Suzanne Woods Fisher's Blog, page 15

Author Spotlight with Jan Drexler

Leave a comment and enter below for a chance to win a copy of Jan Drexler’s new book, “The Sound of Distant Thunder.”

Winner will be announced in the next Author Spotlight feature. Congratulations to Cindy Duez for winning Melody Carlson’s book, “A Christmas by the Sea.”

Please email my assistant Christen to claim your prize. Note: This post contains affiliate links meaning I will get a small commission if you click and buy from that link.

From the talented pen of Jan Drexler comes a brand-new Amish series set against the backdrop of the Civil War.

War threatens everything the Amish Community in Weaver’s Creek, Ohio, holds dear, including a young couple’s future. Katie Stuckey and Jonas Weaver are both romantics. Seventeen-year-old Katie is starry-eyed, in love with the idea of being in love, and does not want to wait to marry Jonas until she is eighteen, despite her parents’ insistence.

Twenty-year-old Jonas is taken in by the romance of soldiering, especially in defense of anti-slavery, even though he knows war is at odds with the teachings of the church. When his married brother’s name comes up in the draft list, he volunteers to take his brother’s place. But can the commitment Katie and Jonas have made to each other survive the separation?

Drexler puts her characters to the test as they struggle to reconcile their convictions and desires while the national conflict threatens to undermine and engulf their community.

What is one thing you’ve learned the hard way so others don’t have to?

I’ve learned to be a daylily.

Some people are like oak trees – their roots grow deep and strong, establishing themselves in one community early and never moving away. Other people are like me – a daylily that gets transplanted every few years.

Our family moved twice between the time I was born and when I turned five. Twenty quiet years followed, but then I got married. Since my husband and I started our lives together more than thirty-six years ago, we have relocated an average of every five years (and no, we aren’t a military family!)

My second move in 1962

Daylilies adapt easily to transplanting. I’ve learned how to get to know a new city well by going to garage sales and exploring different routes to shopping and the library. I’ve learned how to find a new church home by browsing websites and knowing which questions to ask. I’ve also learned how to get to know my neighbors – the best way is to start a Christmas goodie exchange! No matter where God has taken us, these three techniques have helped this daylily take root.

Will I ever be an oak tree? With my husband’s recent retirement, that is a possibility, but we’ll have to wait and see what God has planned for us!

Purchase a copy of The Sound of Distant Thunder

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | CBD | JanDrexler.com

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Jan Drexler brings a unique understanding of Amish traditions and beliefs to her writing. Her ancestors were among the first Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren immigrants to Pennsylvania in the 1700s, and their experiences are the inspiration for her stories. Jan lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband, where she enjoys hiking and spending time with her expanding family. She is the author of several Love Inspired historical novels, as well as Hannah’s Choice, Mattie’s Pledge (a 2017 Holt Medallion finalist), and Naomi’s Hope.

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Author Spotlight with Melody Carlson

Leave a comment and enter below for a chance to win a copy of Melody Carlson’s new book, “A Christmas by the Sea.”

Winner will be announced in the next Author Spotlight feature. Congratulations to Jeanie Dannheim for winning Jane Kirkpatrick’s book, “Everything She Didn’t Say.”

Please email my assistant Christen to claim your prize. Note: This post contains affiliate links meaning I will get a small commission if you click and buy from that link.

Award-winning author Melody Carlson is well-known for her delightful Christmas tales. Join her again as she pens another Christmas story that will warm your heart and have you dreaming of your own enchanted seaside holiday.

When Wendy Harper inherits her family’s shabby but charming beachside cottage in Seaside, Maine, she sees it as a way to finally pay off the debts that have mounted since her husband died. But before it can be sold, the neglected property must be renovated. She and her twelve-year-old son Jackson move in temporarily to do the work themselves. Although Wendy and Jackson have very different hopes for the cottage, the charming town, along with local craftsman Caleb Colton, pulls on their hearts.

