Giveaway! A Perfect Square by Vannetta Chapman

Welcome to Writing for Christ Vannetta Chapman, it is great to have you here! Do you have an interesting fact about yourself the average reader probably doesn’t know?

As a child I was allergic to most things. They would do those allergy tests with the board on your back ... I'd be allergic to 200 out of 250 items, every time. I did grow out of most of those allergies, but my childhood illnesses probably led to my love of books.

Do you have a favorite genre to read/write?

So far I am only published in Amish, though that includes Amish mysteries, Amish romances, and Amish novellas. I read absolutely everything. As far as favorite--if you give me a likeable character, I'll follow you into any genre.

Do you have a nugget of writing advice that has completely changed how you view writing?

Only one? I've spent 15 years studying the craft, so it's hard to narrow that down, or maybe that is my nugget. Study the craft of writing, same as a baseball player would study the art of pitching a ball. Repetition and hard work are key.

5 things you love?

my family, my Lord, words, Texas, music

What do you enjoy most about being a published author?

That moment of connection with readers--when I know that I've passed on a little bit of hope, a small amount of God's grace. THAT is the very best part of being published and worth all the work.

Places for readers to learn more about you?

webpage -- www.VannettaChapman.com  

blog -- http://vannettachapman.wordpress.com

facebook -- www.facebook.com/VannettaChapmanBooks  

pinterest -- http://pinterest.com/vannettachapman

Thank you for being with us today!   

Thank you!

Readers, here is your chance to win Vannetta's new novel!

Please leave an email adddress! If I draw your name and there is no email, you will not win.

For extra entries:
~Be a follower
~Be a subscriber

Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged items for said prize.


Thanks for coming by to enter! Contest ends on March 30th.

Attn Readers! If you're struggling to leave a comment on my blog, please email your comment entries (in ONE email) and I will submit it for you. But PLEASE only do this after you've failed to leave a comment. My email is: caseym.writer(@)gmail.com 

Capturing the Encouragement Spotlight...

Photo Credit ~ Microsoft Office

I have a cup of tea sitting by my computer as I write this. Bigelow Peach and it tastes like friendship. Smooth and subtle with a welcome taste for the tongue like a warm hug in an insecure moment.


And it reminds me of the friend who sent the tea (and the three other packets waiting on my desk for that reminder of the gift of friendship and encouragement that arrived in the mail with it).


This friend? Also a debut author.


I'm sure you know my friend. Not many people in this industry don't know her, because I bet at some point, you have been blessed by the heart and spirit of this lovely lady.


I can't tell you how many times I have left a comment on Facebook or Twitter, such as: "I'm almost to 'The End'"...or "boy I could use another dose of chocolate because this day is kicking my hind end." 

Releases July 2012!
Cover used by permission

And she would leave a comment or send me a private message with a smile and a bit of cheer that would warm my day...much as that tea by my desk has warmed my insides.




She doesn't do it to be self-serving or draw attention to herself. She doesn't do it because she wants those of us, whose lives she has touched, to feel as though we need to turn around and give it back to her. 




She does it because that is the person she is. And Jesus fills her up, spilling over until she glows the gift of His love everywhere she goes and in everything she does.


I bet you know my friend and if you do, I hope you might leave a message here for her. Each one will be carefully copied and sent to her, for her to pull up again and again (and again) for those days when she needs just that right dose of encouragement.


And the next time you meet...give Keli Gwyn a hug for me. You're hugging a piece of Jesus.

Casey and Keli at the 2011 ACFW convention

Friday's Note:

The winner of Julie Lessman's A Passion Most Pure is...

Candy!

I hope you get hooked, Candy. ;-)

Meet the Mountain People ~ Hazel Creek by Walt Larimore ~ Review

Many of the endorsements for “Hazel Creek” said this novel was much the same as the infamous “Christy” novels and while I never read “Christy”, only saw the movie, I can say I add my agreement to theirs.

           

Set in the back hills, the story has all the intricacies of how the people thought, talked and lived their lives. Tension and drama crowd the pages, but what I loved most about the story is how I as a reader, got to taste and experience these characters’ lives. Their struggles and desires.

            

The novel is a bit of a tear-jerker and provoked some wild swings of emotion from me. From fear (what. a. villain) to anger (at what the lumber company was doing to the mountain people). It has just about a bit of everything for every reading taste.

            

I do think in that “bit of everything for every reader” some of the story elements got lost. More focus was given to the lumber company at the beginning and end of the book, but I felt we lost that in the middle.

