A Christy Winner Interview & Giveaway!

UPDATE Sunday 9/25/11 at 10:00 pm WINNER!

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1
Timestamp: 2011-09-26 02:53:57 UTC
Congrats to petite (Ellie)! Email me your address and I'll send the book to you!

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DiAnn Mills is an author that I had the privilege of meeting in Dallas back in 2009. I had enjoyed several of her books and we immediately hit it off since she lives in Houston and we have some commonalities, plus she writes books set in Texas! When I found out I had the opportunity to go to Atlanta in July, I immediately set up an interview to reconnect with her. At first, I thought, "What should I ask her? I've asked the standard author questions about her writing journey, etc." Silly me! There is never enough time to talk to someone who is as vibrant and fascinating as she is! Grab a cup of your favorite brew and enjoy this chat with DiAnn Mills!

I still laugh when I remember meeting and interviewing in 2009 in Dallas when you told me that most people drive through their neighborhood and see a roll of carpet at the curb and think someone’s remodeling but you immediately think “there’s a dead body somewhere!” (She laughs!) Tell me about your recent novel, Under a Desert Sky, which is set in New Mexico -- a change from your series about the Border Patrol.

There’s a story about Under a Desert Sky. Two years ago I was supposed to teach an advanced fiction class at a writer’s conference. I flew into Albuquerque and it’s 2 ½ hours by bus to even get to Ghost Ranch. It’s desolate. (Remember the movie City Slickers? It’s filmed there.) It got its name honestly. There are some fabulous tales there. Georgia O’Keefe, the famous artist, lived several years there. We pulled into this ranch, kind of an adobe kind of setting. I got off the bus and I said to the driver, “Just give me my luggage and I’ll pull it to [my room] as soon as I sign in.” And he said, “Oh no. We have to get someone to drive you there.” I said, “Oh, I can walk!” And he said, “No, where you’re staying is not even here.” So I looked around, and the sun was starting to set, and it was the most desolate place I’d ever seen in my life! In truth, it was 2 ½ miles down a back road and over a cattle guard to get to this home that was built in 1935, and by then it was dark! There were no locks on the house, my cell phone didn’t work, and all I could think was, “In the morning, I’m going home!” That was my horrible attitude! The next morning I opened the blinds and it was absolutely the most beautiful view I had ever seen. The sun was glistening off the rocks, and I thought, “Wow! This is stunning!” And I fell in love with the whole area.

This was the first time this writer’s conference had been held at Ghost Ranch, and they didn’t have any takers for the class I was teaching. So I walked around and all I could think was “This would be a great place for a suspense novel.” By the time I went home a few days later, I had the whole story in my mind. I took tons of pictures, and set it around that ranch – the buildings, the house, the landmarks, everything.

It’s unusual in that the heroine is in first person and the hero is in third. The reason for that is because I knew her. She spoke to me. I understood her lifestyle a little better. But the hero is a Navajo Indian who is also a medical doctor. I couldn’t get that intimacy in first person, so I wrote in third, as close to first as I could, but in third, so it’s a little different. I loved the way it turned out.

It’s very good. Being from Texas, when I think of New Mexico, I think of what you saw that first day, and I don’t see the beauty. I think of flat and desert, although I know there are some pretty areas, such as Albuquerque and the mountains.

Mountains, copper colors and blonde blending in together, and when the sun glistened off them it just sparkled, the deer – it was November so I didn’t see any snakes or I’d have been running! – everywhere you turned, it was just gorgeous. It is a trip worth taking. I’m going back the first part of November this year to teach a beginner class and I’m so excited because I’ll have my book with me. They have a library and I donated a copy to that. It was just fun. It was out of my normal realm. It was 1935, which was a nice transition from historical to contemporary suspense.

What do you have in the works right now?

I have a romantic suspense coming out with Tyndale in September called Attracted to Fire. The hero and heroine are Secret Service Agents. Their protectee is the rebellious daughter of the Vice President. They whisk her off to a remote ranch in West Texas thinking they can keep her safe because she’s been threatened, but someone on that ranch has betrayed them. It’s fun. I enjoyed that; I loved the suspense and the Secret Service – how they do things and how they think and how they would step in front of a bullet for someone they don’t even care for.

So how did you research that?

It was difficult. I know a couple of Secret Service agents and basically what they would say is “No, DiAnn, you have it all wrong; go back to the drawing board” or “Hmm, that’s pretty close” – that sort of thing. So I did have a little bit of help, but it was in such a way not to go against Secret Service protocol but so I could write with a little accuracy.

I’m currently writing a series called Crime Scene Houston. And I love it! I love the characters; it has the same characters all the way through. My heroine is a writer, and my hero is an FBI agent. In the course of writing Pursuit of Justice, I became friends with the media coordinator in Houston’s FBI office. She was instrumental in securing me a pass that I could write from their solved cold cases. So the novels in that particular series are based on solved cold cases. And then I massage it and fictionalize it. They’re set in Houston. My FBI agent, the media coordinator, reads every word to make sure I have the right terminology. There are some things that are a little stretched and we work on that, because it is fiction and it’s like a movie – not everything is going to be exactly the same – and I’m really enjoying that. My husband says I live in a fiction world and that’s pretty true!

The first book is about gang warfare and I have a fabulous story about that. I finished the first one and it’s based on a case that was originally called Beloved Doe. It was a child who was found in a dumpster and the child had been starved and it looked like the child, because of physical problems, had had a feeding tube at one time. It was really sad and it took five years for it to be solved. The first quarter of the book I sobbed all the way through because I knew it was true. I had the news media reports on DVD to watch. The other part of the story is that my FBI agent is trying to bring in some gangs. It’s gang warfare mixed with this other situation; they overlap and you'll have to read it to find out how that happens! I finished the first draft and sent it in and my editor said, “You know, we really would like to have the point of view of the villain.” The villain is the leader of the largest Hispanic gang in Houston. Now, I’ve gone to Sudan to research, researched FBI, ridden the line with the Border Patrol – I’ll do just about anything to research! But I’m not going to go to a gang and say “Hey! Tell me how you do things!” But a fabulous thing happened. In our church on Easter we had one of those presentations where people walked across the stage with signs that said what they used to be. Well, there was one fellow whose sign said, “Used to be in a cartel, and saved by the blood of Christ.” Everybody clapped. I called the church’s Spanish ministry and got in contact with the guy right away. He’s the sweetest, nicest guy you’d ever want to meet! He told me everything I needed to know about the villain’s view, Spanish phrases, all kinds of cool things. And I was able to help connect him with a published writer to do a biography for him. Obviously he can’t use his real name, but he’s had two cartels, done everything from street crime to white collar crime. Anyway, we just became friends! So I got my point of view and didn’t have to go down on the south side and wait for something to happen!

