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CJ Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk.com and now published author, is one amazing lady! It has been my absolute pleasure to work with CJ, and sister Tracy, as a reviewer for TitleTrakk.com.
CJ's debut novel, Thicker Than Blood, is available now and I can highly recommend it. Check back for my review soon but in the meantime, check out the book trailer below.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Book Trailer for CJ Darlington's Thicker Than Blood
12 Pearls of Christmas: Faith, Hope & Love
The Pearls We Pass Down
by Holley Gerth
Ten years ago my Grandma Frances went home to heaven in her sleep just before Christmas.
My Grandpa carefully handed me a brightly-wrapped box on Christmas morning and said, "This is her gift. Now I want you to have it."
I opened the lid slowly and tears came to my eyes as I saw a lovely string of pearls.
My Mom gently helped me fasten them around my neck. As I ran my fingers over each one, I thought of my Grandmother and all she taught me through her life...
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
1 Corinthians 13:13
FAITH
At age twenty-nine, my Grandma contracted polio and learned she would never walk again. She had a husband, two little girls, and a future suddenly very different than she imagined.
A pastor came to visit her in the hospital. He said, "Frances, this can make you bitter or better." She often told that story with a sparkle in her eyes as she said, "I chose better." I learned through her example that faith is a choice and with God we can thrive through anything.
HOPE
My grandparents took a leap of faith and started the first Christian bookstore in their city with a small kiosk in the center of a mall. Over the next few decades that little kiosk grew into a large and successful store that touched countless lives.
Many of my favorite childhood memories are of curling up in the back room with a stack of books. My Grandma taught me hope is like a small seed and, watered with prayer, it can grow into a huge blessing for many.
LOVE
For fifty-six years my grandparents shared a life together. I adore these two pictures because one is taken when they were dating and the other just a few weeks before she died. The twinkle in their eyes is still the same-and that's not easy in this world. They faced their share of challenges, like my Grandma's disability, but always got through them together.
My Nana also loved her family deeply. When I went to college, she often wrote notes to me and signed each one, SCTH (Stay Close to Him). She showed me love is a commitment that begins with Christ and then overflows to everyone else in our lives.
I still miss my Grandma Frances, especially this time of year. Sometimes I pull out her string of pearls and hold them in my hands. Then I think about how we're all creating our legacy as we live. And while the difficulties we face may seem hard to understand now, God can turn each one into beauty that blesses our family for generations.
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Holley Gerth - Cofounder of (in)courage, editorial director for DaySpring, author of Rain on Me, wife of Mark, lover of Jesus, friend to YOU.
Visit Holley at Heart to Heart with Holley or follow her on twitter as @HolleyGerth.
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12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Character Spotlight ~ Jason Elam & Steve Yohn's Riley Covington
Today the spotlight shines on......................Riley Covington
What do you get when you combine a former Youth Pastor with a former NFL kicker? An engaging thriller called Blackout, releasing January, 2010! Steve Yohn and Jason Elam have just released their third Riley Covington novel, following on from Sunday Night Jihad and Blown Coverage - the trilogy would make a great Christmas gift for the men in your life! Check out the profile below on their everyday hero, Riley Covington. Over to you, Steve:~
Brief physical description
This is an interesting question, because Jason and I have purposely kept this ambiguous
When I read a book, I will often create a picture in my mind of what the protagonist looks like. Often it will be based on a movie star I particularly like (Denzel Washington and ‘Jack Ryan-era’ Harrison Ford have both starred in quite a number of books I’ve read). Sometimes, even when a description is given, I’ll ignore it and put in one of my own. This allows me to visualize the action better – to identify more with what the character is going through.
So, when you read one of the Riley Covington books, feel free to make him whoever you want him to be (as long as he can run like a gazelle, hit like a diesel truck, and bench press a small car).
Actor/famous person
As I just mentioned, Riley is sort of this amorphous-faced character. When read
Many people have thought that we patterned Riley after Jason. In fact, more than one interviewer has asked why we didn’t just make our hero a kicker. Jason’s quick response? “We had to make it plausible.”
