Monday, April 30, 2012

When You Don't Fit The Mold by Natalia Gortova


WHEN YOU DON’T FIT THE MOLD

I recently read ‘The Covering’ by Dana Pratola, a fresh twist on Christian romance with a side of spiritual warfare. I LOVE the front cover of this book.

I thought this book had been self-published, when in fact it was published by White Rose which is a division of Pelican Book Group. The reason I thought that was because this book doesn’t fit the traditional mold of Inspirational Romance.

Here’s the back cover copy:

What do a woman of faith and a heathen biker have in common? The devil, of course. Tessa is moved to intercede for a man she's never met. When they do meet, she's stunned. Gunnar is gorgeous, charismatic, and driven. He's also hostile, self-destructive, and an unbeliever...and she's drawn to him like no other. The temptation she feels is as dangerous as it is alluring. She wants to stay away, but God has other plans. He reveals the devil's intent to destroy Gunnar, and commissions Tessa to keep him covered in prayer. Can she rely on God to keep her from falling...in love, and into temptation? Or will the devil claim them both?

I think there’s been a draw in Christian fiction toward ‘safe’ stories and ‘safe’ unbelieving characters and I was happy to see this author present an honest look into the thoughts and intents of a non-Christian man. One I’d go so far as to say is even hostile toward Christianity. The book's not vulgar, it's just real.

I read a lot—I mean a LOT, like 4 books a week on average—and what I noticed about this Inspirational book, is that the prose the author uses read like a general market romance novel. The book almost felt like it would fit with a secular publisher of romance…except for the clear salvation message.

Which means it would fit the Christian market, right? Well, yes and no, because as I said, the prose fits a general market novel. There’s no outright sexuality, but there’s a lot of ‘I want you, you want me’ as the author establishes the sexual tension between the characters. And it’s done very well.

So where does it fit? Well, it kind of doesn’t. Which was why I thought it had been self-published. Good for you, Ms. Pratola that you found a publisher who shares your vision of Inspirational fiction that pushes the boundaries of what the Christian market expects. And in doing so, presents a far more realistic sense of what goes on between people trying to do the right thing in a world saturated with sin.

Here’s what Pelican Book Group says in its writers guidelines...

“We may publish what some would call edgy, i.e. stories that fall outside current CBA guidelines, however, please note that edgy doesn't mean profane. It means gently colouring outside the lines because the story demands it.”

I love the idea of ‘gently coloring outside the lines.’ Who doesn’t want to push the boundaries once in a while?

If you love and/or write Christian fiction, this book is worth a look. I’m not one of those reviewers who gush about how good it was. I'd like to have known how Tessa came to faith, since none of her family members were believers. The spiritual warfare was well done, not overblown, I think it was a slice of something different that added to the story with an idea that’s all too true--until you’re covered by the blood of Christ, you’re vulnerable to the enemy.

Check it out friends!

p.s. Dear Ms Pratola: Will Gunnar’s sister’s book be next?

[Beverley+and+Tom+Wedding+Trip+2010+004.JPG]
Visit Natalia’s blog at www.nataliagortova.blogspot.com  








Friday, April 27, 2012

You Might be an Historical Fiction Writer if....

You Might be an Historical Fiction Writer if… 


The other day, I was writing a scene for my new historical romance series. My fingers flew across the keyboard as I ventured back to the 1860s…

Glancing from side to side looking for a place to hide, she willed her feet to move. Would this be how it would all end for her – a moment’s decision sealing her destiny?…

Of all the genres I enjoy writing, historical romance is my favorite. However, there are some days when it’s clear to me that I’ve spent a bit too much time in the days before modern technology.

If you write historical fiction, you know exactly what I mean. So, just for fun, I’ve listed six surefire ways to know that you’re a writer of historical fiction…

1. You’re getting ready for a family outing and you ask your husband to please hitch up the wagon instead of start the car.

2. Speaking of husbands, although your husband’s name is Lon, you find yourself calling him Zach, Jonah, or Nate because you’ve spent so much time with your male protagonists…


Zach Sawyer in McKenzie, book #1 in Penny's Montana Skies Historical Romance Series 

3. You say “I reckon” far too often.

4. Your kids are beginning to call you “Ma.”

5. You reach for a bonnet instead of a baseball cap to cover a bad hair day.

6. Your family doesn’t let you visit museums anymore because they know that when you visit, you become so engrossed in the historical photos that you never want to leave. They clearly don’t understand that gazing for a mere few hours at antiques and old photographs gives you 10-years-worth of inspiration!

So there you have it…six surefire ways to know you might be an historical fiction author. Now back to the 1860s I go!



Penny Zeller is the author of several books and numerous magazine articles. She is also the author of the blog "A Day in the Life of a Wife, Mom, and Author" www.pennyzeller.wordpress.com where she also provides weekly doses of inspiration and humor, along with movie reviews from a Christian worldview, and interviews with some of her favorite author friends.

