Loving Moments is scheduled for early 2017. I am now receiving submissions for:

Coola-nary Moments – stories of culinary mishaps, extraordinary cooking stories, and recipes

Romantic Moments – love stories, dating, falling in love, marriage, weddings, bridesmaids, lost love, etc. etc.

Questionable Moments – based on authors’ response to questions asked by God/Jesus in the Bible, or implied, such as: “Where are you?” “Where are you going?” “Do you love me?” “Do you believe?” etc.

Merry Christmas Moments (Book #4) – for 2017

If you would like to share an experience, contact me at Yvonnelehman3@gmail.com

Thank you, Yvonne, for sharing this book with us today. It could be used for many Christmas holidays to come.

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

Additional Christmas Moments - Christianbooks.com
Additional Christmas Moments: 67 Stories Celebrating the True Spirit of Christmas (Divine Moments) - Amazon

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

BETTER LATTE THAN NEVER - Yvonne Lehman - One Free Book

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

I didn’t know, nor aspire to being, a writer. In my early thirties, while teaching a Sunday school class of girls age 17-married, I wanted us to show brotherly-love to young Black girls, but the church (pastor, deacon except one) was against it. After six months of questioning, disappointment in those who had mentored me in the Christian life, I was faced with leaving the church or turning it all over to God (I’m a little slow sometime!). I rededicated my life, saw the ad in Decision Magazine about the Billy Graham School of Christian Writing, began to realize I wrote down things all the time—the wonderful, the not-so-good, questionings, thoughts, re-wrote the SS lessons … the result became a whole new unexpected world opening up to me. God closed the minds of that church to lead me into writing! Later, the church helped the Black community build their own church, which is what they wanted. The moral of MY story is: when God closes a door that seems right, maybe he’s just leading you into something even better. Don’t complain, just continue the journey.

Tell us about your family.

Sorry … don’t want to be sued. I do have a white and blond Pomeranian named Rigel. Named him after a Titanic survivor dog since my Pom is a rescued dog.

After my siblings and I were grown up and had homes of our own, my parents had Poms. We loved them. Have you written other nonfiction books?

I’ve written 57 novels, the most popular being Hearts that Survive—A Novel of the Titanic, which I frequently sign at the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. A compilation of articles, Why? Titanic Moments will be released in March 2017. I’ve compiled articles for Writing Right to Success, 25 writers’ journeys and craft information. Also have compiled seven non-fiction books in the Divine Moments series.

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

I continue accepting articles for the Moments series. Currently receiving articles for (1) Merry Christmas Moments 2017, (2) Coola-nary Moments, culinary mishaps or interesting cooking moments and recipes, (3) Personal Titanic Moments, stories of grandeur and/or disaster and lessons learned, (4) Questionable Moments, what you felt God/Jesus asked and your response such as “Where are you?” “Do you love me?” “Do you believe?” “Do you want to be healed?” “Why are you crying?” “Where is your faith?” “What do you want?” etc. etc. Also, I’m contracted for one novella, working on another, and thinking about a novel.

What kinds of hobbies and leisure activities do you enjoy?

Holidays with family, shopping, eating popcorn, and watching TV at 8:00 p.m., reading.

Why did you write the featured book?

Barbour announced they were starting a line for cozies. I’d written a lot of books for them so thought I’d try this. Their line closed but I then had in mind a series. The story is set in Black Mountain where I live. I wrote some of it in a coffee shop which is the primary setting of the book. Some readers who know me say the sleuth is like … me. The book is published by Forget Me Not Romances (Winged Publications).

I’m reading Better Latte Than Never right now, and loving it. What do you want the reader to take away from the book?

Enjoyment. Although somebody is murdered, it’s otherwise a light, fun, easy-read, trying to decide who dunnit. The sleuth displays her faith (belief and doubts) in her actions and thoughts. Her devotional reading is the book of Job and she begins to think she might be a modern-day Job. There’s no particular “lesson” but the reader gets the picture of how various characters/people live their lives and what they believe.

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

I founded and directed the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference for 25 years and for the past nine years have directed the Blue Ridge “Autumn in the Mountains” Novelist Retreat held annually in October at Ridgecrest Conference Center, North Carolina. Register by the end of February and get $75 discount on registration fee.