Strengths and weaknesses
Riley’s greatest strength is his faith in God. However imperfectly he carries it out at times, you still know he’s trying to do the right thing. And that leads to a second strength, he’s real. Often writers will create protagonists that are one-dimensional – too perfect, too manly, too brilliant. Riley is just an ordinary guy who does a lot of really good things, but makes quite a few boneheaded moves along the way. Knowing my personal penchant towards stupidity, I find I can identify more with characters like that.
But make no mistake, Riley is a true hero. No matter the risk, no matter the cost, he will do what needs to be done to save lives.
Riley’s got a few weaknesses – one being, as his friend Scott Ross has said, “He’s not too good with the chicks.” He stumbles through his quasi-relationship with Khadi Faroughi spending half his time pulling his foot back out of his mouth, and then muddles it up even more when a reporter with ‘amazing green eyes’ catches his attention.
He also tends to be a bit too critical of himself, especially when things are getting rough and p
One final weakness is his tendency to use his status as a football veteran to his advantage. Riley’s not ashamed to cut in front of a rookie in the taping line. He feels no guilt when he bumps a newbie off of the massage table. And when rookie night comes around and all the first-year players are forced to buy dinner for the whole team at one of the most expensive restaurants in town, he’s more than happy to help run up the tab with a couple appetizers, a few extra sides, and a sampling of all the desserts. Hey, it’s just football.
Quirk (if any) 
Riley is a rock of stability in a sea of quirk. It seems that everyone around him is at least a little bit off. But the King of Quirk is his best friend, Scott Ross. This four-inch goatee sporting, 70’s rock-and-roll t-shirt wearing, Yoo-hoo and Diet Mountain Dew Code Red mixing, analytical genius quickly became my favorite character primarily because he gets to say all the things I wish I could. Sometimes I sit back and am amazed at the stuff that comes out of that boy’s mouth (and just a little bit envious, too, since he has the guts to say it and I don’t).
Your inspiration for the character
Jason was the one who initially came up with the character of Riley Covington. He had always been intrigued with the players who went through the military academies, but then had to fulfill their service before starting up their NFL careers – guys like Chad Hennings and Chris Gizzi.
Then, after hearing stories from his brother (a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army) about some of
the crazy things that are going on in the world in relation to terrorism and radical Islam, Jason got the idea of putting the two together.
Finally, he combined those elements with what is most important to him – his faith – and he came up with Riley Covington. Like Hennings and Gizzi, Riley was drafted out of the Air Force Academy by a professional football team, but had to fulfill his military obligation before he could play. After being wounded in Afghanistan, he was released from his remaining service, and was free to begin his football career. Background to the story
Blackout begins not long after the previous book, Blown Coverage, ends. Riley is reeling over the murder of his father and his own narrow escape from death. In the meantime, he still has to keep it together so that he can stay in shape for the upcoming football season.
Unbeknownst to him, however, a new terrorist threat is emerging out of the East – two electro-magnetic pulse weapons are on their way to America. These 
In his typically unexpected way, Scott Ross enlists Riley into the search for these weapons. But just when they’re getting close, New York goes dark with the only light coming from the fires caused by the planes falling from the sky.
Can Riley and his crew stop the second weapon from being detonated and causing the death of thousands more?
Blackout not only engages the reader in the thrill of the chase, but it also offers a frightening, first-hand look into an all-too-real scenario of what can happen when the lights go out for good.
Steve ~ thanks for putting together this inside look at what drives Riley Covington!
On Monday, I will be spotlighting Olivia Keene and Lord Bradley from Julie Klassen's highly anticipated historical novel, The Silent Governess.
Relz Reviewz Extras
Visit Jason & Steve's website and blog
Buy their books at Amazon or Koorong
The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow & Free Kindle Offer
ABINGDON PRESS CELEBRATES THE PRAYERS OF AGNES SPARROW BEING NAMED BEST CHRISTIAN FICTION BOOK OF 2009 WITH FREE KINDLE OFFER!
