Lena Nelson Dooley's Blog, page 35
January 6, 2022
THE GIRL WHO COULD BREATHE UNDER WATER - Erin Bartels - One Free Book
Bio: Erin Bartels is the award-winning author of All That We Carried, 2020 Christy Award finalist The Words between Us, and We Hope for Better Things, a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, 2020 WFWA Star Award winner, and 2019 Christy Award finalist. A publishing professional for twenty years, she is the current director of WFWA’s annual writers retreat in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She lives in Lansing, Michigan, with her husband, Zachary, and their son. Find her online at www.erinbartels.com .
Welcome, Erin. In your new novel, The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water, you explore some sensitive topics including broken friendships, abuse, and forgiveness. How do you address these topics with both candor and sensitivity? I think the key to writing about sensitive topics is experience and empathy. If you haven’t experienced them yourself, you need to employ radical empathy and truly put yourself in the position of your characters in order to imagine things from their perspective. But in the case of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water, I am writing largely from experience. I have had tumultuous friendships that ended on unfinished notes. I experienced sexual harassment and abuse as a child. I have had to grapple with the question of forgiveness and holding people accountable. So I come to these topics from an honest place that recognizes and expresses the fear, confusion, shame, secrecy, misunderstandings, ambiguity, and unforeseen consequences that those experiences breed.
Life is a messy business. In my writing I seek to acknowledge that messiness and explore how we humans move forward despite it. That means you won’t find a lot of “good guys” and “bad guys” in my books. No heroes. No villains. We’re all good and we’re all bad at different times and in different measure. Simul justus et peccator—simultaneously saint and sinner.
You also address how our memories may not be exactly as we remember. Can you expound upon what this means? It is well-known that if you ask multiple eyewitnesses to explain what they saw, you will get multiple angles on a story. You may get conflicting information. And certainly you will get the story from a particular person’s point of view, which will always be colored by their own unique past experiences. Our memory of an event—even when we think we are sure about what we saw—is not 100 percent accurate, and it’s never 100 percent of the story.
Add in the passage of time and things can get murkier still. Even the number of times we’ve told the story can affect what it becomes, because every time we recount an event to someone else, we have the potential to add or change details. As we repeat those additions and changes, they become the memory in our minds—even if they can be proven false by physical evidence—simply because that’s how our brains work.
In The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water, the main character is grappling with this reality as she tries to separate fact from fiction and attempts to see the events of her past from someone else’s point of view. It doesn’t mean her memory is especially unreliable or that she’s wrong about what she experienced. It just means that she may not see the whole picture.
Your new novel explores several complicated relationships. Can you provide a brief synopsis of these relationships? Gosh, it sure does! The fatherless child. The mother-daughter relationship. Adoptive children and parents. Friends that sometimes act like enemies. Abuser and victim. Unexpected houseguest and reluctant host. Not a lot of neat and tidy relationships! But I think those complex relationships can make for some rich storytelling possibilities, especially when they are between people who don’t communicate all that well.
What do you hope readers will gain from reading The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water? Simply put, I hope readers can come away with a bit more patience, compassion, and empathy for the people who make their lives difficult. Whenever something bad happens to us, we tend to ask why—more to the point, we ask, Why me? Why did this person do that to me or say that to me? I spent a lot of time focused on that question in my own life as I wrestled with my own experience of abuse. And it’s not terribly productive when it comes to healing and moving on. I even asked my abuser years later, “Why did you do those things to me?” He had no good answer. He said, “I don’t know.”
When I told my own personal story to my sister, who is a former Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services worker, and my childhood best friend, who is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met, both of them said the exact same thing: “I wonder what happened to him.” It had never occurred to me to ask that. Once I did, I could see the person who abused me as someone who may also have suffered abuse. And while that didn’t excuse him, it helped me forgive him after nearly thirty years.
When someone wrongs us, even if it’s as small as being rude to us at the grocery store or cutting us off in traffic, we can react in anger because we didn’t “deserve” to be treated that way. Or we can react the way my sister and my friend did and say to ourselves, “I wonder what’s going on in that person’s life that makes them act that way.” Further, maybe that would prompt us to respond with a gentle answer, a quiet prayer, a helping hand. Imagine how much better a world we would live in if we traded some of our righteous anger for a little empathy, a little turning of the other cheek.
One enormous caveat, of course: in cases of ongoing physical or emotional abuse, seek help and, where appropriate, seek justice through the legal system.
Each of your books is very different, yet they all include a redemptive thread. What motivates you to include this element in your novels? Theologically, I’m a Calvinist. Mentally, I’m a cynic. Despite the good that individual people manage to do, I think that humankind as a collective, left to our own devices, will always veer toward self-interest.
