Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER:

I do not read every book/author I spotlight or book tour I host!
Readers, Please research and use wisdom before buying

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

So Many Places to Go.....

Good Morning Friends!

Time for another COTT blog alliance guest post so without much further ado....Please welcome Gail Pallotta!

 
How relaxing to sit on a beach and watch the waves roll onto shore. No, maybe to plop down in a rocking chair and overlook distant mountains.
 How about a day shopping in Paris? Oh yeah, that’d be nice. It might be fun to browse at an open market on a Caribbean Island or go to a Luau in Hawaii. What about walking where our ancestors walked? Find out more about ourselves. Or better yet, walk where Jesus walked. 
Even the most seasoned traveler can find new places to go. Thanks to all the writers who transport us to sites we’ve never seen or show us something different at the ones we have. We hear so much about a book’s plot and characters and rightly so, but the characters need to live in interesting surroundings.

 If a writer’s plotting a scuba diving expedition, the diver needs to see clear water, coral reefs and exotic fish and know all about boats and dive equipment. If a character is in the kitchen cooking grits while looking out a window at blue tinted mountains, that person’s in the south in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A character walking on a crowded street surrounded by high rise buildings with Times Square in the distance is in New York City. The setting also can make characters seem real when they smell newly mowed grass, watch a sunset, listen to the wind howl or feel the onset of a sudden shower.
It’s fun to sit back in a favorite easy chair or curl up on the sofa with a cup of coffee or tea with visions of new places to go and read until the heart’s content. If the character in the novel sees something the reader’s never seen, that’s traveling by book.
Do you have a favorite setting for a novel? The Civil War? The beach? Paris? Do share!
Gail’s husband, Rick, says she’s the only person he knows who can go in the grocery for a loaf of bread and come out with someone’s life story. That’s probably because she inherited her mother’s love of people and enjoys talking to them. Working as an editor and freelance writer, Gail published a couple hundred articles. While some of them are in anthologies, two ended up in museums. In 2004, the American Christian Writers Association named Gail a regional writer of the year. She recently published her first romance, Love Turns the Tide. When she isn’t writing she likes reading, swimming, and getting together with friends and family. Gail wants to write books of faith that show God’s love. She and Rick live in Georgia.
Contact Gail at pallotta[at]gailpallotta[dot]com. Visit her Web site at http://www.gailpallotta.com or her blog at http://www.gailpallotta.blogspot.com

Monday, June 27, 2011

Kylie's Kiss Blog Blitz

Good Morning Friends!

It is with great pleasure I bring to you this blog blitz for my fellow WR author & friend, Delia Latham with her newest release, Kylie's Kiss - book 2 in her Solomon's Gate series.

Delia Latham is a born-and-bred California gal, recently transplanted to Oklahoma where she lives with her husband Johnny. She’s a Christian wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend—but above all, she treasures her role as child of the King and heir to the throne of God. Delia enjoys big, loud, happy family gatherings. When she’s not writing, she loves to play piano and sing, read, enjoy nature’s beauty, and design marketing products for authors.
A former newspaper Staff Writer and frequent contributor to her hometown’s regional publication, Bakersfield Magazine, she has also freelanced projects to a public relations firm and various magazines; has compiled, edited, and designed cover art for several book projects for Kindness Incorporated and Chuck Wall, the president/founder of that organization; and has sold greeting card verse. Many of her short stories, articles, and devotions can be found online.

Latham’s backlist of published novels includes: Goldeneyes (2008, Vintage Romance Publishing); Yesterday’s Promise (2010, White Rose Publishing); Destiny’s Dream (2010, White Rose Publishing, Solomon’s Gate Series, Book 1); and Mine! (children’s picture book, 2011, Vinspire Imaginations). Kylie’s Kiss (Solomon’s Gate, Book 2) released in April 2011. Book 3 in the Solomon’s Gate Series will also be available in 2011, with release date pending.

On a dare, Kylie Matthews lands smack in the middle of Solomon’s Gate—Castle Creek’s new Christian dating agency—and she finds herself revealing exactly what she’s waiting for in a relationship: “The kiss that steals my breath away.”

What she doesn’t reveal is her lack of self-esteem or her irrational reaction to facial disfigurement. Neither is applicable to her quest to find the perfect match. But that seemingly superficial malady becomes all-important when her first agency-arranged date is Rick Dale—a man who is everything Kylie is searching for. He’s handsome, smart, fun. Rick has it all…including an angelic six-year-old daughter with severe scarring on one side of her face.

Hard at work founding a therapy camp for young female victims of deformity or disfigurement, Rick wants Kylie to be a part of those plans. She’d love to say yes…but how can she, when every contact with the facility’s guests—and Rick’s own daughter—will make her violently ill?

Kylie is ready to admit their relationship doesn’t stand a chance, but she’s forgotten that God makes a way where there seems no way.

To commemorate her series and Kylie's Kiss blog blitz, Delia is giving away the following prize to one lucky person at the end of the day!

The pendant is about 2 1/2 inches long and the decoration is the same on both sides.

The oil is
Hadas'sah Queen Esther Oil. Necklace and oil from The Master's Jewels.


To find out more about this author visit: Her website: www.delialatham.net. OR Blog:www.my-book-bag.blogspot.com  And sign up for her Newsletter! www.bookshelfnewsletter.blogspot.com

Well friends, that wraps up this blog blitz for me - but check out the other places Kylie's Kiss is visiting today and REMEMBER to leave a comment (or several!).
http://www.examiner.com/christian-fiction-in-kansas-city/barbara-hartzler
Robin Bayne http://wwwwritingbetweensundays.blogspot.com
Patty Wysong (June 27-28) http://www.barndoorbookloft.net
Liz Tolsma www.liztolsma.blogspot.com
Rose McCauley http://www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com/
Jeannie Campbell http://charactertherapist.blogspot.com/
Nike Chillemi http://crimefictionandfaith.blogspot.com/
Jo Huddleston http://johuddleston.blogspot.com/
Clare Revell http://telscha.blogspot.com/
Andrea Strong http://andreastake.blogspot.com
Phyllis Wheeler http://www.phylliswheeler.com/blog/
Elaine Cantrell http://www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com
Cheryl St. John http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/
Good luck in the drawing!

