Brenda S. Anderson's Blog, page 39
November 24, 2014
Five Blessings from Writing
Last night at our ACFW Minnesota NICE meeting, fellow author Stacy Monson asked us to share blessings we’ve received from our writing. As I considered my answer, I knew there was much to be thankful for. Below’s an abbreviated list–I know there are many more.
Friends - In abundance! From my Inkspirational Messages writing buddies, to my ACFW Critique partners, and ACFW Minnesota NICE, and new friends at church, and my Street Teams, and … well, you get the idea.
Learning to Persevere – I’ve never considered myself a persistent person, but knowing without a doubt that God has called me to be a writer, I refuse to quit. Not through failures or lousy sales or lack of recognition. As much as I’d like to give up at times, I’m compelled to keep pressing on. An added bonus from this is that I’m now seeing my kids persevere through their tough times and failures.
Learning to See Beyond First Impressions to the Heart that God Sees – Have you ever watched the news only to become angry at peoples’ behaviors or beliefs? I certainly have. For example, say you’re watching the news and you hear about a teen who was killed by someone texting while driving, and then you learn that the driver had been drinking as well. Chances are you won’t have too much sympathy for that driver, you’ll likely be angry with him. I know I would be. Well, that irresponsible driver became the hero in Chain of Mercy. Once I peeked inside his life, I discovered the brokenness that God sees, and the heart He wants to restore. So now when I see a news story and have a negative reaction, I take a step back and try to look at them as a broken child of God, as we all are.
Closer Relationship With My Husband – Not that we weren’t close before, but this added another layer of devotion between us. Marvin has been my loudest cheerleader all the way, and he actually loves what I write!
Deeper Relationship With God – When we use the gifts God gives us, it’s amazing the fruits we see from that! There’s little in the writing life that’s easy, but God’s beside us the entire time. That doesn’t mean we don’t fail or fall or feel alone. Not at all. That just forces us to lean on Him even more.
What blessings have you reaped from being obedient to God’s call, be it writing or some other gift?
Another Gracious Review
Heartfelt thanks goes out to Julia Wilson on Avid Reader Reviews for this thoughtful review of Pieces of Granite!
http://avidreaderreviews.com/2014/11/22/firm-foundations/
Thank you, Julia!
November 23, 2014
And the Winner of Stranded Is …
Melanie Backus! Congratulations, Melanie!
Hope you enjoy STRANDED, Don & Stephanie Prichard‘s debut novel!
And I need to apologize! I realized that I failed to announce the winner of STRANDED on the 21st as promised. The winner was chosen and notified, but I neglected to post on Friday.
November 21, 2014
Blog Hopping Today!
I woke up this morning to learn I’m traveling all over the blogosphere today! I’d love it if you’d travel with me!
My friend and critique partner, Shannon Taylor Vannatter, invited me to her romance blog (Inkslinger) to share real-life romance. So I talk about how my husband and I met (not terribly romantic!). But then I share how my hero and heroine from Pieces of Granite met. And I cap off the post with a recipe for romance (if you consider chocolate and peanut butter romantic, which I certainly do!) And, I can’t forget, I’m giving away an ebook copy of PIECES OF GRANITE too!
Author / Blogger Sarah Ruut has a very thoughtful review of Pieces of Granite on her blog today. I love her summation: “[Chain of Mercy and Pieces of Granite are well-written books which dig into some gritty issues without being “preachy.” You’ll walk away reminded that God is indeed good, all the time — even when life is hard.”
http://sarahruut.com/2014/11/21/review-pieces-of-granite-by-brenda-anderson/
And, for the past two weeks at Inkspirational Messages, we’ve been talking about prayer, so today I share songs of prayer that have impacted me.
http://inkspirationalmessages.com/songs-of-prayer/
What prayer songs mean a lot to you?
November 19, 2014
And Finally … The Full Cover!
Ta do! Isn’t it beautiful?! It was worth the wait, don’t you think?
Purchase Pieces of Granite:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
5 Days Remaining on the Giveaway!
Thank You for Celebrating With Me!
Thank you all for celebrating with me yesterday! What a fun day! And not a crumb of cake left over. 
So far, I’ve already been blessed with six, count ‘em, 6! 5-star reviews on Amazon! And, late yesterday afternoon, I discovered this on Amazon:
Very cool to be under the 100 mark in Women’s Christian Fiction! Thank you for making it happen!