NASHVILLE— Abingdon Press is excited to announce that The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow has been named by Library Journal as one of the “Best Christian Fiction Books of 2009.”
In celebration of this award, The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow is being promoted for a FREE Kindle download throughout week of December 14th-18th on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/
“What can I say? This is something I’ve wanted since I was 9 years old. To be so well received by such a prestigious magazine is an honor as well as to be ranked among the company I was in” says author, Joyce Magnin.
After reading just a few pages of this quirky-zany debut novel, readers will find themselves laughing and crying their way through the small town of Bright’s Pond, while experiencing the miracle of God’s love and grace!
An exciting time for debut author, Joyce Magnin, her title continues to receive rave reviews from fans and fiction newcomers alike. With another title releasing in the fall of 2010 with Abingdon Press, Magnin is anxious to see how the story of Anges Sparrow will continue to inspire others.
“I’m thrilled the response to the Kindle offer has been so amazing. To me, it’s an additional way the message of Agnes can get into the hands of people it otherwise may not.”
The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow continues to climb the Amazon rankings at #5 in Kindle stores and #4 in Christian fiction books.
The Potluck Club Cookbook by Linda Evans Shepherd & Eva Marie Everson
You may recall my good friend Tracy reviewed this book at Relz Reviewz back in September. When the chance arose for me to review it, I jumped at the opportunity given Tracy's glowing praise and having now read and tried some of the recipes I have to agree with her :)
If you have been reading Christian Fiction long enough, you will have stumbled across novels that include a recipe or two as an added bonus to your reading pleasure, some concoction one of the characters has successfully or unsuccessfully cooked as part of the story! The Potluck Club series and the follow on series, the Potluck Catering Club, co authored by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson are novels well known for a tasty recipe or two. No doubt following from some positive feedback (pardon the pun) the authors have taken a further step and released a companion cookbook to their series, simply titled The Potluck Club Cookbook.
With the tag line, "Easy recipes to enjoy with family and friends", I succumbed to the simple pleasure of reading a cookbook from cover to cover! Recipes with minimal ingredients, most to be found in any well rounded pantry, with easy to follow instructions range from crock pot gems, salads, breads and desserts to vegie dishes, breakfasts, mains and casseroles, all seemingly tasty and simple. As an Australian, I was intrigued by certain ingredients ~ liquid smoke, Karo syrup, Cool Whip and Cheese Whiz ~ and the required use of cake mix in many recipes. Thankfully, a metric conversion guide at the back of the book put weights into perspective and I turned my hand to cooking! I can recommend the Sloppy Joes from a Crock-Pot (minus the crock-pot - I used my fry pan on the stove top) although I learned quickly how hot Chili Sauce can be and the Chicken Cacciatore worked well in my oven and was so very easy. I have my eye on the Old-fashioned Corn Bread and Eva's Mango Salad next!
Eva Marie and Linda add personal comments to each recipe, which were often fun or informative. The Potluck Club Cookbook is a perfect addition to any kitchen with simple, down to earth American style cooking and would make a perfect gift for any busy household.
As seen at TitleTrakk.com and with thanks to TitleTrakk.com for my review copyRelz Reviewz Extras
Review of A Taste of Fame
Visit the websites of Linda & Eva
Buy the books at Amazon or Koorong
12 Pearls of Christmas: God Provides a Way
A Long Ago Christmas Memory
by Patricia Crisafulli
The old farm on a dirt road in the backwoods of northern New York State was described to me so many times, I can imagine the place, even though I never saw it: the big frame house with the wide porch, the pair of maple trees out front, and the barn in the back where my grandparents kept a cow or two, pigs and chickens, and a team of work horses.
That old house came alive for me in dozens of stories that my mother told, of how she and her sisters grew up there during the Depression. The stories had that long-ago feel not only because of the years that had passed, but also because of the era: tales of riding in a horse and buggy in the summer and a horse and sleigh in the winter. My grandfather owned an old Model A Ford, but the tires were patched beyond repair and there was no money for gasoline.