But I also believe that God is sovereign, and if He is after you, He will catch you. From the very first humans and their very first sin (which was all about self-interest, wasn’t it?), God has been unfolding His plan for redemption, which is not just about individuals being redeemed but about all of creation being redeemed. Nothing and no one—no one—is beyond hope. The people we write off? God is still writing their story. It’s not over until He says it is. So we better be in the business of redemption. Redeeming the time, tending the earth, mending broken relationships, restoring broken people. I want my writing to reflect that tension—that yes, we are royally screwing up down here, but thank God He’s not done with us yet.
What are you working on next? My fifth novel is a story about two musicians in their twenties, set just as the calendar turns over to 1990. It explores questions of where we find our sense of self-worth, how we value our own artistic contributions to the world, what makes something worth doing, and more. As the daughter of a mother with a gorgeous singing voice and a father with a passion for high-end stereo equipment, I have really enjoyed finding ways to express just how meaningful music is to me. And perhaps the most fun is that developing this story has allowed me to explore a new outlet for my own creativity: songwriting.
How can readers connect with you? My favorite social media platform is Instagram (@erinbartelswrites), but readers can also find me on Facebook (@ErinBartelsAuthor) and Twitter (@ErinLBartels). And you can sign up for my newsletter at my website, www.erinbartels.com.
Thank you, Erin, for sharing this new book with my blog readers and me. I'm eager to read it.
Readers, here’s a link to the book.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Girl+Who+Could+Breathe+Under+Water&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com
January 4, 2022
THE LIBRARIAN AND THE LAWMAN (THE LIBRARIAN'S JOURNEY) Kathleen Y'Barbo - One Free Book
Welcome back, Kathleen. What kind of files takes up the most space on your computer? That’s easy. My daughter got married in October, so the answer is photos! Do you have plans to ever retire from writing? Why or why not? Never! I love the writing even if I don’t always love the process of writing. By that, I mean I sometimes can’t type fast enough to get my ideas down and other times I am typing slow because I’m looking for ideas. Slow down? Maybe someday. But retire? Absolutely not!
Are you a stay at home kind of person, or do you like to be on the road a lot? Yes to both! I love the rare day when I get to be home, but the minute my hubby says, “Let’s go,” I’m gone!
Please share a Bible verse or passage that has had the most impact on your life. Ephesians 3:20.
Do you have a favorite Bible character? Who is it and why? There are so many! Depending on what chapter and verse I’m reading, it seems I can always find some parallels with my own life. I want to be like Ruth and Esther. I have been a Peter, a Paul, but not a Mary (1970s joke/pun intended). I just read the passage where the Lord used a donkey to get a man’s attention. The donkey could see what was in the way but the man couldn’t. Unfortunately I related to that guy, too.
Thanks for the laugh. What has been your favorite time in your life? And why? Right now. And I hope I can say that again tomorrow and the next day and all the way until the day I meet Jesus.
Do you have an e-reader? If so, what kind do you use? When my last Kindle died, I realized that my iPad would work just as well and multi-task, too. I’ve read on iPads ever since.
Do you read mostly print books or e-books? Actually I “read” mostly audiobooks. I listen on my commute to work, while I’m cooking, getting ready in the morning, etc. The only time I’m reading on another device is when I am on my iPad, and that’s generally bedtime reading. Thus, I usually buy the book in both formats and switch back and forth.
Do you like to read books in the genres you write, or do you read only other genres … and why? I’m an eclectic reader. I just finished a Sherry Thomas mystery about a female Sherlock Holmes and am about to begin a nonfiction book called Indistractable(Nir Eyal—a much needed topic!) In the past month, I’ve read The London House (Katherine Reay) The Lost Girls of Devon (Barbara O’Neal), and The 5 Second Rule (Mel Robbis).
Please tell us about the book we’re featuring today. The Librarian and the Lawman is a novella that is included in The Librarian’s Journeynovella collection. The story is set in 1936 Kentuckyand West Virginiaand centers on an FBI agent and a woman who is employed as a packhorse librarian—basically a bookmobile on horseback. Please give us a peek at the first page of one of the books.
May 1936
Kenova , West Virginia
When Lottie Trent goes to work for Kentucky’s Boyd County Library System as a librarian, the town was aghast. After all, wasn’t she—the only daughter—supposed to remain back in the boardinghouse kitchen turning out the biscuits from the recipe for which her mama was famous?
But while Mama excelled at all forms of cooking, especially baking, despite all her culinary efforts to the contrary Lottie couldn’t even make toast without burning it. Mama blamed the fact that most of the time she was supposed to be paying attention to her cooking Lottie had her nose in a book. When the pastor’s daughter indicates she would like to help in the boardinghouse kitchen if an opening should occur, Lottie jumps at the opportunity to hang up her apron and respond to the advertisement Miss Dorothea Kern, the head librarian had just posted in the local paper.
