TAMING THE SHERIFF - Cynthia Hickey - One Free Book

Bio: Multi-published author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries published through Barbour Publishing, with a novella releasing in March 2013. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013 and 2014 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents, and a novella in Barbour’s large Christmas anthology. She is active on FaceBook, Twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs, and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer.”

God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

I see more of God letting me live my dream. Back in May, I took the leap of faith and quit the day job to pursue writing full time. God hasn’t let me down, and I see more good things on the horizon.

Tell us a little about your family.

I have a typical yours, mine, and ours. My husband has three children from his previous marriage, I have one. We also adopted three more. Through our biological children, we have five grandchildren. Holidays are a lot of fun with a crowd this size.

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

I’m an avid reader. I still read every day, and everything I can get my hands on, even the back of a cereal box.

Me, too. What are you working on right now?

I am writing the final River Valley mystery series book and hope to have it available on ebook by the end of 2013.

What outside interests do you have?

I always have yarn and a crochet hook in hand. My children have benefited from my crocheting with shawls, beanies, and afghans.

I used to be either crocheting or knitting almost every time I sat down to watch TV with my husband. But now the repetitiveness aggravates the arthritis in my shoulders. I miss it. How do you choose your settings for each book?

Most of my books take place in the Ozark Mountains where I grew up, but sometimes it will be a spark from something I’ve seen or heard.

I lived in the Ozarks until I was in high school. They’re beautiful. If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?

Laura Ingalls Wilder. I wanted her life when I was young.

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

That each main character needs Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. When I started writing, I didn’t know what these three important aspects were. 

I understand that. I was just a storyteller when I started writing novels. What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

The Lord is ALWAYS teaching me patience.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

Persevere, learn the craft, and never give up.

Tell us about the featured book.

THERE'S A NEW TEACHER IN TOWN

Charlotte Nelson arrives in the tiny mountain town of Plumville, Arkansas, with big ideas. She wants to mend the decades-old town feud by throwing a Christmas pageant. But it soon proves to be a challenge, especially when three of her students are determined matchmakers. She's in no hurry to settle down—certainly not with the rugged, handsome sheriff.

Sheriff Asher Thomas can handle most trouble that comes his way, but Charlotte's flashing eyes and black curls are a threat of a different kind. Soon she's taking over his time and his thoughts. Will Asher change his bachelor ways for love?

Please give us the first page of the book.

Ozark Mountains 1881

No turning back now.

Charlotte Nelson glared at the drunken man—Hiram Something—beside her. Squaring her shoulders, she gripped the reins and eyed the white expanse between the trees. While snow blurred lines of the landscape, dotting Charlotte’s eyelashes and numbing her fingers, Hiram snored from the wagon seat. Charlotte shivered so hard she thought her bones would come through her skin. She fought the impulse to plant an elbow squarely in his ribs.

Were they still on the road? How could she tell with all the snow? They had to be lost. Her heart seized.

What little light they’d had was gone. Clouds covered the sky, blocking out any stars flickering overhead. Spiders crept up her spine. She was lost in unfamiliar territory with an unconscious stranger. Not how she envisioned spending her first night in a new town.

“Yah!” She snapped the reins to encourage the mules to pick up the pace. She might have been a fly buzzing around them for all the good it did. “Brrr.”

She glared at Hiram. He sat with his head tossed back, mouth gaping. Would the fool freeze to death despite the alcohol in his system? 

How can readers find you on the Internet?

www.cynthiahickey.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cynthia-Hickey/151333448227549

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cynthiahickey

Thank you, Cynthia, 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.
Taming the Sheriff - Christianbook.com
Taming the Sheriff (Heartsong Presents) - Amazon.com
Taming the Sheriff (Heartsong Presents) - Kindle

Christian Book Store

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 

A LADY OF RESOURCES - Shelley Adina - One Free Book

Readers, I’d never heard the term “Steam Punk” until a friend on Facebook said that the cover of Maggie’s Journey looked like Steam Punk. I had to do research on the term to find out what it was. I contacted that friend back and told her that the book wasn’t Steam Punk. I didn’t want her to buy it and be disappointed. But she answered that maybe I would get some new readers if they thought it was. She really liked my writing as well as Steam Punk.