One story that has always stayed with me was of a particular Christmas in the early 1930s, a time my mother remember as the "depths of the Depression," and there was no money. In order to pay the interest on the mortgage, to keep the bank from foreclosing on the farm, my grandfather needed a relatively small sum. The amount I remember being told was $13, but for the little they had in those days it might as well have been $13,000.
Tested by trouble and sorrows, my grandparents relied on their deep and abiding faith. As Psalm 34 tells us, I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. The answer to their prayers was to be found right in their own backyard with gifts of the earth. My grandmother went into the woods to gather bushel baskets full of ground pine, with green sprouts like miniature boughs that spread in great patches along the earth. From willow branches she made hoops, around which she bound the ground pine to make wreathes.
She sat up all night making wreaths, enough to fill a large hamper basket, which my grandfather strapped to his back. At four in the morning, he hopped a ride on the milk train into Syracuse, where he went door-to-door selling wreathes. Night after night, my grandmother made wreaths, and day after day my grandfather sold them.
As Christmas approached, my grandmother had saved coupons that came in tins of coffee to get a Kewpie doll for her daughters. The only other things she gave them were mittens she knit herself.
Then on Christmas Eve, my grandfather came home from the last day of selling wreaths, exhausted but relieved. The farm was safe for another year. From what he had earned, he had a dime left over, which he spent on his beloved wife to buy her a powder puff. That night, my grandmother gave him her surprise: enough money from selling butter and eggs all year to buy four new tires for the Model A Ford.
Hearing this story as a child, my head was too full of the Sears & Roebuck "Wish Book" catalog to really comprehend it. As an adult, I try to fathom living with no money at all. What lingers in my heart, however, is the love of my grandparents for each other: the dashing young American soldier in World War I and the beautiful French girl he met overseas and then returned to her country to marry.
Many years, thousands of miles, and untold hardships later, that love continued. During a very dark December, they found a way together to keep the farm and the family together. And so it would always be for them.
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Patricia Crisafulli is a writer, published author, and founder of www.FaithHopeandFiction.com, a monthly e-literary magazine with stories, essays, and poetry to inspire and entertain.
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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is leave a comment here. Come back on New Year's Day to see if you won!
12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
12 Pearls of Christmas: Jesus Comforts
How to Cope with Christmas
by Stacie Ruth Stoelting
Last night, I dreamed that God resurrected my beautiful adopted aunt, Mary Jo Hoffman. But morning renewed my mourning for her: Christmas trees, snow globes, and music greeted my grieving heart. Relate?
In previous years, my maternal grandpa (a.k.a. "Papa Ray") died near Thanksgiving and my adopted "Grandpa Morley" died near Christmas. Now, people cannot compare grief. But I believe we all know that the holidays challenge the grieving.
Christmas arrives like a pretty package full of grief triggers: Empty chairs, missing faces, and silent voices seem to haunt the holidays. Here are "12 Ways of Christmas" for the Grief-Stricken that have worked for me:
12 Ways of Christmas for the Grieving
1. Don't put excessive expectations on yourself. Don't expect the holidays to be the same.
2. Rest. Cut down the Christmas clutter and just get away from the typical, if possible.
3. Rearrange furniture to reduce "absence" reminders.
4. Avoid sugar highs and lows because they naturally induce emotional lows. Also steer clear of over-eating and under-sleeping. Eat well-balanced diets. Some mood enhancing natural foods include yogurt, kefir, green tea, omega-3 rich foods (i.e. salmon, cod liver oil, etc.), and lower sugar dark chocolate. One excellent resource for healthier lifestyles is First Place 4 Health, founded by the knowledgeable and kind Carole Lewis: http://www.firstplace4health.com/.
5. Admit grief. Trying to move forward while denying the reality of grief causes one to fall face forward. Does your face smile while your heart weeps? Give yourself permission to cry. Jesus wept. Weeping releases excessive tension. Address depression. Don't deny it. Pretending the nonexistence of depression only promotes its growth. (I include a list of counseling centers on my page for hurting hearts: http://prayingpals.org/linksforhurtinghearts.html.)
