Special Interview with Best-Selling Author Lauraine Snelling!!

I was given the extreme pleasure recently of interviewing best-selling author Lauraine Snelling. Having read her books while growing up, it was an honor to interview her here on my blog. So while this is my typical giveaway interview, today it's a bonus opportunity to get to know this beloved, household name author!

Welcome to Writing for Christ Lauraine Snelling, it is great to have you here! So you’re a writer? What made you decide to start creating characters and story world?

I have always been a storyteller, I must have inherited it from my Dad, and so writing the stories down was a natural progression. I have had my nose in a book from the time I learned to read, and before that with a love of being read to. “Read to me,” was a common plea, says my mother. So you combine those two and I started telling stories on paper. The earliest one I have was from fourth or fifth grade, but my determination to someday write horse books for girls started in High School. Writing for real publication began in 1980 when I attended a writers’ conference at Warner Pacific College in Portland, OR. The culmination or the beginning of the dream or a highlight along the path. According to Jack London it takes six months and a lifetime to write a book. The lifetime part is so true.

What is the one title that has significantly impacted your life?

The Bible would of course be at the top. But of my books? Probably An Untamed Land since that started the Red River Series which has been a major event/influence/change/impact since now so much of life revolves around the spin offs from that series.

If you could get a do-over when it came to learning this whole thing called writing, what would you go back and tell yourself?

What a question! The easy answer would be to say write every day, and write consistently. That sounds so easy. But as all writers know, life keeps getting in the way— especially for those of us with such a broad range of interests. But this writer had to grow into consistency and discipline—both never ending learned skills. I am a people person and so people have always come before the writing, be it family or friends or???  So the joke (which is not a joke) is the BIC principle, “Butt in Chair.” Perhaps including a padlock at times. Do overs would be best if I could take all I now know with me as I start the do over.

5 preference questions:

Homemade or take-out?

I much prefer home made but am sure grateful for take out when the

pressure is on.  Love finding good meals in places like Costco, a caterer here in town who does individual meals, or my freezer.

Email or snailmail?

Email. Although I love to send out cards and try to do written letters at least once a year, one personal, one business. Ah, how to do it all!

Online shopping or Black Friday deals?

Doing more online shopping. I do not like pushy crowds so stay away from Black Friday like a nest of rattlers.

Books or movies?

Reading is always at the top of my list, but I love movies. Glad I do not have to do an either/or.

Note-taker or memorization?

Note-taker more and more. I cannot trust my memory, especially on daily details.  I am a list maker and sometimes I can even find my list. Getting better at that too. I AM getting better organized.

Yes, I’m asking you to play favorites…which of your books is your favorite, published or unpublished? And if this is your debut novel, has your favorite been published yet?

This is like asking me to decide which is my favorite child. My cop out answer: the one I am working right now. My mind is freewheeling through my list of books I have written.

So there you have it. Happy reading.

Places for readers to learn more about you?

My website: laurainesnelling.com

                  

Facebook: Two sites, Lauraine Snelling

                   Lauraine Snelling official

Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads

*~Info about Lauriane's Giveaway!~*

In bestselling author Lauraine Snelling's new novel, Heaven Sent Rain, Dinah Taylor has an orderly life, and that is just how she likes it. A balanced bank account, a perfectly furnished luxury apartment, a satisfying career as a scientist and CEO of her own company, and an uncomplicated personal life. Then her well-ordered world is thrown into chaos when she finds a seven-year-old boy and his scruffy dog sitting alone outside her office building.

To celebrate the release of this heart-warming novel, FaithWords and author Lauraine Snelling are pleased to present the GIVE:JOY Sweepstakes. This sweepstakes features three spectacular prizes, each closely connected to the story, but each prize also comes with a twist: you “Enter to Give”, rather than “Enter to Win”! 

This is your chance to do something beautiful and make a difference for a friend, family member, shelter, church, or charity.

 Timeframe & Notifications:

This giveaway starts July 1, 2014 and ends July 21, 2014 @ 11:59 pm (PST). Entry is open to US residents only, age 18 and over. Winners will be selected Tuesday July 22, 2014, and announced at laurainesnelling.com.

