Giveaway and Author Interview: Refuge

My guest today is author, Stephanie Gallentine, read on to find out how to win her novel!

Welcome to Writing for Christ! Thank you for being with us today.

Tell us a little about yourself!

Raised in North Texas, Stephanie spent much of her childhood making up stories filled with action, adventure, and angst. From the time she was a young teenager, she started scribbling those adventures down on paper.

Years later, she met and married her husband, Robert. They have two fabulous children, Heather and Andy. Now, by day, Stephanie serves up lunches in her local school cafeteria. By night, she enjoys serving up stories filled with mystery, mayhem, and salted with the often mysterious yet always miraculous hand of God in the lives of teenagers.

Her first story, Refuge, was published by Word Aflame Press and is available on the pentecostalpublishing.com website.

1: How long did you write before you were published?

Three and a half years but two and a half of those years I was also in a critique group as well—still am. I have to give credit to their patience, encouragement, and honest critiques as I developed as a writer and still continue to develop.

2: When you held that first book in your hands, what was your first thought?

It was one of those moments I had to get alone in a room so no one could see me squee! I can’t put the excitement into words as I turned it over in my hands, flipped through the pages. It was almost like seeing my story again for the very first time.

3: What are you working on now?

I’m finishing up a sequel to Refuge and beginning work on another YA mystery called A Name in the Stars. “While working on a genealogical school assignment, two teens discover a twelve-year-old cold case mystery involving the disappearance of identical twins and find they are searching for themselves.”

4: Where can readers find out more about your books?

http://www.stephaniegallentine.com/

5: What message(s) do you want to be clear to your readers?

That no matter your past secrets or your present situations, God hears and answers our prayers—although maybe not in the way we wanted. He always has our best interest at heart.

6: What is something that people wouldn't normally know about you as a writer and or person?

That sometimes in the evening, I still enjoy reading clean, well-written fanfic stories. I find them not only fun but relaxing. In fact, some of my favorite stories are fanfic as well as my favorite inspy fiction.

Thank you for being with us today. Any final words for readers?

Thanks for having me and thanks for those who dropped by. It’s truly been both a pleasure and a blessing.

(sorry the photo is so small, it was all I could find on the web)

Okay readers, here is your chance to read Stephanie's novel, Refuge.

PLEASE LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS! 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 August 20th.

TWO Winners!!

And they are....

of Ruby Red by Robin Jansen Shope is....

LEAH!!!! (leah49@....)

And for Touching the Clouds by Bonnie Leon, the winner is.....

Ruby n' Reba!!!!!! (pbclark.....)

Congratulations to the winners! I still have a few going on, so be sure and check out the side bar! Have a great weekened everyone!

What I Read This Week

I have gotten a lot of reading done this week, espeically after traveling for 12 hours in the car. : ) That is the one thing I love about traveling,(as long as I am not driving).... all the reading time!

And they are:

Mainely Mysteries by Susan and Megan Davis

Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska by Loree Lough

The Outside by Ann Gabhart

Medical Error by Dr. Richard Mabry

Ransome's Honor by Kaye Dacus

Love Finds You in Calico, California by Elizabeth Ludwig

A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanna Gist

The Real Enemy by Kathy Herman

That makes 8 in one week! Yikes, I think I need to find something else to do with my time! : )

Also, I don't know if I will be able to get the winners posted tomorrow due to the anniversary party and getting ready for it, so bear with me and I will get the winners posted over the weekend sometime. Enter away until then! Thanks for understanding. : )

Happy reading everyone!

I Am HERE!!!

I am here on vacation in Hesperia California, after traveling 12 hours (by car!). We took two days to get here and stopped over in Lovelock, Nevada for lunch yesterday. After traveling through dry, arid, brown desert (no offense to the people that live there), but it was not a pretty drive! It was a good thing we were coming some place green, I need some color in my life!

The courthouse in Lovelock, Nevada was just simply stunning, so I had to take a picture and share it.

The courthouse in Lovelock, Nevada

I love their little slogan for the town: "Lock Your Love!"

I finished two books while traveling and am so thankful I can read while traveling. I don't know what I would do if I got car sick.

But the drive was good, I am sitting at my aunt's counter writing this.

That's me at my computer. 'Nuff said. :)

 Tomorrow we have a nice break to visit and then Sunday is my other aunt and uncle's 25th wedding anniversary. But, hopefully I can blog between now and then!

Have a great weekend, while I enjoy sunny, hot, breezy, no make that windy, the high desert of California!

Giveaway and Author Interview: The Way to a Man's Heart OR Sarah's Christmas Miracle

Please help me welcome my guest today, Mary Ellis. Mary has offered to one of the commenters their choice of The Way to a Man's Heart or Sarah's Christmas Miracle. Be sure and read to the end to find out how to enter.

Tell us a little about yourself!

I grew up close to the eastern Ohio Amish community of Geauga County, where my parents often took me to farmers’ markets and woodworking fairs. My husband and I now live within the largest population of Amish in the country–a four-county area in central Ohio. We love to take weekend getaways to purchase farm produce and other goodies, stay with Amish families in bed and breakfasts, attend country auctions and enjoy the simpler way of life.



1: How long did you write before you were published?
I wrote for about 8 years before my first book was published. Like many authors, I have a stack of rejection letters in my office to look at on rainy days. The pathway of a writer is very humbling.

2: When you held that first book in your hands, what was your first thought?
My first thought was “I wish my mother could have lived long enough to see this.” She was very proud of me in other ways, but she thought writing was a whim or a pipedream for me...a passing fancy like yoga or container gardening, but that I would soon come to my senses.