I’m very happy with how my career is going. There’s always the social media. You could spend all day long doing nothing but social media, and I don’t want to do that. I write in the mornings, and I have my craftsman students, the Christian Writer’s Guild that I mentor, in the afternoon. I highly respect, admire, and understand all the work that has to happen through social media. So I’m doing it but I hope that I’m doing it sensibly – more of a power punch than a scatter gun.

I love your Monday question on Facebook. I’m just overwhelmed with how kind you authors are. I’ve met “famous” Christians who don’t have time for the little people. It means so much when I make a comment and you "Like" it.

I have to go in with the mindset of “There’s a friend, there’s a new friend, there’s a friend I haven’t seen in a while,” instead of “Oh, how nice this person is, maybe she’ll buy my book.” That’s what I enjoy about social media, Facebook, etc. Our grandparents purchased their supplies from the fellow with seven kids who sat on the pew in front of them in church. They purchased from those with whom they had a relationship, not that the relationship was supposed to get them a better deal, but because they liked them. That’s the way I look at Facebook. I want to have relationships. If you’re in the market for a book and if you want to read mine, that’s great, but that’s not why I’m on FB. I think that maybe some people don’t have that mindset and then they wonder why things aren’t going the way they want them to. And that’s my view. We’re just bringing back traditions our grandparents had and putting them in a different form. That’s my sermon on Facebook!

To me as a reader, it’s just that much more fun to read a book and meet the author and make connections and discover you went to the same church as my brother-in-law and that you live in Houston!

Any last words for your readers? What will I remember from this interview, like the carpet at the curb?

Maybe my friend who used to be in two cartels who loves Jesus? Oh my! He works in Spanish ministry, and he's a great dad! He understands the power of forgiveness -- just amazing! You and I live in our comfortable worlds. I just have so much respect and admiration for this man and who he is and what he’s doing in the midst of some dangers. We either think some lives can never be redeemed or we think “oh that’s a movie; that doesn’t really happen.” It does. It really does.

Look for me on Facebook and let me hear from you!

Thank you so much DiAnn! It's always a treat to spend some time visiting with you!

As I mentioned, I also had the opportunity to meet and interview DiAnn in 2009 just after Sworn to Protect was released. (You can see that interview and review here.) So it was an extra-special delight to be in Atlanta in July and see DiAnn receive the Christy Award for this same novel! So of course, I went by the Tyndale booth the next day where they were giving away autographed copies and got one for a giveaway! For a chance to win, just leave a comment on this post by 8:00 pm CDT Sunday, 9/25/11. You must include your name, as well as an email address if you don't have a blog, to enter. Leave a second comment telling me you linked to this post via email or FB for a second entry. Limit two entries per person. US Residents only, please.

Tomjorrow, I'll share my review of her just-released novel, Attracted to Fire!

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Atlanta Giveaway #8 - Allison Pittman's Sister Wife Series

UPDATE Wednesday, 9/7/11 at 8:00 am: WINNERS!

Sorry for the delay in announcing a winner; with all the news of the fires and trying to ascertain who in our church family might need assistance, it kinda slipped my mind.

Winner of Book 1, For Time and Eternity:

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5
Timestamp: 2011-09-07 13:02:15 UTC
Congrats to windycindy! Email me your address and I'll send the book your way!

Winner of Book 2, Forsaking All Others:

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9
Timestamp: 2011-09-07 13:12:02 UTC
Congrats to Esther Byler, who visited from Allison Pittman's Facebook page! Esther, I'm sending you a FB message and I need to hear from you no later than noon Friday to claim your book!

For those of you who didn't win, I highly recommend you grab a copy of this series. It is well worth the money!

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CHECK OUT THE UPDATED GIVEAWAY INFO AT THE END OF THIS POST!


You are probably getting tired of reading "I was thrilled to meet and interview. . ." but there are only so many ways to say that! Allison Pittman is an author whose books I have loved from her very first one back in 2006. We connected via email over her books but had never met in spite of the fact that she is also a Texas gal. I loved sitting down and talking to her on Tuesday morning of ICRS -- in fact, I was so caught up in talking about her books that I completely forgot to take a picture, which really aggravated me when I got home and realized that! Oh well - I'll just have to see her again sometime! Here is my chat with Allison Pittman.


I just finished reading the advanced copy of Forsaking All Others, and it is an incredible, incredible book. Tell me this is not the end of the series. I have to know how these girls turn out! I just feel like these people are so real!

Well, the sales of the first book (For Time and Eternity) have not been great. But I don’t know anyone who hasn’t loved it. I have synopses of stories for Rachel’s story and Evangeline’s story. I’m most heartbroken if I don’t get to write Rachel’s story because I love her. And she really delves more into the polygamist aspect of it even than Camilla did. Another book I wanted to do in the series is further on down the line with Nathan’s two sons. But it’s hard, when the numbers aren’t there, to justify going on.

[Note from Linda: We discussed some aspects of the story that I would love to share but won’t because it would be a severe spoiler. But oh, we had a great time talking about the characters in these wonderful books! We also discussed the cover, over which Allison really has no control, but which I thought was not particularly attractive. I would not have been drawn to the book if I had not been familiar with Allison Pittman’s writing. Allison said they are re-releasing For Time and Eternity with a revised cover.}

Tell me about the Mormon aspect of this book. It seems like there is a huge increase in the number of Mormons today and in their being viewed as more mainstream.

I think it’s very purposeful on their part to align themselves with Christianity as much as they can. I read a State of the Church Address from 1963/1964 where they were still calling the Gospel “mythology”. When it became politically savvy to be an evangelical and the evangelical movement really came into play they began to say “Yes, we are Christians, too.” Mormons did not call themselves Christians [in the past] because Christians were their enemies; they were the Gentiles. Christians were, quite frankly, the ones who were chasing them out of towns and shooting them and, actually, being pretty horrible. Now that’s wHow did you find out so many details about the garments and wedding ceremonies? I know current Mormons would never tell you about those!

I did a lot of reading on chat rooms of ex-Mormons. They call themselves MNMs – Mormons No More. These are people who have left the church. They talk about the garments and growing up with them. It’s also interesting historical research. The garments changed over the years.

