Win a free book- A Mending at the Edge

by Jane Kirkpatrick

A Clearing in the Wild: A community searching for refuge, A woman finding her voice. The people of Bethel, Missouri, seek to live with simplicity and generosity, existing in the world of the 1850s but remaining set apart from its distractions and vanities. Rather than finding peace in this would be utopia, spirited young Emma Wagner chafes at the constraints of a culture that values conformity over independent thought, especially in women.

A Tendering in the Storm: A story of tender truths about a woman's desperate efforts to shelter her family. Determined to raise her children on her own terms, Emma suddenly finds herself alone and pregnant with her third child, struggling to keep her family secure in the remote coastal forest of the Washington Territory. With loss and disappointment as her fuel, she kindles a fire that soon threatens to consume her, making a series of poor choices that take her into dangerous relationships. As clouds of despair close in, she must decide whether to continue in her own waning strength or to humble herself and accept help from the very people she once so eagerly left behind.

A Mending at the Edge: "Of all the things I left in Willapa, hope is what I missed the most." So begins this story of one woman's restoration from personal grief to the meaning of community. Based on the life of German American Emma Wagner Giesy, the only woman sent to the Oregon Territory in the 1850s to help found a command society, award winning author Jane Kirkpatrick shows how landscape, relationships, spirituality and artistry poignantly reflect a woman's desire to weave a unique and meaningful legacy from the threads of an ordinary life. While set in the historical past, it's a story for our own time answering the question: Can threads of an isolated life weave a legacy of purpose in community?

PAMMER HERE: All three of these books are based on a true story. It amazes me how Ms. Kirkpatrick can take a historical story and weave it into such an interesting story that you don't want to put it down. I noticed someone called her writing lyrical and I would have to agree. I love history, but I daresay, because of Ms. Kirckpatricks vivid portrayal, I am more interested in that particular time period and the behind the scenes type of look into the building of our great country.

WIN A FREE COPY and see for yourself how beautifully woven this story is. I am giving away a free copy of A Mending at the Edge. I will draw from all the posts left in my blog comments this week and announce the winner next Saturday, May 3, 2008. Leave me your email address in such a format pamngreg (at) sbcglobal (dot) net so that I can reach you but those nasty little spiders can't sweep up your addy. :D

One Holy Night

by J. M. Hochstetler

As on that holy night so long ago. . .in a world torn by sin and strife. . .to a family that has suffered heart-wrenching loss. . .there will be a baby. . .

Frank McRae stared at the television screen, raw images of war exploding in his head long after the news had finally ended, replaced by an inane sitcom. the grainy black-and-white video of battle-weary troops slogging through the sodden rice paddies and shadowy jungles of Viet Nam ate away at his heart like sulfuric acid.

There was nothing left of his life now but the business and the pain that were tearing him apart. The silence in this house that had once been a cherished home, rich with happiness and love, was deafening. Always another war. Always more puposeless killing, senseless dying, and fractured relationships that couldn't be put back together again. Where was God in all of this? What kind of God would tear from a man those dearest to him? The Bible spoke of a God of love and mercy, but for all Frank could tell, God remained indifferent to suffering. When one needed help the most, God turned his back. Surely the Bible was nothing but a hollow myth. . .

What Frank didn't know was that God had in mind a miracle. Once more, as on that holy night so long ago, a baby will be born and laid in a manger-a baby whoe will bring forgiveness, peace, and healing to a family that has suffered heart-wrenching loss.

Pammer here: I will admit, I was a little leary of this book. I don't like anyone to mess with that miraculous birth of Jesus. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I read this emotion filled book. The birth was not miraculous, but the results could only be brought forth by the little gift from God, along with a strong dose of His Healing power. You see, the baby brought things to a head like nothing else could.

This one will tug at your heartstings.

___________________________________________________________-_

J. M. Hochstetler is the author of One Holy Night, a modern-day nativity story set during the Vietnam War that retells the story of Jesus’ birth for today’s readers. Her previous books are Daughter of Liberty and Native Son, books 1 and 2 of the American Patriot Series set during the American Revolution. Book 3, Wind of the Spirit, will release in January 2009.

Hochstetler graduated from Indiana University cum laude, taking a degree in Germanic languages. In the mid 1990s, she worked for The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, assisting with the development and production of Freedom Speaks, a weekly television program devoted to First Amendment rights, broadcast nationally on PBS. She was subsequently an editor with Abingdon Press for twelve years before founding her own small press, Sheaf House, in 2006 to publish extraordinary fiction by fresh new voices.

Born and reared in central Indiana, the daughter of Mennonite farmers, Hochstetler currently resides near Nashville, Tennessee. Her interest in the American colonial and Revolutionary War eras grew out of the experiences of her Anabaptist ancestors who immigrated to America from Europe seeking religious freedom. With her cousin, author Bob Hostetler, she is writing a novel titled Northkill that is based on the massacre of three of their Amish Mennonite ancestors on the Pennsylvania frontier during the French and Indian War, the Indian captivity of the attack’s survivors, and their eventual return home.

The content of this article is the property of J. M. Hochstetler.
Permission is granted to copy all or part of this information
for media publicity purposes.

