FREE BOOKS AND A REMINDER...

In the spirit of Christmas, I'm giving away a boatload of books in December. I'm mailing out Bayou Justice, For Her Son's Love, and Canteen Dreams, tomorrow to three lucky ladies...Stormie, Janna, and Melinda.

I'm also giving away a copy of Auralia's Colors if you leave a comment on the post before this one. Also, Debra Clopton is going to be on with an interview and I'll be giving away one of her books. Oh, and the girls from Big Apple Christmas are going to be sharing a Christmas memory with us and I'll be giving away a signed copy of that book also.

I'm planning on giving a way a lot more, so stop by often. :) And if you're in the Lafayette area tomorrow, December 1st, then you'll want to stop by the Carpenter's Son Christian Book Store. Cara Putman will be having her first booksigning. Oh and few other great authors will be there too. :) Colleen Coble, Brandt Dodson, Jamie Carie, Denise Hunter to be exact. It will be from 1-3 p.m. at 1165 S. Creasy Lane, Lafayette, IN. Stop by and support some great Indiana talent.

WIN AURALIA'S COLORS BY JEFFREY OVERSTREET

Leave a comment to be entered to win a copy of the book. :)

THIS WEEK THE CFBA BLOG TOUR

IS INTRODUCING

AURALIA'S COLORS

(WaterBrook Press September 4, 2007)

by

Jeffrey Overstreet


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Jeffrey Overstreet lives in two worlds. By day, he writes about movies at LookingCloser.org and in notable publications like Christianity Today, Paste, and Image.

His adventures in cinema are chronicled in his book Through a Screen Darkly. By night, he composes new stories found in fictional worlds of his own. Living in Shoreline, Washington, with his wife, Anne, a poet, he is a senior staff writer for Response Magazine at Seattle Pacific University.

Auralia’s Colors is his first novel. He is now hard at work on many new stories, including three more strands of The Auralia Thread.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

As a baby, she was found in a footprint.

As a girl, she was raised by thieves in a wilderness where savages lurk.

As a young woman, she will risk her life to save the world with the only secret she knows.

When thieves find an abandoned child lying in a monster’s footprint, they have no idea that their wilderness discovery will change the course of history.

Cloaked in mystery, Auralia grows up among criminals outside the walls of House Abascar, where vicious beastmen lurk in shadow. There, she discovers an unsettling–and forbidden–talent for crafting colors that enchant all who behold them, including Abascar’s hard-hearted king, an exiled wizard, and a prince who keeps dangerous secrets.

Auralia’s gift opens doors from the palace to the dungeons, setting the stage for violent and miraculous change in the great houses of the Expanse.

Auralia’s Colors weaves literary fantasy together with poetic prose, a suspenseful plot, adrenaline-rush action, and unpredictable characters sure to enthrall ambitious imaginations.

Visit the Website especially created for the book, Auralia's Colors. On the site, you can read the first chapter and listen to Jeffrey's introduction of the book, plus a lit more!

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:

"Film critic and author Overstreet (Through a Screen Darkly) offers a powerful myth for his first foray into fiction. Overstreet’s writing is precise and beautiful, and the story is masterfully told. Readers will be hungry for the next installment."
--Publishers Weekly

“Through word, image, and color Jeffrey Overstreet has crafted a work of art. From first to final page this original fantasy is sure to draw readers in. Auralia's Colors sparkles.”
-–Janet Lee Carey, award-winning author of The Beast of
Noor and Dragon's Keep



“Jeffrey Overstreet’s first fantasy, Auralia’s Colors, and its heroine’s cloak of wonders take their power from a vision of art that is auroral, looking to the return of beauty, and that intends to restore spirit and and mystery to the world. The book achieves its ends by the creation of a rich, complex universe and a series of dramatic, explosive events.”
-–Marly Youmans, author of Ingledove and The
Curse of the Raven Mocker

Remember, leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for a copy of this great new book. :)

Finding Father Christmas...Makes A Perfect Christmas Gift

I've been doing some marathon reading this weekend. My TBR stack was brimming over and I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the choices I had for my holiday weekend read. I got through three Love Inspired's that I'm going to share with you later this week and I still had room for one more short story. I found Finding Father Christmas on my shelf and seeing that it was a novella and should be a fairly quick read I figured I'd give it a shot.