Wendy knows that the most responsible thing to do is to sell the cottage and return to Ohio, but the lure of the sea is hard to resist. Can this Christmas season bring her the miracle she needs and provide her with the joy and love she never expected?

What is ONE thing you’ve learned the hard way so that others don’t have to?  

The hardest (and best) thing I’ve ever learned in life is that you cannot put God in a box. There was a time when I honestly believed that if I did A, B, and C . . . God would do X, Y, and Z. I thought that as long as I ‘performed’ well enough spiritually, the results would always be great. But over the years, I’ve been humbled again and again . . . and reminded that God works in a multitude of unexpected and delightful ways and that his ideas of perfection are far different than ours. I try to reflect this in my books in the hopes that readers will catch on more quickly than I did. God is the creator of the universe and cannot be contained in a box—or a human brain.

Purchase a copy of A Christmas by the Sea

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | CBD | MelodyCarlson.com

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Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books with combined sales of more than six million. She is the author of many Christmas books, including the bestselling The Christmas Bus, The Christmas Dog, Christmas at Harrington’s, The Christmas Cat, The Christmas Joy Ride, The Christmas Angel Project, and The Christmas Blessing. She received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her many books, including the Diary of a Teenage Girl series and Finding Alice. She and her husband live in central Oregon.

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Join Me in New Orleans! May 15-19, 2019

Ever been to New Orleans? Next May, I’ll be heading there for the Book Lovers Convention. Consider coming along! It’s a little bit pricey, but there’s a chance of winning a free hotel night if you register by Sept. 14th. And it does seem like we will all get a lot of bang for our buck.

Here’s the description, straight from the convention folks:

“Our focus is on bringing readers, authors and members of the publishing world together for a celebration of what we all love — books! From Wednesday evening’s kick off to Sunday’s farewell, our goal is to make sure attendees have a memorable experience. During the day, you can enjoy reader parties, browse our bookstore, participate in professional development (for authors – aspiring and published) or get a chance to chat with your favorite authors. Book Lovers of all stripes will find something to enjoy at the Book Lovers Convention.”

Click here for more information: Book Con 2019

Coffee Break

 

Five years ago, my youngest daughter spent a year teaching in southern China. My husband Steve and I went to visit her, and we all took a side trip to Vietnam. While there, we went on a tour through “Hanoi Hilton”–the prison where John McCain was held as a POW for 5+ years.

Over the weekend, I watched some news shows about McCain’s dramatic life. I have a tremendous respect for him, largely because he endured that POW experience. After seeing Hanoi Hilton first hand, up close and personal, I don’t know how he did it. It was haunting.

 

 

Whenever someone tosses out the question of how could a good God let evil happen in this world, I want to flip that question around. Why do we underestimate the power of evil?

Places like Dachau, Auschwitz, Hanoi Hilton–they are but a taste of the Enemy at work in this world.

And then flip it around one more time, to rest your soul on this truth: “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

 

Author Spotlight with Jane Kirkpatrick

Leave a comment and enter below for a chance to win a copy of Jane Kirkpatrick’s new book, “Everything She Didn’t Say.”

Winner will be announced in the next Author Spotlight feature. Congratulations to Sassafras for winning Judith Miller’s book, “The Lady of Tarpon Springs.”

Please email my assistant Christen to claim your prize. Note: This post contains affiliate links meaning I will get a small commission if you click and buy from that link.

New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick has enthralled readers with tales of strong women who have not only survived but thrived in the early days of the American West. Now she embarks on a new adventure based on the true story of Carrie Strahorn.

In 1911, Carrie Strahorn wrote a memoir entitled Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage, which shared some of the most exciting events of twenty-five years of traveling and shaping the West with her husband, Robert Strahorn, a railroad promoter, investor, and writer. Everything She Didn’t Say imagines Carrie nearly ten years later as she decides to write down what was really on her mind during those adventurous nomadic years.