Taming Rafe

by Susan May Warren

Two-time World Champion bull rider Rafe Noble had no idea how quickly his world could end.

In less than eight seconds, he lost his title, his career, and his best friend-all on the dirt floor of a noisy rodeo arena.

Katherine Breckenridge just wants to make a difference by running her mother's charity foundation. but the mysterious disappearance of half a million dollars has forced it to the brink of bankruptcy. Her last chance to save it is the annual fund-raiser, and event that's destroyed by an out-of-control Rafe Noble.

Desperate to rescue the foundation, Katherine heads to the Noble family ranch to enlist Rafe's help in raising the money he cost her in lost donations. What she doesn't know is that Rafe is broke-in cash and in spirit-and helping her could end up costing him his life.

Pammer here: Susan has done it again. She's put wonderful flawed and hurting-real-characters on the page and held us hostage to see how the story unfolds. At times so tense it was hard to stand it, hoping against hope that it would turn out well. The setting is so alive and real it seems like a character itself. Now I have an urge to visit Montana. And I wouldn't mind running into Rafe and Kat while I'm there.

And for you writers that would love to write like Susan does, you should the blog she and her friend Rachel Hauck host called My Book Therapy.

http://susanmaywarren.typepad.com/booktherapy

Characters

I love writing character sheets. Actually I usually do away with the sheets. I have a tattered notebook with my questions written inside. I sit and type the answers freeform. I have probably 10,000 words on my characters. And I'm not completely done with the bad guy(s).

Naturally most of my rambling doesn't end up on the page, but it helps me understand my characters better. My friend, Cheryl (who was a missionary in India) loved my questions and I think we got them copied down for her. If we didn't I'll type them up for ya. :D

There are things you wouldn't think of such as past loves. That doesn't seem to be important to the story of now unless they're out to cause trouble. But it is important. It shows what types of men the heroine is drawn too and what kind of women the hero finds attractive.

Everything you have ever had happen to you, every thought and emotion has shaped you into the person you are. Our characters shouldn't be any less real.

The other day I heard a faint voice. I couldn't hear what was being said, and me being the nosey type I am (hey I'm a writer, everything is my business, lol) I wanted to know exactly what was going on. The kids were doing something quiet and I said, "Hey, do you guys hear that?"
They both turned to me looking slightly concerned. "Hear what?"
"That voice."
The boys looked at each other and turned back to me. "Um, Mom, you're a writer, don't you hear voices all the time?"
"Well, yeah, but they're not usually audible!"

Anyway, I wondered what kinds of information you want to know about a character (for the non-writers who may be reading). And for the writers: What's the most unusual question on your character sheet?

Have a great weekend.

April Releases

Here is the list of new releases from Jill:

Happy Spring! (I'm thinking positively here - our weather is trying to cooperate with the calendar, which says it's Spring! We've got 11 new Christian novels to enhance your springtime reading. And don't forget to check out my new Spotlight on award-winning author Lynn Austin!. (If any of the websites appear to be down, please keep trying. I've checked them and know they will work.)

1. A Bride So Fair, A Fair to Remember, book 3 by Carol Cox from Barbour. Take a trip on a spellbinding thrill ride of intrigue and suspense at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

2. Courting Emma, Third and Final book in: The Little Hickman Creek Series by Sharlene MacLaren from Whitaker House. Emma Browning, boardinghouse proprietor, will give her heart to no one, least of all the preacher who takes a room in her house. What will it take to soften her?

3. Hearts in the Highlands by Ruth Axtell Morren from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical. Confirmed widower who's led an Indiana Jones life among the Egyptian ruins returns to England and meets a spinster whose goodness and enduring faith crumble the walls around his heart.

4. Healing Promises Defenders of Hope book 2 by Amy Wallace from Multnomah Publishers. When a life-threatening illness strikes and a serial kidnapper remains elusive, a Crimes Against Children FBI agent and his wife both question whether God can truly be trusted.

5. Searching for Spice by Megan DiMaria from Tyndale House Publishers. Why can’t a woman enjoy a sizzling affair—with her husband?

6. Summer Snow by Nicole Baart from Tyndale. Summer Snow is about the unexpected, about finding grace amid the ruins of a life gone wrong and learning to see beauty in brokenness.

7. Sweet Forever Book one of Indiana Brides series by Ramona K. Cecil from Barbour Publishing Heartsong Presents. The unbelieving daughter of a riverboat gambler and a young minister unsure of his calling find love in an 1845 Indiana river town.

8. The Big Picture A Katie Parker Production, Act III by Jenny B. Jones from Th1nk. Bobbie Ann Parker has come to claim her daughter. Can Katie leave behind all she loves in In Between for the new life her mother promises?

9. The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter from Thomas Nelson. Nationally syndicated advice columnist Dr. Kate is dumped at the alter at her own wedding and marries Nantucket native Lucas Wright to save her reputation.

10. Where the Truth Lies by Elizabeth Ludwig and Janelle Mowery from Barbour. A case of suicide leads a web designer on a trail of deceit and corruption.

11. Witness by Susan Page Davis from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense. A woman who witnesses a murder can't convince the police she's telling the truth.

Happy reading ~
-- ~ Jill ~
Jill Eileen Smith
New Releases Coordinator