I wasn't prepared to be drawn into the story like I was. I don't know why, since I've read many Robin Jones Gunn books and have loved them all. I think it was that this book was a novella and I'm the first to say that sometimes the word count is so small that I feel like the story is rushed.

That was not the case with this book. I was transported to another place and felt like I knew the characters or at the least would have liked to know the characters. :) The writing was so fresh and almost poetic that I couldn't put it down. I finished the book in just a couple hours and was thrilled to see that there's another book planned. Engaging Father Christmas. I can't wait to pick that one up.

The story finds Miranda Carson to England in search of her unknown father. It opens with Miranda stopping at the Tea Cosy for a spot of tea and a scone. As I was reading I couldn't help but think how great this book would be in a lovely basket and paired with some flavorful teas and cookies. What a nice Christmas gift it would make.

Here's the blurb from Robin's website and you'll want to go to her website to see the trip that inspired the book.

In Finding Father Christmas, Robin brings readers a poignant Christmas novella about a woman, desperate for a place to belong, who travels to England a few days before Christmas, looking for the father she never knew.

Miranda Carson's search for her father takes a turn she never expected when she finds herself in London, with only a few feeble clues to who he might be.

Unexpectedly welcomed into a family that doesn't recognize her, and whom she's quickly coming to love, she faces a terrible decision. Should she reveal her true identity and destroy their idyllic image of her father? Or should she carry the truth home with her to San Francisco and remain alone in this world? Whatever choice she makes during this London Christmas will forever change the future for both herself and the family she can't bear to leave.

Be sure to add Finding Father Christmas to your Christmas list!

YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP GETS DECKED OUT

THIS WEEK THE CFBA IS FEATURING

THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP

GETS DECKED OUT

BY

NETA JACKSON

Thomas Nelson (October 2, 2007)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Neta Jackson Neta Jackson's award-winning Yada books have sold more than 350,000 copies and are spawning prayer groups across the country. She and her husband, Dave, are also an award-winning husband/wife writing team, best known for the Trailblazer Books--a 40-volume series of historical fiction about great Christian heroes with 1.8 million in sales--and Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes (vols 1-4).

Dave and Neta live in Evanston, Illinois, where for twenty-seven years they were part of Reba Place Church, a Christian church community. They are now members of the Chicago Tabernacle, a multi-racial congregation that is a daughter church of the well-known Brooklyn Tabernacle.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Turkey dinners, tree trimming, and decking the halls--it's that time of year again! And I Jodi Baxter, can't wait to celebrate. My kids are coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then all of us Yadas are getting decked out for a big New Year's party.

But God's idea of "decked out" might just change the nature of our party plans. A perplexing encounter with a former student, a crime that literally knocks me off my feet, a hurry-up wedding, and a child who will forever change our family...it's times like these that I really need my prayer sisters.

This holiday season, we Yada Yadas are learning that no one can out celebrate God. So let's get this party started!

THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP GETS DECKED OUT is a festive novella featuring America's favorite prayer group, the Yada Yadas!

Sometimes dubbed "chick-lit" for their bright covers and catchy titles, this series provides far more depth than witty banter and wacky situations. Inspired by a prayer group of real women, each book will have you laughing, crying, and perhaps praying anew.

In this highly anticipated installment, the Yada Yada sisters-a group of multi-cultural friends-and their families prepare for the event of the season.

But yes, eager readers, this novella—which picks up a year and a half after the end of book #6 The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling concludes the series with some twists and turns that will amaze and encourage you. Plus, it sets the stage for Neta’s new series with new characters and new situations but also occasional roles for the beloved Yada Yada sisters in familiar Chicago neighborhoods with all their cultural richness.