Contact me: yvonnelehman3@gmail.com .

Please tell us about the book.

Back cover blurb: Sixty-two-year-old GraceAnn McKinney owns The Daily Grind, a coffee shop in the mountains of western North Carolina, but she is better known as Little Piney Cove’s obituary writer. All she wants to do that fateful morning is ask Tom Smalley, the editor of Little Piney Times newspaper, one simple life-changing question.

However, before she can ask Tom the question, Mayor Upton Downs falls to the floor of The Daily Grind. A series of complex events follows that could result in either GraceAnn, her niece Ivy – or both – facing a murder charge. In her orange Volkswagen, named FIDO, her acronym for Forget-It-and-Drive-On, GraceAnn determines to find the truth. For directionally-challenged GraceAnn, truth is often easier to find than her intended destination.

Where on the Internet can the readers find you?

I have a website and am in the slow process of adding to it: www.yvonnelehman.com. I blog once a month on Novel Rocket, and on ChristiansRead.

Thank you, Yvonne, for sharing this cozy mystery with us. I know my readers will love it as much as I do.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.
Better Latte Than Never (A GraceAnn McKinney Mystery Book 1)

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

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

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

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, 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

HEARTS THAT SURVIVE - A Novel of the Titanic - Yvonne Lehman - Free Book

Welcome, Yvonne. James and I did a lot of driving this last weekend, and I finished reading Hearts That Survive on my Kindle. I loved it. And I like this picture of you on the reproduction of the staircase on the Titanic. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

I write them because I can’t not write them. I love creating the world of story and experience the characters come to life, work through their problems and find a solution and a hope. I want the readers to experience entertainment and a take-away value.

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

That’s difficult. There are so many. Perhaps the most awesome was when I stepped foot in Israel. I think it involves that joy and peace and wonder that passes understanding, knowing I was in the place God selected for his Chosen people and that I walked on the same streets, the same stones, on which Jesus walked. I saw where he lived and died.

How has being published changed your life?

I don’t know what life I would have lived if I had not been led into writing. A whole new world opened up to me when I attended the Billy Graham School of Christian Writing more than three decades ago. At that time, I was married and had three children. The next year, carrying my fourth child, I returned to the School and received their Award of Excellence for my contest entry. Through the years, I took one college course at a time, worked after my children started to school, founded and directed the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in NC since there was only the BG School, and Mt. Hermon for writers. After 25 years of directing BRMCWC, I turned it over to Alton Gansky and I now direct the Blue Ridge “Autumn in the Mountains” Novelist Retreat held each October at Ridgecrest NC. I see that as a progression of becoming through the years what God intended me to be and to develop the gift and opportunities he gave me. I can’t image my life without writing and publishing.

What are you reading right now?

Last night I finished Ann Tatlock’s wonderful story, Travelers Rest. Tonight I’ll start Deb Raney’s After All.

What is your current work in progress?

Yvonne: I want to follow up the Titanic book with another story based on a true event. For many years I’ve been fascinated with the story of Japanese and German diplomats and families of diplomats having been held together at a resort surrounded by barbed wire fencing and “protected” by 25 American Border Patrol guards during WWII. With three enemy nations together, all was not peaceful. This historic resort is a couple miles from my home.

Other than that, I recently finished Let it Snow, the third in a series of Heartsong novels set in Washington DC that should be released before Christmas.

What would be your dream vacation?

I don’t want to go anywhere to rest. I want to tour interesting places. If I could never go anywhere but one place, the place would be Israel. I’ve been there and the trip was the joy of my life. It’s beautiful, different, holy, and like walking on the pages of the Bible. I’ve also been to Paris and would love to return. I would like to go to Europe, Ireland, Scotland, Austria.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

I live in the panoramic mountains of western North Carolina and set many of my stories here because it’s such a beautiful, intriguing place with numerous plot possibilities. Several of my stories are set in South Carolina since we vacationed in the Charleston area which lends itself to contemporary and historic novels. Some have been suggested by other authors when we wrote novellas and novels for collections. My Hawaii series was because the editor wanted that setting. Some are places I’ve lived or visited. 