Carrie reflects upon her amazing journey through heartache, disappointment, and a life of unparalleled adventure. She explores the lessons she learned along the way, including the danger a woman faces of losing herself within a relationship with a strong-willed man and the courage it takes to accept her own God-given worth apart from him. She also discovers that wealth doesn’t insulate a soul from pain and disappointment, family is essential, pioneering is a challenge, and western landscapes are both demanding and nourishing. Most of all, she wonders if she can ever feel truly at home in this rootless life.

Kirkpatrick’s masterful, rich imagination draws out the emotions of living—the laughter and pain, the love and loss—to give readers a window not only into the past but into their own conflicted hearts.

Booklist states “Kirkpatrick is an unwavering pillar in historical fiction, showcasing the power of her meticulously researched and richly rendered details.” Everything She Didn’t Say is a testament to these words.

What’s the ONE thing I’ve learned the hard way so that others don’t have to?

Great question! I’m going back to the days when I was the director of a mental health facility (my pre-writer days). I found that sometimes I made excuses for an interviewee thinking I was being kind and helpful but in the end, it turned out to be a bad match. An example, an interviewee who called asking if she could change the time of the interview. I saw that as someone being assertive and complied. At the interview, she asked if we could move to another room because of the lighting. (I personally hated the lighting myself so of course, we went to a different setting.) Again, I thought, “bold and assertive” and saw those as good things. But what I didn’t see – because I was looking through rose-colored glasses and her resume was so good! – was that she had difficulty accommodating, working as a team member or accepting the reality of the position. Sadly, I had to let her go and encouraged her to find a larger clinic where she would have mentors in her field. What I learned was to be wary of trying to be too “nice” and wearing those rose-colored glasses because sometimes they are screening out issues one should consider in the present or they’ll come back to haunt one in the future! Trying to people please has its downside. I also started group interviews after that to get the wisdom and advice of others not wearing the same glasses. So I guess another thing I learned is that a team makes better decisions than an individual!

Purchase a copy of Everything She Didn’t Say

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | CBD | jkbooks.com

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Jane Kirkpatrick is the New York Times and CBA bestselling and award-winning author of more than thirty books, including All She Left Behind, A Light in the Wilderness, The Memory Weaver, This Road We Traveled, and A Sweetness to the Soul, which won the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Center. Her works have won the WILLA Literary Award, USABestBooks, the Carol Award for Historical Fiction, and the 2016 Will Rogers Medallion Award. Jane lives in Central Oregon with her husband, Jerry.

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Caption this!

I’m so sorry I missed last week’s wrap up! As I mentioned in Wednesday’s coffee break, I’ve started Annie-care (babysitting for my 4 month old granddaughter) and I’m juggling a few things. So the winner from our last photo (shocked seals) caption contest was Linda Horin, for her comment, “You want your mother to move in? With us?”

Linda, send me your mailing address and I’ll pop a gift in the mail to you, asap.

Here’s this week’s photo (and heads-up…I’m going to take Labor Day weekend off, so check back in 2 Fridays to find out if you’re a winner!):

 

Coffee Break: Annie-Care

Last week, I started a new routine in my life: caring for my 4-month-old granddaughter Annie while her parents, both teachers, are back in the classroom.

My daughter is job sharing, so she only teaches Thursday, Friday, and every other Wednesday. It’s taking a little adjusting to figure out how to get more done on Monday and Tuesday, so that the rest of my week can lighten up. For example, I didn’t get my blog post up last Friday. I’m working on those dropped details!

But here’s what I love about this gig:

Getting to know Annie in a day-to-day way.

Already, I feel as if I know her much better than I did. Little things, like what sounds mean what mood or when she’s getting hungry. Or how much she loves being outdoors. Last Thursday, out of the blue, she started blowing raspberries. No idea why…but oh-so funny.

Slowing down. Caring for a little one requires it! And that’s a good thing for me.

Modeling how family supports each other, even if it’s not always convenient.

And here’s the best thing of all: Annie knows me, too! Her big smile when I arrive to pick her up is heart-melting.

What about you? Have you provided on-going or extended care for grandchildren? Any tips or perspective to share?