GRAND PRIZE:

HELP & HOPE SUPPORT GIFT

In Heaven Sent Rain, Dinah meets an extraordinary little boy named Jonah, and his dog, Mutt. Jonah faces a life of struggle, hunger, and poverty, but his courage in these challenges inspires Dinah to step outside her well-ordered world and do something wonderful for him. Through her choice, Dinah discovers joy is found not in getting more for herself, but in giving to make someone else’s life better. Our Grand Prize winner will have the same opportunity for joy, with their choice of :

• A $250 VISA gift card for a friend in need, or
• A $250 donation to the faith-based charity, church, or shelter of their choice

SECOND PRIZE:

BLESSINGS & BLOOMS SURPRISE BOUQUETS

A mysterious thing happens to Dinah several times in the story: flowers! Beautiful encouragement bouquets—with no sender's name—appear on her office desk during difficult times when she feels she can’t go on. In honor of Dinah's secret flower sender (you'll have to read the story to find out his or her identity) we're offering our Second Prize winner the chance to become a secret flower sender themselves, and brighten the day of a sick friend, a new mom, a military spouse, a weary co-worker, or some other deserving person in their life, with:

• A 3-month gift subscription to ProFlowers Bouquet of the Month Club

THIRD PRIZE:

VALIANT VET ENCOURAGEMENT GIFT

Like Jonah's dog, Mutt, the animals in our lives are priceless sources of help, comfort, and unconditional love. No one understands this better than our story's hero, veterinarian Garret Miller. Throughout the book, “Dr. G” works tirelessly to save and heal people's furry friends, including Mutt, and an injured service dog named Valiant.

And Like Dr. G, many real-life veterinarians and animal shelter workers make all the difference in the lives of our animals, often giving services beyond what's billed. Our Third Prize winner will have a chance to do something extra special for their favorite vet or animal shelter, with:

• A $100 veterinary/shelter donation to be used toward treatment of an animal whose owner cannot afford to pay for veterinary care, or
• A $100 Starbucks card sent to the veterinary/shelter staff as a special encouragement gift

How to Enter: 

Go to http://www.laurainesnelling.com/html/giveaways.html and complete the entry box, anytime between July 1 and July 21. 

Giveaway! Chateau of Secrets by Melanie Dobson!

Welcome to Writing for Christ Melanie Dobson, it is great to have you here! So you’re a writer? What made you decide to start creating characters and story world?

 I’ve always loved exploring old houses, and when I was younger, I would make up all sorts of stories about the people who once lived in these abandoned places. My imagination is still sparked by old houses, cemeteries, and ghost towns along with the big question---what if?

What is the one title that has significantly impacted your life?

Radical by David Platt

If you could get a do-over when it came to learning this whole thing called writing, what would you go back and tell yourself? 

Don’t sweat the first draft! I actually still have to remind myself of this. I want to edit and polish as I write the first draft of a new book when I should be pouring out the story on the initial round and then clean up my words on the second, third, and fourth drafts.

5 preference questions:

Homemade or take-out? Take-out (preferably Vietnamese or Japanese food)

Email or snailmail? Email

Online shopping or Black Friday deals? Online shopping

Books or movies? Books

Note-taker or memorization? Note-taker

               

Yes, I’m asking you to play favorites…which of your books is your favorite, published or unpublished? And if this is your debut novel, has your favorite been published yet?

That is a tough choice since I’ve enjoyed writing all my stories, but I do have a special place in my heart for Elena Bissette, my main character in Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan (don’t tell my other characters!).

Places for readers to learn more about you?

My website is the best place (www.melaniedobson.com) as well as on the Simon & Schuster website here: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Melanie-Dobson/412709678

Thank you for being with us today!

Thanks for having me!!

Readers, enter to win Melanie's book here!

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 July 11th

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 

The Saga to Making New Friends: Part 2

*to fully understand the follow up of this post, please read this one*

When I moved to Colorado, I made myself promise that I would get out there. Meet people. *big gulp*. I wasn’t going to lay on my bed every Saturday and Sunday afternoon and reading the latest Julie Lessman novel and just be content.

I wasn’t going to do that. I was going to walk into church, worship and not just walk out. And I asked you to hold me to that. So every time I walked into church and was told to greet someone I didn’t know on my way out (ie: everyone) I thought of that post. And the promise I made to actually do it. And every time I would suck in my stomach, take a deep breath, untangle my fingers from around my Bible and…keep on walking.