6. Forgive and receive forgiveness through Jesus. Release everything to the Lord -including any so-called regrets about your departed loved one. In Loved by Rebecca St. James (FaithWords, 2009), the point of God's abiding love encourages us: "He [Jesus] is ready to...stand in the gap between you and the pain, and to be your constant companion in the dark hours. He loves you."
7. Reach out to the more burdened and hang around kids this Christmas. It may not feel easy. It may even feel impossible. Ask Jesus to love thru you and get your eyes off problems and on to Him and others.
8. Understand the concept of new normalcy. The onset of new traditions and expectations may seem daunting, but God gave you your previous normal. Ask Him to give grace/hope in the face of the new normal. Let Him lead you to a place where you can relax and let Him beam His light on you.
9. Take a "hands off and hands folded" approach to the holidays. Reduce activity and increase connectivity through prayer and Christian companionship. If you're isolated, feel free to join my weekly online prayer group (www.prayingpals.org). And stay in touch with your local church.
10. Face and treat chronic health issues. If you feel sick, everything feels worse. (One excellent resource for those with chronic health conditions is Rest Ministries.)
11. Reclaim your Heavenly purpose on earth. Ask Jesus to grant supernaturally His grace, hope, love, peace, and comfort this holiday season. Then don't fight His help. Be open to His opening of doors to cope and hope this holiday season. Just receive Jesus. Ask Jesus to give you a Heavenly perspective on earth. God holds good things for you! He grants you great purpose for your life hereafter...and here, too. Embrace His grace and seek His face. He's there. I know. In the face of grief, I'm with Him right now.
12. Remember: Trials don't indicate a reduction in God's love for you. He loves you and promises to make things right in the end. Spend time focusing on His unchanging love for you. "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39, ESV)
Holidays include lots of grief for relationships/loved ones that left, forsook, or died. But let's focus on the essence of Christmas: the present of Jesus' presence in our lives! Wow, may a relationship with Jesus be our miracle and encouragement this Christmas! "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Cor. 9:15)
Could you think of anything greater than receiving God for Christmas?
While my dream didn't come true today, I know it will: Mary Jo will be resurrected and we will be reunited. This year, focus on a different angle of Christmas: Let Christmas remind you of Jesus' birth to banish death.
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After Stacie Ruth met Jesus, her life blossomed with true joy and purpose! Life's blows hurt her, but Jesus heals and strengthens her. Now an author, actress, and recording artist, she laughs at the irony and praises God, who uses unlikely people...like herself. To find out more about her ministry visit www.brightlightministries.com.__________________________________
A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is leave a comment here. Come back on New Year's Day to see if you won!
12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Character Spotlight ~ Loree Lough's Bryce Stone & Samantha Sinclair
Today the spotlight shines on Bryce Stone & Sam Sinclaire
Loree Lough brings us a Christmas story in her latest novel in the popular Love Finds You series from Summerside. Combining a Christmas theme with a humourous and tender tale of finding love in the town of North Pole, Alaska! Enjoy this look behind the scenes:~
Brief physical description
Taken straight from the synopsis that ‘sold’ the story to Summerside:
BRYCE STONE 32
6’1” tall
210 lbs.
brown eyes
brown hair (Marine-short)
muscular ex-soldier
blind left eye (wears eye patch)
perfectionist
6’1” tall
210 lbs.
brown eyes
brown hair (Marine-short)
muscular ex-soldier
blind left eye (wears eye patch)
perfectionist
SAM SINCLAIRE 
26
5’5” tall
115 lbs.
blue eyes
black hair (long, shiny, curly)
petite
chef
scars on knees; childhood fall from tree
a tad klutzy
Actor/famous person26
5’5” tall
115 lbs.
blue eyes
black hair (long, shiny, curly)
petite
chef
scars on knees; childhood fall from tree
a tad klutzy
While writing LFY in North Pole, I had a clear picture of a Tom Selleck (the way he looked while working on Magnum P.I.) as Bryce Stone. Can you just see Tom (sans mustache) with a black eye patch. Dre-e-eamy!
