Interview with Deborah Raney Plus Giveaway!

UPDATE Saturday, 10/15/11 9:45 am WINNER!
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11
Timestamp: 2011-10-15 14:40:21 UTC
Congrats to Susan! Email me your address and I'll send the book your way!

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I haven't met many folks more gracious than author Deborah Raney. I met her in 2009 in Dallas at the Christian Book Expo and she immediately endeared herself to me. I was so excited to discover she and her husband, Ken, would be in Atlanta for ICRS this past July. Spending an evening with them, having dinner and then intereviewing each of them, was an absolute treat for me. (You can read my chat with Ken about Clash Entertainment, his great website for Christian teens, here.)

You have released Forever After, the second novel in the Hanover Falls series, which follows the families and survivors of the fire in book 1, Almost Forever. Tell me a bit about it. [Note: My 2009 interview with Deb, and more about the first book, can be found here.]

My husband, Ken, is always on the lookout for story ideas for me. One morning over coffee a few years ago, he handed me a newspaper clipping––the story of nine heroic firefighters who were killed in a tragic fire in Charleston, SC. That story along with the risk-laden career of my niece's firefighter husband, got me thinking about the survivors of fallen firefighters and how they find the will to go on after a tragedy like the one in South Carolina. My Hanover Falls novels series explores the questions I encountered that day, and Forever After, in particular, is the story of a firefighter who lost his father––also a firefighter–– in the fire, and blames himself. To make matters worse, he falls in love with his fallen buddy's wife, Jenna Morgan. And of course, she has problems of her own. And the story takes off from there.

Can you share a little about your writing process?

I’ve not written many series before. The Clayburn novels were my first true series. I have done a couple of sequels to books. Both times I did sequels, I wrote the first book not even considering the possibility of a sequel, but by the time I got to the end, I knew there was another character I wanted to explore more. But when I started writing the Clayburn novels I knew they would be a series. So I could set things up, and that’s the first time I intentionally set things up in the first book that would carry over to another book.

One thing I love about writing series is that I create a world. I always write about fictional towns, maybe set close to a real town. The characters might go into a real town—like Springfield, Missouri—for dinner, but they always come home to a completely fictional town in an obscure, not very well-defined place. It takes a lot to create a world. I usually have a map down on paper, not just of the streets of the town and where they are, but what the houses look like. I usually find houses in magazines and pull those out and say, “This is where ‘Susan’ lives” etc. I’m a very visual person, so I have to be able to picture it before I write it.

That’s a lot of work!

It is. But honestly, that’s the most fun part! Because the whole time I’m searching for pictures of my characters and drawing the maps, my imagination is working overtime, writing that story. I always tell my husband that just because my fingers are not on the keyboard doesn’t mean I’m not writing. I can be staring out the window, and I’m doing some of the most important work of writing, which is just creating—creating that world.

So in writing a series, I can write three books, and I only have to create that world one time. There’s an economy to writing series in a very real sense because so much of the research and the creative part is done in the first book. Where it gets difficult is, finding enough interesting things to happen to carry over into three books. You’ve done all your big “happenings” in your first book; how do you sustain that for two more books? It’s really hard. And I have to say, of the series I’ve read over the course of time, I almost always like the first book the best. The others are okay, but it’s always the first book that is absolutely the best. That’s probably true for my own books, too. And I would say awards would prove that out. Remember to Forget was a Christy finalist and won several awards; the other two books haven’t done as well in contests. I think the original idea gets carried out the most in the first book.

There are pros and cons to writing series. I have to have enough characters in the first book that are interesting enough and enough a part of the subplots that people care about and remember them from the first book and want to know more about their story. And yet I have to wrap the whole book up in each one, just in case someone only picks up that one book. I want the story to be complete. Because honestly, as a reader, nothing makes me angrier than to read a book and realize I’m twenty pages from the end and there’s no way they can wrap this up. And then you find out you have to wait a whole year for the next book to find out what happens.

What also irritates me is when they make it so complex, and then you feel like they ran out of word count and they resolve the whole thing in two pages. It’s way too simplistic and fast.

It’s anticlimactic! And I’m guilty! I’ve done that very thing in a couple of books, I know. It’s that very reason: either a) you ran out of time or b) you ran out of word count. Probably the best solution would be to go back and cut a subplot so you could concentrate on the main plot. Sometimes you have time to do that, and other times you just don’t. There have been times that I know the manuscript I turn in as a first draft (which for me is usually a fifth or a sixth or a seventh draft!) is that way. I’m turning it in with the complete intention of fixing all that when I do rewrite because a lot gets changed with rewrite. But a lot of times, I don’t know what the editor’s going to think about it, and what direction he/she is going to want me to go. So it doesn’t really do me any good at that point to fix everything because I may be changing it anyway.

As much as you plot out and plan out your “kingdom,” your book’s environment, do you plan and outline the story?

(She laughs) I am totally a seat of the pants writer. About the only thing I do is, I usually—not always-- know who the characters are that are going to carry over. That allows me to do something with them and create some interest with the secondary characters that will be the main characters in the next books. For me, it would ruin the fun of writing if I knew how it was going to turn out every time.

Do your characters have minds of their own sometimes?

Absolutely! I’ve had characters die on me and not even make it into the book. I was writing a book once and the main character had a wonderful dad but the book was already too long and I still had a long way to go. So I was subconsciously trying to figure out how to cut the book down. I was typing a scene and all of a sudden the dad had a heart attack and keeled over! And I knew that was my mind saying that character was unnecessary, and I went back and deleted all the scenes he was in.

When will the third book release?

It comes out in April, and it is titled After All. In the third one, Susan, the director of the homeless shelter, is dealing with some opposition from the town. They don’t want the shelter. Having the shelter implies that they have homeless, and if they get rid of the shelter, then they won’t have homeless; they’ll go somewhere else like Springfield or St. Louis. And especially because of the fire, the homeless shelter has just been a black mark on the town. So she’s dealing with that and dealing with one of her sons, who’s really struggling with his dad’s death.
Each book starts at the original fire and then jumps forward. The second book jumps forward a year and the third one is 18 months later. So the opening of this one is Susan at her husband’s memorial service. As she’s leaving with her two college-age sons, she sees a strange woman—a beautiful, nicely dressed woman. At first she thinks the woman’s visiting someone else’s grave, but then their eyes meet and she sees something there.

An affair?

Well, we don’t know! But this woman appears again later in the book, and Susan knows at that moment that there’s some secret that her husband was keeping, and we’re not sure what it was. That’s a lot of the story, her resolving the issue of “Was my husband someone I don’t even know anymore? Did I even know this man that I thought I loved and that I’ve been grieving and who was the father of my children?”

Will we find out?