Though Lottie walked into the library believing she would soon be working there, she quickly learned that while there was indeed a position open there in Kenova, Miss Dorothea knew a fellow librarian on the other side of the state Kentucky state line in need of a new employee as well. The librarian’s job in Potters Creek would be atop a steady horse with a saddlebag full of library books.
“Even better,” was Lottie’s swift response, for the only thing she enjoyed better than a good book was sitting in the saddle of a fine horse. Not that she’d done that since the family moved to Kenova. Oh, but before, when Papa had a stable of horses just north of Lexington where Derby champions grazed in fields of Kentucky bluegrass…
Lottie shook her head, tucking that memory back into her heart where she put those things that she’d promised never to discuss with anyone, not even the family who’d escaped with her on that awful day in May of 1929. With a smile and an enthusiastic thank you to Miss Dorothea for the answered prayer, Lottie left the library with a letter of recommendation—for she was the library’s best customer for the past eight years—and a plan to become a pack horse librarian and never attempt to cook a biscuit again.
Where can my readers find you on the Internet? I’m active on Facebook and Instagram and I also have a Twitter account I check occasionally. Check out my website at www.kathleenybarbo.comfor the links to those sites.
Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this collection with my blog readers and me. As always, I’m eager to read whatever book you’ve written.
Readers, here’s a link to the book.
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com
January 2, 2022
WINNERS
IMPORTANT: Instructions for winners - When you send me the email, make sure your subject line says this: Winner - (book title) - (author's name) If you do n't do this, your email could get lost in my hundreds of emails per day. I WILL SEARCH FOR POST TITLES STARTING THAT WAY .
Some people don't read the instructions of how to enter. Unfortunately, they don't have a chance to win. so next time you come and leave a comment, be sure to read all the instructions if you want a chance to win.
Sharon (SC) is the winner of It's a Wonderful Christmas by Lynne Gentry plus other authors.
Connie (KY) is the winner of From Miss to Mrs.:Christmas Brides by Kathleen Y'Barbo.
If you won a book and you like it, please consider giving the author the courtesy of writing a review on Goodreads, Amazon.com, Christianbooks.com, Barnes and Noble, or other Internet sites. Reviews are such a blessing to an author.Also, tell your friends about the book you won ... and this blog. Thank you.
Congratulations, everyone. If you won a print book, send me your mailing address:
Click the Contact Me link at the top of the blog, and send me an Email.
If you won an ebook or audio book, just let me know what email address it should be sent to. Remember, you have 4 weeks to claim your book.
January 1, 2022
HAPPY 2022
A new year is a time for renewal. Every year, I ask the Lord for a new word for the year.
For 2022, it is a 2-word phrase. KEEP TRUSTING.
2019, 2020, and 2021 were each years that held a lot of hard things for my family. Yet in the midst of that, God was always with us. He walked through dark valleys and over high mountains, always sustaining us.
It won't be hard to keep trusting Him with everything in our lives.
Today, James and I picked up photographs we had made a couple of weeks ago. We hadn't had formal portraits done for several years. These turned out very good.
I pray blessings on each of you in this new year.
December 30, 2021
THE GIRL EVERYONE WANTS - Dena Netherton - One Free Book
Welcome, Dena. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters. I suppose there is always part of myself in each one of my characters. Since I’m a trained musician, I usually put some kind of music ability in at least one of my characters.
The Girl Everyone Wants
is an exception. Zara, my main character, is a writer and poet (well, I guess that’s part of me, too!) and has only minimal ability in music. What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done? While in graduate school, I paid to ride a very cheap bus from Berkeley, California, to Chicago. It was really a way for near penniless hippies to travel. As soon as the bus got out of the city limits, they passed a peace-pipe around. Soon, men, women, and children were mellow and happy. Then, as we got out into the country, the bus made a couple of side trips to ponds along I-80 where the happy riders could all skinny dip. I took my Bible and hiked into a nearby corn field until they were dressed again. Arriving in Chicago at midnight, the bus driver dropped me off in front of the Field Museumand paid for a taxi to take me two blocks and around the corner to the regular bus station.
When did you first discover that you were a writer? I didn’t believe I was a writer until a professional novelist critiqued one of my stories and told me I was a good writer. Me, a writer? I thought that was only for those special people who have their names on a book cover.
Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading. I started out reading poetry in elementary school. Then graduated to Fantasy novels. In high school I couldn’t get enough of war stories, especially those about World War Two. In my twenties I moved into the 19th century classics. Now, I read both non-fiction and novels: anything with well drawn characters and some thrilling adventure.
