Giveaway! Harvest of Gold by Tessa Afshar!

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

Last year, I picked up my first pair of prescription reading glasses and am hoping they will add at least ten points to my IQ. But even if they don’t, at least I can see what I am writing now.

On a more serious note, I was born in a nominally Muslim family in Iran and lived there for the first fourteen years of my life. I survived English boarding school for

girls before moving to the United States permanently. My conversion to Christianity in my mid-twenties changed the course of my life forever. I hold an MDIV from Yale University where I served for one year as co-Chair of the Evangelical Fellowship at the Divinity School. I have spent the last thirteen years in full-time Christian work and currently serve as the leader of Women’s and Prayer ministries at a church in New England.

Do you have a favorite genre to read/write?

I read everything from cottage mysteries to fantasy and science fiction. I think the quality of a book surpasses its genre. But I definitely gravitate most toward historical novels as well as British novelists. I love Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, and Wilkie Collins.  And I wouldn’t say no to a well-written romance novel.

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

In a recent interview, Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner said: “the most difficult thing about writing is outlasting the beast—lack of stamina, really . . . There are going to be many times where you’re going to be frustrated, where you’re pretty sure that you’ve just wasted the last four months of your life, where you think that this is something that somebody in junior high would write. There are multiple crises of confidence, and episodes of self-doubt. And what I’ve learned is that you just have to weather those.”

Even giants like Hosseini, who has sold over 38 million books, have moments of discouragement.  So who am I to be spared? I’ve learned that in times when I have lost confidence and want to give up, the trick is, just don’t!

5 things you love?

I love Jesus, good food, friends, watching BBC television productions in my PJs, and books, not necessarily in that order.

What novel have you recently read that has stood out to you that both teens and adults will find enjoyment in?

To Kill A Mockingbird.

Places for readers to learn more about you?

If you would like to visit me on my newly re-designed website, the address is http://www.tessaafshar.com/ or visit me on my Facebook author page where there is always some new discussion going on: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tessa-Afshar/337761827820?ref=ts

Thank you for being with us today!

Casey, thank you so much for inviting me to hang out with you. It’s been an absolute pleasure.

Readers, here is your chance to enter to win Tessa's book!

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

For extra entries:

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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 July 26th

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