Oh, yes. You’ll find out everything at the end of this book because it’s the last one. Hopefully all the things will be tied together. I think the ending will surprise some people who have read all three books, especially. I’m really happy with how the whole series came together.

What are your current projects?

I’m working on a book for Summerside Press, Love Finds You in Madison County, Iowa, which is [the location of] the Bridges of Madison County. The town of Winterset is absolutely charming and the bridges are beautiful. Another claim to fame is that it’s the birthplace of John Wayne. They also have this tower, Clark's Tower, with a beautiful overlook in a park and there will be a scene there. It will probably have even more romance than I usually have in my books. I’m looking forward to writing it.

The project after that, also with Summerside, is for their new Christmas series. Each book’s title is a Christmas song. Basically, they are taking the reader back to the day when they fell in love to remember what things were like then. My book is set in 1971, when I was in high school, and it was really fun to go back and see how much things have changed! My title is going to be one of the songs the Carpenters sang. I'm not sure about the release date yet, but probably Fall 2013.

I have one more stand-alone to write for Howard Books. It will probably have more suspense elements than my books have ever had, although it won’t be a suspense per se. It’s about an empty nest couple with two kids away at college, and the wife goes to a conference and never comes home. She calls and says she’ll be late and that she still has a couple of hours to drive but she never shows up, and they never find her car. My working title is The Face of the Earth, and it will come out in the spring of 2013. I don’t have all the details of the story worked out yet, but at a family reunion last summer, my husband’s brothers asked me what I was working on. I gave them a synopsis and they immediately began throwing out ideas while I wrote them down as fast as I could! I loved brainstorming with them because the biggest part of the book is going to be from the perspective of the hero, not the heroine. They were giving me the perspective of a man: if this happened, what would a real man do?

And I’m not telling you how it ends, mostly because I don’t know yet! I have about three scenarios that I’m working from. It’s different, after writing two series – my last 6 books have been parts of series – to go back and write a stand-alone and know that I have to wrap everything up in one book.

Thanks so much, Deb! It's always a pleasure to catch up with you! Folks, you can learn more about Deborah Raney on her website. Now, here's more info about her latest Hanover Falls book, along with a giveaway!

Forever After
Deborah Raney
(Howard Books)
ISBN: 978-1416599937
June, 2011/416 pages/$14.99

A fire killed his best friend and his lifelong dream of being a firefighter. The same fire killed her husband and hopes for a family. Can new dreams replace old?

Lucas Vermontez was a proud firefighter like his father. Now, not only has he lost his father and his best friend, Zach, in the fire at the Grove Street homeless shelter, but the devoted rookie can no longer do the work he loves after being crippled in the tragic event. When friendship with his buddy’s beautiful widow turns into more, he wonders, what could he possibly offer Jenna?

Jenna Morgan is trying to grieve her husband’s death like a proper widow, but the truth is, she never really loved Zach. His death feels more like a relief to her. But that relief is short-lived when she loses her home and the financial support of her in-laws. Now the secrets of her past threaten to destroy her future.

Can the two forget the painful past and discover new reasons to live and love?



MY THOUGHTS:
Deb thinks subsequent books in series often don't measure up to the first one, but in this case, I disagree! I thoroughly enjoyed Forever After and loved how she developed the characters of Lucas and Jenna. Their shared tragedy understandably bonds them together; the baggage they carry threatens to extinguish the spark of romance growing between them. This story is also a good example of the pressure communities and families can place on the family members of fallen heroes, forever defining their lives and actions in context of such a tragedy, rather than allowing them to move forward and focus on life, not death. I look forward to reading the final book in this series!

GIVEAWAY!
I have an autographed copy of Forever After to give to one of you! To enter, leave a comment on this post by 8:00 pm CDT Thursday, 10/13/11, and I will draw a winner. Leave a second comment stating you mentioned/linked to this giveaway on your blog or Facebook for a an additional entry. Limit 2 entries per person. US residents only, please. You must include an email address if you do not have a blog.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Howard Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Author Interview and Giveaway!

UPDATE Friday, 9:40 pm

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4
Timestamp: 2010-07-24 02:38:03 UTC
Congrats to Susan D! Email me your address, Susan, and I'll send the book your way.

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I have one final author chat to share with you from my amazing experience at the Christian Book Expo last year. Deborah Raney is an award-winning author who is currently writing her twentieth book! Two of her books, Yesterday's Embers and Above All Things, have been nominated for this year's ACFW Carol Award (formerly Book of the Year. See the complete list of finalists here.) She is also a lovely and gracious woman who quickly made me feel at ease; in fact, to my utter amazement, she told me she had just visited my blog that morning and complimented me on it!

Her newest novel, Almost Forever (#1 in the Hanover Falls series), released in mid-May and immediately hit Lifeway's bestseller list in June. After talking about the book with her last year, I was eager to read it and I was not disappointed! Love & loss, drama & intrigue, and faith combine to make this book one I couldn't put down. She talks a bit about this new series in the interview below.

When we sat down for the interview at the Book Expo, it felt much more like a chat with a dear friend than a question and answer section! So I'm going to post this one a little different; rather than including my questions, I'll just indicate what we discussed.

Regarding sequels, series, and stand-alones:
As a reader I don’t like it when I get to the end of a book and the story was not wrapped up and I’m forced to read another book. And I’ve heard from so many readers who get aggravated at stuff like that! I did write a sequel one time, and I felt like the first third of the book I was trying to catch up the readers who maybe didn’t read the first book. What I did with the Clayburn novels is, I took a cast of characters and a town, and that stays the same, and I just dealt with a different couple or a different group of people. So each story stands alone and you really could read them in any order, but I recommend reading them in the order I wrote them.
I’m working on a new series now which are 3 books in a series but they stand alone.

(Note from Linda: the Clayburn novels are the multi-award winning Remember to Forget, Leaving November, and Yesterday's Embers.)

How she gets her ideas:
If I told you the story for each one, every single one is different. The way the Clayburn novels came into being is that my husband surprised me with a getaway to a bed & breakfast. I was on a deadline and people kept popping in and out and I couldn’t focus, so he said “Pack your things; you’re going to a bed & breakfast. And I wrote more words than I have ever written in a day on my first day there! I spent the night, and when I got up the next morning I went for a walk. I was in a little Kansas town called Linsberg, and it was spring and just a gorgeous, gorgeous morning. And I was walking and I thought “If everyone could grow up in a town like this, we would not have murder, and other things! I kind of idealized it. And all of a sudden, this story just started coming. I thought, “What if…?” Why don’t people who live in New York and don’t love their life there – why don’t they come to a place like this? Well, to start with, how would they get there? So I started thinking and one thing led to another. I came back [to my room] and instead of working on the book I was writing that was due in just a few days, I wrote an entire outline for Remember to Forget. It turned out to be very allegorical. The whole story in my mind was an allegory of “new life in Christ” – how our life changes, how we are a completely new creation when we go from old life to new life. When I realized I had enough characters for a series, I tried to make the second two books allegorical, but it just didn’t work and I didn’t want to push it. But the first one is!