They truly believe the garments are their salvation. If you die without your garments [you’re doomed] —that’s your identification into heaven. When you do have to change them, you hope you don’t get struck by lightning in the middle of changing! You have to treat them very carefully. You’re supposed to always hand wash them. You’re not supposed to throw them in the machine because something could happen. When one wears out you cut the sacred markings off, you throw the garments away and burn the sacred patch. I just think, “How sad to have your faith in that, in this rag you’re wearing.” To think that it has eternal significance is mind-blowing to me.

Have you gotten any mail from Mormons who haven’t liked the book?

I got one email from a woman who is “a happily married Mormon and her husband isn’t a polygamist.” Well, I would assume not because polygamy is illegal! Even the mainstream Mormon Church denounces that.

When I set out to write the book, I didn’t want it to be about polygamy. I wanted it to be about marriage. At the core of it is the marriage between her and Nathan, and when you marry outside of the faith, how heartbreaking that can be! He happens to be bringing in other wives. I have a woman in my Sunday School class who is married to a Jehovah’s Witness. That’s just sad that they can’t share that spiritual bond.

I’ve only gotten one just real negative response [from a Mormon] and she says that she believes her salvation is in Jesus Christ. I emailed her back and said “Then I don’t think you really understand your theology. And good for you! I’m glad you understand the saving grace of Jesus Christ.”

In fact, I got a really good review on a Mormon book blog. He felt sorry for me being locked in my theological box and not being open to new revelations but he liked the characters and he liked the book.

It's interesting that he could like the it when it opposes what he believes.

It was really important to me not to have Nathan be monstrous and unlikeable. I wanted the Mormon characters to be likeable. You have to care about him to understand Camilla’s heartache at having to leave him and still loving him. Sometimes making choices are really hard. It would be way too easy if he were horrible and abusive. I wanted it to be hard for her to leave because he’s handsome and he’s charming and he’s sexy and she loves him. Sometimes we have to leave things we really, really want to have, to have the life that Christ would have us lead.

I think out of all my male heroes I loved Nathan Fox the most. Even though he’s forbidden and awful, I just adored him!

Tell me about Rachel, Nathan’s sister.

Rachel’s just in it for the money! (She laughs.) Rachel’s a great character because she’s a Mormon of convenience.

But she really staunchly defends it.

She does, but she has these moments where she says “You can believe or not believe, but I know that being married to this guy I get to have this house, I get to have these things, I get to have a life I’d never be able to have if I weren’t a part of this church and a part of this movement.”

I think that she’s more staunchly defending Nathan because she loves him and sees him as her protector and doesn’t want him to be hurt or disgraced. It’s not all about the church but about “don’t do this to my brother.”

What’s on your plate right now?

I’m working on a new series with Tyndale set in the 1920’s, which I love. I love that era! My recent book with Multnomah, , with the flapper, was set in the ‘20s. I loved that book. I have to say, of all of my books, I think Lilies in Moonlight is the book that I would read if I hadn’t written it. I really enjoyed writing that story, especially after Camilla being lost in the snow! There was an evangelist in the mid-twenties, Aimee Semple McPherson, who is credited with starting the Pentecostal movement Movement. I have stories of three different women in three different books who somewhat intersect with her ministry in different ways. It’s been fun to do. I’m about one third of the way through with the first book.

I would love to do more Sister Wives, but you have to go where the market is. Maybe if the second book really takes off – they know at Tyndale I’m ready to go! In the meantime, I’m working on this and it’s a fun era. It’s hard because you don’t think of the 1920’s and think “Christian.” In your traditional historical, everyone went to church because that’s just what everybody did. That was the whole social outlet. What I love about the twenties is you come into an era where being amoral is socially normal. There was a time if you drank, if you danced, if you ran around, if you dated, and if you were being loud or obnoxious or sexual, then that was considered sin. The whole society would shun you. Then in the 1920’s we have a world in general saying, “It’s okay to be this way. This is what you should be doing.” So I think you can get characters that have a more authentic faith because they are really having to make a choice between the world and living for Christ, whereas in straight historical if you were worldly you were awful. It was that clear.

What do you like to do just for fun?

We really love to travel. We’re Disney people. We’ve always got a trip that’s being planned to do that. I’m a huge movie watcher and a huge TV watcher. I know people probably think that’s terrible, but I’m a huge TV junkie. I have my TV on while I write. I put it on something like Dateline Investigative Discovery Channel. I just have that sort of humming in the background. I never write more than 2-3 sentences at a time. I don’t do sprint writing. If I don’t have something on TV, I get up and go do something. If I have the TV on I might just sit and look up for 5 minutes or so, and then go back and write a few more sentences, and then watch, and then go back. I hear other writers, or [see] on Facebook, “I wrote 4000 words today” and I just can’t imagine that. I am not a fast writer. Maybe I’d be faster without the TV on – I don’t know. But I just get restless.

And I have three boys, including twins who are about to be 17. They just got their driver’s license and that was better than potty training! They are both so busy that I was grateful when I didn’t have to haul them around. My youngest son is 13, and he’s quieter and likes to be home more.

Anything else you want to say to readers besides “Buy these books so I can write the rest of the series!”

You know, I was talking to a woman from South Africa, and it’s so weird to think of people all over the world—or even people in Indiana—buying my book, something I wrote. I see myself in my living room just tippity-tapping away, and to think that at some point, someone is going to see it in a store and pick it up and buy it. It’s such a humbling thing. I love my readers so much. I felt so much pressure with the second [Sister Wives] book. It was almost crippling writing the follow-up to For Time and Eternity because I felt like I had a huge debt I owed them to finish up the story well. I’m so thankful that anyone buys and reads, and I have a huge fear of disappointing. I can’t write to the audience, but I’m aware of my readers and I want them to feel, first and foremost, that they got a good story.

THE SISTER WIFE SERIES:

For Time and Eternity
Allison Pittman
(Tyndale)
ISBN: 978-1414335964
August, 2010/384 pages/$13.99
All Camilla Deardon knows of the Mormons camping nearby is the songs she hears floating on the breeze. Then she meets one of them—a young man named Nathan Fox. Never did she imagine he would be so handsome, so charming, especially after Mama and Papa’s warnings to stay away. Though she knows she should obey her parents, Camilla can’t refuse her heart. But even Nathan’s promises cannot prepare her for what she will face in Utah.

You can read my review here.

Forsaking All Others
Allison Pittman
(Tyndale)
ISBN-13: 978-1414335971
October, 2011/400 pages/$13.99

Camilla Fox is alive. The last thing she remembers is being lost in the snow after leaving her home to escape the Mormon faith she no longer calls her own. She’s been taken in by the 5th Infantry Regiment of the US Army and given over to the personal care of Captain Charles Brandon. As she regains her strength, memories of her two children she had to leave behind come flooding back, threatening to break her heart. Camilla is determined to reunite with her daughters. But when news of her father’s grave illness reaches her, she knows she must return to the family farm to reconcile with her father. As spring arrives, Camilla returns to Salt Lake City a changed woman, but nothing could prepare her for the changes to the city, to the Mormon church, and to the family she left behind.