How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world? I keep a calendar and regularly black out hours or days for myself. If I don’t do this, I have a hard time saying no. the result is I get overbooked and start to feel stressed and irritable.
How do you choose your characters’ names? Some of my characters simply tell me, “I must be called Jesse, or Finn, or Zara.” If I’m stumped for a good name, I’ll consult a baby-names book for ideas.
What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of? Besides raising three spectacular children, I’m most proud of the fact that I’m not a quitter. I started writing later in life and realized that I would face challenges and disappointment. But if God wants me to write, who am I to give up when I face negative judge comments, or don’t final in a competition? My job is to keep on studying and writing.
If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why? Call me silly, but I think I would be a donkey. Donkeys are smart and stubborn. But they’re also affectionate and loyal. They may be small, but they’re strong. I like that!
What is your favorite food? I love German cuisine. Give me some spaetzl and some pickled beets and wiener schnitzel, and I’m in heaven.
What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it? Starting a book has always been my nemesis. My first novel has at least ten beginnings stored on my computer. I think I’m getting the hang of it though. My last novel only took two beginnings.
Tell us about the featured book. Zara, is the daughter of Iowa farmers. Her greatest desire is to be a college professor. But unfortunately, God has gifted her with the ability to heal. If the world finds out she can heal, she’ll never have a moment’s peace. After she heals a little boy, the media splashes her story all over the news. Now she’s the young woman everyone wants, including members of a drug cartel. What follows is a cross-country cat and mouse chase as Zara attempts to get back to Iowato find and rescue her hostage-held parents. Interesting. Please give us the first page of the book.
The first time I wished I’d been born normal, I was five years old. It was August, and Janey and Jenna, my twin friends who lived on the farm next to ours, told me how they couldn’t wait to go to kindergarten because it would be so much fun. I had picked out my favorite dress, my favorite hair clip, and my favorite pink-and-lavender shoes for my first day of kindergarten. I cried when Mom told me I couldn’t go because then the teachers and the other kids would know I was different. Almost twelve years later, being normal is still the first thing I ask Abba for each morning and each night before I go to sleep.
“Please, Abba, make me normal. Please, Abba.”
Like today, for example. Dad and mom and I are driving to the hospital to see my sister, Abby, and her new baby, Cora. Mom’s all worried about how I’ll behave when we get inside. She looks in the rearview window to check that there are no gaps between my sleeves and my flesh-toned gloves.
“Zara, you gotta not touch anybody when we go inside the hospital.”
I want to roll my eyes, but instead, I say, “Yes, Mom.” It’s not like I don’t know the drill. After all, I’m almost seventeen, almost an adult. And I’ve had lots of practice not touching people. Without my gloves, my bare fingers sometimes zap people, that is, if there’s anything wrong with them.
But Mom is worried I’ll slip up and something will happen and my secret will get out. “Remember Aunt Evelyn,” Mom always says. She was my mom’s older sister. But she died way before I could form concrete memories. I only remember bits and pieces of Aunt Evelyn and how she seemed sad and nervous.
How can readers find you on the Internet?
I’m on Facebook, Twitter (@DenaNetherton1), Goodreads, MeWe (just joined). Find me on my website at https://DenaNetherton.me
Thank you, Dena, for sharing this new novel with my blog readers and me. My copy has arrived, and it’s at the top of my to-be-read pile. The concept of the story intrigues me.
Readers, here’s a link to the book.
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com
December 28, 2021
ELINOR - Shannon McNear - One Free Book
Welcome, Shannon. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon? Thank you—it’s been amazing to watch His hand and to see the doors He’s opened! I have books 2 and 3 of Daughters of the Lost Colony to complete (#2 will release Oct 2022 and we’re working on details for #3), and then I’m hoping to see a follow-through on previous interest in my Revolutionary War novel, Loyalty’s Cadence. Tell us a little about your family. My husband and I are the parents of eight—four boys and four girls, plus one boy in heaven. The three oldest are married, with another getting married in April, and we have four grandbabies so far between them all. My youngest daughter is 17 and in her last year of high school (anyone remember the toddler wandering around during ACFW 2005, in Nashville? She’s now taller than me!). Two of her older sisters are in college, with one of those graduated as of December. The youngest daughter and son still live at home, with the son working full time. Oh, and we also have two German Shepherds, a bunny, two cats, and chickens and guinea fowl.
My husband is a 31-year veteran of the military and just a few years away from retirement—at which point we hope to travel more.
Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how? Oh yes! My reading now is more intentional, less because I’m bored or have time on my hands. Which is great if I’m reading for the sheer love of story (because authors need that, to help fill their own creative tanks) but not so much if it’s research or for contest judging (which I continue to do as a way to give back to the writing community—and also to discover authors I might not otherwise get to read).
It’s also had the effect of making me more critical of what I read, but we won’t talk about that …
What are you working on right now? Book 2 of Daughters of the Lost Colony, titled Mary. It’s both a parallel story and sequel to Elinor.
What outside interests do you have? Cooking, sewing, herbal and alternative medicine, music. I play guitar and sometimes lead worship, but mostly Music Is Life.
How do you choose your settings for each book? I don’t choose them; they choose me. Seriously, though, it usually starts with a character or event, and then the setting just naturally follows.
If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why? I think I’d have to pick Corrie Ten Boom. It would be amazing just to hear her stories from her own lips.
I love Corrie Ten Boom, too. What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels? That it’s more about the journey than any perceived destination (i.e., getting published).
That is so true. What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now? I can’t think of anything particularly new, just more layers and facets of old lessons. Redemption itself just becomes dearer to me the older I get, and grace and mercy, even more incredible.
I know what you mean by that. What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful? Read a ton! Write a ton. And attend writer’s conferences and be humble about learning the craft. Realize that nobody is a guaranteed success right out of the gate, but it takes hard work, time, and patience.
Tell us about the featured book. Elinor is a “what-if” historical centering on the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island—the first English attempt at settlement in the New World, 20 years before Jamestown: The daughter of a renowned English artist and explorer, Elinor White Dare journeys to the New World seeking a fresh start and a place to put down roots. What she finds will shake the very foundations of her faith and yet rebuild what she knows of God’s goodness and mercy, even in loss. Please give us the first page of the book.
Prologue
August 1590
Three years.
Three long years. But soon, please God, he would hold his daughter and granddaughter again.
This close, it seemed impossible to contain either longing or hope. Yet he must. He knew, with every shred of his being, how unlikely it was that the colonists had stayed on Roanoac Island beyond that first autumn. But the anticipation of stepping upon this shore once more—of gaining at least a hint of what had become of them—
He could hardly breathe.
Green and grey and blue were the waters around and behind him, but he had no eye for the dancing splendor of the waves. Only for the blinding brightness of the strand before him, the dunes clothed with grasses bending in the unrelenting sea winds, and the smudgy dark green of the forest rising beyond.
God had, despite much peril and many months of privateering, brought them safe through the storm. Would that He’d now hold back the tides long enough for him to find them.
Days of longing. Days of hope. He was near to exhausted with it. In their slow sail past the islands to the south, he’d expected some sign of life, of habitation, but—nothing. Not even a signal fire.
How can readers find you on the Internet?
Thank you, Shannon, for sharing this book with my blog readers and me. I’m eager to read it.
Readers, here’s a link to the book.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Elinor&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com
December 26, 2021
WINNERS
IMPORTANT: Instructions for winners - When you send me the email, make sure your subject line says this: Winner - (book title) - (author's name) If you do n't do this, your email could get lost in my hundreds of emails per day. I WILL SEARCH FOR POST TITLES STARTING THAT WAY .
Some people don't read the instructions of how to enter. Unfortunately, they don't have a chance to win. so next time you come and leave a comment, be sure to read all the instructions if you want a chance to win.
Maryann (NY) is the winner of The Lowborn Lady by Peggy Trotter.
Janice (AZ) is the winner of Deadly Target by Elizabeth Goddard.
If you won a book and you like it, please consider giving the author the courtesy of writing a review on Goodreads, Amazon.com, Christianbooks.com, Barnes and Noble, or other Internet sites. Reviews are such a blessing to an author.Also, tell your friends about the book you won ... and this blog. Thank you.
Congratulations, everyone. If you won a print book, send me your mailing address:
Click the Contact Me link at the top of the blog, and send me an Email.
If you won an ebook or audio book, just let me know what email address it should be sent to. Remember, you have 4 weeks to claim your book.
December 24, 2021
Christmas Is My Favorite Holiday Season
I have a special Christmas story I want to share with you:
The Christmas Child of 1864
By Lena Nelson Dooley
Each hesitant footstep sounded a hollow drumbeat in the nearly empty house. Marion wandered from room to room mourning more than the loss of her parents. Yes, this Christmas would be lonely without Mother and Father, but she’d had almost a year to get used to them being gone. Last winter, when the influenza raged through the countryside robbing numerous families of members, Marion questioned why God allowed her to live while He took her lovely mother. Marion couldn’t be sorry that her father had also succumbed to the dreaded disease. Since he came home from the fighting without either of his legs, he had been only a shell of the man who marched valiantly to the war confident that the South would quickly win.