The new Hanover Falls series:
This one is set in Missouri, and the reason is that I’m not crazy about research so I try to write what I know as much as I can. Of course you always have to do research, and usually I get into more than what I thought I was biting off when I started! This is the story of five survivors of five firefighters who are killed in a horrible fire in a homeless shelter. Each book will take two or three of the characters who are survivors from the effects of this fire and follow how they put their lives back together after this happened. There will be the firefighting world, because that is what intrigued me; my niece is married to a firefighter who is part of a big firefighting family. So I knew I had a source for my research and someone I could ask questions! But from just getting to know him, I just knew that it’s like a family: those become your brothers, those men and women that you work with, and you are responsible for each others’ lives when you go into that burning building. I really liked that idea of a family. So those are some of the things I explore.

The series is called the Hanover Falls series because that’s the name of the fictional town in Missouri. It’s located in the Springfield area, and part of that reasoning is my two daughters live in Springfield and a nearby town, so I figured I’d be making lots of research trips to that area. It was a practical reason to choose it!

How she started writing/raising kids and writing:
My kids are the reason I started writing. When our three kids were 14, 10, and 8, and I was just about ready to go back to work, I got pregnant. And it was wonderful but she presented a problem in that my oldest son was about to go to college when she was three, and we had no money. So I always knew I’d be working but didn’t think I’d be leaving a little 3-year-old! So his senior year in high school, I started thinking what could I do to earn some money at home. I’d always wanted to write a book, and I just sat down on New Year’s and started writing. And by May I had a manuscript ready to send out, and by October I had three contract offers on it! I almost hate to tell that story because that’s not the typical way that happens. But I really feel like it was God’s answer to our prayer for a way for me to stay home and still make some money.

I got a two-book contract with Bethany House. (That one was A Vow to Cherish, and it went out of print and has recently been re-released by Steeple Hill.) And when they sent me the contract for two books, I thought “I haven’t written the second book!” It took me long enough to come up with the idea for the first one and I wasn’t sure that I had another idea in me. But they told me I’d come up with something. The really, really awesome part is that the advance on royalties that they paid me was to the penny, the amount we had been told our son’s college education – tuition, room, and board – would cost. It was as if God said, “You asked, and here’s your answer.” I still get chills when I think about it. He has now been out of school at least 10 years. Our oldest son is 32--(I interrupted her to ask her if she began having children when she was 10!) Why, yes I did! Thank you! (Laughs) That’s what I tell him: “You cannot be 32 because that’s how old I am!” I was in my early 20’s when I had him so I am plenty old enough to claim him as a son but I don’t like to! Our oldest daughter is 28 and she’s married and has two little boys, so I’m a grandma to two darling little boys! Our youngest son just got married, and our youngest is a senior in high school (update: now she’s in college). My kids are my pride and joy.

So when I found out about the college costs being covered, that was really all I ever wanted. But I realized that if you do your job as a mom right, you’ll put yourself out of a job, so I feel that God has given me the next thing to do, and that has been awesome.

I know several young moms who are writers – Cara Putnam has three or four little kids; she’s brought babies with her to conferences. And she manages to write, and she’s also an attorney! But women like her multi-task and do that. And Karen Kingsbury, who has raised six kids while she’s writing. So it can be done. Everyone’s different and God works in each person’s life differently.

Reviews
I really think most authors value a review from someone who doesn’t give a glowing review to everyone. I think it means more if you know this person gives an honest review. If they like your book, it really means something. There are a few places that every review is “I just loved it; best book I’ve ever read.” Well, I’m glad they liked my book, but they like everybody’s book, so what does that really mean?

Fiction and theology:
Sometimes we don’t put enough value in fiction writing. As a mom, I sometimes felt guilty about reading a novel. But that’s the wonderful thing about Christian fiction: wrapped up in an entertaining story is a nugget of truth. If you get it in the form of a story, which is how Jesus taught, that is such an incredible way to share the truth. And if our fiction is the wrong theology, that’s very dangerous. I take my responsibility as a writer of fiction, carrying Christ’s name, very seriously. Heaven forbid that I would write something that would lead someone astray!


Thanks so much, Deb. It made me smile all over again listening to the recording of our conversation!

I was so excited about reading Almost Forever that I inadvertently bought two of them! But my mistake will benefit one of you, because I'm giving the second one away! Just leave a comment on this post by 8:00 pm Friday (7/23) and I'll draw a winner. US Residents only, please. Be sure to include an email address if you don't have a blog in order to be in the drawing.


Sigh. I dragged out the Book Expo as long as I could, but I finally finished sharing about the authors I met. And ohmygoodness, how I would love to go to the ACFW Annual Conference in September. If anyone just happens to see a ticket somewhere with my name on it, let me know!

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Booked for the Holidays

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Booked for the Holidays Giveaway!

My, that makes it sound so official, like it's really important! Well, it's important to me and I hope this giveaway will be just as important - and fun! - for you. Here's the scoop: Each Monday, and hopefully on some other random days as well, I'll be giving away a book or several from my cache. Virtually all of these are brand-spanking-new books that I received at the Christian Book Expo back in the spring; many are autographed.

To qualify, just leave me a comment on the giveaway post by the deadline indicated. For an additional chance to win, post the giveaway button on your blog and let me know you did so. I wish I had the funds to ship internationally, but I do need to restrict it to US Residents only.

Soooooo, on to the first giveaway!

I was so excited to meet M L (Mary Lu) Tyndall at the Christian Book Expo back in March. I love her books, and getting to sit down and talk with her about them just adds to the enjoyment. Two-thirds of her current Charles Towne Belles trilogy have been released, with the final novel due out January 1. I had a chance to sit down with her and find out a bit about her writing process and the inspiration for her books.

Tell me about yourself. You have an interesting genre with the pirate books. How did that come about?

I have kind of an odd writing experience. I never wrote anything seriously until about 5 years ago. I was a software engineer for 15 years; I have a degree in math, which is the total opposite of what you would think a creative writer would be. But I’ve always had a desire to write and had written poems and such when I was younger. But after seeing The Pirate Movie, I heard a strong voice saying “I want you to write a book about a Christian pirate.’ So I worked on it in my free time – I actually wrote it on my lunch hours at work. And I joined ACFW. I never dreamed in my wildest imagination that I would get published. I got an agent and a contract in two months – it was such a God thing. That was The Redemption.

How do you research the books?

I grew up in S. Florida and love that tropical climate. I’ve always been fascinated by pirates. I can’t describe it because I know they were really evil! I think it was the freedom, the kind of person that defied society and its rules and wanted that free life. Of course I don’t agree with how they did it. And I also have always loved the tall ships, those tall ancient ships. Every time I see one, my heart leaps in my throat.