MY THOUGHTS:
Wow. I inhaled this book. It's hard for a sequel to match the quality and intensity of feeling of a first book in a series, but Allison Pittman has accomplished this in spades. Camilla once again captured my heart and I ached and agonized with her pain and heartache, her love for her daughters, her longing for her father's forgiveness, her desire for her husband's faithful love, and her steadfast commitment to God. For anyone who wants an insight into the history of the Mormon church and its theology, this is a fascinating book. Beyond that, it should be required reading for any Christian considering marrying someone outside of the faith. This is story-telling at its best; I had to keep reminding myself that these were fictional characters! I hated to see this book end, and I long to know what happens next in the lives of Camilla and her children. I can't recommend this book and this series highly enough.


GIVEAWAY

UPDATE!: Since several commenters have already read For Time and Eternity, Tyndale has graciously agreed to let me add a giveaway of the brand-new, soon-to-be-released, second book, Forsaking All Others! So this is now a double giveaway! TWO winners will be chosen - one for each book!


I received an autographed copy of the first book, For Time and Eternity, in Atlanta to give to one of you. To enter, leave a comment on this post by 8:00 pm CDT Sunday (9/4/11). Post about this interview & giveaway on your blog or FB and leave a second comment for an additional entry. Limit two entries per person. A winner will be drawn by random. US residents only, please. Be sure to include an email address if you don't have a blog.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of Forsaking All Others free from Tyndale in preparation for my interview with the author. 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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Atlanta Giveaway #7 - Summer Dream

UPDATE Wednesday, 9/7/11 at 1:30 pm WINNERS!

Sorry for the delay in announcing a winner; with all the news of the fires and trying to ascertain who in our church family might need assistance, it kinda slipped my mind.

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Here are your random numbers:
4
7
3
Timestamp: 2011-09-07 18:25:27 UTC

Congrats to Michelle, Merry, and skoots1mom! Email me your addresses, ladies, and I'll mail the books to you!

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September may be knocking at the door, but we hit 112 yesterday and there's still some time left for a Summer Dream - or three! Just as my week in Atlanta ended, I posted a review as part of the blog tour for Summer Dream by Martha Rogers. You may remember that I just "happened" to walk up to the publisher's booth when Martha Rogers was standing there and we discovered that we have a mutual friend.

Martha gave me THREE autographed copies of this book to give away on my blog, so leave a comment on this post by 8:00 pm CDT Sunday, 9/4/11, and I will draw 3 winners. US residents only, please. Be sure to include an email address if you don't have a blog.

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Atlanta Giveaway #6 - Over the Edge

UPDATE Wednesday, 9/7/11 at 8:00 am: WINNER!

Sorry for the delay in announcing a winner; with all the news of the fires and trying to ascertain who in our church family might need assistance, it kinda slipped my mind.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
1
Timestamp: 2011-09-07 12:56:35 UTC
Congrats to StillMagnolia! Email me your address and I'll send the book your way!

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The first day I was in Atlanta, I passed a woman as I walked across the second floor lobby of the hotel. We smiled at each other in passing, and as she headed into the coffee/snack shop and I went down the escalator, I realized the woman was author Brandilyn Collins. I immediately felt a dilemma. I absolutely did not want to be a "groupie" and cause her to feel like she couldn't even get a coffee in peace. But my girl had absolutely LOVED the series Brandilyn wrote with her daughter and I wanted to tell her that. I figured I might not see her again the entire week. So I went back up the escalator and somewhat apologetically introduced myself.

Oh. My. Goodness.

She was absolutely delightful. First of all, she recognized my Mocha with Linda name from my stalking frequent visits and comments on another author's blog, so that endeared her to me right away! Beyond that, however, she was very kind and happy to meet a reader and hear that my girl and I enjoy her books.

Here is a picture of the two of us the following night at the Christy Awards. We ended up sitting at the same table and let me tell you: she is a blast to be around! She writes some creepy suspense books, but there is nothing macabre or sinister about this woman. She has a great sense of humor and a mischievous wit that still makes me laugh. And I could tell she has a heart for God and for others as she prayed the closing prayer for the award ceremony. I'm so glad I got to meet her.

She gave me an autographed copy of her latest book, Over the Edge. In fact, she gave me two copies, so read all about the book and my thoughts below, and then leave a comment for a chance to win that second copy!

Over the Edge
Brandilyn Collins
(B&H Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1433671623
May, 2011/352 pages/$14.99

A suspense novel based on Lyme disease and the "Lyme Wars"

Torn from the front lines of medical debate and the author's own experience with Lyme Disease, Over the Edge is riveting fiction, full of twists and turns—and powerful truths about today's medical field.

Janessa McNeil’s husband, Dr. Brock McNeil, a researcher and professor at Stanford University's Department of Medicine, specializes in tick-borne diseases—especially Lyme. For years he has insisted that Chronic Lyme Disease doesn't exist. Even as patients across the country are getting sicker, the committee Brock chairs is about to announce its latest findings—which will further seal the door shut for Lyme treatment.

One embittered man sets out to prove Dr. McNeil wrong by giving him a close-up view of the very disease he denies. The man infects Janessa with Lyme, then states his demand: convince her husband to publicly reverse his stand on Lyme—or their young daughter will be next.

But Janessa's marriage is already rocky. She's so sick she can hardly move or think. And her husband denies she has Lyme at all.

Welcome to the Lyme Wars, Janessa



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brandilyn Collins is a best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®. These harrowing crime thrillers have earned her the tagline "Don't forget to b r e a t h e . . ."® Brandilyn's first book, A Question of Innocence, was a true crime published by Avon in 1995. Its promotion landed her on local and national TV and radio, including the Phil Donahue and Leeza talk shows. Brandilyn's awards for her novels include the ACFW Book of the Year (three times), Inspirational Readers' Choice, and Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice.

Brandilyn is also known for her distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons). The Writer magazine named Getting into Character one of the best books on writing published in 2002.

When she's not writing, Brandilyn can be found teaching the craft of fiction at writers' conferences. She and her family divide their time between homes in the California Bay Area and northern Idaho.