Penny is an active volunteer in her community, devoting her time to assisting and nurturing women and children into a closer relationship with Christ. Her passion is to use the gift of the written word that God has given her to glorify Him and to benefit His kingdom.

Among other books, Penny is the author of McKenzie, Kaydie, and Hailee in her Montana Skies Historical Romance Series and 77 Ways Your Family Can Make a Difference: Ideas and Activities for Serving Others.

When she's not writing, Penny enjoys spending time with her family and camping, hiking, canoeing, and playing volleyball.

Penny loves to hear from her readers at her website, www.pennyzeller.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennyzellerbooks



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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Trailer Talk Tuesday -- Ginny Dent Brant

Howdy, friends! It's time for Book Trailer Talk Tuesday!
Today we are pleased to bring you, Ginny Dent Brant.

Everyone has a loved one they want to see in heaven. This is a father-daughter story that will warm your heart. The natural order is for parents to guide their children to faith, but God can work through a child to guide their parents to faith. If you have a loved one you want to see in heaven, read Finding True Freedom: From the White House to the World, and watch the Hand of God.


Crystal Cathedral interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-d1DwtqDFk

Visit Ginny Dent Brant at... www.ginnybrant.com

Reach Out Magazine Cover Story about Ginny... http://www.reachoutcolumbia.com/articles/a-daughter%E2%80%99s-prayers/

To listen to an interview with Ginny Dent Brant, please link to Living Joyfully Free Radio!




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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Trailer Talk Tuesday -- Dave Moore

Howdy, friends!

Our blog post auto function isn't working, so please forgive this late installment of Book Trailer Talk Tuesday

The Father's Love

The drive home seemed endless. My mind was a battleground of extremes. Ideas of what to do next to help find David seemed to constantly flood my thinking. Yet the negative side, thinking the worst of what might have happened to my son, was always occupying my mind. Though sleep was dearly needed, it was not welcomed, for even in sleep I was tormented.

Confronting depression, fatigue, and evil, Dave Moore goes on a cross-country search for his missing son. Becoming increasingly desperate and having done all that is humanly possible without results, what will he do? Who will he turn to? In this amazing true story, you will experience Dave Moore’s anguish in going through a father’s worst nightmare—a missing child. Through his fear, Dave confronts his soul’s emptiness and learns the heavenly Father’s Love.

Dave Moore is a chaplain serving through Victorious Life Church of God in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Dave volunteers to pray with the sick and the lost in hospitals, nursing homes, prison, and jails. He is married to the love of his life, Dorinda, and has three sons, Shane, Adam, and David.

 
http://www.thefatherslovebook.com/
http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61739-369-3

To listen to an interview with Dave Moore, please link to Living Joyfully Free Radio.




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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Kids Write the Funniest Things by Penny Zeller


 Kids Write the Funniest Things!

I love the things kids say (and write!) I've been known to chronicle some of the hilarious spelling sentences my grade-school children have written for their homework assignments on Facebook. Here is a compilation, in no particular order, are 13 of the "best of the best" guaranteed to make you laugh taken directly from the real-life spelling sentence notebooks…

1. She did not know that they do mathematics in the Delaware militia.
2. The tranquil tortoise uniquely remembers going to a unique university in a different universe to learn how to use a vacuum.
3. The mischievous lieutenant (who had been causing mischief), caught pneumonia a day before he had to pay the mortgage.
4. She is afraid the physician will persist with insistence that she get a porcelain cat.
5. The literate mayor will carry a sapphire into a quagmire.
6. One potato makes a whole plate of french fries.
7. The fierce flies forgot about the giant foot and their guide got stepped on.  (This one came complete with an illustration!)

 8. The mayor looked awfully suspicious when we found him adjacent to the butte in our backyard.
9. The book which you just read (the one that gave you a headache) is substantial.
10. The elephant will be frightened by everybody in the grocery store.
11. The cashier was courteous enough to give me a free chicken.
12. The president's spontaneous reaction while trying taxidermy while eating was not pleasant. (He threw up).
13. The laborious cavalier has a quarrelsome leopard that eats dandelions.

Thank you, Penny for sharing with Fliterary!!


Penny Zeller is the author of seven books and numerous magazine articles. She is also the author of the blog "A Day in the Life of a Wife, Mom, and Author" where she also provides weekly doses of inspiration and humor, along with movie reviews from a Christian worldview, and interviews with some of her favorite author friends.

When she's not writing, Penny enjoys spending time with her family and camping, hiking, canoeing, and playing volleyball.  

Please visit Penny Zeller at….www.PennyZeller.com





Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Trailer Talk Tuesday! -- Simply Salsa

Howdy, friends! Welcome to Book Trailer Talk Tuesday!

Today we are bringing you, Janet Perez Eckles.