I just dove into book after book after book –- fiction and non-fiction -- and read all about the ships and how they work to research them. I could probably sail a ship now myself! My recent series just has one pirate in it, in the first book, The Red Siren. She’s a pirate, but not really. She does it on the side to make some money. There aren’t really any pirates in the other books. I’m trying to steer away from it; I don’t want to be labeled the Pirate Lady any more. It’s more about the ships and the Colonial time period.

The trilogy is the story of three sisters and they represent the three seeds in the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.

• Faith (The Red Siren) is the seed that fell among rocky soil; all the problems and tribulations come up, and she lost her faith.
  
• In The Blue Enchantress, Hope is the seed that fell among thorns and the pleasures of this world and the wealth tempt her – she’s the bad girl. She gets her socks knocked off in this book. She gets herself in a really bad position from her behavior. It’s the story about a woman who is caught up in her looks and trying to find love in all the wrong places. She’s trying to give herself, hoping she’ll get the love back. I think a lot of girls struggle with that today in our culture and we focus on how we look and how much attention we get from men. But it’s all about how God can redeem you.
  
• Grace, the third sister represents the [seed that fell in] good soil. Grace is the good girl -- she goes to church, she believes in Jesus and she follows all of the commandments, but she has a small problem with judgment and being critical. I have her really humbled in the third book, The Raven Saint.

So do you have a never-ending supply of ideas?

I’m really not one of those authors that does. I like to work on one thing at a time. Although I just got asked for the next trilogy that they want from me, and I don’t know what it will be.

That may be the engineer in you!

Could be. Just one thing at a time. Especially with the stories, I don’t want to confuse things. I get so into my stories that I almost feel like I am that character and I don’t want to think about other characters or other situations until I’m done, but I have to right now because they want proposals for the next trilogy. So if you have any ideas, let me know!.

Oh, you’re doing a great job on your own!

Well, I think it’s the Lord. I’ll get desperate and pray, “Lord, I need an idea!” So I’ll pray about it a few days. Actually, that’s what happened with this trilogy. I was up on the hill doing my prayer walk wondering what in the world I was going to write about and He dumped that whole parable in my head. And I thought, "Wow, if I could do one sister representing each seed and make that parable come to life." He did that. I can’t take any credit for that.

What a delight she was! You can get to know her better at her website (I love her tagline! Where Eternity and History Collide) and her blog.

You can read my review of The Red Siren here and The Blue Enchantress here.


I have three, (count 'em!) three AUTOGRAPHED copies of The Red Siren to give away. Leave a comment by Friday at 8:00 p.m. CST, and I'll choose 3 winners. Don't forget to let me know if you have posted the Booked for the Holidays button on your blog!

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Christy Award Finalist Interview & Giveaway

When I was at the Christian Book Expo in March, I happened upon a flurry of hugs and congratulations being bestowed upon author Mary Connealy. She had just received news that Calico Canyon had been nominated for a Christy Award in the category Historical Romance. I was tickled pink to hear that because I adore both her books and Mary herself.

I have literally laughed out loud at some of the antics in her trilogy which began with Petticoat Ranch, continued with Calico Canyon, and concluded with the release of Gingham Mountain. And Mary is as much fun as her books! It took me about 60 seconds to pretend I was her BFF feel like I had known her forever. After we compared notes on shoe woes, aching feet, and other mundane miscellany, I asked her a few questions about her writing:

How do you come up with your stories?

I think of Petticoat Ranch as my husband and my children. We have 4 daughters and my husband is from a family of 7 sons. And the way he reacts to the girls – there’s comedy in that. They just talk, talk, talk, all the time and he says “Why won't they stop talking? Make them stop talking!” And I tell him "They're girls! They don't stop talking!" And he never grew up tormenting a sister, and so some things, like when I humiliated my sister in front of her boyfriend, just aren't funny to him. So it's fun to watch the girls with their dad. He absolutely adores them and is kind of at a loss at the same time. But that's the story of Petticoat Ranch - this mountain man who gets dropped into this all-girl family.

Now a lot of Calico Canyon is my husband’s family. My husband's mom is one of my favorite people in the whole world. She had 7 sons and oh, my! She can tell stories that can curl your hair – I mean, near-death experiences almost daily with these 7 little boys. She is just a great, tough, sweet woman. I think she had 3 or 4 kids before they had electricity. My husband's the baby of that family. So I thought, we did the whole girl thing; now let's drop some poor woman into this family of all boys.

Then I thought: well, let’s mix it up a little and we'll just see if I can do it. I've been going so far overstating all the girl things and all the boy things; let's find a little balance. And Gingham Mountain, that’s my family. My mom had 8 kids in 11 years - 5 daughters and 3 sons - and we lived in a house, until my 6th little brother was born, with 2 bedrooms; then they built on and we had 3 bedrooms. So in Gingham Mountain, all those people crammed in this little house – that was us. I know people can live all crowded together and that’s just the way it was. You didn’t have your own bedroom – but I had my own drawer!

How do you come up with these hilarious conversations?

I don’t know; it’s not very normal, is it?! I'll tell you something: when I have a busy scene with lots of dialogue and motion and comedy, those are a tremendous amount of work. I almost dread them because it's hard. You write it and then fix it and fix it and fix it. It's tricky, because usually they’re misunderstanding each other, but the reader has to understand that they’re misunderstanding each other. So it's very complex, and action scenes are the same way. They're very hard work.

What’s coming up next?

A new 3 book series, called Montana Marriages, and it's more of the same: cowboys and comedy. I’m really having a lot of fun! It’s coming out in July. Another 3 books will follow that with the daughters of Petticoat Ranch grown up. And I also have a Christmas book, Cowboy Christmas, coming out.



Listening to this interview just made me smile all over again. Mary is a bundle of fun and as dear as they come! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for her Saturday night. Be sure to stop by her blog to learn more about her and her books. Tell her I sent you!

I have TWO autographed copies of Calico Canyon to give away as well as an autographed copy of Gingham Mountain. To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling me how many of the nominated books you have read (even if it's zero! That still counts!). Comments must be received by 9:00 p.m. CDT Saturday night (7/11). Continental US Residents only please.


Happy Reading!

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Rx for a Great Read

I recently got a sneak peek at a wonderful book by a great new author, and all I can say is, Wow! And if you like shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy, you will love this new series!

I don't remember how I stumbled across Candace Calvert's blog, but we immediately bonded as kindred spirits over our love of books and our nursing backgrounds. She lives a few towns down the road toward San Antonio, but we had never met - until the Christian Book Expo. I was turning to walk away from the ACFW booth when I heard her introduce herself as she walked up to the table. I spun around and butted in told her my name - what a fun time of laughter and hugging ensued! A bit later, we found a couch and sat down to become better acquainted and I was able to ask her about her book, Critical Care, the first of her three books being released by Tyndale.