How long could a war really last? It had been three long agonizing years. Years that had stolen more than the young manhood of the South. Years that slowly leached the wealth as well. That was what Marion was mourning this clear, sunny, cold December day. The loss of so many of the family possessions.
As she entered the music room, her gaze flew to the corner where the ebony piano had reigned as the monarch. How she missed sitting on the stool and running her fingers up and down the ivory keys releasing the notes held captive there–music that lilted through the air and comforted her whatever her distress. But the piano had been the first piece of furniture to go, and for such a small sum. Mother had been so distressed, but the meager funds carried them through almost a month while Father fought the demons of pain and the other agonies he brought home with him.
Then other treasured family heirlooms had followed the piano–the rosewood desk her grandfather built for her grandmother as a wedding present, the elegant sideboard with the stained glass doors, the china her great grandparents brought as newlyweds from England. As a third son of a nobleman, her great grandfather had left his ancestral home to make a life in America. And he had done well. This plantation was a tribute to his determination to be his own man. It had sustained a growing family–and a growing family of slaves.
What a pity Father had gone to war. He didn’t believe in slavery, but he did believe in something he called “state’s rights.” Soon after he and Mother had married, they freed all the slaves—and even educated them. Because of this, most of the Negroes had stayed on, and the plantation continued to prosper.
Then Father had gone off to war. That’s when everything changed. Many of the freed Negroes moved to the North, leaving Mother with fewer and fewer people to help run the plantation. Every year had become harder and harder.
When Father returned in such bad shape, Mother lost heart. She spent all her time trying to make him comfortable, trying to restore his self-confidence.
Marion had to run the plantation without them. With the help of Daisy and Joshua, the two remaining Negroes, Marion had done what she could. Still Mother had to start selling off the treasures. And then Marion’s two dearest treasures had died within a week of each other.
“Miss Marion,” Daisy’s warm molasses voice called from the parlor. “Where are you, Miss Marion?”
Marion retraced her steps to the warmest room in the house, the only one where they burned a fire in the daytime.
“What is it, Daisy?” Marion looked across the large space toward the fireplace.
Daisy sat before the blazing fire, peeling wrinkled sweet potatoes. Even the parlor had been stripped of all but a few pieces of furniture. Three chairs sat in front of the fireplace, with a small round table beside one of them. So little in such a large room which had once been crowded.
“I think someone’s comin’ up from the road.”
Marion looked out one of the front windows, peeking from behind the drapes, kept closed against the cold. She didn’t see anything, but she detected the faint sound of hoofbeats on the packed dirt of the drive.
“Who could it be? I hope it’s not any Union soldiers.”
“Lawsy, Miss Marion, surely not.” Fear caused Daisy to revert to her old way of speaking. She quickly gathered up all she was working on and went to the cookhouse looking for Joshua.
Marion watched as a ramshackle wagon drawn by two scrawny mules came into view. It was one of the squatters who had settled on a burned-out and abandoned plantation a few miles away. He was driving slowly and looking at a lump in the back of the wagon as much as he looked at the drive ahead. Marion wondered what the pile of quilts covered. She watched as the man carefully stopped the wagon. He sat and stared at the house before he climbed down.
Marion was wary as he climbed the steps and knocked on the door. Thankfully, Joshua was there to answer the almost timid summons. It gave her a chance to scan the surroundings for signs of enemy soldiers.
“Miss Marion.” Joshua stood at the door to the parlor. “This man and his wife need help.”
“Are you sure it’s not a trap?”
“I don’t think so. His wife is about to have a baby, and he doesn’t know what to do.”
Marion trembled. She had been sixteen and protected when her father went off to war. In the three years since, she’d had to take control of the plantation–what was left of it. She had learned responsibility the hard way, but she didn’t know anything about childbirth.
“How can we help her?”
“Daisy was a right good midwife in her day. She could help if it’s all right with you, Miss Marion.”
How could Marion turn them away? She knew there wasn’t anyone else close by who could help them. Besides, this was Christmas Eve. Maybe having a baby born here would make it seem more like Christmas.
“You help the man bring her in. I’ll go get Daisy.”
Marion wasn’t sure how the men got the poor woman inside the house, but she and Daisy found her on a pallet in front of the fireplace in the parlor. The woman’s husband was crouching beside her holding her hand as she moaned and writhed. When the two women entered, he looked relieved and stood, turning toward them.
“I’ll help your black man put the horse and wagon away.” He seemed eager to leave the room.
While Daisy examined the woman and made her pallet more comfortable, Marion heard the men reenter the house. Then she heard muffled voices in the hall.