Now remember, we’re celebrating for an entire week, so if you haven’t entered to win a paperback of Pieces of Granite plus the Precious Moments figurine, you still have plenty of time. <Enter here>
In the meantime, I’m visiting with Jorie over at Jorie Loves a Story. She asks several unique and thought-provoking questions about Pieces of Granite and the Coming Home Series. If you have a few minutes, please stop by Jorie’s blog:
Now it’s off to do some grocery shopping … something that’s been sadly neglected since I took on this indie venture!
Purchase Pieces of Granite:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
November 17, 2014
PIECES OF GRANITE – Now Available!!!
Grab your party hats and noisemakers because I’m celebrating today! Pieces of Granite, the prequel to Chain of Mercy is now available for purchase!!!*
(*Due to technical difficulties, the paperback version of Pieces of Granite is not available. Yet. But it is coming. Soon!)
I’ve got cake (In an early scene, my heroine Debbie and her daughter Kaitlynn are making a cake similar to the one below).
Plus, I have munchies and drinks and, of course, a Giveaway! (See below)
In PIECES OF GRANITE, my heroine, Debbie, is let down by many of those closest to her. She even has a Precious Moments figurine, “I’ll Never Let You Down”–a gift and a promise from her older brother. Despite being let down by so many, Debbie constantly tries to be strong and not let them down in return. Problem is, she can’t do it. None of us can.
But there is Someone who will never let us down, Someone who promised to be our strength, our foundation.
The Precious Moments figurine is a reminder of God’s promise to us, so I’m including that along with a paperback copy of Pieces of Granite!
So, spread the word! Share the pic below. Tell everyone you know about Pieces of Granite. Chat it up on Twitter and Facebook. Pin the cover and contest pic to Pinterest!
And, of course, buy the book!
Thank you for celebrating with me!
PIECES OF GRANITE
(Coming Home Series prequel)
2012 ACFW Genesis Semi-Finalist
“Brenda Anderson’s realistic, flawed characters and messy life situations drag the reader on a rollercoaster ride of emotions in this story of what happens when the strong one everyone leans on begins to spiral. A page turning tale of one woman’s journey of relinquishing control and finding her true self.” Award-winning author Shannon Taylor Vannatter
A distressing diagnosis
A retreating husband
A prodigal brother
Debbie Verhoeven is not your typical woman.
She sacrificed a counseling career to be a full-time mother
She’d rather pound a nail than round steak
Oprah? No way! Give her ESPN any day
Nothing could be more stressful than scrapbooking
Nothing, except …
A distressing diagnosis,
A husband who is pulling away,
And two older brothers who refuse to get along
When the counselor is caught in the middle,
when she needs to be strong for those around her,
who is left to be strong for her?
And the Winner of Under the Silk Hibiscus is …
*** MAXIE ANDERSON ***
Congratulations, Maxie! I know you’ll love UNDER THE SILK HIBISCUS by Alice J. Wisler!
Winner selected using Random.org
November 12, 2014
Getting to Know Authors Don & Stephanie Prichard
Enter Below
~*~*~
About eight years ago while attending the Write His Answer Conference in Estes Park, Colorado, I had the honor of meeting Stephanie and Don Prichard, a couple penning their first book together. We reconnected a year or two later at the same conference where we were enrolled in the Nangie class (Nancy Rue and Angela Hunt). Since then I’ve been blessed with not only a hawk-eyed, grammar-guru critique partner (Stephanie), but I’ve made lasting friends.
A few weeks back, Don and Steph released their debut novel, STRANDED, a page-flipping, tension-laced adventure that even has a touch of romance. (Read my review >here
So, I’m absolutely giddy to introduce you to my friends, Steph and Don Prichard!
Don and Steph, I’m soooo excited to introduce you to my readers! Can you tell them a little about yourselves?
Steph: I’m an army brat, so I grew up living in different countries around the world (fave was Italy). When I married Don, I put down roots in Indianapolis, IN, and stayed home to raise our three spunky kids. Now that our nest is empty, I’ve loved co-authoring Don’s and my first novel. Oh, and I’m passionate about grammar.
Don: I’m a graduate of Drake University (math major) and Iowa State University (architecture major). Retired from USMCR at the rank of Colonel (32 years), and licensed architect (35 years). Stephanie and I met at Drake and have been married 49 years.
49 Years? Wow! Congratulations!
And congratulations on your debut release, Stranded! (Snoopy dancing here! :D) Could you tell us about your journey to publication?
Don: Thank you, Brenda. It’s the only dance I know how to do. Our journey began In the fall of 1999, when a storyline started going through my head and I wrote it down as it developed. On February 8, 2000, I had a stroke and lost all ability to read. Turned out the story was the best therapy for regaining my reading skills. For the next year I got up and wrote from 4 to 6 AM before going to work. During that year I wrote the rough draft of a story that comprised three novels. Stranded is the first portion of that story. Eventually I asked Stephanie to help me, and we evolved into co-authors.
