The winner of a print copy of Joy Avery Melville’s book is Alicia Haney! Congratulations!
God Bless & Good Reading!
Joy Avery Melville–Writer of the Day
7 CommentsMy Writer of the Day is Joy Avery Melville. Her latest book in SOWN IN PEACE. She’s been gracious enough to offer an autographed print copy of the book to one lucky reader. So leave a comment at the end of the post to be entered for the giveaway.
Joy Avery Melville’s heart’s desire is to be the author God has called her to be by sharing Him with readers in such a way they long to have a deeply committed personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord. Fully intending to write Historical Romance—had in fact— she had no plans to deviate from that. God had something else in mind for that ‘call’ He’d made on her life back in 1967. A mere eighth grader at the time, she had no clue about the topics she’d be drawn to write about.
Surrendering to the genre God placed on her heart has given Joy new insight into the hearts and lives of those who too often hurt in silence. The settings of Joy’s books are near where she lives in Schoolcraft, Michigan with her husband of 47 years and their 2-year-old Yorkie, Is-A-Bella Bindi, (Is-a-beautiful little girl) who thinks she’s a much larger breed with tomboy tendencies.
Joy loves to hear from readers and will respond!
Here’s the back cover info:
How much can one wounded soul take?
Victoria (Tori) Archer has the heart of a soldier. Taken down by an IED during her fourth deployment, she’s permanently separated from her military career and left with physical scars as well as PTSD. Moving back to her hometown of Three Rivers, Michigan, she’s forced by circumstances to live with an irascible and unsympathetic aunt. Tori’s battle with pain, horrific memories, and loss of independence creates a deep yearning for peace. Will God grant her even a small measure of it?
Retired Military Dog Handler Griffin (Griff) McKay turns to training dogs at his farm for wounded warrior therapy, desiring to bring former military men and women emotional and mental healing. Implementing his plan proves to be more difficult than visualized with the arrival of one stubborn soldier. Why has God placed that particular warrior in his path?
This sounds like a wonderful book, Joy.
Don’t forget, if you’d like to win the print copy of the book, leave a comment! Winner will be picked on October 5.
God Bless & Good Reading
IN HIGH COTTON by Ane Mulligan
1 CommentAne Mulligan is my Writer of the Day.
She’s been a voracious reader ever since her mom instilled within her a love of reading at age three, escaping into worlds otherwise unknown. But when Ane saw PETER PAN on stage, she was struck with a fever from which she never recovered—stage fever. She submerged herself in drama through high school and college. One day, her two loves collided, and a bestselling, award-winning novelist emerged. She lives in Sugar Hill, GA, with her artist husband and a rascally Rottweiler. Find Ane on her website, Amazon Author page, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and The Write Conversation.
Trusting God
Her husband died. The stock market crashed. Her little boy was kidnapped by his grandfather. How can she find the strength of faith to go on?
That’s from my new novel, In High Cotton. But I drew from my life’s darkest moments for Maggie’s emotions. I interviewed friends for their hardest time of trusting God. A mother whose twenty-one-year-old son was leaving for a three-month missionary tour. He went fishing with his father that afternoon before he had to leave. He slipped on a rock and drowned in three inches of water.
As each story unfolded, one thread was common to all. God showed up in the form of good friends to help them through.
All my life, I wanted sisters. My brother and I were both adopted. While our childhood was idyllic, I missed having sisters. When I was sixty-two years old, I discovered my birth sisters. I won’t go into that whole story here. You can read it on my website. The point is God showed up. He was faithful with my dreams when I left them at His feet.
In my story of Maggie, she didn’t see God stop the bad things. When she wondered where He was, she only needed to look at those “angels” closest to her. He surrounded her with four strong women to help her.
In High Cotton
Southern women may look as delicate as flowers, but there’s iron in their veins.
While the rest of the world has been roaring through the 1920s, times are hardscrabble in rural South Georgia. Widow Maggie Parker is barely surviving while raising her young son alone. Then as banks begin to fail, her father-in-law threatens to take her son and sell off her livelihood—the grocery store her husband left her. Can five Southern women band together, using their wisdom and wiles to stop him and survive the Great Depression?
In High Cotton is available online in both print and eBook:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WOLShX
ShopLPC: https://shoplpc.com/in-high-cotton/
Target: https://www.target.com/p/in-high-cotton-by-ane-mulligan-paperback/-/A-80663388
And in bookstores.
And the Winners are…
2 CommentsHere are the winners of my Jane Doe Giveaway. Each winner will get a $10 Amazon Card!
R.Bayne
Jeanna M.