3: What are you working on now?
I am working on a two-book series set in Wayne County, Ohio. The first involves an Amish midwife in which the birth goes horribly wrong and she runs afoul of the law. It involves the themes of grief, growth within a marriage, and tests of faith. But it also includes a light-hearted romance between two very unlikely people. It will be released in March of 2011.

4: Where can readers find out more about your books?
Readers can read the first chapter of my novels at my blog-site....www.maryeellis.wordpress.com

5: What message(s) do you want to be clear to your readers?
Life always involves changes and decisions, and many of those will not be easy. We often must give up the known-and-comfortable in our lives and chance the unknown-and-scary to reach our personal dreams. But if we remember who truly is in charge and surrender the outcome to Him, we won’t struggle quite so hard.

6: What are two things that people wouldn't normally know about you as a writer and or person?
I have no fear of crawly things. I have swum with sharks, rescued spiders in my house to the outdoors, I have a bat house on my barn, and I once volunteered as a snake demonstrated at the zoo where I wrapped a boa constrictor around my shoulders. But before anyone thinks me brave, I am afraid of thunder storms, long tunnels and clowns.

Thank you for being with us today. Any final words for readers?
Yes, thanks so much for being readers! Without you, writers would have no reason to sit down every morning in front of their computers.

Blessings,
Mary Ellis
...because life runs on faith

Okay readers, here is your chance to enter to win  your choice of either, The Way to a Man's Heart OR Sarah's Christmas Miracle (sorry the photo is so small)

PLEASE LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS! If I draw your name and there is no email, YOU WILL NOT WIN!
For extra entries:
~Be a follower
~Be a subscriber
And a NEW one (only ONE for extra entries):
~Take my blog button
~If  you do not have a blog, feel free to tweet or facebook this giveaway.
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 August 20th.

Book Review: Doctor in Petticoats

There are just some books that take you by surprise and draw you into the story with a stranglehold that refuses to be released.


I loved the sheer absurdity of the characters, some of the stuff that Beth did was just off the wall, but it was set up in a way that makes perfect sense. The writing is funny and ridiculous—in a good way. Once you really enter the story, you get the entire feel of being in the character’s world.

Not many books can make me feel the agony as a character dangles over a cliff, but I sure felt it in this one! I could see the hair pin turns that the out of control stage was heading for and small Beth hauling back on the reins.

I loved the subplot of Mandy, Beth’s sister, and I can only hope I get to read more about her in the coming books! Will she get out from under the thumb of her tyrannical husband?

The only thing I didn’t really care for is that Beth runs rough shod over Alex for a good portion of the book. True he had his problems, but once I got to the end I was very pleased with how it was brought together; what a love story! I just prefer stronger hero’s in a novel. Which is my personal opinion.

All in all I loved the book and I seriously hope the wait for book two is not a long one!

Giveaway and Author Interview: Seaside Romance

Welcome to Writing for Christ, Darlene Franklin! Thank you for being with us today.
Tell us a little about yourself!
My writing reflects my passions. A contributor to Kids Ministry Ideas and On Mission, I draw from my experience in children’s ministry and missions. God’s love fuels my fiction, including my first book, Romanian Rhapsody (Barbour Publishing, 2005). And my latest release Gunfight at Grace Gulch, a cozy mystery from Heartsong Presents Mysteries.

1: How long did you write before you were published?

I had a devotional published after I had been writing for two years; however, my first book didn’t come out for another twelve years!

2: When you held that first book in your hands, what was your first thought?

I loved the cover! In general, I love Barbour’s covers. Of course I couldn’t stop smiling—and wanting to get another one pub lished as soon as possible!

3: What are you working on now?

Beautiful cover!!

I am finishing up my third historical romance set in Vermont for Heartsong, Love’s Raid. Constable Daniel Tuttle investigates a bank robbery. Are they Confederates, like the ones who robbed in a bank in nearby St. Albans, in the northernmost skirmish of the Civil War? Or are they copycats—someone a lot closer to home? The first book in the trilogy, Prodigal Patriot, was just released in July.

4: Where can readers find out more about your books?

They can check my author’s page at amazon.com. I also have a blog (darlenefranklinwrites.blogspot.com) and contribute to thebookdoctorbd.blogspot.com. Every month I run a book giveaway on my blog, so check it out for more information.

5: What message(s) do you want to be clear to your readers?

The bottom line behind writing romance is that God’s love underlies and identifies everything that is holy and beautiful about human love. His love is enough. In each and every circumstance, time or place. I have lived that in my life, through abuse, divorce, suicide—and my characters do too.

6: What are two things that people wouldn't normally know about you as a writer and or person?

I worked a brief stint as the society editor of a small town newspaper decades before I considered writing as profession.

I spent a summer in Mexico City as a summer missionary.

Thank you for being with us today. Any final words for readers?

Thanks for having me today! I love getting to know my readers. When you read my books, I hope you are entertained and inspired.

Check out my most recent book—Seaside Romance, a set of three stories in historical Rhode Island. My book, Beacon of Love, tells the trials of a lighthousekeeper’s daughter and a doctor afraid of the sea during the “Great Gale of 1815.” (1816?)

Readers here is your chance to enter to win this novel! Leave a comment with your email address. IF I DRAW YOUR NAME AND THERE IS NO EMAIL ADDRESS YOU WILL NOT WIN!

For extra entries:
~be a follower
~be an email subscriber
And a NEW one:
~Follow Darlene's blog HERE

(to FOLLOW Darlene's blog: visit her page, copy and paste her blog URL, visit your blog dashboard and go down to your list of blogs you follow. Click on "ADD", then follow the directions. Viola! You are following Darlene. : )

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 of said prize.
Thanks for coming by to enter!

Contest ends on August 14th.