I can't believe we had to come all the way to Dallas to meet! And I'm so excited about your book.

I can't wait for it to come out. Every time I look at the cover, I'm covered in goosebumps myself. It’s a big dream for me to be writing these books. The subject is Critical Incidence Stress [or] Healing the Healers: a team of counselors that works in the medical & rescue communities to take care of the caregivers when stress and burnout happen. I’m happy to be writing something I enjoy and am so interested in, but to add that faith element that is just missing in so much of general fiction and in the popular shows like ER and Grey’s Anatomy. . .it’s so needed.

You have a background in ER nursing, so you didn't have to do much research, but you aren't still working as a nurse are you?

No, but I do still do Continuing Education, particularly in Critical Incidence Stress; I just finished a course in that. And the nurses and doctors I worked with in California are my medical experts, so they’re reading my scenes and catching me if I haven’t gotten something exactly right!

This is your first book, right?

Not my first book ever. I wrote a series of comic mysteries with a nurse heroine for the mainstream market, 3 which are still available in the ABA.

So has this always been a dream for you?

It's always been a dream and a calling. I got my start in writing in Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul. I was an ER nurse for 30 years. And then I had a series of very tough things that happened in my life. The 3rd of my “triple whammy,” as I like to call it, is that I was thrown from my young thoroughbred, and I suffered very bad injuries. I actually had a broken back, a broken neck, a punctured lung, eight broken ribs, and partial paralysis of my dominant arm. This landed me on the other side of the stethoscope in my own ER, and it was a big awakening for me, having been a woman who considered myself very strong in the face of all these things. Finally God slowed me down and I had to find out where my strength really came from, and that was my faith. And I became reacquainted with some things that I really needed to. I wrote the story up, and it was called By Accident, an inspirational story, and it was published in Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul. That was my first time to be published.

It took me a while after that. The comic mysteries just sortaa happened. But in the back of my mind, I kept hearing “You were called to write inspirational.” And I finally talked to my agent and told her I felt I was called to do something else. And she encouraged me; we thought we’d give it a shot with the medical drama because it’s so personal to me, and Tyndale loved it!

Are most of the characters in your books Christians?

Some are seekers. Some are definitely non-believers, and some are Christians. All of the books begin around some inciting event that causes critical stress. In the first book, there’s a propane explosion in a day care center with injured children, and you know the emotions that would evoke. So each person - whether a nurse, doctor, or rescue worker - is affected in some way by their own personal reaction to this trauma. The concept of healing the healers comes in with peer counseling that these medical workers do in order to help each other cope with their troubles after this incident. And faith certainly comes into play. Some people do find faith that they never knew that they needed because of this tragedy. It's encouraging. My whole message is one of hope. I feel that that's a prescription we all need, and certainly in these troubling times.

Are the books in the series sequels or stand-alones that are connected?

There are two links; one link is the concept of critical stress with the peer counseling and the event of disasters. But we are also calling this the Mercy Hospital series. All three books are set in northern California at different Mercy Hospitals. The first one is at Sierra Mercy in the gold country. The second one is on the coast at Pacific Mercy, and the third one is in San Francisco at Golden Gate Mercy. Each character is introduced in the first book and then spins off into subsequent books, so you do see the characters continue and each one again has a different inciting trauma that starts the whole drama going.

So what are you doing now and what do you see in the future?

I am working on the third book right now. As far as the future, I don’t know for sure. I have another 3-book proposal in; it depends on how well these are received. In the back of my mind I would also like to do some medical suspense as well. But right now I'm just getting these launched.



Thanks so much, Candace! And now to the book. It was scheduled for a June 1 release, but it is already available and being shipped by the online sellers such as Amazon, Christian Books, and Barnes & Noble. What a treat that something related to the medical field is early rather than late! Here's the book summary:

After her brother dies in a trauma room, nurse Claire Avery can no longer face the ER. She's determined to make a fresh start--new hospital, new career in nursing education--move forward, no turning back. But her plans fall apart when she's called to offer stress counseling for medical staff after a heartbreaking day care center explosion. Worse, she's forced back to the ER, where she clashes with Logan Caldwell, a doctor who believes touchy-feely counseling is a waste of time. He demands his staff be as tough as he is. Yet he finds himself drawn to this nurse educator . . . who just might teach him the true meaning of healing.

This book quickly found its way to my shelf of favorites. Admittedly, I've loved medical fiction since I was a kid reading Cherry Ames and Sue Barton. But some books in this genre can be ridiculously and annoyingly unrealistic and need to be classified as DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). Not this one. Candace Calvert shows she has a talent for crafting a wonderful story in an accurate setting, portraying believable characters with real-life crises and issues. The medical detail was authentic without being horrific. And the personalities are spot-on. I loved how the nurses referred to Dr. Caldwell (behind his back, of course!) as McSnarly. Unfortunately, I've worked with a doctor or two like that! As the events unfold and the characters work through the circumstances of the story, the patients aren't the only ones who experience healing.

Critical Care is already receiving rave reviews. I especially liked the comments of Harry Kraus MD, who has long been my favorite author of medical fiction:

“Finally, a reason to turn off ER and Grey's Anatomy. Here is a realistic medical drama with heart. Candace Calvert gets it right with page-turning prose, a heartwarming love story, and hope. Don’t make us wait too long for the next one!” —Harry Kraus, MD,best-selling author of Salty Like Blood and Could I Have This Dance?

For an infusion of hope, get this book STAT - read it, & repeat dosage as necessary! I can't wait until the next one, Disaster Status, comes out!

Be sure to check out Candace's website as well as her blog. and tell her I referred you!

Happy Reading!

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Another BFF

I featured Lysa TerKeurst yesterday and the fun I had seeing her at the Expo. (Don't forget to comment on that post by 4:00 this afternoon for a chance to win her book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God!) An unexpected bonus was seeing one of my other Proverbs 31 BFFs - Renee Swope.

Renee and I are long-time friends now, seeing as how she spoke at our church's Ladies Retreat about three or four years ago (a memorable event due to her incoming flight experiencing a glitch in Dallas when a bird was sucked into an engine, unusually frigid temperatures, the power going out during the retreat, and our almost getting iced in at the end!). I also had the privilege of seeing her at the Girls Night Out in January in Houston.

I can even prove we're close friends. So close we coordinate our wardrobe.


Now don't be destroying my bloggy illusion. That's just mean!