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

Because the only limit to what I can do is out there at the edge of my imagination. I’ve been a fan of steampunk since the sixties, when all we neighborhood kids would make up adventures from Wild Wild West. I was the oldest, so I got to be James West, but secretly I admired Artemus Gordon for his skill with nifty devices and inventions. When I got the idea for the Magnificent Devices series, it was the natural flowering of something I’d loved for years.

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

Any day I can spend writing is a happy day. In fact, if I can’t write, I get nervous and cranky and generally hard to live with. My husband has learned to adapt.

How has being published changed your life?

There’s an inner fulfillment in a writing life that can’t be satisfied any other way. I’ll never forget that day back in 2002 when I had just been laid off from a company where I’d worked for 12 years. I was sitting at my desk at home, disconsolate, wondering what I should do. The phone rang and it was an editor at Harlequin, calling to make an offer on my MA thesis, which was a romance novel. After that, I didn’t care one bit about being laid off. My career made a 90-degree turn and I’ve never looked back. Never went back to corporate, either. And when I stopped freelancing and committed to writing full time, it’s been all systems go. There is nothing better than your day job being the thing you love.

That is so true. What are you reading right now?

I just finished Elizabeth George’s latest mystery, Just One Evil Act. It was fabulous. Like two mysteries wrapped into one, with Inspector Lynley the handsome cherry on top J

What is your current work in progress?

Alongside the Magnificent Devices books I write as Shelley Adina, I’m also doing an Amish women’s fiction series as Adina Senft for Hachette FaithWords. It’s called the Healing Grace series, and it’s about an Amish herbal healer who solves emotional and spiritual mysteries as God helps her heal her patients in her community. The book I’m working on is called Keys of Heaven. Each book’s title is the country name of an important herb in the book, and also a metaphor for the spiritual malady that needs to be cured. The first book, Herb of Grace, will be out in August 2014.

What would be your dream vacation?

I’ve already been to all the places I ever dreamed of going (Venice, Austria, England, Asia), with the exception of one. I’d really like to travel to New Zealand. Yes, I want to see a hobbit hole. And Edoras. And fly on a plane that has Smaug painted on the side. How cool is that?

How do you choose your settings for each book?

The story chooses them, really. In the Magnificent Devices books, we begin in London at a posh girls’ school, then everything rapidly goes to pieces and we find ourselves in the East End criminal underworld, then in Cornwall, then being hijacked by sky pirates and crash landing in the Texican Territory, then escaping jail in Santa Fe, then going to diamond mines in the far north, then coming back to London and embarking on a university career in Bavaria. And that’s just the adventures of Lady Claire, my original heroine. Now I’m writing the stories of the orphans in her underworld gang, and so far we’ve been in Bavaria, London, and the Cotswolds. In book six, we’re going to Penzance and then I suspect more hijacking of airships will occur and our heroines will end up in France! Quel horreur! The lucky thing is, I’ve been to all the locations I write about, so the details of the settings have accurate flavor and detail, even though it’s historical fantasy.

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

I’d like to talk books and characters with Johnny Depp over a plate of steamed crab and sourdough bread.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

I rescue chickens. You wouldn’t think that in this huge urban area where I live that this would be necessary, but it is. I came out of the house one Saturday morning and there was a cardboard box on the porch containing a Black Australorp hen. My husband rescued a Rhode Island Red on a freeway on-ramp. And people bring them to me. I got a bird from someone in a parking lot once—I swear, we looked like a pair of drug traffickers doing a deal. For me, there is nothing lovelier than that moment when an abused creature gives you her trust. All of my birds are voice trained, and the first step is gaining that trust.

Along with the chickens, I enjoy a number of other things. I play the piano and Celtic harp, and I’m a historical costumer. Which is really handy when I’m doing steampunk booksignings, because it’s a fact universally acknowledged that if you work in this genre, you make your own costumes and wear them in public without fear.

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

My obstacle is common to most writers, I think: the blank page and the blinking cursor. I overcome it by doing extensive character and structure work in advance. Once I have the story’s structure and the theme it’s going to work out through the characters’ journeys, I’m good to go.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Don’t give up. This business isn’t for the faint of heart. If you’re burning to tell a story, get all the training you can and tell it. Check university extensions and community colleges for writing classes. Take classes online. Focus on your craft until it becomes instinctive and the story flows through it. And then pull out all the stops, be true to the story in your heart, and write!

Tell us about the featured book.