Bryce, the only child of ‘hippy’ parents who died years before the story opens, i
Sam, on the other hand, is the youngest of 8 kids. As the only girl in this big h
Quirk (if any)
Sam loves Christmas, a fact that inspires grins and gentle chiding from her
Bryce, on the other hand, having grown up in “The Town Where It’s Ch
Your inspiration for the characters
My inspiration for Bryce was to pay tribute to all the brave men
Background to the story
Description:
Bryce St
It’s a battle of wills, and the two soon find that they’re fighting for more than just the success of the shop. After all, love—and Christmas—takes as many forms as the snowflakes that blanket the streets of North Pole!
Thanks, Loree! Just in time for Christmas :)
On Thursday, I will be spotlighting Jason Elam & Steve Yohn's, Riley C
Relz Reviewz Extras
Review of Love Finds You in North Pole, Alaska
Visit Loree's website
Buy Loree's books at Amazon or Koorong
The winner of Whirlwind is.............
Caitlyn....as selected by a random number generator.
Congratulations! Please email me your address within 7 days to claim your signed and personalised copy or another winner will be selected.
Thanks to everyone who entered - it was fun reading about your bad guys!
12 Pearls of Christmas: Just God
A Tangible Reminder
by Mary Byers
Last year I read Me, Myself, & Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer, creator of the Veggie Tales video series. I was interested because my children grew up on Veggie Tales. But I was also interested because somewhere along the way I noticed Phil Vischer was no longer with Big Idea, the company he founded. I knew there must be a story there, so I picked up the book.
Though millions of children can sing the Veggie Tales theme song, Big Idea no longer exists. After expanding too quickly, the company was forced into bankruptcy. Vischer writes about the experience in his book, which is part memoir and part business tutorial. And it's a touching example of how one man encountered grit and allowed it to be turned into grace.
At the end of the book, Vischer outlines the lessons he learned from the rise and fall of Big Idea. In part, he shares, "I was ready to be done, if that's what God wanted. To just rest in him and let everything else fall away. At long last, after a lifetime of striving, God was enough. Not God and impact or God and ministry. Just God."
His words convicted me. As an author and speaker, I realized that I'm often more focused on my deadlines or my next speaking engagement than I am on God. I have it backwards. God first, then everything else will fall into place.
It's a powerful message for us as women, too. When we focus on God first, we'll have everything we need to handle whatever is happening in our families and our lives. As Vischer reminds us, God is enough. As we approach Christmas, I'm reminded that this is the time when God shared his Son with us-a tangible reminder of his love for us. And a reminder that when we have him, we have everything we need.
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Mary Byers is the author of Making Work at Home Work: Successfully Growing a Business and a Family Under One Roof. She offers advice and encouragement for moms work from home for profit at www.makingworkathomework.com.
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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is leave a comment here. Come back on New Year's Day to see if you won!12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info
Monday, 14 December 2009
CFBA Blog Tour of The Sheriff's Surrender by Susan Page Davis
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I've always loved reading, history, and horses. These things come together in several of my historical books. My young adult novel, Sarah's Long Ride, also spotlights horses and the rugged sport of endurance riding, as does the contemporary romance Trail to Justice. I took a vocational course in horseshoeing after earning a bachelor's degree in history. I don't shoe horses anymore, but the experience has come in handy in writing my books.
Another longtime hobby of mine is genealogy, which has led me down many fascinating paths. I'm proud to be a DAR member! Some of Jim's and my quirkier ancestors have inspired fictional characters
For many years I worked for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel as a freelancer, covering local government, school board meetings, business news, fires, auto accidents, and other local events, including a murder trial. I've also written many profiles and features for the newspaper and its special sections. This experience was a great help in developing fictional characters and writing realistic scenes. I also published nonfiction articles in several magazines and had several short stories appear in Woman's World, Grit, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.