Sigh.

Old habits die hard.

So instead I took a baby step into the singles/college group. When you’re the new girl on the block, everyone notices when you walk through the doors. Everyone. But I introduced myself. Met a few people, enjoyed the Bible study and kept on walking out the door when it was all over.

I was mourning my situation with a dear friend. “Where have all the good young people gone?” Is no one interested in morals and living a pure life? Of walking in holiness with God? Not just calling yourself a Christian, but actually living your life for Jesus? I knew I wasn’t giving it enough time, but still the willingness to keep putting myself out there, unsure how other people viewed me, had my nerves in knots and my feelings on the fray.

I was ready to give up. Just say, you know what, this whole, “trying to get to know people my age is for the birds”.

But I couldn’t give up the class. Not yet. If nothing else, the lessons were good. And I was getting out. You never know what might come of that. So I kept going. Hoping, but not very hopeful.

But my promise kept pecking away in my mind.

So I went. One more time.

And God…blew me away.

Ah! I love this girl!

Sometimes you just never know how minute to minute in life how God changes things. So when I met Sarah… wow. God blew me away. I met someone who thinks like me. Loves to laugh like me. And is plenty of fun to talk seriously with and giggle over boys in the next breath.

And I’ve know her less than a month.

I’ve always heard this phenomenon called: “instantly clicked”. Never believed it would happen to me. Ever. I don’t make friends that easily. 

Wow the gift that this friendship has already been to me. I feel like I have years to catch up on and am so excited for the godly gift of a friend who lives what she believes. Who walks the walk, oh and yeah, likes hanging out with me too.

So this whole making new friends saga? I definitely vote yay. 

Giveaway! The Midwife by Jolina Petersheim!

Welcome to Writing for Christ Jolina Petersheim, it is great to have you here! So you’re a writer? What made you decide to start creating characters and story world?

Even before I knew how to write or read, I loved to sit on the stoop of our family’s porch and make up stories. Then I often tried to sing these stories to my long-suffering mother. Because of her and my father’s encouragement, the encouragement from my teachers, and my husband and friends, I am still telling stories today. Now that I am a mother, I encourage that storytelling tradition in my daughter’s life by reading to her before nap and bedtime. A lot of who we are is shaped by what talents were encouraged when we were children.

What is the one title that has significantly impacted your life?

Again, this all goes back to childhood, so I would have to say Anne of Green Gables. It was more the series than the individual title, but L.M. Montgomery’s imaginative setting and characters really impacted me and helped me know that I also wanted to be a writer, just like Anne with an ‘e’.

If you could get a do-over when it came to learning this whole thing called writing, what would you go back and tell yourself?

After I married my husband, I moved to a very rural town in East Tennessee. We worked together in our grocery store, and sometimes I panicked because, for that first six months, I didn’t write. Looking back now, I wish I would’ve just relaxed and known that the future would work itself out in due time. However, I know that even if I could go back, I would still feel the same way. I have always panicked a little whenever I’m not writing. It’s so much a part of who I am that I feel incomplete without it.  

5 preference questions:

Homemade or take-out?

Homemade because we live in the boonies and no one will deliver where we live!

Email or snailmail?

Snailmail. I always smile whenever I receive a card. It’s so personal and takes that little extra effort. One of my goals for 2013 was to send more cards, and I found it easier to mail them if I kept a stash of nice stationary in my desk drawer.

Online shopping or Black Friday deals?

Neither, actually. I am a Goodwill shopper all the way! I grew up on thrift store clothes and see no reason to change now.

Books or movies?

Ah, that’s hard! I love storytelling in every form. I read more books, just because I pack one around with me everywhere I go, and you can’t pack a TV quite as easily. However, there is something magical about lighting some candles and settling in with a good movie and a cup of tea.

Note-taker or memorization?

I took copious notes in college. I literally just wrote down every sentence out of the professor’s mouth, so that my hand cramped every day. Then I jammed everything in a notebook and memorized it before tests. It worked like a charm.

Yes, I’m asking you to play favorites…which of your books is your favorite, published or unpublished? And if this is your debut novel, has your favorite been published yet? 

