E.V. Sparrow's Blog, page 10

A Quote from Mick Muldoon

Here’s a peek inside the novella for you from Chapter Two. In May of 1867, Mick arrives at his lodgings in the tenements of NYC with Ed, where he reveals the news he and Orla live in a brothel. #historicalfictionnovella #novella #historicalfiction

Our Unique Stories

One perk of paying for membership with ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) is the opportunity to create a blog post to encourage, educate, or elicit a connection with other writers. In this article, I write about our uniqueness from our gifting and experiences. Fiction writers and non-fiction writers have these things in common. Feedback is welcome! #writerslife #writeyourstory #christianwriter #christianauthor

Last Day to Enter April’s Multi-author Giveaway

April is blossoming with books! So, I partnered up with my publisher, @celebratelit for their April Showers Bring May Flowers Multi-Author Giveaway. Prizes are 35 books or a $500 Amazon card. Enter with this link: https://promosimple.com/ps/246f2/2023-april-showers-bring-may-flowers Hope you win!

#multiauthorgiveaway #giveawayusa #bookgiveaway #bookgiveaways #christianfictionreader #christianbooks #christianbookclub

The McGann Parents

Introducing Shauna’s parents in Muldoon’s Minnesota Darling. Readers can see more of the novella’s setting on my Pinterest board. They’ve raised the rest of their family in the Big Woods of Southwestern Minnesota. The others married and moved away from the township, leaving Shauna is their last child.

What type of impression will widowed, physically limited, alcoholic, Mick make upon them?

My Publisher’s Multi-author Giveaway!

Spring is here, so the snow will be starting to melt soon, and it is the perfect time to sit outside and soak up those rays while reading a good book. I have partnered with Celebrate Lit for a giveaway just for you to build up that spring TBR pile!

Here is your chance to win 35 books or a $500 Amazon card to buy a ton of books for yourself in Celebrate Lit’s April Showers Bring May Flowers.

Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/246f2/2023-april-showers-bring-may-flowers The event and giveaway are going on through April 23.

My entry for the giveaway is Heartland Treasures, which includes the short story about my grandfather that inspired my novel series. Hope one of you wins!

#multiauthorgiveaway #bookgiveaway #giveawayusa

Mick’s older brother, Ed

The Muldoon brothers and their sister, Orla, left the rest of their siblings and mother back in Ireland to create a better life for themselves in America in Muldoon’s Misfortunes, releasing on 12/5/23. Ed is everyone’s least favorite. The oldest son typically got rights to the farm in Ireland. Under English law then, only one child could inherit the land rites. Mick’s parents skip over Ed in favor of Mick believing with his crooked back, (scoliosis) he’d need an income. All the rest of the siblings must remain on one farm, in one or two homes, and never marry. There weren’t many ways to earn a living for the Irish in 1866 Ireland.

In Muldoon’s Minnesota Darling, Ed tames himself to a certain degree. Gambling is his vice, because money is his gateway to freedom from daily struggles. He attempts farming with Mick because he’s treated him with contempt and resentment in the past. Maybe he can pay a penance for it. Has Ed’s heart irrevocably changed? How well does he do?

Shauna McGann

Muldoon’s Minnesota Darling, is a Pinterest board I’ve created for my novella, and there are others for my novels. They’re a work in progress, not anywhere near completed, and super fun to create to develop.

Here’s the first character picture of Shauna as I envision her. Shauna is seventeen, and the youngest daughter of a Minnesota wheat farmer, Declan McGann, and her mother, Cassandra McGann. They’ve owned and farmed their parcel since before Minnesota joined the Union. Declan is aging, and chooses to put up a portion of it for sale.

He’s a little unsure of a limping Mick for his daughter. Cassandra is not open to the idea at all. Which of them will win?

Those Resilient Muldoons (Novel Series)

How does a writer turn into a novelist? More than desire, hard work, years of developing skill, networking, and persistence? Yes, more, for we need inspiration. An idea.

Mine came in the form of paper bags, totes, and boxes full of vintage photos, letters, and receipts from my father’s family. They threw little away. Self-named “pack rats.” I prefer to call us, “sentimentalists.”

Because I am a sentimentalist with the rest of the pack, they appointed me the family record keeper. I suspect it’s because no one wanted to find places to store all the stuff. No one wanted to toss out these preserved memories either. After forty years of collecting their stashes after they passed on to heaven, I finally opened a tote in 2019.

Glory be! Who were these people? What was I to do with all these items they’d saved? Some dated back to 1890. And the most enchanting thing was, they were mine. My family who I never knew.

As I dug deeper into their histories, and asked questions of my oldest brother and cousins, these relatives came alive again in my heart and mind. They lived more interesting lives than I was ever told. The one unexpected thing I discovered was how listening to Irish priests speak through my childhood gave me an ear for the dialect. It happily comes through in my character’s speech.

Aha! Here was my inspiration for a fictionalized story my grandfather told me. Readers of the short story, South Dakota Foreman, in the Heartland Treasures anthology, requested more. So, I wrote the historical fiction novel, Muldoon’s Misfortunes. Those beta readers and critique partners for that manuscript wanted more about Liam, and Orla. It spurred two more Muldoon novels in the making.

Now under contract for all three novels with Celebrate Lit Publishing, I am also self-publishing a novella. It’s cut from Muldoon’s Misfortunes, and entirely stands alone. (More about it next week).

My Pinterest Boards hold some captivating images of the era and locations. Hop on over there to get the visuals similar to what’s in my imagination for Muldoon’s Minnesota Darling the novella, and my debut novel: Muldoon’s Misfortunes. You can follow my progress there as well. Eireann Go Bragh!

March’s Lucky Hop into Spring Giveaway!

Happy March Reader Friends,

As an author, I am thankful for your love and support. I wanted to show you how much by partnering with my publisher, Celebrate Lit Publishing for their Hop into Spring Multi-author Giveaway. 

Here is your chance to win 40 books or a $500 Amazon card!

Enter at: https://promosimple.com/ps/2430f/2023-hop-into-spring

The event and giveaway are from 3/12 through 3/18. Hoping and praying one of you is the lucky winner! My story, South Dakota Foreman, is included in the Heartland Treasures compilation you see there. It’s the inspiration for my historical fiction novel series.

#multiauthorgiveaway #giveawayusa #bookgiveaway #bookgiveaways #christianfictionreader #christianbooks #christianbookclub

Author Spotlight – EV Sparrow

A lovely guest interview by a generous and supportive author, Aurora J. Alexander. I enjoy meeting new readers and other authors! Thank you.

Writer's Treasure Chest

Welcome!

Please introduce yourself. Hey everyone, my pen name is E.V. Sparrow. I’m happy to meet you.

1. When did you start writing? May of 2015. But I always told stories in my childhood.

2. What motivates you to write? Words.Communication.I love dialogue and the power of storytelling, and then God called me at the perfect time in my life to write.

3. What genre do you write in and what made you chose this particular genre? Writing Christian Historical fiction, and a bit of romance. My dad’s family made me the keeper of their history with bags, and totes of photos, letters, and documents I kept with me for 35 years. It was the perfect situation to start stories.

4. What is your goal in writing? Do you have dreams where your writing should take you? First, write them. Ha! The goal being to usher ordinary readers into the…

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