My husband, Jim, and I moved to his birth state, Oregon, for a while after we were married, but decided to move back to Maine and be near my family. We're so glad we did. It allowed our six children to grow up feeling close to their cousins and grandparents, and some of Jim's family have even moved to Maine!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Gert Dooley can shoot the tail feathers off a jay at a hundred yards, but she wants Ethan Chapman to see she's more than a crack shot with a firearm. When the sheriff of Fergus, Idaho, is murdered and Ethan is named his replacement, Gert decides she has to do whatever she can to help him protect the citizenry. So she starts the Ladies Shooting Club. But when one of their numbers is murdered, these ladies are called on for more than target shooting and praying. Can Gert and the ladies of Fergus find the murderer before he strikes again?
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Sheriff’s Surrender , go HERE
I've enjoyed Susan's books and I'm looking forward to reading this fun looking story when the Christmas rush has eased so a review will come soon!
Lost Mission by Athol Dickson
Athol Dickson's name has long been associated with high praise in the literary world so it was with significant expectation that I picked up his latest novel, Lost Mission, to see where the journey would lead.
The tale commences in 18th century Italy with a Spanish monk, Fray Alejandro, sent a message by God to reach the heathens of the New World. His obedience to his Father's call would impact the life of a young Mexican woman as she followed in his footsteps more than two hundred years later.
Devout and passionate about saving the lost, Lupe de la Garza, risks her life and liberty to minister to the lost souls of America. Emboldened by Lupe's passion for the lost, a young American pastor makes a choice to flout the law to protect the desperate men and women hoping for a better life in his country. Shattered by his wife's betrayal and his daughter's choice of a husband, a wealthy Christian embarks on a grand scheme to protect fellow believers from the evil influences in the world unable to comprehend the havoc that will flow from his idealistic dreams.
Spanning centuries, multiple stories unfold of greed and betrayal, compassion and sacrifice, prejudice and fear and the plight of those lost in either the physical, emotional or spiritual wilderness.
Athol Dickson has written an evocative and turbulent story that is confronting, engaging and heart wrenching. By the time I closed this book, my expectations were well satisfied and my mind continued to ponder the revelations exposed by Athol's deft hand. I will admit the initial stages of the book provided some frustration as the individual stories seemed slow to unfold. Concentration and focus is certainly required as Athol alternates centuries with a turn of phrase and no warning, yet it is a testament to his skill as a writer that I soon enjoyed the brief segues and anticipated the next change of realities. Athol excels in his various portrayals of the human condition and how circumstance, prejudice, faith and tragedy impacts the choices we make and our ability to perceive where those choices might lead. Lost Mission raises important questions to consider, provides an mystery that intrigues and is a redemptive tale of the healing power of God that is well worth the journey.
As seen at TitleTrakk.com and with thanks to Litfuse Publicity for my review copyRelz Reviewz Extras
Character spotlight on Fray Alejandro & Lupe de la Garza
Visit Athol's website and blog
Buy Athol's books at Amazon or Koorong
12 Pearls of Christmas: Home
COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
by Virelle Kidder
My mother had remarkable zeal for Christmas. Weeks in advance, she would come home from teaching school and bake late into the night. I helped clean the house and decorate the tree while my older brother Roger wired the house with Christmas lights, transforming our humble red house into a place of magical beauty. Following the church candlelight service, a crowd of happy people crunched through the snow to our house for cocoa and cookies.
We were, like many, quite alone in the years after my father left. Our Christmas open house was my mother's supreme effort to make us feel complete. It almost worked.
Despite years in church and Sunday school, God was more a distant relative I wished I knew. I grew up with a gnawing sense of incompleteness, and longed to find meaning and purpose in life. Strangely, it was shortly before Christmas years later that it found me.
My husband Steve was fully absorbed with his new job at Johns Hopkins University, and I was home with a two year old. We wanted friends, but were both hesitant when Steve's officemate his wife invited us to attend their church. We had nothing in common with "religious types," but Steve said, "Let's be nice and go just once."
Sitting in church that Sunday, my temples pounded. Hymns and Scripture verses long ago ignored called to me from my childhood. Could others tell I didn't belong here? Oddly, I felt jealous of their peace. They looked happy.