Renee is a busy gal. She serves as Executive Director of Radio, Devotions and Speaking for Proverbs 31 Ministries. Renee travels throughout the country with her own busy speaking schedule. In addition to coordinating the Radio Ministry, she shares microphone duties with Lysa in presenting the daily one-minute devotional spots, which are heard on hundreds of stations across the United States, Canada, and throughout the world. (Find the station closest to you here!) You can also listen to the devotions here or read them here, I love her blog, which is full of inspiration and insight.

Renee is open and authentic in her sharing about her journey with Christ, from her difficulties as a child to her struggle with clinical depression. She is passionate about the Lord, and prays "that my love for Him and His Word will be contagious and that women will leave wanting to know Him, be known by Him, and make Him known...to one, to some or to many!"

Renee and her husband, JJ, are parents of two boys, and they are eagerly anticipating the adoption of a daughter or two from Ethiopia.

I encourage you to spend some time visiting Renee if you don't already know her. She's my BFF but I'll share!

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What Happens When Bloggers Say Yes to a Giveaway!

I love blogging.

Especially the illusion that accompanies it. The illusion that I am BFF with Famous Women! An illusion that is fed by the fact that, contrary to preconceived notions, some of these Famous Women are completely unpretentious, down-to-earth, and authentic in their interactions and their walk with God. (And that is no illusion!)

One of these BFFs that I was very excited about stalking seeing at the Expo is Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries. I l-o-v-e that gal! Many of you are familiar with Lysa through her wise, often witty, and very real blog. I am soooo not into speakers who think they are all that with a cherry on top. (Why do they need my support if they are their own #1 fan?!) Lysa's humility shines through her blog. Whether sharing about a moment with her daughter, lamenting about the latest hamester demise, reflecting on marital moments, chastising her children, or dealing with delectable dessert temptation, Lysa is open, honest, entertaining, and insightful. And full of God's truth. This is a woman who walks with God. She makes me smile, and she makes me think. And she's just fun to be around!

Here she is, speaking at the Friday evening worship session at the Expo. And while it appears that she could be pointing out what a cute outfit she has on, let me just say her brief 5-10 minute talk was packed with passion. I wanted to yell out "Preach it, sistah!"

I'm sure she's quite relieved that I controlled myself.



Her book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God is as fresh and down-to-earth as Lysa herself. Beginning with the story of the day she said yes to God (albeit reluctantly after a bit of arguing!) and gave her beloved Bible away to a man on an airplane, Lysa writes from a heart of understanding because she faces the same struggles as you and I but has learned the joy of radical obedience.

How easy it is to obey partially. Obeying just enough to give the right Christian appearance is not the obedience God desires. He looks past all the outside trappings and misguided intentions straight to the heart. He wants our full attention and absolute devotion. Don't mistake this to look like a bunch of Christianese-speaking robots walking around chanting the rules of God. No, women who say yes to God are as unique in their approach to the sold-out life for Christ as pebbles found creekside. We've all been tumbled and smoothed in different ways, but we all have one thing in common...we know we rest in the mighty hand of God. We live in anticipation and expectation of God showing up and giving evidence of how very near He always is. (p. 114)

Each chapter concludes with Bible Study questions, making this ideal for a group or accountability partner setting.

I have a copy of this book, autographed by Lysa at the Expo, for one of you who is ready to see What Happens When Women Say Yes to God! Leave a comment on this post by 4:00 p.m. CDT Tuesday (4/28) and I will pick a winner. (Continental US Residents only, please.)

You can also purchase this book directly from Lysa's website, Amazon, or your local Christian bookstore.

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Jennifer Rothschild & Personal Irony

God's power and sovereignty are often easily recognized in creation and in the big things of life. But when He "zings" me with a lesson tailor-made for my circumstance, it always blows my mind.

I have raved about the Christian Book Expo and what a wonderful time I had. And I did. But isn't it typical that out of all my wonderful experiences, when I got back to my hotel room on Saturday night, all I could think was, "I'm an idiot. I can't believe I did that. What a doofus."

And the irony of it was the book I was holding, on which the autographed ink was barely dry, when I made my self-deprecating statements.

I guess I better explain.

One of the last people I had the complete delight of meeting late Saturday afternoon is Jennifer Rothschild. I heart Jennifer! Our church did her Fingerprints of God Bible Study a few years back, and it was wonderful. Since then I've enjoyed her website & her newsletter, Java with Jennifer. She is a gifted teacher whom I admire so much. And an incredible woman. She continually wows me with her comments about the things she does even though she is blind (including putting on her own make-up and cooking).

So I was thrilled she was signing books late in the day when the already light crowds had trickled down to just a smattering of people. I made my way over to the booth where she sat. And then all rational thought departed my brain as I became a blathering idiot.

As I effused over her telling her how wonderful she was and getting her to sign the book I had brought and another one I had bought for a friend (sorry bloggy friends, I kinda left you in the lurch and it never occurred to me to buy a giveaway! Nope, this one was all about me & Jennifer.), I'm sure she thought I must be a teeny-bopper groupie! I could not seem to make my mouth shut up, focused waaay too much on "I don't see how you _____ since you're blind", and I probably sounded like I'd never met anyone with a physical disability. She was gracious and kind, but after I left, I wanted to crawl in the nearest hole, telling myself "stupid, stupid, stupid."

Oh, the book I took for her to sign? One I obviously need to reread!


Self Talk, Soul Talk addresses what we as women do all too well: talk to ourselves in a demeaning way. As the back cover says,


Jennifer paints a picture of our minds as closets:

I seem to have a secret closet tucked somewhere in the hallways of my mind. A thought closet. And what I had been storing in that closet wasn't good at all: shelves and racks and bins full of hidden thoughts, secret insecurities, lies, illusions, and reminders of former failures. How did they get ther? Why can't I get rid of them?

Without my consent, my mind keeps reaching into the dark corners of that closet to retrieve the troublesome contents I have inadvertently stored away over the years. The boxes have labels like these:

• You're not good enough.
• You're not the wife you could be.
• You're not a good mom.
• You should have done a better job.

Our soul talk can finally change the contents of our thought closets. . .My faith has led me to the Bible to find what to say to my soul. And speaking the truths I've found in the pages of Scripture has turned my thought closet from a prison into an oasis of freedom! (p. 14-15)

And this part really gets me as I think about berating myself in the hotel room:

Are your words gracious and yet based on the authority of Scripture? I am quite sure I would not tolerate someone else speaking to me with the kind of words I have used when speaking to myself. . .If my husband, Phil, ever called me an idiot because I spilled coffee on his newspaper, I would be crushed and explode with indignation. Yet idiot is the word I most frequently called myself when I made a similar blunder. . .The next time you gear up to spout off some choice words to your soul, pause and consider the words of Paul: "Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone" (Colossians 4:6 NLT). "Everyone" includes you. (p. 28-29)

Sigh. Nothing like being Exhibit A for the book you just got autographed!