Probably The Outcast, but it’s the only book released at this time. I know it will always have a special place in my heart because I learned so much throughout the process. I remember someone from Tyndale telling me that by the time of my next book’s release, I would know the publishing world inside and out. I couldn’t believe her at the time—I was so pleasantly overwhelmed—but now I am much more relaxed. It’s very nice!

Places for readers to learn more about you?

I love to visit on my website www.jolinapetersheim.com

I also blog with other authors at www.southernbelleviewdaily.com

It’s great to chat with readers at www.facebook.com/jolina.petersheim/author

Or Twitter www.twitter.com/Jolina_Joy

Thank you for being with us today! 

And thank you for having me!

Readers, enter to win Jolina's book here!

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 July 4th

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 

A Note from Jolina!

Let’s be honest . . . a caffeine boost never hurts. For author Jolina Petersheim, it’s especially helpful to have her favorite drink on hand when she’s racing toward a manuscript deadline. In celebration of the release of her sophomore novel, The Midwife, Tyndale’s Crazy4Fiction team would love to enable your caffeine addiction and give you a taste of Jolina’s beautiful prose. For a chance at a $25 Starbucks gift card, an authentic Amish wall hanging, and your choice of Jolina’s novels (either The Outcast or The Midwife), enter through the Rafflecopter widget below.

To hear from Jolina on her go-to caffeine boost, stop by www.crazy4fiction.com.


What about you, readers? What drink of choice kick-starts your creativity and helps you keep moving?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wanted: Single and Available

I was feeling a bit sorry for myself the other night (I know, like I have anything to be sorry about!), but really I brought it upon myself and I’ll freely admit that—though not without a bit of blush.

Photo Credit

I had “stumbled” (wink, wink) across a Facebook profile of someone—a guy, okay?—and of course I had to click on the profile pic. What red-blooded female wouldn’t, right? I mean, it had been obvious it wasn’t a good fit when things, well, ended but a piece of me was still wanting to know him better. Give it a second go. Maybe I misunderstood somewhere along the lines. After all he’s tall. Good looking. Has a great smile.

Facebook is evil. Was my first thought. Obviously, good looking guys who turn their back on good looking girls like myself should not be allowed on Facebook for said girls to “stumble” across. That’s just rude. I almost posted the above observation on Twitter. I’m glad I restrained myself. Because, really, how awkward is that to try and explain?

Besides, it’s not Facebook’s fault (even though it’s a great one to blame!) that I purposefully sought out this person’s profile and was sent into the doldrums with further thoughts of “when will it be me posting an engagement or wedding photo on my profile?” Or able to change my relationship status or a hundred other little things, like celebrating with my friends that I’ve finally found and caught “the one”?

Thus you can see where I was feeling just a little bit sorry for myself.

It’s a ridiculous place to be, but one where we all find ourselves. On the shelf, ready to move on and discover the next best thing—like our man—that God has for us and yet we’re still here tapping our toe letting has-been Facebook profiles pass on by.

This year alone I’ve had more cute couple overload uploads on my friend’s pages for me to swear off Facebook completely and vow to never go back.

There is no evil and should be no discouragement in being single. It’s the pat and easy answer to say “we’re here for a reason and a season” and that’s true, but that gets tiring to hear, no?

Maybe we’re here because God isn’t done teaching us. Isn’t done molding our man. Maybe it’s not all about us.

It’s discouraging to think you found “a one” to only wave adios shortly thereafter. It’s not the most fun to wait in singledom, when you’re a one-track-hopeless-romantic (ahem) female who wants to get married and start a family. That’s the dream right?

But I know from personal experience, the sooner we learn to be content in our current situations the more God can grow and prepare us…and our husbands for that moment we do meet.

And who knows. Maybe we already have. 

Giveaway! Out of the Ruins by Karen Barnett!

Welcome to Writing for Christ Karen Barnett, it is great to have you here! So you’re a writer? What made you decide to start creating characters and story world?

I practically grew up in the public library—it was my happy place. I remember gazing at the stacks and feeling grateful that people had written all these wonderful stories. It’s at that point I started dreaming about adding books to the shelves. Even now, when I think about my novels sitting on the shelf at my hometown library, I am overwhelmed. I was invited to speak there this fall, and I am SO excited!