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

Having been writing for a while and directing conferences attended by highly-acclaimed Christian authors and beginning writers, I’ve had the privilege of spending time with them and enjoy the experience equally. I am inspired by writers on all levels. However, whenever I’m reading a novel, it does cross my mind that I’d like to talk with that particular author right then about the book he/she wrote. But, if I had to choose only one person it’s my daughter, Cindy, who is also my best friend. We can be perfectly honest with each other and accept each other with love and respect.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I don’t have a hobby because writing is my gift, my mission, my life. I make time to do things I enjoy like occasionally do yard work, spend time with children and grandchildren, eat out with friends, exercise, swim occasionally, attend a weekly Bible study in January and February, attend another Bible study and lunch once a month, have a writers group that meets at my house monthly (when we aren’t too busy), teach at writers conferences, plan my Novel Retreat, and mentor CWG students. I enjoy eating popcorn and watching movies.

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

Trying to handle my own career according to the way I think it should go. I don’t like it when my agent says “Wait, before we submit this,” or my editor says, “Let talk, later.” I have to rethink and remind myself that I pray for the agent and the editor and that God will direct them, me, and my career. Writing is so much my life that I tend to think it’s over if contracts aren’t coming in and all my ideas aren’t going out as novels. I have to stop and think, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT) – Yes, a challenge.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Authors who have been in this profession for awhile already have a following, a platform, a web appearance. A new author should strive for that, but more important is concentrating on learning the craft, practicing the creativity, writing the best story possible. Please the reader with a good story instead of concentrating too much on one’s own personal advantage. Then, you will gain a following.

Tell us about the featured book.

Hearts that Survive – A Novel of the Titanic

Of all the unbelievable things that occurred, the strangest thing took place. The floating half of the ship began to melt like a dollop of butter on a hot roll. It just melted smoothly into the ocean and the hoard of people were in the water. Their hair didn’t get wet. No water splashed on their faces. For an instant they didn’t scream. They couldn’t. A communal gasp went out over the sea, produced by hundreds and hundreds of terrified people who unexpectedly stepped into icy water up to their necks.

The ship of dreams vanished, disappeared as it sank into the sea.

In its place emerged a nightmare.

The sinking of the “unsinkable” Titanic was not the end of the story for the 2207 passengers, plus the crew. It was the beginning of an unforgettable event that changed history, changed culture. There were only a few hundred saved in the 20 lifeboats. Not only were hundreds and hundreds of souls lost that night, but the event touched people throughout the world. Each person had family, friends, acquaintances and their lives too were touched and changed. Being saved was not the end, but the beginning for those who struggled not just to survive, but to live again.

This is the story of one ship, two families, three generations.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Friday evening, April 12, 1912

Clothed in her shame, Lydia Beaumont stood on the deck of the Titanic, waiting for John. Each evening since they departed two days ago from Southampton, she and John strolled here after dining. Other first-class passengers found their own special spots, like congregants in a church sanctuary.

            Oh, the church analogy brought the thoughts of condemnation she’d rather not entertain. The grandeur of the greatest ship ever built had pushed aside her personal feelings, any doubts or guilt that had so beset her in previous weeks. She’d tried to forget her fears by planning the trip, convincing her father to allow her to go, and helping her maid pack the trunks.

            She thought back to the day before sailing while she was staying at the South Western Hotel. She’d made the acquaintance of several passengers, her favorite being Caroline Chadwick, in her mid twenties. She and her husband, Sir William, had arrived from London and were awaiting the ship’s maiden voyage to America.

            Staring out the hotel suite window at the magnificent structure, four city blocks long and ten stories high, had accelerated her heartbeat. However, walking up the gangplank to board the ship and seeing the grand staircase took her breath away. Even Craven Dowd, the president of her father’s company and accustomed to the best, commented on the luxury as they were led to their state rooms.

            John Ancel glanced her way, his deep blue eyes shining with excitement beneath raised eyebrows and lips turning into a mischievous grin. Had Craven not been entering the room between hers and John’s, her beloved would likely say aloud what he only mouthed, “This is no toy ship.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is www.yvonnelehman.com

and I occasionally blog at www.christiansread.com

Thank you, Yvonne, for sharing this story with us.