Steph: As an English/Literature major, I thought I knew how to write a novel, but at my first writers conference (where I met Brenda), I learned I didn’t. I joined a critique group, took online classes, and attended writing conferences with Don, but it wasn’t until Brenda started mentoring me that I really made headway (thank you, dearie!).
You’re welcome! I can relate to you–I’m a literature major and also discovered I had no clue how to write a novel! Glad we learned together!
What inspired Stranded?
Don: As a young boy I felt abandoned by God. Later I realized He was guiding me to do things I never thought possible. Stranded incorporates this spiritual struggle, as well as survival knowledge I gained from my Marine Corps training.
Is this part of a series?
Steph: Stranded is a stand-alone novel, but Don has four sequels in the wings in hopes readers will demand them.
You wrote this book together. Could you describe that process?
Steph: Don produced the initial draft. Later, when he asked me to help him, I had to decide whether to simply correct the grammar and spelling or join him as a co-author. A friend gave us Story by Robert McKee to read, and that made my choice. We fell in love with working together to mold the story into a baby Frankenstein and eventually a mature Adonis, ha ha. I ended up doing the writing while Don gave me feedback on being a man and a Marine.
Don: At first it was hard to trust her with my baby (really, Steph, a Frankenstein?), but as we progressed I realized she was making it ten times better as she melded it into hers and mine.
Many of us (that means me) can relate to penning that baby Frankenstein! Glad you could shape it together. 
What are you working on right now?
Steph: A sequel to Stranded.
Don: My memoir about a barefoot farm boy enabled by unusual circumstances to go to college and become a Marine.
I can’t wait to read both!
Which authors do you enjoy reading? Have any influenced your writing?
Steph: Anymore, I’m pretty eclectic, but I love a good dystopian. Having to learn to write all over again (c’mon, I got A’s in college!), I can’t say any one author influenced my writing.
Don: Lee Child with his Jack Reacher series. They are fast-paced action with just the right amount of description.
What’s on your reading list right now?
Steph: I just finished Hugh Howey’s dystopian series, Wool et al.
Don: The next Lee Child novel.
When you’re not writing, what do you enjoy doing?
Steph: Participating in our church’s book club and playing Cities and Knights, a highly competitive board game in which three friends and I do dastardly deeds to each other, scream, foam at the mouth, and kiss and make up afterwards. Very cathartic.
Don: Playing Bridge on the computer, watching a variety of series on Netflix with Steph, and a ministry in which I pray over the phone with 130 people who are leading Bible studies.
I’d love to be a little mouse in the corner while you’re playing Cities & Knights! Sounds like fun!
And the most important question: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, or no chocolate?
Steph: Oooo, milk chocolate—it comes in so many delicious varieties, I can’t get through them all in a month!
Don: Dark, without question.
Thanks again for coming by, Don & Steph! Have I said I’m excited for you?! 
About Stranded~
All Marine Corps reservist Jake Chalmers wants is to give his dying wife a last, romantic cruise to the Philippines. Unable to save her in a mass murder aboard ship, he washes ashore a jungle island, where he discovers three other survivors. Heartbroken that he failed to save his wife, he is determined not to fail these helpless castaways.
Federal prosecutor Eve Eriksson rescues a young girl and her elderly great-aunt from the same ship. They badly need Jake’s survival skills, but why is he so maddeningly careful? She needs to hurry home to nail a significant career trial. And, please, before Jake learns her secret that she’s responsible for his wife’s death.
Purchase Stranded >here< (Go right now! It’s only $2.99! We’ll wait …) Got it? Okay, great! Now, where were we …? Oh, yes…
Get in Touch with Don & Stephanie~
Sign up for their newsletter at http://donandstephanieprichard.wordpress.com/
Stranded Pinterest Board: www.pinterest.com/stephprichard
Facebook at www.facebook.com/4u2read
November 10, 2014
Chatting with Author Alice Wisler
***Book Giveaway***See contest rules below
~*~*~
Alice Wisler is one of those gifted authors who could write in any genre, and I would love her works. Not only is she an excellent storyteller, but she has a melodic writing voice that sings off the pages. I’m so excited to have Alice visit my blog today! Her latest novel, UNDER THE SILK HIBISCUS, is scheduled for release on November 19. I can’t wait to get my copy!
Please welcome, Alice Wisler!
Hi Alice! Could you tell my readers a little about yourself?