Author Spotlight with Judith Miller

Leave a comment and enter below for a chance to win a copy of Judith Miller’s new book, “The Lady of Tarpon Springs.”

Winner will be announced in the next Author Spotlight feature. Congratulations to Mardell Grayhek for winning Lynette Eason’s book, “Called to Protect.”

Please email my assistant Christen to claim your prize. Note: This post contains affiliate links meaning I will get a small commission if you click and buy from that link.

In Judith Miller’s The Lady of Tarpon Springs, Zanna Krykos eagerly takes on her friends sponging business as a way to use her legal skills and avoid her family’s matchmaking. But the newly arrived Greek divers, led by Nico Kalos, mistrust a boss who knows nothing about the trade. Yet they must work together to rise above adversity after the mysterious death of a diver and the rumor of sunken treasure.

Can you tell us about your newest release? Is it part of a series or a stand-alone?

The Lady of Tarpon Springs is my latest release (July 2018). It is a stand-alone set in Tarpon Springs, Florida, and is historical romance. My daughter lived in Florida for a number of years and when I was beginning to think about my next book proposal, she mentioned sponge diving in Tarpon Springs. I didn’t know anything about the sponge diving business or that compressed air diving had begun in the late 1800s. It took me only a few hours of research to decide I wanted to set my next book in Tarpon Springs.

As I worked on the proposal, I decided I wanted readers to enjoy learning about sponge diving and the Greek settlement that evolved in Tarpon Springs as the divers and their families came and settled in Florida. Tarpon Springs was already a small city before the Greeks arrived, so I wanted to use characters who revealed both cultures of the city. I hope readers will bond with Zana Krykos, an American born Greek who is a lawyer, and Nico Sevdalis, the talented sponge diver who leads a group of Greek divers to Tarpon Springs.

After my proposal was accepted by the publisher, I read a number of books related to sponge diving in Greece and Florida. I also traveled to Tarpon Springs to view the community and learn more about diving during the late 1800s and early 1900s. During my visit, I had the opportunity to go out on a sponging boat and watch a diver don one of those ancient helmets, old canvas diving suits, and heavy metal boots before he jumped over the side of the boat and soon reappeared with a sponge on his hook. Observing an actual dive in one of those old canvas suits will go down as one of my most memorable research activities.

Is anything or anyone in this book based on real-life experiences?

While the characters in the books are fictional, the sponge diving and its impact on the city of Tarpon Springs is based upon the actual development of the trade within the community.

Who was your favorite character in this story, and why?

I liked both Zana and Nico, but if I had to choose only one, I think I would choose Nico. He was a strong character who was faced with huge obstacles. He was responsible for bringing a group of Greek spongers to Florida. The men had left their families and trusted they would soon be able to have those families join them in American. Nico felt the weight of making the venture successful, both for them and for the man who had financed the venture. Upon their arrival in Florida, Nico was greeted by a headstrong young woman—a lawyer—who was determined to take charge of the business. He was every bit as determined the business wouldn’t succeed with a woman at the helm. Thus begins Nico’s path toward the success or failure of the Penrose Sponge Company.

Compared to your other books, was this one easy to complete or challenging? Any idea why?

This one was a little more difficult due to the type of research required and the fact that I didn’t know anything about diving for or processing sponges. While I’m accustomed to researching the settings of my books—and that’s one of my favorite things—I usually have some basic knowledge about the topic I’m researching. In this instance, except for period clothing, I didn’t have a lot of previous research to fall back on.

What was the hardest scene in this book to write? What made it difficult?

The scenes where there was equipment failure on the boat or the divers were in danger were more difficult. I wanted those scenes to be as realistic as possible, and I wanted the medical conditions suffered by the divers to be accurate.

What did you (or your editors) edit out of this book?

There are three sisters who live in Tarpon Springs and provide a bit of humor with their antics. I edited out one scene with Bessie because I thought it wasn’t necessary to the movement of the story.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing from the point of view of the opposite sex?