KKJamm
Please send me an email so I have your correct email address to send the gift card. If you don’t send me an email, you won’t get your prize.
Thanks to everyone who commented. Sorry you didn’t win this time, but I so appreciate your participation and support.
God Bless & Good Reading!
MORE JANE DOE
5 CommentsBy now, you know that I had a new book released last week–JANE DOE.
Here’s the official back cover blurb:
A Broken Body. A Broken Mind. What If She Wasn’t The Last Victim?
Raven Marks survives a brutal kidnapping but just barely. Along with a broken body, her mind is broken. She wants to put the past behind her, but nightmarish memories won’t let her. . .At first because she doesn’t have them, and then because she does.
Even though her fractured memory can’t recall every detail, she’s haunted by one thought: What if she wasn’t the last victim? Her search for answers leads her to the highest politicians in the land. Each reclaimed memory brings her closer to the truth—and to even more danger.
I wanted to share the review Publisher Weekly wrote about JANE DOE:
A woman wakes up in the hospital with no recollection of what happened to her in this exhilarating inspirational from Duncan (Until Death Do Us Part). Suffering from broken legs and a head injury, Raven finds herself in a hospital, where she begins to heal with the support of Gracie, a chaplain. After recovering sufficiently to move into a home close to her sister, Raven’s memories begin to return, and she recalls being held captive but can’t manage to identify the man who kidnapped her. Raven resolves to face her fears in order to discover her abductor’s identity and uncover the reasons behind her kidnapping. She teams up with Hunter, a self-defense instructor and sheriff’s deputy she meets while in recovery, to decipher the clues. After Raven recalls presidential candidate Charles Whitman’s voice as that of her kidnapper and learns she was found unconscious near his hometown, no one is ready to believe her claims that Whitman might be responsible. Raven’s faith, meanwhile, is tested as she wrestles with feelings of shame and guilt over being abducted, and she discovers that, in order to truly heal, she must learn to stop keeping secrets and to trust God. Duncan’s thrilling tale of justice and salvation will be perfect for fans of Terri Blackstock. (July)
In case you didn’t read the very last part, let me show it to you again. JANE DOE will be perfect for fans of Terri Blackstock! YAY! I love Terri Blackstock and her novels. It’s such an honor to have my work compared to hers. Thank you, Publisher Weekly!
GIVEAWAY!
I usually have a giveaway to celebrate a new release and this time is no exception. The first giveaway will be here on my blog, but there will be a second giveaway later, but you’ll have to wait until next week for that information For now, leave a comment on any of my Jane Doe blogs, and you’ll be entered to win one of three $10 AMAZON GIFT CARDS! That’s right–three winners! But wait…there’s more! If you tweet, or post about JANE DOE on your social media, I’ll give you a second entrance. Just enter the link as a comment and you’ll be entered a second time. EASY PEASY!
Here’s a few examples of a tweet or post you can use:
A Broken Body. A Broken Mind. What if she isn’t his last victim? JANE DOE by LillianDuncan https://buff.ly/2Zf6NdV
A chance to win Amazon Gift Cards at Tiaras & Tennis Shoes to celebrate the release of JANE DOE. No purchase necessary to be entered. For more details, go to www.lillian-duncan.com
WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN ON JULY 20TH. PLEASE SIGN UP TO FOLLOW THIS BLOG SO YOU DON’T MISS OUT ON THE WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT! THANKS.
God Bless & Good Reading!
Jane Doe or Lillian Duncan?
7 CommentsJane Doe or Lillian Duncan?
I have a little more in common with JANE DOE than I usually have with my characters and I can admit that makes me a little uncomfortable. True the details are completely different but there are some commonalities as well.
Jane Doe also known as Raven Marks survives a brutal kidnapping but just barely. Along with a broken body, her mind is broken. That’s sound like hitting rock-bottom, doesn’t it? Even though, I’ve never survived a brutal kidnapping, I have hit rock-bottom–physically. I was diagnosed with bilateral brain tumors in 2012. They were non-cancerous but they still wreaked havoc on my health. By the end of five years of treatment, I had to use a walker; barely had the energy to walk to the kitchen; was completely deaf in one ear and partly deaf in the other; severe balance issues as well as a multitude of other “little” symptoms.
When you hit rock-bottom physically, it can affect you spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. I’m also sure the reverse is true as well–if you hit rock-bottom in one of the other areas, it can affect you physically as well. When you hit rock-bottom, whether it’s physically or spiritually, that’s when your faith will either grow or you’ll get stuck in the situation.