          

  There were times I got a bit lost in all the setting and description, and towards the end I hurried the story just a bit to finish, but it has that quality about it, a quality rich in character and their lives. It’s a well-portrayed novel.

            

This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.

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More about the novel....

In the Hazel Creek Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains, Nathan and Callie Randolph, with their five unique daughters, wrestle to maintain their farm, forests, family, and faith against an unforgiving wilderness. 

An evil lumber company manager is seeking by every means possible to pilfer their land and clear-cut their virgin forest. A cast of colorful characters, including a menacing stranger, gypsy siblings, a granny midwife, and a world-famous writer—even a flesh-and-blood Haint—collide in a gripping struggle of good and evil amid eruptions of violence and tragedy. 

Our heroine, fifteen-year-old Abbie Randolph, has to help save her family’s farm and raise her sisters while preserving her faith. This important story, based on almost ten years of research and four years of living in the area, captures the speech, ways, and beliefs of these unique pioneers at a crucial and irreversible turning point in this Smoky Mountains community of the Southern Appalachians. 

With the march of the industrial age, especially commercial lumbering, the traditional life and ways of our southern highlanders in general, and the Randolphs in particular, were about to change forever.

Giveaway! Saving Hope by Margaret Daley

Welcome to Writing for Christ Margaret Daley, (one of my most popular guests!!), it is great to have you here! Do you have an interesting fact about yourself the average reader probably doesn’t know?

I have a learning disability (auditory processing) that I struggled with in school, especially elementary school. By the time I reached high school I had come up with ways to compensate for it.

Do you have a favorite genre to read/write?

Romantic suspense to read and write. Adventure/suspense to read.

Do you have a nugget of writing advice that has completely changed how you view writing?

Characters are the most important element of a novel. If readers don't care about your characters, no matter how exciting your plot is it will be hard for them to read the story.

5 things you love?

God

My husband

My son and granddaughters (and other members of my family)

My friends

My pets

What do you enjoy most about being a published author?

To tell a story that others enjoy reading.

Places for readers to learn more about you?

http://www.margaretdaley.com 

Thank you for being with us today! 

Readers here is your chance to win Margaret's latest book!

Please leave an email adddress! If I draw your name and there is no email, you will not win.

For extra entries:
~Be a follower
~Be a subscriber

Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged items for said prize.


Thanks for coming by to enter! Contest ends on March 23rd.

Attn Readers! If you're struggling to leave a comment on my blog, please email your comment entries (in ONE email) and I will submit it for you. But PLEASE only do this after you've failed to leave a comment. My email is: caseym.writer(@)gmail.com 

Siri Mitchell - It Doesn't Get Much Better Than That! ~ The Messenger

Revolutionary War. Spies. Quakers. A rogue pub owner. And Siri Mitchell. Put those combinations together and you really can’t get much better than that.

            One of the things I value in a novel by Siri Mitchell is her extreme attention to detail. Her novels are a wonder and treasure trove, not only of the history of the era, but how much it becomes an intricate player in the book. Twining through a novel filled with 18^th century espionage, is a glimpse into a world too often darkened to today’s reader.

            Hannah and Jeremiah are complete opposites. Hannah with her strict adherence to never tell a lie and yet…she has become a colonial spy. And Jeremiah, who must again come into contact with the moral scruples he has lost track of.

            Both of these characters are so strong on the page. Rising from the refuse of their present circumstance, the difference they want to make pulled me into the story. I became a part of their lives, not just in the extreme storytelling, but as a partner in their endeavors.

            Written in first person, as a reader, I was given an intimate glimpse into both characters lives. Their turmoil and victories. And I will say, that was one ending that came right down to the wire, I wasn’t sure just how it would be cleared up peaceably.

            I’d have loved a teensy bit more romance, just because I’m that kinda reader, but overall, a wonderful addition to my SM collection!

            This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review through CFBA.

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More about the novel and author...

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Messenger Bethany House Publishers (March 1, 2012) by Siri Mitchell


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.


But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a speaker and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.


Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Hannah Sunderland felt content in her embrace of the Quaker faith


...until her twin brother ran off and joined the army and ended up captured and in jail. Suddenly Hannah's world turns on end. She longs to bring her brother some measure of comfort in the squalid, frigid prison where he remains. But the Quakers believe they are not to take sides, not to take up arms. Can she sit by and do nothing while he suffers?