Daisy sent Marion to the cookhouse to set water on to boil. She also asked Marion to get some of the older linens and tear them in various sizes to prepare for the birth.
Agitated, the man paced the large entrance hall. Joshua was trying to sooth him when Marion first walked by them. Then when she returned to the linen closet, she could hear every word of their conversation.
“You don’t seem like an excited new father to me.” Joshua sounded almost condemning, which wasn’t typical of the gentle man.
“How can I be excited? It’s not my baby.” The man spat out the words as if he couldn’t stand their tasted the bitterness.
“You did say she’s your wife.” Joshua’s statement sounded like a question.
“That she is.”
“Was she carrying another man’s child when you married?” Joshua’s tone had softened.
“No.” The man paused, then continued. “Some soldiers came by right after we built our shanty. I couldn’t tell which side they were on. Maybe they were renegades. They took everything they could, and then they. . . ”
“I understand. But why do you think the child is from that?”
“My. . . wife. . . hasn’t been the same since it happened. She hasn’t wanted to be touched. . . even by me. I tried to understand. I wanted to be gentle with her, and so I didn’t push her before she was ready. Then she was with child.”
Marion’s heart broke for the man—and for the woman who labored in the parlor. She peeked around the door in time to see Joshua gently place his large hand on the man’s shoulder.
“But you were together as man and wife before it happened. It could be your child.”
“No. She had her. . . womanly time before they came, and we. . . never. . .”
Joshua bowed his grizzled head and murmured too low for Marion to hear, but she knew he was praying with the man. They stayed that way for a long time, and she didn’t want to interrupt. She glanced at her sewing basket sitting on the shelf of the linen closet. With her scissors, she began cutting a sheet, all the time murmuring a prayer for the couple.
“Are you a God-fearing man?” Joshua’s question startled Marion.
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“Well, I’m sure Joseph must have felt the way you do, at first, when Mary told him about carrying the Christ Child, but he was the father the Boy needed. And this child needs you for a father.”
Just then a tiny cry was heard from the parlor followed by Daisy’s exclamation, “It’s a boy!”
This truly is a special Christmas, Marion thought as she rushed to take the cloths to the mother and Christmas boy.
©1997 Lena Nelson Dooley
I hope you live where you can experience Christmas celebrations with your local church. If not, here's another Christmas gift.
December 22, 2021
FROM MISS TO MRS.: CHRISTMAS BRIDES - Kathleen Y'Barbo - One Free book
Welcome back, Kathleen. It’s always a pleasure to have you here. Where do you write? Wherever I can! I’ve got a laptop that can go where I go, although most of the time it’s at my desk at home. When deciding on how to publish, what directed you to the route you took? Not what but Who…God did. Ages ago, I had plans to write funny spicy romance and become the next Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Nora Roberts. I bought books, studied my craft, and joined a local writing group. I learned about writing from some of the best in that group. Then one day my pastor asked the congregation if there was anything we were holding back from God. Immediately, He put one word on my heart: writing.
The next meeting, DiAnn Mills visited the group. The short version is she and I hit it off and it wasn’t long before she asked me to join her in a novella collection that became my first published book. Twenty years later, I still write for that publisher as well as for a few others plus I’m releasing indie books.
What kinds of things do you like to do outside of writing?
Reading, of course! I also love traveling and spending time with my hubby.
What kinds of advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing?
Write. It’s absolutely as simple as that. Be true to your voice, always be teachable and open to critique, but do talk yourself out of putting words on the page. The enemy’s going to be doing that already. Do not cooperate.
What is your favorite book? Favorite author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to write? Bible. God. God. Having said that, I have lots of favorites. I have eclectic tastes in books. I love a good story or a nonfiction that informs or challenges me.
Where did you get the idea for the featured book? I had a number of options, but FROM MISS TO MRS.: CHRISTMAS BRIDES resonated with me. The book is a compilation of two unrelated Christmas stories, one historical and one contemporary, so titling was tricky. I think this one worked well. I do, too. And I just love the cover. From idea to final revision, how long did it take to write? Since this was a reprint of two previously published stories, the time was in the edits and cover art.
Are you working on anything now? I am finishing a contemporary novella that will become the next book in the Pies, Books and Jesus Book Club series. I’ll be able to say more about that in the spring. Once that story goes to the editors, I’ll be turning my attention to a dog-themed cozy mystery in a series I’m doing with Janice Thompson called Gone to the Dogs. It’s set in Brenham, Texas, and even has some Aggies in it—two legged and four-legged!
I’ll want to feature your new books, too. Please tell us about the featured book. Two different stories, two different centuries with one result: love at Christmastime. From historical San Antonio, Texas, to modern day Santa Monica, California, the gift of love is the best present of all!