After a four-book cycle of the adventures of Lady Claire, in book five I turn to her wards, who were 10-year-old twins nicknamed the Mopsies when we first met them. Now, in A Lady of Resources, they’re sixteen and looking at what sort of woman they intend to be. The story focuses on Lizzie, who, as a former pickpocket and scout, is having a difficult time with her options. Here’s the back-cover blurb:

You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family ... or can you?

Now sixteen, the twins Lizzie and Maggie are educated young ladies who have not been called “the Mopsies” in years … except by their guardian, Lady Claire Trevelyan. With the happy prospect of choosing their own future, the girls can leave their dodgy past behind, and Lizzie can bury her deepest childhood memories where they can do no harm. Upon her graduation from school, Lizzie is awarded an enormous honor—but can she pay the price? Is she ready to be separated from Maggie and become the woman she believes she was meant to be—or will old habits tempt her into defiance and plunge her into disaster?

On a dare, Lizzie picks the wrong man’s pocket and nearly loses her life. But these frightening events bear unexpected fruit: The dream Lizzie holds closest to her heart comes true in a most unexpected way. But this dream, too, comes with a price. Lizzie must decide whether her true family is the one she was born to … or the one she chose that long-ago day when the Lady of Devices steamed into their lives …

Please give us the first page of the book.

Munich, the Prussian Empire
June 1894

 “Of all the infernal instruments man ever made, the corset is the worst.” Lizzie de Maupassant struggled with the hooks on the front of the glossy brocade undergarment, which one had to wear in order to make everything that went on top of it hang properly. “Look at this, Maggie. It bends where it oughtn’t and pokes everywhere else.” She smashed the placket together, which only made the hooks she’d managed already pop apart. “Argh!”

Lizzie flung the wretched thing across the Lady’s room, where it landed on the windowsill like an exhausted accordion.

“Fits of temper won’t solve anything.” Her twin’s tone held no criticism, only reason. “Come on. Let me have a go.”

Maggie rescued the poor corset, bought new for the grand occasion of the graduation of Lady Claire Trevelyan, the girls’ guardian, from the University of Bavaria, and passed it about Lizzie’s chemise- and petticoat-clad form.

“I don’t miss the old lace-ups,” Lizzie said, feeling calmer as Maggie’s clever fingers made short work of the row of hooks, “but I’ll say this for them—they were more forgiving of a mort’s curves than these new ones. Even if it were made specially for me.”

“Don’t say mort.”

“Ent nobody here but us. We don’t have to be so careful about our diction and deportment—” She mimicked the squeaky tones of Mademoiselle Dupree, the mistress of their class by that name. “—when we’re on our own.”

“The Lady says that’s the test of a true lady—that she does the right thing even when nobody’s looking.”

“Aye, more’s the pity,” Lizzie sighed. “We might pass our exams, but we’ll never remember everything she probably knew by the time she was ten.”

The door opened and the Lady herself breezed in. “All who knew? Goodness, Lizzie, we’re to be in the ballroom in two hours and you’re not even dressed, to say nothing of your hair.”

Maggie patted the corset and released her. “Won’t be a tick, Lady.” The corset now lay obediently where it ought, hugging Lizzie’s waist into a satisfyingly narrow width, and flaring out over hips and bust, which possessed dimensions not quite so satisfying. The Lady said to give it time, that she herself had been eighteen before resigning herself to a sylph-like silhouette rather than the majestic curves fashion now favored. But if one didn’t have an idea of one’s silhouette by now, then the odds weren’t very good, were they?

I can’t wait to read the whole book. How can readers find you on the Internet?

You can explore the Magnificent Devices books, as well as all my other releases as Shelley Adina, at http://www.shelleyadina.com . And for the Healing Grace and Amish Quilt series written as Adina Senft, visit http://www.adinasenft.com .

Thanks so much for having me in to visit, Lena!

It's always my pleasure to welcome you to my blog, Shelley.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
A Lady of Resources: A steampunk adventure novel (Magnificent Devices) (Volume 5) - paperback
A Lady of Resources: A steampunk adventure novel (Magnificent Devices) - 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 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

CAROLINA GOLD - Dorothy Love - One Free Book

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

I can’t remember who it was who said all novels are about either redemption or reinvention. I find the idea of reinvention endlessly interesting and most of my novels deal with how a woman of faith adapts to whatever life serves up and makes it into something transformational.