MY THOUGHTS:
To be completely honest, as much as I love novels with a medical twist, I was a bit hesitant to read this book before I met Brandilyn. I'm always a bit wary of issue-driven fiction, or what I have sometimes called "soapbox" books. My respect for Brandilyn Collins as a top-notch author as well as her delightful personality convinced me to read it, and just like her previous books, I was glued to the pages. This is a riveting, suspenseful story in its own right, but I found it even more compelling knowing that Brandilyn's own experience with Lyme disease provided a level of authenticity that mere research could never achieve. This is an eye-opener of a book about a controversial topic which Brandilyn handled exceedingly well, both within the novel itself and in her explanatory note at the end of the book. I highly recommend this book!

GIVEAWAY!

Brandilyn Collins graciously gave me a second copy of this book and autographed it for one of you! To enter, just leave a comment on this post by 8:00 pm CDT Sunday, September 4. US residents only, please. Be sure to include an email address if you don't have a blog.

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Atlanta Giveaway #3 - A Chat with Melody Carlson

UPDATE Thursday 8/18/11: WINNER!

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Here are your random numbers:
2
Timestamp: 2011-08-18 13:58:30 UTC
Congrats to windycindy! Email me your address, Cindy, and I'll send the book your way.

* * * * *

Melody Carlson is a versatile author, and she seems to release a book every couple of months. I had the opportunity to interview her about her brand-new novel, River's Song, the first book in The Inn at Shining Waters Series. However, I also had strict instructions from my girl to talk to her about her teen books, so I started with that before we got into the "official" interview. It turned out to be an extra delight because it encompassed a bit of Melody's testimony!

First of all, I have to tell you that my girl loves your teen books! She really wished she could come with me this week! You write about issues that are so relevant and right on the pulse of teens. How do you stay so current?

My parents divorced when I was young, which was somewhat unusual for that time period. My mom was busy with university and career and I was left to my own devices a lot. I was rather rebellious and kind of a wild child. I still got good grades and I had a good reputation at school but my friends and I were just crazy! Also, I declared myself an atheist. We never went to church, and by the time I was twelve I decided there was no God and when we died, we just “grew flowers”! I got progressively more and more unhappy with that and kept thinking, “What’s the meaning of life? “ I was a pretty deep thinker for a kid. When I was in high school, I got “kidnapped” to Young Life. I had never heard the Gospel message before, and when I did, it just hit me. I went back (by choice!) again and again, probably to about four different types of meetings, and I made a commitment. And I went from being a wild child to being a Jesus freak! I think [my passion for teen issues came] from all those experiences I had as a teen – being with the wild kids, doing things I shouldn’t be doing, seeing friends on drugs, seeing friends get pregnant – bringing everyone I could, as a new Christian, dragging them everywhere I could. Some came, some didn’t come. I had still had friends in the wild crowd and then I had these Christian friends too – and some of them were church kids who were so bored with church and I just didn’t understand it; it was all so new to me. So I think that broad experience as a teen just gave me a whole different perspective. I feel a lot of empathy for teens and it’s easy for me to put that hat back on and feel those emotions. And the letters I get from girls are amazing. I hear so many times: “This is my life,” “I feel like you’ve written my book,” or “If I wrote a story, this is what it would be." And they’re all talking about different books. I have to say that’s a God thing.

I keep thinking I’m done! I’m getting a little old [to be writing for teens]! About the time I became a grandmother, I thought, “It’s probably time to quit!” But around that same time, Focus on the Family wanted me to talk on their show about all these skanky teen girl books that were coming out in the general trade. So they sent me some books and I read them and I was pretty shocked. They look really sweet on the outside – kinda fashionable with cute girls and titles. But the content was worse than women’s general trade fiction. And girls are gobbling them up. So I thought, “I don’t think I’m done writing for teens. I need to write books to counter these.”

You have a new adult series out, beginning with River's Song. This novel is set in the late 1950’s when the effects of WWII and the Depression were still being felt, not to mention the focus of the Native American heritage. What led you to write this series?

I’ve had a fascination with Native American heritage and I’ve probably written three or more books that have had that thread in them. This one is in Oregon, and we have a little coastal cabin and it’s not very far from the Siuslaw (pronounced Sigh-you-slaw) River, which is this little river that has always intrigued me. It’s named after the Siuslaw tribe. About twenty years ago I started reading whatever I could find, and there’s not much. It’s a sad story -- it’s that whole “relocate the tribe” [story] even though they were peaceful and they helped the white man and they were just gatherers, fishermen and craftsmen. They herded them all up the beach, and most of them died on the way, 100 miles to the reservation, and then many died on the reervation. Finally the government remembered them; they’d had a treaty with them many years earlier that the government had broken, and someone wanted to make up for it. But by then, there was probably only about ten percent of the tribe left. They offered them 40-acre parcels but they had to file a claim and no one [in the tribe] knew how to file a claim. It’s a matriarchal society, too. So one day I thought, “What if a woman filed a claim and gave the land to her daughter who gave it to her daughter?”

Also my husband is one-eighth Cherokee and we’ve been married over 30 years so I’ve known his family for a long time – his grandmother, great-aunts, mother – and just knew that that was a painful thing; for each previous generation it was harder and harder to have Cherokee [blood] at the turn of the century, and I saw how that had hurt a lot of them and resulted in brokenness and unforgiveness. In the book, Anna’s mother tried to hide that she’s Siuslaw, but her grandmother, who survived the reservation, decided to go back to the old ways and tried to find her old friends. When Anna comes back after losing her husband, and her mother-in-law is horrible and she has a teenager who doesn’t want to have anything to do with her – partly because of the mother-in-law – she comes back and finds herself, finds her soul, finds God, back on the river.

As someone who grew up in the South, when I think of prejudice, especially in the time in which this book is set, I think of segregation and the Civil Rights movement. And a few years ago, there was much discussion about the need for the government to apologize to African Americans for slavery of the previous centuries. Do you think there needs to be an increased awareness of how Native Americans were treated in our nation’s history?

I do. We didn’t learn that in history in school. My kids did start learning it and I remember them telling me things that I’d never heard of, and their being outraged about it. It’s hard to research and find the truth because no one wanted to write it down back then. It’s a sad thing. There’s so much tragedy and sadness and brokenness.

This book has quite an array of interesting women – meek Anna, the PhD-seeking Hazel, the French Babette, and Eunice, who can pretty much only be described as a shrew. How do you develop their personalities so spot-on? Are they modeled after anyone in particular?