Please give us a peek at the first page of the book.
Christmas Day, 1851
San Antonio , Texas
Texas Ranger Captain Ebenezer “Eb” Wilson swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and knelt at Carolina’s bedside. On the other side of the closed door, his firstborn, Rafael Ebenezer Wilson wailed in the capable arms of his grandmother. His wife had given him a strong, fine son, a lad with his mama’s dark hair and his papa’s talent for howling at full volume.
If only he’d been there when . . .
“Eb, promise me. . .”
Jerking his attention back to the tiny form beneath the blankets, Eb felt the tears threaten again. His beautiful fiery wife, the delicate counterpoint to his big clumsy self, lay so still and pale that he barely recognized her. The very life seemed to flow from her as the clock on the bedside ticked.
She reached for his hand but her fingers fell limp on the quilt just shy of their mark. Eb grasped her tiny hand in his and lifted it to his lips. “Anything, Lina. Anything.”
For moment, fire flashed in Carolina’s eyes, a reminder of the saucy senorita he’d met and married in a whirlwind courtship barely one year ago. “Don’t let my mama take our Rafael to raise. Get him another mama, someone young and strong who’ll love him like me.”
“No.” The sharpness of his tone startled him but it seemed to have no effect on Carolina. “I’ll never marry again. I . . . I couldn’t.”
Her fingers slid from his grasp to wipe a tear off his cheek. “Then I will only pray you will consider it.”
Where can my readers find you on the Internet? I’m active on Facebook and Instagram and I also have a Twitter account I check occasionally. Check out my website at www.kathleenybarbo.comfor the links to those sites.
Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing these novellas with my blog readers and me. I loved the stories when I first read them, and I’m reading them right now. Enjoying them again.
Readers, here’s a link to the book.
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
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December 21, 2021
IT'S A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS - Lynne Gentry and 4 other authors - One Free Book
Welcome back, dear friend. How did your story for the collection come about? During the pandemic shut-down, a group of my author friends started meeting regularly on zoom. Someone said, “Wouldn’t it cheer everyone up if we wrote a Christmas story?” The rest was history.
My story, MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET, is the fifth in one of my favorite southern small-town series (Mt. Hope Southern Adventures). I’ve always loved the classic Christmas movie, Miracle on 34th Street, and used that movie for my inspiration to create the Christmas parades I remembered from growing up in a small town.
Are these stories connected in some way? If so, how? The stories in this collection are connected in that they all were inspired by a favorite classic Christmas movie.
What are you reading right now? I’m listening to Patti Callahan’s new book ONCE UPON A WARDROBE. It’s a delightful story about C.S. Lewis. And the English narrator is the delicious icing on the cake.
How many other books have you had published? I’ve lost count. Somewhere between 15 and 20.
What is the hardest thing about writing a part of a collection? Our author team of Julie Cantrell, Janyre Tromp, Kelli Stuart, and Allison Pittman worked well together. It’s true that many hands make light work. It was great to have different people using their different strengths. I guess picking the cover was probably the hardest, but once we settled on the midnight blue of an old theater screen, it was easy to settle on the design.
How did collaborating with this team impact you? Writing is such a solitary sport. I’m an extrovert, so having this group of friends who were all interested in the same project was invigorating. We’ll be friends for the rest of our careers now.
What did you want the reader to take away from your story? MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET takes a look at two things. First, I explore the dynamics of a small town and how people in tight knit communities learn to live and work with people who are a little prickly. I think the world would be a better place if all of us learned to love people who are hard to love. But loving difficult people often requires forgiveness. And the second thing this light, funny story explores is really rather heavy. And that’s the idea of forgiveness. Forgiving someone who’s hurt you deeply is easier said than done…and that’s the miracle of Christmas, isn’t it?
Yes, it is. Please give us a peek into your story. Mt.Hope is a dusty west Texas town on the verge of shutting its doors. The few businesses that remain on Main Street are in danger of closing, including Ruthie Crouch’s diner. When the town council decides to make one more stab at revitalizing the economy, the annual Christmas parade is resurrected. But when the Santa they choose is the man who deserted Ruthie and her diner years ago, skillets fly and the whole plan nearly falls apart.
What is the best piece of advice you received as an author? Read. Read. Read. Then write. Write. Write.
Where can my readers find you on the Internet?
Website: https://www.lynnegentry.com/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lynne-gentry
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author-Lynne-Gentry-215337565176144/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnegentry.author/?hl=en
Thank you, Lynne, for sharing this new collection with my blog readers and me.
Readers, here’s a link to the book.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=It%27s+a+Wonderful+Christmas&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com