What is the one title that has significantly impacted your life?

One? Oh, help. I’ll just pick “one” instead of “the one,” if you don’t mind too much. The book that introduced me to the power of Christian fiction was This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. It had never dawned on me that a Christian story could both keep me on the edge of my seat and change the way I viewed my faith.  

If you could get a do-over when it came to learning this whole thing called writing, what would you go back and tell yourself?

“Yes, you can.” I was so riddled with self-doubt when I started, it kept me from giving writing my all. I didn’t believe I could write a full-length novel. It took many years for God to convince me that whatever He called me to do, He would give me the strength to accomplish.  

5 preference questions:

Homemade or take-out?  Take-out. I’m a lousy cook. And an impatient one, too.

Email or snailmail? Email.

Online shopping or Black Friday deals? Online shopping. Ugh, crowds (shudder).

Books or movies? Oh… both. Is that an option?

Note-taker or memorization? Note-taker.

               

Yes, I’m asking you to play favorites…which of your books is your favorite, published or unpublished? And if this is your debut novel, has your favorite been published yet?

That depends on when you ask me. At the moment, I’m in love with my next novel, Beyond the Ashes (Golden Gate Chronicles, Book 2), which releases in 2015. The characters face some truly agonizing decisions, and I struggled alongside them while I wrote their story. I love how the story ends, and now I’m missing those characters dreadfully.

Places for readers to learn more about you?

www.KarenBarnettBooks.com

www.facebook.com/KarenBarnettAuthor

www.twitter.com/KarenMBarnett

www.pinterest.com/KarenBarnett

Also, I’m celebrating the release of OUT OF THE RUINS with a Kindle HDX giveaway and Facebook party on June 19. You can learn more about both, and enter to win, at http://prmo.me/UVHlml.

Thank you for being with us today!

Thank you! What a fun interview. :-)

Readers, enter to win Karen's here!

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 June 27th

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 

My Lesson is to Trust. What About You?

I had an interview today (on the day I wrote this post). My stomach was in knots. I kept glancing at the clock, knowing that when noon rolled around I was going to be opened up and examined. Would I measure up?

That last hour I thought would never end—and yet going way too fast. I gulped hard and told my boss I had to leave for lunch. Headed out to my car and stared at the phone in my hand. “God, please help this to go okay, give my mouth brakes and my heart wisdom to say what I need to say.”

Photo Credit

I wanted this so bad. It was the job I could see myself doing for years—had dreamed of doing for the same amount of time. But it meant so much change. Was I brave enough to take that leap and just do it?

I got to thinking…why was I so nervous? Sure I was about to do something I wasn’t terribly familiar with: interviewing. Nothing does things to the inside of my stomach like knowing I have to do an interview or have a confrontation. If I had prayed about this conversation that hadn’t happened yet—dedicated this time to God—if I had emailed my friends and asked for their prayers—knew I was going into this conversation completely covered in prayer, then why was I so worried?

Two nights before I had written this in my prayer journal: God I cry my fears to you. I lay them at your feet. If I do or if I don’t get this opportunity. Whatever happens, I threw my nerves and frustrations and doubts at God’s feet and determined to walk away.

I was rebuking the nerves and standing strong in God’s strength. This wasn’t about me. This interview could go anyway it wanted, but if I was trusting God to lay all the pieces out in front of me, then I was trusting—and releasing—all the tension and nerves that were fluttering in my insides.

When we rebuke fear and stand in God’s love and protection, we don’t have to rely on our strength or our power or our way with words to make something work. If we’re going to do this thing of walking in God’s leading, then we have to trust that He’s got everything, so why are we nervous?

Sure, I wanted to sound good. Hopefully I did. Sure, I would love to have the job. Would be devastated if I didn’t. But really, if I didn’t, then God has better ahead. I can’t see it, but where I’m at is where God has me for a reason. To teach me a lesson that will draw me closer to Him and His plan for me.

My lesson today? It’s okay to express my fears to God. Throw them at His feet. He knows them anyway. It’s my life lesson to trust His place for me today and throw all that fear away. It’s time to embrace where He has me—us.