Some of them are. Babette is a woman whose house I cleaned years ago. She’s passed on. She was a World War II bride and a very colorful character! She’s obviously an older Babette since she’s from an earlier generation! Then the others are sort of composites. Hazel, the anthropologist, is a lot like my mother-in-law would have been if she’d been healthier. She was brilliant and she loved nature and loved the same kinds of things Hazel loves but never got to do those kind of things. (Melody gasped.) Which makes total sense – and I’ve never thought about this before! – because Hazel’s son, who is the man that comes into the picture, is just like my husband. I never put that together until now. He’s the most like my husband of any character I’ve ever written.

Anna deals with the concept of forgiveness in the book. I love the quote that “Forgiveness is the sweet fragrance of violets on the heel that crushed them.” What forgiveness really looks like is often hard to identify and can be different from person to person. Wouldn’t it have been possible for Anna to forgive yet require that Eunice be held accountable for her wrongs?

That is what healing is about, forgiveness. And sometimes, God does call you to just let things go. I experienced that once myself in a situation where I had been horribly wronged and was pursuing legal recourse. And one day I heard God speak to my spirit, "Let it go." It was a difficult process but once we let it go, life started changing. Since then, my career has been nothing but blessed.

A sneak peak of River’s Call is included in the back of this book. Care to give us a taste of what’s coming up next in Anna’s life? Will Eunice continue to be a factor in future books? Is there any hope for her?

Anna will be more and more blessed. Regarding Eunice, yes, there is hope. You will hear her story. It's like peeling the layers of an onion. And Anna gets more and more gracious. But Eunice is going to get worse before she gets better!

What is the message you want readers to take away from this novel?

Forgiveness and fresh starts and hope. And the connection between forgiveness and healing. If you don't forgive that just puts up a wall and you can't experience it.

What projects are you working on now?

Everything! A third book in this series, called River’s End. (But the river ends when it reaches the ocean so I’m thinking, there’s that metaphor, so I’ve got to figure that out. I’ll get there when I get there. I don’t outline so it’s always an adventure to see where we land.) I have lots of teen stuff in the works. I’ve got a new series coming out with Baker which will probably be out sometime next year. I also have some stand-alones, and more of the Secrets books; the one I just finished, the fourth one in the Secrets series, is about cheating, about a straight-A honor student where something’s happened and her grades slip and she’s a senior and she gets pulled in to that. When I thought of it, I wasn’t sure if it was something that happens, but it is very prevalent.

How do you juggle writing so many books and genres? Do you work on one book in the morning and one in the afternoon?

No, I do one book from beginning to end. The only exception might be if some edits come in, I might take a break and do the edit. I just write really fast. I’ve always worked and thought that way. In school I was always the first one done and the teacher would have to find me something to do, like make a bulletin board. The economic downturn scared me because I kept hearing about authors getting contracts and series canceled. So when an opportunity came, even though it looked like it would stretch my schedule, I’d think “something’s going to happen to me” and I would say yes. Nothing fell, so I’ve had to work really hard! But each year I’m trying to a lesser number of books. I want to focus more on adaptation of some of my own books. I’m working with several producers and I really want to go down to Hollywood and figure that out.

What is your favorite way to relax and get away from it all?

I love going to our little beach cabin - it's just so relaxing! -- and I love to read.

Thank you so much, Melody! It was a pleasure to meet you! And my daughter is thrilled with the message you sent to her!

GIVEAWAY!

I have a copy of River's Song to give to one of you. You can enter up to three times! To enter,

1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Like my new Mocha with Linda page on Facebook.
3. Post about the giveaway on Facebook and link to my FB page. (Just copy the url of my blog (http://mochawithlinda.blogspot.com), then go to your FB wall and where you normally type your status, click on Link and paste the url there.) Leave a separate comment on this post telling me you did so.

All comments/entries must be received by 8:00 p.m. CDT Wednesday, August 17, and I will randomly draw a winner. US Residents only, please. Limit 3 entries per person. Be sure to include an email address if you don't have a blog.


This book can also be purchased at your favorite bookstore or on Amazon.

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Atlanta Giveaway #2 - A Chat with Mark Bertrand

UPDATE: Thursday, 8/11/11, 3:00 pm - WINNER!

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8
Timestamp: 2011-08-11 19:57:46 UTC
Congrats to Lisa writes! Email me your address, Lisa, and I'll send the book your way!

* * * * *

J. Mark Bertrand writes gripping crime fiction set in Houston. I enjoyed his first book in the Roland March series, Back on Murder and was excited to have the opportunity to meet him and sit down for an interview in Atlanta shortly after Pattern of Wounds was released.. Although this is a bit long, I actually did cut quite a bit of our conversation as we enjoyed talking about some of the Houston details found in the books! Besides, I couldn't leave out the part where he told me about the time he was (falsely) arrested! Some authors certainly go to extremes to research for their books! (Grin!)

Roland March is a tough weathered character who has been through the mill! Pattern of Wounds features Houston detective Roland March, whom we met in Back on Murder. He has weathered quite a few personal and professional trials in his life and they don’t seem to be done with him yet. In the HPD he is alternately respected and persona non grata—--with the disdain tipping the scales in this book. Tell me about his character and how you developed him. How much of it was deliberate and how much of it happened as the result of the story unfolding? Authors always fascinate me because I always thought y’all intentionally wrote these books, and then many authors talk about their characters doing things they had no control over!

This is good because I can give you a contrary view of that since I’m not one of those people! The character taking over is like a good metaphor, maybe, to use for the unexpected things that happen in the process. Because you do sit down and you plan ahead and you have a sense for what the story’s going to be, and it does change as you write it. But so far, I’ve never had the characters wrest control of the story from me! But we’ll see what happens in the future.

As far as where he comes from, there’s not any one inspiration from life that I could point to, where I could say “Roland March is my uncle who is a police captain” or something like that But a lot of different people probably influenced him. And at his start, I think he’s the result of asking myself “What would I be like under these circumstances?” I don’t want to say he’s a stand-in for me or anything like that, but he’s sort of living a life that as a boy, I imagined myself living. I always wanted to be a crime-fighting, gun-wielding homicide detective, and that ended up not happening. But by writing about it I get the joy of doing that vicariously. So I’ve enjoyed working with him. He can be abrasive; he’s not always the most likeable hero, but that’s part of the appeal, I think. I wanted to write about a flawed character, a flawed hero, who sometimes strains the reader’s sympathy a little bit. So hopefully it works!

The spiritual element of this book is subtle. Roland doesn’t want to have anything to do with religion and is a bit disgusted with the fact that the young couple that rents their garage apartment has convinced his wife to attend church with them. He feels betrayed when she discovers that she is sharing at church her feelings about what he considers their very private pain over their daughter’s death. Yet he can’t deny the change that her new faith has made in her, so he’s kind of confused. And there’s a lot of discussion about “Christian fiction” – does there always have to be a message or can it just entertain? Is there a message that you want readers to take away from this book? Or are you just trying to provide good clean fiction with a Christian overtone?