Each chapter concludes with Questions to Ponder, and Jennifer also has a Self Talk Soul Talk website containing more thoughts from Jennifer and Interviews with Women Who Talk to Themselves, such as Chonda Pierce, Patsy Clairmont, Lisa Welchel, and Kathy Troccoli.


Jennifer has also just released the corresponding Bible Study - Me, Myself, and Lies: A Thought Closet Makeover. Here's a brief intro:


And here she is with her sweet husband, "her" Dr. Phil:



Oh, and talk about double the fun! Lysa TerKeurst just announced last week that Jennifer will be speaking at this year's She Speaks Conference! I'm dying to go!

I am an idiot. I am a friend of God! (And maybe one day, Jennifer Rothschild?!)

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A Chat with Susan Meissner & Giveaway!

UPDATE:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
4
Timestamp: 2009-04-22 18:28:45 UTC
Congrats to Beverlydru! Email me your info and I'll get it in the mail to you!

* * * * *

I will long treasure the memory of the Christian Book Expo and the opportunity to be around so many authors. Meeting the names on my bookshelves was a thrill in itself. But the opportunity to sit down and talk with them and get a glimpse behind the scenes of their writing was an indescribable privilege. These folks have such a spiritual depth and a driving desire that their words present God's truth. Having received disparaging and even disdainful remarks from friends who say they don't read fiction books (implying, if not outright declaring, greater spiritual maturity to be found in non-fiction), I must say that I have learned some great lessons from these fiction authors' books. (And after all, Jesus spoke in parables, which would be considered fiction, right?!) But I digress.

Today I share with you the heart of Susan Meissner. Susan's book The Shape of Mercy (which I reviewed here) won the ECPA Book of the Year Award at the Expo. (It has also been nominated for a RITA award by the Romance Writers of America, in the category Novel with Strong Romantic Elements; winner to be announced July 18, 2009.) It was wonderful to sit down and talk with her.

Congratulations on your award!

“Thank you. I was very surprised. I was in a field of wonderful writers. Anyone really could have won, and all of our writing is different enough that it could have appealed to the panel of judges in any number of ways, so yes, I was surprised and pleased. . .it’s affirmation for me, which is one of my love languages. It will help me remain confident that I have a gift and I’m meant to use it – because I do struggle with confidence. . . This helps me feel that I have something that God has given me to do and I am meant to use it and I’m using it in the way He wants me to.

Tell me about the book. It was a good book. I don't know if I would say I enjoyed it, because some books are tough to read because they’re hard and gritty. There were some sad and hard things in it. The Salem Witch Trials took me back to my junior year in high school; I hadn't thought about them in years. What made you come up with this storyline or idea?

I had actually forgotten that I was in a play when I was 13; I played the role of a young girl accused of witchcraft. It was a one-act play called To Burn a Witch and it was set in England. This other young girl and some of our friends were placed in this cell and we knew we were going to die. And I got it in my head that if I started screaming and railing and that one of the other girls was bewitching me that I might be let go, so that’s what my character did. I screamed, and everyone in the front row jumped, and they led me away to safety, while the others were led away to be burned. And it was the whole idea that you can sway the crowd with just a word, and if they want to believe it, they will.

I've never forgotten what it felt like to be the accused and then the accuser. But I hadn't thought about it in years. Then a couple of years ago I read an article about a woman wanting to exonerate her great-times-8-grandmother who had been accused of witchcraft but her name had never been expunged, and she wanted to clear her name. So when I read that, I remembered the play and reading The Crucible in high school, and it all came together.

The idea for the diary came as I was thinking “How can I make it real? How can I take our present day notions back in time? That's what Arthur Miller did with The Crucible - it wasn’t about the Salem Witch Trials; it was about McCarthyism. It was about everyone accusing everyone else of being a Communist. [In The Shape of Mercy] this young college student from an affluent family is tired of the presuppositions people make about rich people. She thinks she’s above all that, that she sees people for who they are. As she’s transcribing the diary, she realizes she does make presuppositions and she does rise to snap judgments and she does believe the worst about people because that’s easier.

As I said in my review, it reminds me of GroupThink.

Exactly. And it's all motivated by fear – when someone is afraid – like Chicken Little and The Sky is Falling!; he was able to use his fear to sway all the others.

You've written quite a few books, haven't you?

This is my tenth book.

Have you always wanted to write?

I can’t remember when I didn’t want to write. So that’s why I think it was a gifting from God. It was just an innate thing that kept blossoming in different places. I wrote little poems and stories in elementary school. And I had a really great English teacher in high school and he was really instrumental; he saw that I had potential and he kept finding ways to draw it out and encourage me. He kept writing comments on my papers to affirm me. I dedicated my first book – he’s in the acknowledgements. I see him now; I live back where I went to high school and we go out for coffee. It’s wonderful to see him because he was pivotal as far as my confidence to even try this. When you write, it’s an expressive art form, and it invites criticism; it invites reaction -- it’s putting yourself out there. But I feel like I’m wired for it. and I’m restless when I’m not writing.

So do you have the voices in your head?!

I do. Not so much the voices but the images of things that I'm picturing, the conversations that I'm picturing, a home, someone’s dress, or seeing someone in the airport and wanting to follow them to where they’re going, feeling like they're a walking character – what do they sound like when they talk on the phone? Do they fidget when they sit down? Are they a coffee drinker or a tea drinker? It's probably slightly annoying and unnerving. Most writers have highly developed observation skills and that's why we see a story where there is no story because we've trained our minds to see beyond what's there.

How do you prepare? Do you journal and "listen" to your characters before writing?

I ask my characters a list of questions. Like, "what are you afraid of?" Knowing what I'm going to put them through, what would they be afraid of, and what fear could I use to drive my plot? Who do they admire? What is their favorite food? It might not even show up in the plot. And sometimes I give them my own characteristics. I really love Wheat Thins with peanut butter and raisins on them. I gave that to one of my characters. I need to know my characters before I write about them. I could write a story about my sister because I know her. So I need to know my characters like that.

What is your next project?

I have a book coming out in October called White Picket Fences. It's about a contemporary family with the iconic perfect life from the outside – the white picket fence life: good jobs, parents who love each other, a boy, a girl, a dog, a minivan. They’ve even convinced themselves everything is fine. But one of the kids has some powerful and painful memories and no one wants to talk about it because to do so would be to admit they don’t have the perfect life.

And that is all I'm going to share from the interview about that book right now! I'm going to save the rest for this fall when the book is coming out! Just wanted to whet your appetite a bit!!

Thanks so much, Susan!

Susan has a beautiful website and two blogs. Edgewise is her blog containing her posts on Mondays and Fridays regarding "topics such as literature, writing, culture, and lots of etcetera." The Shape of Mercy blog is a place where the characters in the book live on as though time hasn't stopped. Join Lauren, Clarissa, Abigail, Esperanza and Mercy as they post on Mondays and/or Fridays.