As I’m writing, I need to remember that I’m “in the head” of the male characters so that the dialogue sounds like a man and their behavior in each situation closer mimics what a man (rather than a woman) would do in the circumstance.

Purchase a copy of The Lady of Tarpon Springs

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | CBD | JudithMcCoyMiller.com 

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Although born and reared in a small suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Judith Miller moved to Kansas at the age of seventeen and has considered the sunflower state ‘home’ ever since. She currently lives in Topeka. She enjoys reading, traveling, researching history, and Bible study.

Writing Christian fiction is Judy’s second career. For many years she worked as a legal assistant in law firms and later worked in government law offices. She has retired from legal work in order to write fulltime —a vocation she considers both a ministry and a blessing.

Judy has authored or co-authored more than twenty-five books since she began writing in 1996. She is an award-winning author whose avid research and love for history are reflected in her novels, several of which have placed in the CBA and ECPA top ten lists. It is her deep desire to point readers to the love and grace of Jesus.

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Author Spotlight with Lynette Eason

Leave a comment and enter below for a chance to win a copy of Lynette Eason’s new book, “Called to Protect.”

Winner will be announced in the next Author Spotlight feature. Congratulations to Denise Smith for winning Joanna Davidson Politano’s book, “A Rumored Fortune.”

Please email my assistant Christen to claim your prize. Note: This post contains affiliate links meaning I will get a small commission if you click and buy from that link.

In January 2018, bestselling author Lynette Eason introduced readers to the St. John family in Oath of Honor, the first book in the Blue Justice series. In Called to Protect, book lovers will meet another member of this law enforcement family in this fast and furious ride that will have hearts pumping from the very start.

For the past year, Chloe St. John has been working as a K-9 cop with her Dutch shepherd partner, Hank. When a serious case of human trafficking with connections to her missing cousin lands in her lap, she must mobilize all her resources before another girl goes missing.

Deputy US Marshall Blake MacCallum’s daughter is missing. He has been ordered to kill the judge that he’s protecting and tell no one about his daughter’s disappearance or she will die. Chloe and Hank are asked to be part of the task force assembled to bring down the traffickers and help Blake rescue his daughter. Chloe finds herself attracted to the silent, suffering man, but thanks to her previous poor judgment with relationships, she wonders if she can trust him. And can Blake trust himself around this firecracker of a woman?

What is ONE thing you’ve learned the hard way so that others don’t have to?

I’ve learned everything the hard way! LOL. I’ve learned that writing is a wonderful career if you are so fortunate to find a publisher or two who love your stories. Once you’ve proven yourself, I’ve also learned that some publishers will accept as many manuscripts as you can write. Unfortunately, this can put great strain on a person’s physical well-being. If I could go back and change anything, it would be to take things a bit slower and not write quite as many books in the time frame I did it in. I’d stretch things out a bit more and do more to protect my health. Like work out more at the gym (which I’m doing now with a personal trainer) and eat better instead of grabbing whatever was available because I didn’t take the time to cook. And so on. Fortunately, I’m taking steps to remedy that, but years of neglect is hard to fix! So, if I can pass on that bit of wisdom—take care of yourself during the process! — to a “just starting out author” then I can only hope he/she will listen and heed the warning!

Purchase a copy of Called to Protect

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | CBD | LynetteEason.com

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Lynette Eason is the bestselling author of the Women of Justice series, the Deadly Reunions series, and the Hidden Identity series, as well as Always Watching, Without Warning, Moving Target, and Chasing Secrets in the Elite Guardians series. She is the winner of two ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, and the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award. She has a master’s degree in education from Converse College and lives in South Carolina.

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Caption This!

Last week’s (giraffe and airplanes) winner is Sandy Arnold, for her amusing caption: “Henry, we have visitors.” Sandy, email me (suzanne @ suzannewoodsfisher. com) and I’ll pop something sweet in the mail to you.

Here’s a photo for you to sharpen your wit on. (I wonder what she told him?) Leave your caption in a comment, and check back next Friday to see if you are a winner!

Photo credit: Evening Standard, UK