For me, I don’t think a lot about those questions when I’m working. I’m just writing the book I want to write, the kind of books I want to read. I don’t think about message except in the sense that every book has a message and we all have an ax to grind and we’re all interested in certain things. I guess the way I would describe myself is that where a lot of times we talk about Christian fiction as a place where you’re free to write about certain things that you couldn’t write about elsewhere. My own experience was that I would read a lot and I wouldn’t see a lot of writing about the church as I’d experienced it; the church in Christian fiction was often the perfect church, that I’d never attended, and everyone always knew the right thing to say at the right moment and they were all kind of generically good and generically Christian. One of the things I’ve tried to do with the March books is look at different kinds of Christianity with a realistic lens. So in the first book, Back on Murder, you get that very – which is very real in Houston – that kind of big box Christianity that is happening on a large scale, made for television. And March goes into that world and when he first sees the place, expresses surprise and shock that this is a church and not a mall, just from the building. But when he meets the people he gets a more nuanced view of what’s going on and his prejudices are undermined.

In Pattern of Wounds, it’s a little bit different. The youth pastor from the first book is now living under March’s roof and they’re having some interesting interactions. But March also runs into this guy, Curtis Blount, who’s another one of these interesting characters; he’s a kind of a fundamentalist preacher who preaches for DVDs. He doesn’t even have a congregation; he just sort of makes these thing and dresses like Johnny Cash, that kind of thing. But he’s the kind of guy you do run into. I tell people that the strange thing to me isn’t that I would have religious themes and theological themes in my work; the strange thing is that anybody writing about Houston wouldn’t, because it’s so prevalent. It’s hard not to see it. The largest sporting arena, where the Rockets won their back-to-back victories, is now a church. This is front and center in the city.

Things are looking up just a bit for Roland as the book ends, but the last couple of sentences in this book left me wondering . . .is there more to come? Is there a third Roland March book in the pipe?

Oh there is. The third book, which should be out next summer, picks things back up and puts March in a different kind of situation. Charlotte (his wife) is more absent. They’re together but she’s now changed her role at work and she travels a lot and he has to deal with that. And that’s one of the themes of the next book; he has to reckon with not having her in his life as much, and that creates a little friction. The thing I like about March, though, is that he’s a little different than other crime fiction protagonists. He’s not a functioning alcoholic. He’s not divorced. He has his issues but there’s a real commitment between them. And I think that the effect of their shared tragedy on their marriage is complicated. And so people looking at it from the outside won’t always judge it right. There’s a complexity to the way they live, and to me, the hopeful thing about it is that they do persevere together and are, on some level, good for each other, even though they have their hard moments. It’s probably not a marriage any of us would aspire to! I’m certainly happy my wife and I don’t have that kind of relationship. I think the two of them are happy together, but they both struggle with being happy, period.

Your website indicates that you were once arrested for a crime you didn’t commit. Were you a teen or an adult? I imagine that was a pretty unsettling experience. Do you care to share about that and how that impacts your writing?

I was 30. I was arrested for assaulting a ticket agent in the First Class line of Continental at Chicago O’Hare airport. That sounds really bad but what I actually did was, when the ticket was offered to me, I accepted it and said “Thanks” in kind of a sarcastic way because she was jerking us around. So I showed a little bit of attitude. And there were people between us, so [we both had to reach over them]. Suddenly these security guards just swarm around, and I don’t know what’s going on, but when I realize what’s happening, it’s just surreal. I keep thinking that as soon as I explain what really happened, they’re all going to just laugh about it and move on. But it doesn’t matter what really happened. Once you’ve been singled out for arrest, that’s what happens. The whole time, it’s sorta surreal because my mom is there. And she’s arguing with the police and they’re threatening to arrest her! I’m facing the prospect of not only being arrested, which is humiliating, but with my mom, which is even worse—to show up in jail with your mom! So I’m begging her to please just let them take me. They did and it’s one of those things you’re going through thinking, “This is an injustice, but I know I’m going to be able to write about this someday” so I’m trying to pay attention to every little detail. It was all dismissed but it was just an unusual experience. Apparently this was a big problem at the airport and happening a lot. One of the vice presidents of Continental called and apologized. To this day I’m still not sure what was going on. But it was a good lesson for me. I’m one of those people without a lot of patience for bureaucracy. If you were being unreasonable and giving me attitude, I’d just give it right back. Since then, I’ve learned to be more mature in those situations!

Interestingly enough, I think it was enough of an experience to balance my ingrained love of law and order and respect for law enforcement. It gave me an insight into how easy injustice can be because I found myself in the hands of people who I always thought were interested in the truth. And quite a few of them – the law enforcement officers – told me they thought this was bogus. But they were doing it because this was their job; they were going through the motions. They had no choice. I thought about that—to find yourself in a situation where you believed something is unjust but your job is to push it on down the line—I thought that would just be intolerable. I don’t think I could be a party to that. So that’s the kind of tension that I try to bring to the books as well. There’s a section in Back on Murder where he talks about the difference between: you can prove something that you don’t really know, and you can know something that you can never prove. And it’s sort of that slipperiness of what really happened vs. what I can make a case for that has fascinated me ever since. So it was a relatively minor thing, but it got me thinking. I like to think there’s an unusual mix in the books of the quest for truth and justice with the understanding that human quests for truth and justice are flawed by sin and ultimately unreliable.

Tell me a bit about the personal side of Mark Bertrand. Married? Kids? Is writing your full-time job?

I don’t have kids. Laurie and I got married in ’96 and in 2006 we moved back to South Dakota, where she’s from. It’s great; there are no distractions so I write a lot! I’d like it to be more of a full-time job. I do other things, but when I write, that’s all I work on. I’ve tried balancing other things but I couldn’t write a book if I was doing other things. I have friends who have a full-time job and raise a family and write books in their spare time, and I don’t see how that’s possible; there are so many things to keep straight in your head. I’m able to work only on books when that’s what I’m working on. And then I do a variety of other things – some design work, some consulting, some other writing. I will be content to continue doing what I’m doing.

Any last words for your readers?

I hope that people enjoy the books. I try to do something a little bit different and please readers but also surprise them with some of the things that happen, so hopefully that works.

Thanks so much, Mark! It was great to meet you, and I look forward to the third Roland March book and whatever books are brewing in your imagination next!

GIVEAWAY!