I like that. What other books of yours are coming out soon?

I’ve just turned in the manuscript for THE BRACELET, a new novel to be published in 2014. Like all of my other novels it’s inspired by historical events—this one happens to be about an unsolved murder in the carriage house of a mansion on Savannah’s Madison Square. Next year Thomas Nelson will also be bringing out A PROPER MARRIAGE, my first novella and my first foray into digital publishing. I’m excited to see how that goes.

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

Pat Conroy. He writes about the South Carolina Lowcountry with more passion and beauty than anyone I know. He is the epitome of a Southern gentleman. I’d love to spend an evening comparing notes.

What historical person would you like to meet (besides Jesus) and why?

Elizabeth Allston Pringle, whose life was the inspiration for CAROLINA GOLD. She was a woman ahead of her time, a wonderful writer, a woman of great faith and courage.

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

These are very difficult days in traditional publishing. Some markets have been decimated by the glut of backlist ebooks currently available for much lower costs than new print books. We all may have to adapt, to at least do some of our publishing in the digital environment. I’m hopeful that once the glut is absorbed, the traditional houses will start acquiring more projects again. Until then, continue to read everything, write every day, improve your skills and you’ll be ready when the pendulum swings back again.

That’s very good advice. Tell us about the featured book.

CAROLINA GOLD is inspired by the life of Elizabeth Allston Pringle, a 19th century woman rice planter. Like Elizabeth, my heroine, Charlotte Fraser returns to her family’s Wacamaw River rice plantation after the war in hopes of restoring the lands and reclaiming her old way of life. But Fairhaven Plantation is in ruins, her father’s former slaves are free, the freedmen don’t always honor the labor contracts they’ve made, and to make matters worse, Dr. Nicholas Betancourt, a new neighbor, has arrived on the river with news that he may in fact be the owner of Charlotte’s land. Her struggle to survive and her search for proof of ownership turns up some startling secrets about her family’s past, complicating her growing attraction to Nicholas and his two motherless daughters.

Please give us the first page of the book.                                        

Charleston, South Carolina

3 March 1868

           

In a quiet alcove off the hotel lobby Charlotte Fraser perched on a worn horsehair chair, nursing a cup of lukewarm tea. A wind-driven freshet lashed the windows and roiled the bruise-colored sky, sending the pedestrians along Chalmers Street scurrying for shelter, jostling one another amid a sea of black umbrellas.

She glanced at the clock mounted on the wall above the polished mahogany reception desk and pressed a hand to her midsection to quell her nerves. An hour remained before her appointment with her father’s lawyer. She had anticipated the meeting for weeks with equal measures of hope and dread, her happiness at the prospect of returning home to the river tempered by fear of what she would find waiting for her. In the war’s crushing aftermath, Fortune had cast her powerful eye upon all of the Lowcountry and passed on by.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

They can find me on my official website, www.DorothyLoveBooks.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dorothylovebooks.

Thank you, Dorothy, for sharing this new book with us. I can’t wait for my copy to arrive. Your books go straight to the top of my to-be-read pile.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Carolina Gold - Christianbook.com
Carolina Gold - Amazon
Carolina Gold - Kindle

Christian Book Store

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

DIANN HUNT DAY!!

In the words of our friend, Colleen Coble (http://girlswriteout.blogspot.com/) " ...our beloved Diann Hunt went to be with the Lord at 5:03 PM November 29. She is finally HEALED of the ovarian cancer that took her life on the earth, but she is truly living like never before in heaven. How she loved to laugh! And I know that wonderful laugh and zest for life will draw people to her in heaven the same way she drew us here on earth. God created one of a kind when He made Diann. We will miss her more than we can possibly say, and we are so grieved for her husband, kids and grandkids. She was an awesome friend and encourager to so many."

I personally knew Diann for over seven years. I loved her writing. And as she faced her long battle with cancer, she was more of an encourager for those who knew her than we were for her. I prayed for her for almost every day for most of those years. If I ever have to go through a battle like that, I hope I will face with the grace and dependence on God that she had.

A way to honor her and bless her family would be for readers to continue to buy her wonderful books. Here is a list of most of them:

Be Sweet ~ Same mom. Same dad. Completely different lives. Who's to say which sister has it sweeter?

Bittersweet Surrender ~ Carly spends her days at a spa (okay, so she owns the place), she’s dating a hunk, and she’s surrounded by chocolate. She’s living the dream . . . or is she?