Cara Putman and her first release...Canteen Dreams

It is with great joy that I bring today’s interview to you. Most of my blog readers know that Cara Putman is a dear friend and crit partner since I’ve sang her praises before. Today I get to interview her and give away an autographed copy of her first release, Canteen Dreams. This is the first of four books that will be released in a little over one year. Cara has been on a fast track since meeting Colleen Coble in 2005. Cara met Colleen and Cara’s husband Eric mentioned to Colleen that Cara wanted to write a book. The rest as they say is history. :0)

Since that time, Cara has finished Canteen Dreams, Sandhill Dreams, and still has Captive Dreams to complete for her three-book commitment to Heartsong Presents. She also has a Love Inspired Suspense, Deadly Exposure, coming out next year. Whew…she’s a powerhouse to be sure. I have complete confidence that we’re going to see great things from Cara in the next few years. So, without further delay, here’s our interview. And read to the bottom to find out how to win a copy of Canteen Dreams.

Cara has been all over the blog sphere these days so I opted for a more fun quirky interview and I hope you’ll learn something new about Cara in the process.


Cara, if you could pick one moment in you and your husband’s marriage that would be a perfect book “scene” what moment would it be.

CP: In a prior life, I worked for a non-profit where I traveled most weekends to teach primarily college students how to get involved and be effective in politics. One of those seminars took me to Kamloops, British Columbia -- a truly rough assignment with Tim Horton donuts all around. Eric went with me and we planned to take a few days after to enjoy the area since we'd never been. While I was lecturing, Eric went exploring. The morning after I finished teaching, we got on the Rocky Mountaineer train and spent a wonderful day traveling to Banff. And we had a couple fantastic days in Banff. It's a beautiful resort town surrounded by range after range of the Canadian Rockies. It was wonderful.

SF: Oh. I know where Banff is. What a gorgeous place. I’m sure it was a fabulous trip. Now, if you could be any character in any book, who would you be?

CP: Uhhhh, now that's an easy question. Not. At one time, I would have said Scarlett O'Hara, because I loved the dresses and glamour of the pre-Civil War south. Then there was a time I wanted to join Laura Ingalls Wilder on the frontier. Then I realized I really love the amenities of modern life. Eric says he would be John Clark from the Tom Clancy books. I'd lean toward Jack Ryan, a reluctant but effective warrior. But I would love to be Deborah or Esther from the Bible. That's never changed. Deborah was a woman who filled what was traditionally a male role as she followed hard after God's calling on her life. And Esther rose from a position of insignificance to one of power, but never forgot God. And when He called her to do the impossible, she did, trusting in him. I hope I would respond as these women did when God calls me to go somewhere I don't think I can go.

SF: Wow, you are a very multi-layered girl, Cara. ;) Back to you and your hubby—-Your favorite date night with Eric.

CP: Any date. Really. In life that moves so fast, it's great to get time away just the two of us. Dinner and a movie. Coffee at a bookstore. Time to connect is the important part.

SF: It’s cool how compatible you two are. You seem to have such similar interests. Now, if you couldn’t be a writer or a lawyer, what would you be doing?

CP: Journalist. I always wanted Katie Couric's job on Good Morning America. Then I took a detour in college after working at a TV station for two years. While I worked around media for several years, I never got back into the active journalism aspects again. So, it was really fun to write Dani Richards in Deadly Exposure since she's a broadcast journalist.

SF: I could absolutely see you with Katie Couric’s job! Was there anything hard about writing Canteen Dreams?

CP: There really weren't any. That book almost wrote itself. The hardest part was going back in the rewrites and smoothing out some of the tension in the romance. I had a lot to learn, but had wonderful editors to work with who helped me id the problem areas.

SF: What was the easiest part of writing Canteen Dreams?