I have an extra copy of Pattern of Wounds for one of you. You can enter up to three times! To enter,

1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Like my new Mocha with Linda page on Facebook.
3. Post about the giveaway on Facebook and link to my FB page - leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

All comments/entries must be received by 8:00 p.m. CDT Wednesday, August 10, and I will randomly draw a winner. US Residents only, please. Limit 3 entries per person. Be sure to include an email address if you don't have a blog.


This book can also be purchased on Amazon or at your favorite bookstore.

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Atlanta Interview & Giveway #1 - A Christy Winner!

UPDATE: Thursday 8/11/11 at 3:00 pm - WINNER!

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Here are your random numbers:
5
Timestamp: 2011-08-11 19:53:14 UTC
Congrats to Diana Ferguson! Email me your address, Diana, and I'll send the book your way!

* * * * *
Nancy Rue is an incredible author as well as a delightful and gracious lady whom I've had the privilege of calling "friend" for the past seven (or so!) years; she spoke at an event at our church and I had the opportunity to be her "chauffeur" throughout the weekend. So while the opportunity to attend the Christy Awards last month in Atlanta was an incredible blessing in itself; to be there when Nancy won not one, but two of the awards, becoming the first author ever to win two Christys in one night for two different books in two different genres--well, that was the icing on the cake!

The time following the awards was filled with the various media snapping pictures of the winners and doing brief interviews for reactions and sound bites. When everyone else was done, Nancy and I sat down for a quick chat. Here is the first part of our talk, about The Reluctant Prophet, Christy Award winner in the Contemporary Series category. (Part Two, and a giveaway of her other winning book, will post another day in this giveaway.)

How does it feel, winning two Christy Awards?!

It’s kinda overwhelming! I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. It really is a huge honor. And one of the things I loved tonight the most is that I’d never been to a Christy Awards ceremony before and I always felt like “Why are we competing? We all have something important to say.” But tonight it was like, there’s no competition here, this is a celebration, this is an appreciation for everything everyone’s called to do. That made winning really exciting, to be a part of this amazing community. And I think also, all the prayers for Lee Hough*, remembering Steven Bly* – this is family, and I realized that I’ve been a part of this family for 28 years. So yeah, this feels really good!

[*Lee Hough is Nancy's agent and also the agent of other authors; he had serious surgery for cancer just a week or two before the Awards. Steven Bly is a much-loved author who passed away earlier this year.]

The Reluctant Prophet is the first book in a series, and the second one is due out in October, right?

Yes, Unexpected Dismounts comes out October 1.

Can you give us a little glimpse of what’s coming?

Allison, of course is trying to adopt Desmond. And she’s overflowing in the house with prostitutes. And there’s the whole Chief situation, she’s obviously in love with him. And there are a couple of other things that will come in that I don’t want to spoil for you but that you’ll say, “Of course that was going to happen!” because little tiny hints were dropped in the first one. Now that she’s accepting more and more that she’s a prophet and this is what she has to do, it’s not that they just sail on through, which is where the Unexpected Dismounts [comes from], which is what they call falling off a motorcycle.

Well, I was wondering if the title Unexpected Dismounts came from your own personal experience?!

(Nancy laughs!) In the class I took [the Harley instructor] said that you’ve got to wear your leather and your chaps and everything just in case you have an unexpected dismount and I thought “I love that!” I don’t know if everyone else calls it that but I really love that expression.

And what’s the third book?

The third one is Too Far to Say Far Enough and that is a Harley rider’s little mantra. They’ll get some place and say, “We've gone far enough?” “Oh, you’ve gone too far to say far enough." You just want to keep riding. And I think she [Allison] will get to that place of no return where she’s going to want to give up; a lot of different things are going to happen, and she’s just going to have to say, “I’ve come too far,” and God will be there.

So are you finished with that book or are you writing it now?

I’m working on it right now, as we speak. But I think I’ll take the night off and celebrate!

And celebrate she should! Thanks so much, and congratulations again, Nancy!

The Reluctant Prophet is a completely engrossing book, as each of Nancy Rue's books are. But beyond that, it is a convicting read as well, as Allison steps out of her comfort zone to follow God's leading in a whole new direction. And the conviction doesn't stop with Allison's actions. The reactions of the "Christians" in her life also hit a little too close to home, unfortunately. How often do we as believers try to temper others when they take bold steps in living out their faith? Even before it won the Christy Award, I considered this to be Nancy's most stellar novel. . .and I have loved her previous ones. I promise, it will stir your heart -- and quite possibly your hands and feet!

Here's the book summary:

Forty-something Allison Chamberlain is still half-heartedly trying to figure out what to be when she grows up. It's a surprise to everyone when she has a divine nudge to buy a Harley motorcycle and go wherever it takes her. Soon Allison finds herself in the darkest corners of society, bringing home drug-addicted prostitutes and pointing out the narrow fears of her church group. Along the way, she learns the heartache of the very poor-and how healing can come through the voice of God and those who follow it.


GIVEAWAY!

I have a copy of this book (it was a great price at the Lifeway in Atlanta!) to give to one of you. You can enter up to three times! To enter,

1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. Follow this blog and leave a 2nd comment telling me you follow.
3. Post the giveaway button in your sidebar and link it to my blog - leave a separate comment telling me you did so. OR If you don't have a blog, email 2 friends to tell them about the giveaway and leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

All comments/entries must be received by 8:00 p.m. CDT Wednesday, August 10, and I will randomly draw a winner. US Residents only, please. Limit 3 entries per person. Be sure to include an email address if you don't have a blog.

If you don't win one here, you can purchase a copy on Amazon or your favorite bookstore.


P.S. Don't miss my review of another great book, Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig, in the post just below this one!

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Atlanta Giveaways Begin Monday!

August is Back to School time for many of us, but why should the kids be the only ones hitting the books? Beginning Monday, August 1, I will be hosting a giveaway of many books I was given for my blog readers while I was in Atlanta. I will also begin sharing the interviews with the various authors.

Right now my plan is to post these as regularly as I am able, with the understanding that I am juggling our family vacation (which begins today), getting my boy ready for college (I suppose he would like some bedding and towels for his dorm room!) and moved in, getting my girl started on her junior year in high school and turning 16 the day before (and finding a time for a party!) and continuing to deal with some issues/caring for with my sister. And I guess this family will also continue to want clean clothes and meals, and I have my regular scheduled reviews and books to read.

(Excuse me a moment while I hyperventilate!)

Anyway, I'm excited to share some great books with you, so please check back frequently, post the button on your sidebar and link it to my blog, and get ready to win some books!

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