For Better or Worse ~ She's a wedding coordinator. He's a divorce attorney. She begins marriages. He ends them. How could these two possibly find common ground?

This book is being made into a Hallmark movie that will release in July. Be sure to look for it.

Hopefu Heartsl ~ 2 delightful romances. Abigail O’Connor is determined to discover who left her as an infant on her adoptive parents’ doorstep—and why. Adelaide Sanborn longs for an adventurous life at sea, but society’s conventions prevent seafaring ventures for “respectable” women.

Love Letters in the Sand ~ Though the tide of World War II washed away her happily-ever-after dreams, years later, Eva Hilton dares to consider another chance at love.

Hot Flashes and Cold Cream ~ An eccentric best friend, a leaky Chihuahua, a teenager in trouble, and a workaholic husband with a gorgeous new colleague. Those are the ingredients for Diann Hunt's wise and funny story about growing...well, older...with grace.

RV There Yet? ~ Life's a journey. Midlife's an adventure. But two weeks in a RV with the hot-flash sisters could drive anyone over the hill.

Hot Tropics and Cold Feet ~ When the going gets tough, the tough hit the beach. After years of being single, Lily's about to head down the aisle again. But just as she's about to take the plunge, she gets cold feet--ice cold. 

Prayers & Pawprints ~ When two very special dogs descend on Acorn Hill, Alice wonders, could a dog be an answer to prayer?

We Have This Moment ~ When one of the inn’s guests reunites with a long-lost beau, the former high school sweethearts get a second chance at love. But will their families accept their rekindled romance?

Smitten ~ Welcome to Smitten, Vermont. With the help of four friends, it’s about to become the most romantic town in America.

Smitten Shelby You've Got A Friend ~ When a group of friends devise a plan to turn Smitten, Vermont, into the country’s premier romantic getaway, Shelby finds her own true love along the way.

Knit One, Love Two ~ Winter, spring, summer, and fall, Smitten is a place for love  . . . and mystery. But will knit-store owner Anna ever find patience for either?

Secretly Smitten ~ Summer, fall, winter, spring—Smitten, Vermont, is the place for love . . . and mystery!

Smitten Book Club ~ The century-old Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and Courtship is no ordinary book club choice. But for the little book club in Smitten, Vermont, it might be their best pick yet!

Delight Yourself in the Lord, Even on Bad Hair Days ~ Using the great and small “bad hair days” of life, the authors deliver reminders that the first step toward triumph is joy in the Lord. Whether single or married, career girl or stay-at-home mom, today's Christian woman is faced with daily obstacles. Delight Yourself in the Lord…...Even on Bad Hair Days is a devotional filled with upbeat reminders about infusing hope and joy in the Lord as the first step toward conquering life's problems and chasing down the desires of your heart. Through 100 funny and thought-provoking devotions, the authors remind women to go back to the basics with God. And they even share a few private “bad hair confessions” along the way!

Actually, I'm using this devotional book in my private devotions right now. I highly recommend it.

A number of fellow authors are also having posts today to honor Diann on either their blogs or on Facebook. Please check them out to find out more about this wonderful woman. Here is a partial list of them:

www.juliearduini.com

http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

www.trishperry.com

http://bonniescalhoun.blogspot.com/

www.agatharemembered.blogspot.com

www.Writingcareercoach.com

www.anemulligan.com

http://everythingwriterly.blogspot.com

http://writingonboard.com

http://rachelhauck.com/blog/

 www.girlygirl.typepad.com

www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com

www.GirlsWriteOut.blogspot.com

 http://coffeecupsandcamisoles.blogspot.com

http://www.pammeyerswrites.blogspot.com

www.carlastewart.com

WINNERS!!!!

Kay (NY) is the winner of Tempest's Course by Lynette Sowell.
Cindy W (IN) is the winner of Keeping Secrets by LeAnne Hardy.
Mary P (Aus) is the winner of The Scent of Fear by Susan J Reinhardt.
Nathan S (CO) is the winner of Amish Vampire in Space by Kerry Nietz.
Rebekah (TN) is the winner of Stones for Bread by Christa Parrish.
For the next two days, Everyone can download a free copy of A Ruby Christmas by Marji Laine and others.

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

Also, tell your friends about the book ... and this blog. Thank you.