GIVEAWAY!
Fresh from the Expo, I have a copy of The Shape of Mercy, signed by Susan and with the ECPA Book of the Year seal on it for one of you! Just leave a comment on this post by noon tomorrow (Wednesday, April 22) and I will draw a winner. Continental US residents only, please!

Happy Reading!

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Book Review & Double Giveaway!

UPDATE Tuesday @ 2:00 PM:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
23
Timestamp: 2009-04-21 18:54:55 UTC
Congrats to Carole, winner of the books! Email me your address, and I'll send them your way!

Thanks to everyone for your comments. More giveaways to come (including the one today for Susan Meissner's The Shape of Mercy)!

* * * * *

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Reluctant Cowgirl
Barbour Publishing (April 2009)
by
Christine Lynxwiler

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Christine lives with her husband and two precious daughters in the foothills of the beautiful Ozark Mountains in her home state of Arkansas. Her greatest earthly joy is her family and, aside from doing God’s will, spending time with them is her top priority.

She recently took a break from writing romance to pen a Christmas story with a twist. Her Mom Lit novella, My True Love Gave to Me, is part of a 2 in 1 anthology from Barbour entitled All Jingled Out. It’s also included in Simply Christmas, a 4 in 1 Barbour anthology.

She has written two other novellas, both romance, which are included in Barbour anthologies, City Dreams, and Prairie County Fair and a serial for the Heartsong Presents book club newsletter – The Carousel Horse. The Carousel Horse can be read in its entirety on the Heartsong website, and you can read excerpts from all of her other books on her website, HERE

In 2003, Christine was honored by being voted #2 Favorite New Author by the Heartsong Presents Book Club members!

ABOUT THE BOOK
Actress Crytal McCord gave up the closeness of her big family in order to make a name for herself on the New York City stage. But when life in the Big Apple turns sour, she follows a country road back to her parents Arkansas ranch.

The last thing she expects to find in cowboy country is a new leading man. Still, she can't help but imagine handsome rancher Jeremy Buchanan in the role.

Unfortunately, Jeremy's been burned by Crystal's type before. Or has he? Every time he thinks he knows her, the multi-faceted woman surprises him. Will the reluctant pair allow their hearts to guide them, or will their common stubborn pride keep them miles apart?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Reluctant Cowgirl, go HERE

MY THOUGHTS:
Although I'm a city girl through and through, living on a ranch near a small town was very appealing in this book. Life can change in the blink of an eye, and guilt can drive us away from God regardless of our environment. And sometimes coming home involves more than packing our belongings.

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Christine Lynxwiler at the Christian Book Expo. What a sweetheart! Although there wasn't an opportunity to do more than "meet & greet" her (and take the picture above), it was evident that this is a lady who cares about others and has a heart for sharing God's love through her books.

GIVEAWAY!
I have a copy of The Reluctant Cowgirl and Christine's previous book, Along Came a Cowboy (another delightful read!), to give to one of you! Leave a comment on this post by noon CDT tomorrow (Tuesday 4/21) and I'll draw a winner. Continental US residents only, please.

Happy Reading!

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Randy Alcorn Giveaway!

UPDATE: 4/7/09 8:25 PM:

Here are your random numbers:
3
Timestamp: 2009-04-08 01:19:18 UTC

Congrats to Pat S, winner of the the book! I'll email you, Pat, to make arrangements to get it to you!

* * * * * *

Size can be deceiving. Some thick books say "a whole lot of nothing", while a little book can pack quite a punch. Such is the case of the compact The Treasure Principle.


The subject of giving can be such a tinderbox among Christians. We willingly dole out money to the gym, for school events, and our kids' sports teams with their assorted concessions and paraphernalia. But let the preacher start preaching on stewardship and giving and suddenly excuses began to mount up.

I appreciated Randy Alcorn's approach to this often volatile subject. This is not a heavy-handed or guilt-motivated treatise. Rather, he suggests (and Scripture validates) that giving is a key to our joy in life. He also points out that

"15 percent of everything Christ said relates to this topic -- more than heaven and hell combined. . . Because there's a fundamental connection between or spiritual lives and how we think about and handle money. We may try to divorce our faith and our finances, but God sees them as inseparable." (p. 9)

In six brief chapters, Randy discusses this Treasure Principle, including the joy that comes from giving, roadblocks to giving, and how to get started. The end of the book contains a prayer guide with "31 Radical Liberating Questions to Ask God About your Giving."

I had the pleasure of meeting Randy Alcorn at the Christian Book Expo several weeks ago. He was gracious and warm. And yes, Sara, I did give him your message plea that he write more fiction books! His response? He enjoys writing fiction and he has not ruled out writing more in the future. But nothing is planned at the moment. Right now his non-fiction seems to be what is most wanted -- i.e., sells the best. He is currently working on a book about God's sovereignty. He appreciated receiving the message, however, and knowing that there is a demand for his fiction books!


BOOK SUMMARY:
Flip-Flop Your Concept of Giving!

Bestselling author Randy Alcorn introduced readers to a revolution in material freedom and radical generosity with the release of the original The Treasure Principle in 2001. Now the revision to the compact, perennial bestseller includes a provocative new concluding chapter depicting God asking a believer questions about his stewardship over material resources. Readers are moved from the realms of thoughtful Bible exposition into the highly personal arena of everyday life. Because when Jesus told His followers to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” He intended that they discover an astounding secret: how joyful giving brings God maximum glory and His children maximum pleasure. Discover a joy more precious than gold!

STORY BEHIND THE BOOK
After years of writing and teaching on the theme “God owns everything,” in 1990 Randy Alcorn was sued by an abortion clinic (for peaceful, nonviolent intervention for the unborn). Suddenly he had to resign as a pastor and was restricted to making minimum wage. Legally unable to own anything, Randy gave all his book royalties to missions work and need-meeting ministries. He and his family have experienced the reality of The Treasure Principle—that God really does own everything, takes care of us, and graciously puts assets into our hands that we might have the joy and privilege of investing in what will last for eternity.

AUTHOR BIO:

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries (EPM). Prior to 1990, when he started EPM, he served as a pastor for fourteen years. He has spoken around the world and has taught on the adjunct faculties of Multnomah Bible College and Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Randy is the best-selling author of twenty-seven books, with over three million in print.


The Treasure Principle may be purchased directly from Random House or here.

BUT WAIT! I HAVE A GIVEAWAY!
I have a copy of this book, which Randy signed at the Expo, for one of you! Just leave a comment on this post by 6:00 p.m. CDT tomorrow (Tuesday) and I will draw a name. (Continental US Residents only) Be sure to leave an email address if you don't have a blog!

Happy Reading & Joyful Giving!

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