First thing Monday morning I began tearing through the unpacked boxes in our basement. At last, I found my mildewed Bible from fifth grade. I resolved to read it cover to cover. I opened to Genesis, chapter 1. Same old story; I've heard this a hundred times, and quickly slammed it shut.
No one told me God could hear my thoughts. A soft Voice whispered, Why not read as if it were true? I opened my Bible again. Suddenly I was listening to the most interesting person I had ever heard. By afternoon I was still reading in my pajamas. I couldn't stop.
I read for weeks until one day, a picture popped in my mind of a beautiful old house with wide porches, brightly lit at night. Music, laughter and lively conversation carried onto the porch where I stood in the dark, peeking in. I saw a feast and a fire on the hearth, much like the Christmas open houses from my childhood, with one important difference. There was a Father here whose face mirrored love and warmth at His children's presence. This was God's family, and I desperately wanted to be inside. But how?
A voice taunted, Why would God want you? You don't fit in this crowd! It was true. I considered giving up. Instead, I marched upstairs to our bedroom, knelt down and prayed out loud, "Lord, help me find the way! Please don't let me go!"
Verses I'd read made sense. Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
Our friends explained that God already knew I was a hopeless mess and loved me anyway. Opening the door to Heaven was a gift that cost God everything. It was on the cross Jesus died to pay for my sins. He rose again to prove forever that He is the Truth. Weeping at such love, I knelt and gave Christ my life. I found that, with or without a happy family, no one is ever complete without Jesus.
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Virelle Kidder is a conference speaker and the author of six books and numerous articles whose passion is sharing the love of God with women around the world. For her latest books, please visit her at www.virellekidder.com and www.meetmeatthewell.fm
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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is leave a comment here. Come back on New Year's Day to see if you won!12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info
Sunday, 13 December 2009
12 Pearls of Christmas: Life Beautiful
Life Beautiful
by Margaret McSweeney
During a quiet moment after Thanksgiving, I started reading my parents' stack of love letters that I recently found in a storage box. As a Christmas gift to you, I would like to share my father's words to my mother written to her during Christmas 1949. This incredible "hug from heaven" has been a tangible affirmation that Pearl Girls has true meaning and great worth for women throughout the world. I pray that God will continue to bless this ministry and outreach. May we all realize that the grit in our lives can be transformed into grace through the love of God.
This is what I found written on a tiny folded card inscribed with "Christmas Greetings" on the front:
Christmas 1949
My Dearest Carolyn,
Truly a jewel is a thing of beauty, but a life that is lived to serve others and to glorify our Christ, such as yours, is my dearest, a far surpassing gem in radiance and beauty.
Pearls to me, symbolize this "Life Beautiful" that you have achieved, Carolyn. Each pearl is a result of a great hurt to the oyster's life. But the little mollusk builds an iridescent coat around this source of hurt, and as a result, the precious pearl comes into being. Life is like that too.
If we, like the pearl, can make of our hurts the basis of a thing of beauty, then we can bear witness to an on-looking world how Christians can overcome through Christ, blows that are seemingly insurmountable.
At this happiest season of the year, I give thanks to God for you, Carolyn - my Pearl of Great Price.
Your Claude
Isn't this an amazing Christmas Pearl? I hope this message has touched your heart, too. Another Christmas gift I would like to share with you: My father's lessons on leadership. These can be found on my guest blog post at Michael Hyatt's website.
During this holiday season, decorate your life with Christmas Pearls --- strands of God's grace-reminders that nothing can separate us from his love, not even the grittiest of circumstances.
And please celebrate the "Pearls of Great Price" in your life through Post a Pearl. It's a fun and free gift that you can share with special people who have been a blessing to you over the years.
Merry Christmas!
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Margaret McSweeney lives with her husband David and two teenage daughters in the Chicago suburbs. She's the founder of Pearl Girls and a published author. Please visit www.pearlgirls.info for more info. You can also find Margaret at her writing blog, From Finance to Fiction or on Facebook and twitter.
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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is leave a comment here. Come back on New Year's Day to see if you won!12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info
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