The choice is yours, just as it was up to me to decide.
I knew I would never be as healthy as I was before the tumors, but I decided I wanted to be as healthy as I could be. That meant believing God’s promises–even when it seemed impossible–even when I wanted to give up–even when I didn’t see any improvement. Hebrews 11: 1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” In other words, believing when it seems impossible–believing without seeing.
In JANE DOE, Raven literally hits rock-bottom when she’s thrown off a cliff. As Raven struggles to rebuild her life, she learns that God is still trustworthy; that God is still faithful and loving; and that God is still all-powerful. Her belief in God gives her hope for the future and assurance about what we do not see.
That is faith!
I learned those same things during my journey to a healthy-er me. And that’s what I hope my readers learn when they read JANE DOE!
GIVEAWAY!
I usually have a giveaway to celebrate a new release and this time is no exception. The first giveaway will be here on my blog, but there will be a second giveaway later, but you’ll have to wait until next week for that information For now, leave a comment on any of my Jane Doe blogs, and you’ll be entered to win one of three $10 AMAZON GIFT CARDS! That’s right–three winners! But wait…there’s more! If you tweet, or post about JANE DOE on your social media, I’ll give you a second entrance. Just enter the link as a comment and you’ll be entered a second time. EASY PEASY!
Here’s a few examples of a tweet or post you can use:
A Broken Body. A Broken Mind. What if she isn’t his last victim? JANE DOE by LillianDuncan https://buff.ly/2Zf6NdV
A chance to win Amazon Gift Cards at Tiaras & Tennis Shoes to celebrate the release of JANE DOE. No purchase necessary to be entered. For more details, go to www.lillian-duncan.com
WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN ON JULY 20TH. PLEASE SIGN UP TO FOLLOW THIS BLOG SO YOU DON’T MISS OUT ON THE WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT! THANKS.
God Bless & Good Reading!
IT’S HERE! JANE DOE!
13 CommentsJANE DOE is my latest novel and it’s a doozy!
What’s the genre you ask? It’s suspense with lots of drama and action…but it also a political thriller…but it also has a lot of mystery components…but there’s the romance element as well… and let’s not forget the spiritual message! No matter what genre you classify it as, it’s one I think you’ll enjoy!
So how did JANE DOE come about? I’d finished all my edits on a current book and was feeling very uninspired. I had no idea for my next story, so I went on FB and asked people to send me an idea for my next suspense novel. An old high school friend sent me the suggestion to write a story where the main character struggled with memory loss. Mmmm… but the old amnesia plot has been done and it’s a big no-no that writing experts warn against.
Still, I took the challenge and wrote JANE DOE.
It’s definitely not your typical amnesia plot, but the main character is haunted by her memories. First, because she doesn’t have them and then because she does!
Raven Marks survives a brutal kidnapping but just barely. Along with a broken body, her mind is broken. Even though she can’t remember the details of her kidnapping, she’s haunted by the thought that someone else is being victimized by the kidnapper she can’t remember.
Her journey to discover the truth leads her to the highest politicians in the state and then the country. Each reclaimed memory brings her closer to the truth—and to even more danger.
I’m not going to give away the plot, but there’s plenty of twists and turns to keep you reading late into the night!
GIVEAWAY!
I usually have a giveaway to celebrate a new release and this time is no exception. The first giveaway will be here on my blog, but there will be a second giveaway later, but you’ll have to wait until next week for that information For now, leave a comment on any of my Jane Doe blogs, and you’ll be entered to win one of three $10 AMAZON GIFT CARDS! That’s right–three winners! But wait…there’s more! If you tweet, or post about JANE DOE on your social media, I’ll give you a second entrance. Just enter the link as a comment and you’ll be entered a second time. EASY PEASY!
Here’s a few examples of a tweet or post you can use:
A Broken Body. A Broken Mind. What if she isn’t his last victim? JANE DOE by LillianDuncan https://buff.ly/2Zf6NdV
A chance to win Amazon Gift Cards at Tiaras & Tennis Shoes to celebrate the release of JANE DOE. No purchase necessary to be entered. For more details, go to www.lillian-duncan.com
WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN ON JULY 20TH. PLEASE SIGN UP TO FOLLOW THIS BLOG SO YOU DON’T MISS OUT ON THE WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT! THANKS.
God Bless & Good Reading!
STANDOFF by Patricia Bradley
Leave a commentThis is my first Patricia Bradley novel but it won’t be my last! I love the way she weaves the romance into a suspense novel. But make no mistake, suspense is definitely the shining star in STANDOFF–just the way I like it!