Readers, you will love this book. One of you can win a copy, but if you don't win one, you'll want to have one to read. Here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

Hearts That Survive: A Novel of the Titanic - paperback
Hearts That Survive: A Novel of the Titanic - 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

ALOHA BRIDES - Yvonne Lehman - Free Book

Welcome, Yvonne, I love your cover. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

For several years I’ve written mainly inspirational romance because that’s a genre in which I feel comfortable and the opportunity is provided by the editors. However, I’ve written many types of books (humorous, romantic, historical, contemporary) and in many genres (romance, women’s fiction, mainstream, mystery). Not staying with one genre can be a disadvantage, but I have to do something with all the ideas I have and can’t settle down to just one kind of book. My writing has been as varied as my reading.

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

The happiest day in my life was when I stepped on the ground in Israel. I’ve known about the Lord since early childhood and asked Jesus into my heart because adults taught me that was right and I believed it. “Knowing” the Lord however, has been (and still is) a growing, learning, failing, succeeding, losing, gaining, experience. I’ve known the blessings and adversities that bring me closer to him. But being in Israel I felt God’s presence in a new and different way. The Bible came alive. I stood on the Mount of Beatitudes and listened to my son read and talk about the beatitudes and saw him as my teacher instead of my son and thought of how Mary had to see Jesus as her Lord and not just her son. I walked where Jesus walked and saw where he was crucified, and stood in Caiaphas’ courtyard where Peter denied Jesus, and I cried. Being there, I experienced a spiritual happiness.

How has being published changed your life?

Being published has changed my life by giving me a particular way in which to use the abilities God has given me. I can put my thoughts on paper no matter how wild or weird and make a story and incorporate faith that touches the lives of others. I don’t think I have the ability or desire to do that in any other way but through my stories. I do make an effort to show others I care, but it does involve effort. Writing is work, but that’s where I can express my deepest, most meaningful feelings and beliefs.

What are you reading right now?

Right now I’m reading Nancy Moser’s Masquerade (what a unique idea!). Her details are wonderful. In my devotional time, in addition to the Bible, I’m reading (for the third time) Magnificent Prayer, daily prayer thoughts compiled by Nick Harrison. I’m also reading C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. Recently read Deb Raney’s Almost Forever (love her stories), Stephanie Grace Whitson’s Sixteen Brides (lots of characters to keep straight, but she did it), and Jim Bell’s Breach of Promise (intriguing male pov). All these are excellent reading.

What is your current work in progress?

For the first time in decades I don’t have a contract. I’m working on proposals, sending them to my agent and trying to figure out what to do with OP books. And, I’m planning my first Blue Ridge “Summer in the Mountains” Novelist Retreat to be held in conjunction with the Gideon Film Festival August 6-11, 2011 and my fifth Blue Ridge “Autumn in the Mountains” Novelist Retreat to be held October 16-20, 2011.

What would be your dream vacation?

I would love to return to Israel, but that would mainly be for the spiritual side of things. Not that it wouldn’t be fun, but in thinking of fun I’d choose Hawaii. That may be because the last three books I wrote were about Hawaii and what I’ve heard about it sounds fabulous.

How do you choose your setting for each book?

When thinking of a series, I usually choose places where I’ve lived, vacationed, or visited so I can be more accurate about the descriptions and not require so much research, such as the mountains of western North Carolina and the beaches of South Carolina. I set a series of YA books in southern Illinois when I lived there. The first in the series was titled Tornado Alley, and that’s what the area was called. I chose Africa for one after friends of mine served as missionary journeymen there and I had access to their photos and hard copies of their speeches about their adventures and work. An editor asked if I’d like to write a series set in Hawaii. Some settings are chosen according to the occupation of my characters, such as New York for my opera star, California for my fashion model. The setting of the Philippines was because we sponsored a child there and the theme of the book was about a sponsored girl. Sometimes I want to write a book set in a particular place, other times the characters’ needs determine the setting.

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

That’s hard to answer. It wouldn’t be some famous person to whom I’d want to ask questions. I enjoy being with writers, friends, family, and acquaintances. But to choose one, that would be my youngest daughter, Cindy. I took her to Israel; she took me to Paris. We are perfectly frank with each other, have become friends and feel comfortable in each other’s company, particularly when I’m rubbing her feet or back.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I could say exercise, but that’s really a necessity. My nightly habit and enjoyment is watching a movie on TV and eating popcorn. For a while I took violin lessons and enjoyed playing hymns…at home only. That’s really for someone who begins early in life, not late. I’m considering learning to play the hammer dulcimer.