CP: The book wrote itself in three weeks. I've always loved World War Two history, and the early 40s. The songs and movies are some of my favorite even if I wasn't born for another 30 years. So, I enjoyed the process of stepping back in time and telling the story of the North Platte Canteen and my grandparents.

SF: Is there anything your readers might be surprised to know about you or your family?

CP: Another great question, Sabrina. Our idea of the perfect vacation is escaping
the crazy pace of day-to-day life. Eric and I both run at a really fast pace, so it's wonderful to escape and spend time playing lots of games with our kids. And we all love games. Board games. Card Games. Active games. We can spend hours playing together. I love that!

SF: Thanks, Cara, for stopping by. You know I’m one of your biggest fans and feel blessed to call you a friend. (Cara’s one of those girls that is such an encourager. She’s sweet and kind when she needs to be, and good with a kick in the pants when she needs to be. :0) Anyway, if you’d like to win a copy of Canteen Dreams go to Cara’s blog look for a post that Cara posted from her mom, Jolene Catlett, and find the answer to this question, Cara's mother isn't surprised Cara ended up writing and ultimately became published...not since she began journaling in ______. Find the answer and email me. I'll draw a name from the correct answers. :) Happy sleuthing.

CP: Thanks so much for having me, Sabrina! I so appreciate the friendship that has grown between us as we both chase our writing dreams. Can't wait to hold your book someday soon!

Try Dying by James Scott Bell

The CFBA Blog Tour is hosting James Scott Bell this week. I will not be posting about the book as I'm still waiting to receive mine. If I get them, I'm supposed to have a few to give away. At that time I'll host an interview and drawing. Until then, click here for a great James Scott Bell interview with Cara Putman.

Also, the winner of Robin Carrol's Bayou Justice is Stormi and the winner of a Margaret Daley book of her choice is Janna. I'll try to find you guys but if you read this please email me your snailmail. :) Thanks for playing.

Surrender Bay by Denise Hunter

THIS WEEK CFBA IS PRESENTING

SURRENDER BAY BY DENISE HUNTER

I'll be posting an interview with Denise in the near future, but for now, here's my review from Amazon for the book:

I've read everything Denise Hunter has published. I've seen her transition from historical to woman's fiction and was amazed at the growth and finesse she showed. So it's no question, I was really looking forward to her newest book, Surrender Bay.

Immediately I was drawn into the life of Samantha Owens. A young single mom, doing the best she can to provide for her 11-year-old daughter. When she gets news that her estranged stepfather died, she learns that because he never had a will, she's inherited his oceanfront cottage in Nantucket. For the first time in her life, she has hope. Hope for a future for her daughter. She plans to renovate the cottage and sell it for top dollar. Using the money to pay for her daughter's future college fund.

Once back at the cottage, the painful memories of her childhood assault her full force. She struggles to get the job done as fast as she can. What she hadn't counted on was her childhood best friend, Landon Reed, still living two doors down. Landon and Sam were soul mates. Two kids that shared everything.

Landon has wondered for years why Sam ran away and he's never fully moved on or found anyone to love like he loved Sam.

What Landon doesn't know is that Sam is hiding a secret. A secret that she's sure will change the way Landon sees her.

This is where Denise Hunter did a fabulous job. This wasn't your typical romance book that you can figure out right from the beginning. As usual of her writing, she has a twist that kept me guessing until the end.

She masterfully created real life characters who make choices like real people make. The turmoil the characters felt was so real I felt like I knew them and wanted to comfort them.

Something worth mentioning is that even though it's published by Thomas Nelson, it's not overtly "Christian" in tone. There's no long-winded sermons or scriptures to skim over and there's no pat answers for the problems facing these characters.

However, this book moved me more than any I've read in a long time. Sam has to come to the realization that Landon's love can't be earned. She doesn't have to do anything to gain his love...just accept it. When you see the love between the characters and can feel the correlation between how God loves each of us...it was simply beautiful.