I grew up in Osaka, Japan as a missionary kid. I loved writing stories on the train rides home from school. Now I live in Durham, NC. I write, teach writing through grief workshops, and speak at conferences.
My husband and I have a wood carving business, Carved By Heart. We carve customized plaques, house number signs, clocks, and remembrance items. Well, he carves; I promote and am the admin person. Our business is new; we need all the help we can get. Here’s our shop on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/carvedbyheart
What beautiful artwork, Alice! I especially love the log cabin mailbox.
And congratulations on your new release! How exciting! Can you tell my readers about Under the Silk Hibiscus? What inspired this book?
I think our US history has tried to hide what happened to a segment of our population during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans posed a fear in the hearts of many Americans. Those of Japanese descent living on the west coast were sent to internment camps. I have friends whose parents were in these camps. The whole situation intrigued me for a variety of reasons.
That’s a very intriguing topic, and you’re right, not much is said about the Japanese internment. I did read another novel that touched on it, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. An excellent read.
Could you tell us about your journey to publication?
I tend to think my manuscripts are ready before they are. So with my first novel, I sent it out to agents way too early. I kept getting rejections. One agent told me she couldn’t identify with the narrative voice of my character, Nicole. And after reading a few chapters, I thought, neither can I. So I changed the voice, rewrote most of the novel, and sent it to a potential agent. She liked it and wanted to see the whole thing. But I hadn’t written the whole thing in the current narrative! I used every waking moment when I wasn’t at my day job or caring for my three kids to get my manuscript completed. The agent liked it and asked to represent me. Eight weeks later we were offered a contract by Bethany House for two novels.
What are you working on right now?
I’m working on a memoir about a flawed marriage redeeemed (No, it’s not about my first marriage that ended in divorce, but about the one I’m in now). Writing it has been a tough task. Being authentic and honest are not usually easy for me. But I’m trying.
And I’m certain that writing openly like that hurts, but is also a catharsis.
Which authors do you enjoy reading? Have any influenced your writing?
Elizabeth Berg was a big influence for my first novel, Rain Song. Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club influences me every two years or so when I re-read it.
Both are excellent authors! What’s on your reading list right now?
I’m reading Sophy Burnham’s For Writers Only once again. This is a great book every writer should read as it depicts the struggles and joys we authors face. We are a strange breed and understanding our kind does help.
I hadn’t heard of that book before. It’s going on my must-read list. Thank you!
When you’re not writing, what do you enjoy doing?
I like to go on walks through trails. I also enjoy making bread and coming up with my own bread recipes. Some fail; most are very tasty.
And the most important question: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, or no chocolate?
My husband’s favorite is dark and I think I’d have to admit that after being married to him for almost six years, dark chocolate has become my favorite, too.
Thank you again, Alice, for stopping by today! It’s a joy getting to know you better!
About Alice~
Alice has authored four contemporary novels published by Bethany House: Rain Song (Christy Finalist), How Sweet It Is (Christy Finalist), Hatteras Girl and A Wedding Invitation, and Still Life in Shadows by River North/Moody. Her newest novel, Under the Silk Hibiscus (Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas) is her first historical romance.
Since the death of her four-year-old son, Alice teaches grief-writing workshops and her devotional, Getting out of Bed in the Morning: Reflections of Comfort in Heartache (Leafwood), covers the many losses we face and how God sustains us through each one. In 2012, Alice and her husband started a business, Carved By Heart, where they carve memorial plaques/remembrances, house number signs, bird feeders, rustic clocks, and other home décor.
About Under the Silk Hibiscus~
During World War Two Nathan and his family are sent to Heart Mountain, an internment camp in Wyoming for Japanese-Americans. Nathan’s one desire is to protect the family’s gold pocket watch, a family heirloom brought over from Japan. He fails; the watch is stolen. Struggling to make sense of his life in a bleak camp as the only responsible man of the household, Nathan discovers truths about his family, God, and the girl he loves.
Purchase Under the Silk Hibiscus~ on Amazon
Get in touch with Alice~
Website: http://www.alicewisler.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alice-J-Wisler/333751835453
Alice’s Patchwork Quilt Blog: http://www.alicewisler.blogspot.com/
Carved by Heart Esty Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/carvedbyheart
>>>Book Giveaway<<<
Alice has graciously offered to give away on e-book copy of Under the Silk Hibiscus! To enter, in the comments below, please tell us what is your favorite item Carved by Heart, the business run by Alice and her husband.
This contest ends Sunday, November 16, 2014 at 11:59 pm CST. I will post the winner on Monday, November 17, 2014. Winner will be chosen via Random.org.