Congratulations, everyone. If you won a print book, send me your mailing address:
Click the Contact Me link at the top of the blog, and send me an Email.

If you won an ebook, just let me know what email address it should be sent to.

When you contact me, please give the title of the book you won, so I won't have to look it up.
Remember, you have 4 weeks to claim your book.

Christmas Blog Exchange - A CHRISTMAS PROMISE - Tamera Lynn Kraft - With Giveaway

Christmas at Schoenbrunn in 1773
In the wilderness of Ohio in 1773, there were a band of missionaries and Lenape Indians celebrating Christmas at Schoenbrunn Village, the first settlement in Ohio. They’d come to this wilderness and started the village a year earlier to preach the Gospel to the Lenape, also known as the Deleware.

The missionaries, both white and native families moved from a town in Pennsylvania called Bethlehem. Moravians had come to Bethlehem years earlier when a preacher named John Wesley had donated the land to them. But the Lenape had been forced west as more white men had moved into the area, so the Moravians decided to move west with them.

Life was hard in Schoenbrunn. Cabins were quickly made and community gardens were planted that

included beans, corn, and squash. Most villages also planted potatoes and turnips next to their cabins. The rest of their food came from hunting. But the real danger came from the many Indian tribes surrounding the village, some of them hostile.

They didn’t have time to build a fence to keep out varments and the first Ohio church until Spring, 1773, but they did manage to build a school, the first built in Ohio. The school taught both boys and girls, a first for the colonies, how to read the Scripture in their native language and in English. The Moravians printed a Bible in the Lenape language.

The village council was led by David Zeisberger and including white Moravians and Lenape converts. The rules for the village were established by the Lenape Christians. These missionaries did not consider the native converts to be beneath them but instead brothers in Christ.

After a year and a half in Schoenbrunn, the villagers were excited to celebrate their first Christmas. They had many traditions that we still use today. They would have a candlelight Christmas Eve service called a Lovefeast. During this service, they sang Christmas hymns, shared sweet rolls and coffee together, and prayed for each other. The service concluded when they gave each child a bleached beeswax candle and a scripture to hang on their trees at home. The white candle symbolized the purity of Christ and the flame showed that Jesus is the light of the world. A red ribbon would be wrapped around the candle to symbolize how Jesus shed His blood for a lost world.

In every home in Schoenbrunn, families decorated artificial Christmas trees with candles and papers with scriptures written on them. The trees were made by putting together a wood frame and decorating it with real pine branches. The family would also make a putz, a nativity village that included the nativity scene, the wise men, and other Biblical scenes and place it under the tree. Most Moravians gave small gifts at Christmas, but resources were so limited that the children in Schoenbrunn were happy with their candles they received at the church. After a Christmas feast, the family would read the verses hung on the tree and talk about God’s blessings at Christmas.

Schoenbrunn Village has been restored and is open to tourists. Find out more at this link (http://www.ohiosfirstvillage.com) .

A Christmas Promise:

A Moravian Holiday Story, Circa 1773

During colonial times, John and Anna settle in an Ohio village to become Moravian missionaries to the Lenape. When John is called away to help at another settlement two days before Christmas, he promises he’ll be back by Christmas Day.

When he doesn’t show up, Anna works hard to not fear the worst while she provides her children with a traditional Moravian Christmas.

Through it all, she discovers a Christmas promise that will give her the peace she craves.

Available at these online stores:

AMAZON

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GM59GN4/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb

PELICAN BOOK GROUP

http://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_47&products_id=512 

CHRISTIANBOOK

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=48711EB&item_code=WW&netp_id=1206746&event=ESRCG&view=details

Bio:

TAMERA LYNN KRAFT has always loved adventures and writes Christian historical fiction set in America because there are so many adventures in American history. She is married to the love of her life, has two grown children, and lives in Akron, Ohio.

Tamera is the leader of a ministry called Revival Fire For Kids where she mentors other children’s leaders, teaches workshops, and is a children’s ministry consultant and children’s evangelist. She has curriculum published and is a recipient of the 2007 National Children’s Leaders Association Shepherd’s Cup for lifetime achievement in children’s ministry.

You can contact Tamera online at these sites.