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

My most difficult obstacle is now, when I don’t have a contract. Seems I’m always waiting or procrastinating. I like having that deadline and goal to reach. Otherwise I feel rather lost doing miscellaneous. I overcome it by…um…doing interviews, writing for blogs, preparing my novel retreats, mentoring CWG students, writing proposals. I don’t have a problem going to the computer since I now live alone. I can basically set my own schedule but don’t get as much done as when I have deadlines and limited time.

What advice would you give to a beginning writer?

Stop making excuses. Make time to read, study, learn, take courses, attend conferences and most of all…write, re-write, and re-write. You learn most by doing.

Tell us about the featured book.

Aloha Brides is a collection of three historical Heartsong Presents novels, set in Hawaii. I did scads of research, talked with my three daughters who visited there many years ago, read fiction and nonfiction Hawaii books, and most importantly talked with writer/friend Carmel Leal who lives there. She clued me in to some of the history. If I’d known there was so much history and changes I might never have consented to writing them. However Aloha Love takes place in the late 1800’s, has an engaged American heroine, a Hawaiian cowboy, ranching, and royalty. My Picture Bride goes to Hawaii to find her younger sister who set off to marry a man she’d never seen. This features the actual picture bride era that began in the early 1900’s when thousands of Japanese men worked on Hawaii sugar plantations and were paired with women in Japan by photos and a matchmaker. Love from Ashes takes place in 1946, right after WWII when an American man goes to Hawaii to visit Pearl Harbor where his brother was killed. He finds many unexpected secrets. When I began these, I had a minor character who decided to become a prominent, endearing character in each of the books.

I know I'll love reading this book. Please give us the first page of the book.

Chapter 1- Aloha Brides

1889, The Big Island, Hawaii

The Little People won’t let the Night Marchers hurt me, will they, Daddy?” five-year-old Leia asked as Makana Lalama MacCauley tucked her in for the night.

"You know they’ll keep you safe, Leia. And so will I.”

Her little pink lips turned into a smile, and her big brown eyes—so like her mother’s—held confidence that her daddy would not tell her a lie. “Aloha au la oe, Daddy.”

Mak bent to kiss her forehead. “I love you, too.”

Tucking his daughter in safely for the night was a special time, but he dreaded what would follow. As her eyes closed, his smiled faded. Her words resounded in his mind, but there were places in his heart even they couldn’t touch. Reaching over to turn down the wick in the whale-oil lamp was like inviting the chill, beckoning the darkness with its never-ending feeling of loss, that aching loneliness, the unfairness of it all.

When Mak left the room, leaving the door open a few inches, his mother stepped from the doorway of her room. Observing the expression of displeasure on his mother’s face, he braced himself for a reprimand. They walked down the

hallway and into the kitchen.

He didn’t sit, and she didn’t follow her usual routine of brewing a cup of hot tea. Instead, she sighed and held onto the back of a chair. “I heard what Leia said, Mak. How long are you going to let her believe in those idols and myths?”

“She’s a child, Mother. And the myths of the Little People are fun. The paniolos’ children she plays with tell these stories like my friends and I did when I was a child. Besides,” he added, “I believed in faeries, brownies, and silkies.”

“But you were taught by your dad and me the difference between myth and truth.”

“Don’t you teach her the truth, Mother?”

“She needs to know what her dad believes, too.”

His stare caused her to look away. They both knew his current beliefs were not fit for a child’s ears.

He shook his head and walked toward the screen door rather than say something disrespectful to his mother.

But his mother did not allow him the same courtesy. She constantly badgered him about God and letting Leia go to the mission school. His own early education had been at the mission school, so he knew his mother was teaching Leia

more than she would learn there—and in less time.

They’d been through this many times. With a deep sigh, he walked out into the calm night. His heart was heavy. How could he keep his little girl safe when he hadn’t kept his own wife safe? And how could he give Leia assurance that

God would keep her safe when he had stopped believing in the love of the God who had let his young wife die?

How can readers find you on the internet?

Website: www.yvonnelehman.com and facebook and ylehman@bellsouth.net

Thank you, Yvonne, for sharing this with us.

Readers, here's a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.

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 6 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