Simply Salsa: Dancing Without Fear at God's Fiesta , Judson Press, August, 2011 by Janet Perez Eckles

What keeps women from dancing to the sweet freedom God offers? With a bit of sass, humor and a uniquely passionate “Latina talk,” Simply Salsa exposes the lies and misconceptions that imprison women today. Simply Salsa is not just a book, but a delightful experience to discover the joy lost in life’s struggles, the freedom from fear and with each engaging story, restore confidence to face Tomorrow.

Simply Salsa book trailer:


Trials of Today, Treasures for Tomorrow Overcoming Adversities in Life by Janet Perez Eckles, Xulen Press, 2004

Trials of Today, Treasures for Tomorrow is A real-life story of a woman who triumphed overdevastation, heartache and pain. Each riveting episode invites the reader to see the other side of adversity. To follow the guide and overcome troubles. And see the treasures that God’s triumph brings.

Trials of Today Treasures for Tomorrowbook trailer: http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=6d4decc2f50b21ca652c


Book Trailer! TRIALS OF TODAY, TREASURES FOR TOMORROW by Janet Perez Eckles from trailertothestars on GodTube.


For more of Janet Eckel's amazing story, please link to her interview on Living Joyfully Free Radio.





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Friday, April 6, 2012

April Writers Conferences

April 13-14, 2012
AMERICAN CHRISTIAN WRITERS MENTORING RETREAT
Nashville, TN - Marriott Hotel
ACWriters@aol.com // http://www.acwriters.com

April 13-14, 2012
CALLED TO WRITE CHRISTIAN WRITERS CONFERENCE
Pittsburgh, KS - Lamplighter Inn
http://www.christianwritersfellowship.blogspot.com

April 14, 2012
SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN WRITERS SPRING FELLOWSHIP
Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), CA
http://www.sandiegocwg.org/?p=104 

April 14, 2012
UTAH CHRISTIAN WRITERS CONFERENCE
Bluffdale, UT - MidValley Bible Church
http://www.utahchristianwriters.com/index.php

April 16 – April 19, 2012
NATURE WRITING BOOT CAMP
Highlights for Children Foundation, Honesdale, PA
http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/content/nature-writing-boot-camp-0

April 19 – April 22, 2012
SCIENCE WRITING BOOT CAMP
Highlights for Children Foundation, Honesdale, PA
http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/content/science-writing-boot-camp

April 20-21, 2012
CAROLINA CHRISTIAN WRITERS CONFERENCE
First Baptist Church - Spartanburg, SC
The Hangar - First Baptist Church
250 East Main Street
Spartanburg, SC 29306
www.fbs.org/writersconference

April 26 – April 29, 2012
CREATING AN AUTHENTIC CULTURAL VOICE
Highlights for Children Foundation, Honesdale, PA
http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/content/creating-authentic-cultural-\voice

April 29 – May 6, 2012
FINDING YOUR STORY
Highlights for Children Foundation, Honesdale, PA
http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/content/finding-your-story-and-what-\do-about-it


Wednesday, April 4, 2012

One Writer's Journey led her to the Winds of Wyoming

Fliterary is pleased to bring a guest post today by Rebecca Carey Lyles...


My inspiration to write a novel began years ago in a Wyoming writers group. We’d heard dime novels were making a comeback, so we each decided to write one. How hard could it be? The books were short—one-hundred pages or less.

Though the resurgence of dime novels was short-lived, I now had a plot for a longer book. A young woman would tire of life in the big city—Pittsburgh, to be exact—and move to Wyoming. Sad to say, that was the entire plot. So, of course, my attempt to write the story quickly bogged down, because it was going nowhere. But I didn’t give up. Instead, I read books about writing, attended writing classes, workshops and conferences, joined another critique group, submitted early chapters to contests to receive feedback from judges—and kept working on the novel.

In the meantime, I wrote a nonfiction book about a street ministry and another about a prison ministry. And I began leading Bible studies in a women’s prison. That’s when the notion entered my head that the protagonist would be a young woman who’d just been released from prison in Pennsylvania. She would move to Wyoming to escape her past. But, of course, her past would follow her and try to drag her back to that former life.

As you can see, my inspiration for Winds of Wyoming did not come in a one-time “ah-ha!” moment. My path to formulating a believable plotline was indirect and my journey to publication long and slow, but I learned much about fiction writing along the way. Based on reader feedback, the result was worth the delay.

---


Although debut novelist Rebecca Carey Lyles grew up in Wyoming, she and her husband, Steve, currently live in the neighboring state of Idaho. She enjoys the creativity and beauty that abound throughout her adopted state as well as opportunities to hike, camp, snowshoe and cross-country ski in the midst of God’s grandeur. Her nonfiction titles, both available on Amazon, are It's a God Thing! Inspiring Stories of Life-Changing Friendships and On a Wing and a Prayer–Stories from Freedom Fellowship, a Prison Ministry. http://www.beckylyles.com ; http://www.widgetwords.wordpress.com




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