Word Sharpeners Blog: http://tameralynnkraft.com

Revival Fire For Kids Blog: http://revivalfire4kids.com

Adventures in American History: http://tameralynnkraft.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TameraLynnKraft

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tamerakraft

Contests:

Lena Dooley is on Word Sharpeners today for the Christmas Blog Hop at this link and is giving away a copy of her Christmas novel, 24 Christmases. 

http://wordsharpeners.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/lena-nelson-dooleys-christmas-stories/

I will give away a digital copy of A Christmas Promise. The Moravians lived a life of giving. To enter the drawing, comment on this post about a charity or ministry doing something special for Christmas.

Click this link (http://wordsharpeners.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/christmas-blog-hop-this-week-129-1214) to hear about how I’m also giving away a Shoenbrunn Christmas Ornament and a copy of my books.

DEAR MR. KNIGHTLEY - Katherine Reay - One Free Book

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

Tough question, for in many ways I am every character, and yet I’m none of them as well. I translate more of my emotional landscape into them than any personal history.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

I do quirky things daily and in my brain they seem normal. I’ll have to ask my kids what’s embarrassed them the most lately.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

I knew when I packed up all my journals. Fifteen full books! I’ve actually always been a writer. It’s what I write that has changed.

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

The full gamut ... I love mysteries, literary fiction, theology, fantasy fiction, chick-lit, classics … YA, dystopian, memoires, history …  I read almost everything.

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

I run, run, run. Seriously. Running relaxes me, provides a great time to connect with God, stimulates the best ideas and keeps me in shape. All good.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Sometimes they just come to me. They are who they are. And other times I need their name to say something about them and I have to dig. I should also admit that I’ve changed the names of a few characters trending villainous in fear that family members or friends who shared those names might be offended.

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

If I were lovely, I’d say my kids or my marriage – and I am thrilled about all of that. But I’m also so giddy, pleased with Dear Mr. Knightley. It came out of years of hope, hard work, prayer, and a few miracles. It isn’t so much that I’m proud of it—I’m in awe daily that any of it exists at all. That’s terribly exciting and humbling for me.

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

I’m an elephant—long memory, loyal, strong, and often lumbering.

What is your favorite food?

To be my favorite, it has to involve chocolate. It sounds mundane, but chocolate chip cookies speak to my heart. My daughter makes a batch, and we roll the dough into parchment paper and freeze tubes of it so that we can cut and cook a few any time. We need warm cookies—our own homemade version of “slice and bake.” And, I’ll confess, they are “needed” on a daily basis.

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

Hmmm …  I don’t think I’m a strong idea generator. That’s when I go running. When I push myself past my own constraints, I find new avenues. I have come to learn that running isn’t just a release from my work; it’s part of it.

Tell us about the featured book.

Dear Mr. Knightley is about a young woman, Samantha Moore, who learned to protect herself by hiding behind literary characters. She adopted their personas when scared, in danger, or when she needed understanding friends. But this device now begins to hurt her (as all hiding eventually does) and others and she must lay it down. To fully live and fully love, she must find her own voice, her own life, and her own story. It’s packed with fun literature references, characters whom I adore, and a lot of action in Sam’s life. I hope she gets a rest soon.

Please give us the first page of the book.

It’s an epistolary novel. Here is Sam’s first letter.

APRIL 2

Dear Sir,

It has been a year since I turned down your generous offer.

Father John warned me at the time that I was making a terrible mistake, but I wouldn’t listen. He felt that by dismissing that opportunity I was injuring not only myself, but all the foster children helped by your foundation.

I hope any perceived ingratitude on my part didn’t harm anyone else’s dreams. I wasn’t ungrateful; I just wanted to leave Grace House. A group home is a difficult place to live, and I’d been there for eight years. And even though I knew graduate school meant more education and better job prospects, it also meant living at Grace House another two years. At the time I couldn’t face that prospect.

My heart has always been in my books and writing, but I couldn’t risk losing a paying job to pursue a dream. Now I’m ready to try. Not because I failed, but because this degree gives me the chance to link my passion with my livelihood.

Please let me know if the grant is still available. I will understand if you have selected another candidate.

Sincerely,

Samantha Moore

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Please find me. … I would love that.

www.katherinereay.com

Twitter @katherine_reay

Facebook:  /katherinereaybooks

Thank you, Katherine, for spending time with us today.

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

Dear Mr. Knightley - Christianbook.com
Dear Mr. Knightley: A Novel - Amazon.com
Dear Mr. Knightley: A Novel - Kindle

Christian Book Store

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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