I don’t like to give away plots in my reviews but I’ll tell you this much. The story centers around Brooke Danvers who is about to become a park ranger when her father (a park ranger) is found dead. His death is ruled a suicide but Brooke knows her father well enough to know that’s not true. And she plans on proving it–even if she is a rookie. Her old flame, Luke, shows up. Brooke thinks he’s a bartender but he’s actually working undercover.
And that’s all the teaser I’m going to give you. But there’s plenty of suspense and action to keep you turning the pages. Bradley is an award-winning novelist and it shows in STANDOFF. I quite enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys suspense and mysteries.
I was given this book by the publisher for an unbiased review.
GOD BLESS & GOOD READING!
THE LAST CHRISTIAN SERIES
Leave a commentI’m so excited about The Last Christian series. It’s filled with lots of drama and suspense but has a deep spiritual message that is very relevant to the times we’re living in right now. When I started writing these stories, I had no idea that they’d be released in the middle of the pandemic when so many people are so afraid and worried about the future. Magdalena and her friends learn a valuable lesson throughout The Last Christian series.
God promises never to forsake his children even in the darkest of times–and he always keeps his promises!
The first story, THE LAST CHRISTIAN is a short novella to introduce NewAmerica–a country where even saying the name of God is a crime! MESSENGER introduces Magdalena Denton, the main character in the last three stories. She’s an unlikely messenger, but when God has a message he always finds the right messenger. UnCitizen follows Magdalena to prison. Prison in NewAmerica is nothing like prison in America. It may sound grim, but it’s really not. I’m in the middle of writing the fourth (and probably final) story–EXILE.
GOOD NEWS!
THE LAST CHRISTIAN is FREE today (Friday) and tomorrow.
Here’s the link:
If you enjoy it, please leave a review on Amazon. Thanks!
GOD BLESS & GOOD READING!
Round Lake
1 CommentRound Lake is one of my favorite places!
It’s a church camp for children but I never went there as a child.
But it’s still one of my favorite places.
Even though it’s for children, twice a year (Memorial Day and Labor Day), they have something called Family Camp. People from all over Ohio come for a weekend of camping with their church family. It’s a wonderful and very special time. I’ve learned many things while having a fun time at Family Camp. Maybe, I’ll write another post called Lessons from Round Lake, but not today.
Round Lake is special, not just to me, but to everyone who’s attended there over the years. In fact, I’ve heard more than one person describe it as “Holy Ground.” The first time I heard it described that way, it resonated in me. Round Lake truly is Holy Ground. Over the years thousands of children have been taught about God there; but even more important, they met God at Round Lake.
As a writer, something that special doesn’t go unnoticed to me. For more years than I can remember, I wanted to write a story that included Round Lake. I sort of knew the premise of the story I wanted to write but never did anything about it. Until now! Last year after I finished and submitted this year’s books to my publisher, I decided it was time. So I wrote part of the story and got stuck and then I’d write a little more and get stuck. Again and again.
It was really frustrating! I usually can write the first draft of a novel in about a month but not this time. To say it was slow going would be an understatement. But when something’s important to me, I don’t give up too easily. So I kept plugging along. And still there was nothing in it about Round Lake and no way to get there. Yet. But then the story started falling in place. It’s ended up in a series I titled THE LAST CHRISTIAN. I released the second story–MESSENGER–before the first story–THE LAST CHRISTIAN. But I’ve got it all arranged now. THE LAST CHRISTIAN–MESSENGER–UNCITIZEN–EXILE in that order.
The first three books have been released–and still no Round Lake. The first story, THE LAST CHRISTIAN is a short novella to introduce NewAmerica–a country where even saying the name of God is a crime! MESSENGER introduces Magdalena Denton, the main character in the last three stories. She’s an unlikely messenger, but when God has a message he always finds the right messenger. I’m in the middle of writing EXILE now. And I’m getting very close to Round Lake–or maybe I should say the characters are getting very close to Round Lake.
I’m so excited about The Last Christian series. It’s filled with lots of drama and suspense but has a deep spiritual message that is very relevant to the times we’re living in right now. When I started writing these stories last year, I had no idea that they’d be released in the middle of the pandemic when so many people are so afraid and worried about the future. Magdalena and her friends learn a valuable lesson throughout the stories. God promises never to forsake his children even in the darkest of times–and he always keeps his promises!
GOD BLESS & GOOD READI
Tiaras & Tennis Shoes 