Jeremiah Jones has an enormous task before him. Responsibility for a spy ring is now his, and he desperately needs access to the men in prison, whom they are seeking to free. A possible solution is to garner a pass for Hannah. But while she is fine to the eye, she holds only disdain for him--and agreeing would mean disobeying those she loves and abandoning a bedrock of her faith.


With skill and sensitivity, Mitchell tells a story of two unlikely heroes seeking God's voice, finding the courage to act, and discovering the powerful embrace of love.


If you would like to read the first chapter of The Messenger, go HERE.

SMASH!

I have a very limited knowledge of television. 


Mention The Bachelor Something-Or-Other. Or House Hunters (or is it titled something else???). Or Top Chef (I do think I got that title right...) and I get the glazed over look really fast. 


Mention The Biggest Loser, Chuck, The Voice or any other NBC show and most likely if I haven't watched it (and I don't watch a lot) I've at lease seen the ads. The beauty of being too cheap to pay for tons of TV. ;-) And I can keep up a rambling monologue with the best of 'em. 

I don't watch a TON of television, and since we lost our connection, I watch even less, only a few select shows on Hulu.

But I did take up watching SMASH! the new hit show on Monday nights (or whatever night I get to it). And because I watch so little TV, I really want to think about what I watch.


In case you haven't heard what the show is, it's about two woman vying for the part of Marilyn Monroe in a new hit Broadway production about the same. It's filled with drama, tension, some really great acting and an excellent setting. Every moment of the show pulses.


From a writer's perspective, I've tried to analyze why I like watching the show. What keeps me coming back week after week? Does it carry it enough of an "edge" that carries my interest deeper with each episode? 


The writer in me would say yes. 


However...(and you knew there was a however coming) the Christian in me continues to take a step back and look, look, look. 


The gay acting does bother me, I don't mean that as a slur, it's just how I feel. I don't like that Debra Messing's character is fighting the mistake she made years ago in the affair she had. This IS life, I just wish she would step away from temptation.


And I don't like the sexual content. 


Now many could argue, (and it's there in the front of my head) is that the content is minimal to a great many other shows. Should I let it bother me? Or turn my head and ignore those 30 second scenes?


But I don't want to become immune to immorality. Wrong is wrong, no matter how one looks at it. And thus I come to a fork in the road: do I ignore and watch the show, to cheer Kathryn on, push her higher up that Broadway ladder? Or do I shake my head at one more show who has to throw around the sex just to "spice things up"?


It's a conundrum that I think is decided in the heart and conscience of each individual viewer.


Discussion: what are your thoughts and stands on issues of immorality in television shows? Do you tend to see how it plays out, or immediately give up and pull the plug?

A Cop's Life in Novel Form ~ Accused by Janice Cantore ~ Review

“Accused” gives a glimpse into the life of a cop from the perspective of a cop author, which is what drew me to the novel.

          

  Carly is an extremely tormented character. A fresh divorce, a conspiracy theory that the agency she works for is corrupt and a cop-related shooting has taken her off the streets and put her behind a desk. Her bitterness drove me away from her a bit. For the first quarter or so of the book she is very much against a faith in Christ and makes that very clear to the reader and those in her life. I was searching for something that would make her more likeable and struggled until just about half way when she started to soften.

            

There was much going on, both on an emotional level for Carly and a greater story level for the suspense of the story. A part of the ending did surprise me (in that it actually happened), but there is certainly much to keep the book from being dull –I would have liked a faster pace through the middle of story, but that is my personal opinion in what I want in suspense.

           

“Accused” is a pretty quick read, I thought parts of the actual writing could be improved, but at the close of the novel, it makes me wonder how Carly will become a stronger character in later books.

            

This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.

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More about the novel...

Detective Carly Edwards hates working in juvenile—where the brass put her after an officer-involved shooting—and longs to be back on patrol. So when a troubled youth, Londy Atkins, is arrested for the murder of the mayor and Carly is summoned to the crime scene, she's eager for some action. Carly presses Londy for a confession but he swears his innocence, and despite her better judgment, Carly is inclined to believe him. Yet homicide is convinced of his guilt and is determined to convict him.

Carly's ex-husband and fellow police officer, Nick, appears to be on her side. He's determined to show Carly that he's a changed man and win her back, but she isn't convinced he won't betray her again.

As the investigation progresses, Carly suspects a cover-up and strikes out on her own, uncertain whom she can trust. But when danger mounts, she begins to wonder if she made the right choice.