PamT










Saturday, June 25, 2011

Saturday Spotlight - New Release from White Rose Publishing!

Good Morning Friends and welcome to another edition of Saturday Spotlight where I share with you to another great new release from White Rose Publishing.

But first.....my life in a nutshell.....I received the advance review copies (galley) on The Visionary and have been working with the cover artist all week on finalizing a cover! I've started emailing pdf copies of the ARC for review and sending out print copies of it also. So watch in the near future for more on this blog...I'll be posting the cover once it is done and then reviews as they come in. I'm also putting together a blog tour for Nov 16th through Dec 15th - so if any of you have a blog and would like to host me, PLEASE email me! Also, I finished my short story, Lori's Redemption and submitted it to WRP so I'm waiting to hear on that. Still working on edits of Circles of Fate too (amidst other editing/promo projects LOL). Well that's my life in a nutshell so now on to our spotlight!

Cowboys, ranches and romance...is there anything more alluring? This week we're pleased to bring you the next installment in the Hearts Crossing Ranch series. The talented Tanya Hanson corraled us with Hearts Crossing Ranch and melted our hearts with Redeeming Daisy. Now she pins us with the soul-wrenching story of a man who has to fight for his life and love...and the woman who gives him the strength to survive.

A beautiful plus-one at a wedding, a hunky cowboy..autumn leaves and rugged horse trails. The perfect setting to unite two healing souls...

Ranch foreman and single dad Hooper Martin is ready to put his health and life back on track after battling cancer...including re-entering the dating scene. His little girl sure could use a mother. Falling hard for wedding guest Malia Cameron makes perfect sense to him: she's a survivor, too.

Mallie has put her heart on hold, knowing she will never recover from her struggle with a brain tumor. She can't promise a future to anybody and vows never to fall in love. Letting Hooper Martin into her life would be a big mistake. But his good looks take her breath away, and his living faith starts to gentle her confusion about Who's really in charge.

Sanctuary is available now so download your copy today!

Well friends, that wraps up another edition of Saturday Spotlight - stay tuned for more WRP new releases and my life in a nutshell!

Until later take care, God Bless and remember....What you believe in your heart & confess with your mouth you create in your life!

"Inspirational with an Edge!" (tm)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

COTT's Blog Winner!


-guest post by April W Gardner


Rosslyn Elliot--Winner of th
Best Protagonist Clash
Fairer Than Morning was voted as having the best protagonist description by Clash of the Titles readers.

Her worthy competitor was Pamela Thibodeaux's Tempered Hearts.

A snapshot of her winning excerpt:
Will groaned. His eyes still would not focus, though the barn’s spinning was slowing.

The barn door rattled as Master Good left. Will raised his fingers to the side of his head, where he could feel a huge lump already forming. A sharp sting revealed a break in the skin. His fingers were slick and red when he held them up close enough to focus on them.

He would live. Tom’s head had bled worse than this, when the master hit him with the poker two weeks ago. He thought vaguely that he would have to wash the blood off before dinner, or he would get another thrashing. Read full blurb here
A couple reader comments:
  • Tom's scene gave vivid picture of the protagonist was, and the dream of who he might become. I wonder what angel of mercy found him in such a state...
  • Taking on slavery from a historic and spiritual perspective seems really important and challenging. I liked the way you allow your protagonist to experience fear.
Rosslyn says:
For me, a good protagonist is admirable but also real, which means he must have sympathetic traits and also flaws. I find the most sympathetic traits to be courage, compassion, faith, sincerity, and loyalty. I want the protagonist’s weakness to be a significant problem, not just a cosmetic story device. Read full interview here:
Want to get in on the voting action? Head over to Clash of the Titles now and cast your ballot for this week's Clash!
PLEASE CHECK 
OUT OUR EXCITING NEW VENTURE:
Join us in June as we premier COTT's book club! Karen Witemeyer and her COTT winning novel, A Tailor-Made Bride is up as our first read . More details and to vote for July's book, CLICK HERE

--April W Gardner is the senior editor at the literary site, Clash of the Titles. She is also the award-winning author of Wounded Spirits.



Saturday, June 18, 2011

Saturday Spotlight ~ Two New Releases from White Rose Publishing!

Good Morning Friends,
Well as you know, I missed posting a spotlight last Saturday - please forgive that - but I had a family reunion and between all the travelling and visiting I did not even get on the computer for 4 days!

Yeah, tons of emails LOL!

Last week's release, Moving On, by Deborah Pierson Dill is the third installment in the Blythe Settlement series. In this story, Deborah knots gut muscles, pulls heart strings, and brings a man from rock bottom to the height of faith.
Meagan Layne longs for a traditional life as a wife and mother. Love, marriage to an honorable man, a stable home life for her son, more children; it shouldn't be too much to ask. So how did she end up divorced from a man who left her in debt, with a small son to support on a budget that barely meets at the ends?

Bobby Kerr despises his past and wants to build on the new start he made when he left his small hometown for Lubbock. He's a new man in Christ, but he can't forget the violent man he was. He won't subject another woman to the perils of life with him. But Meagan stirs Bobby's heart in a dangerous way, making him hope that love could be possible for him after all. If she's willing to risk it.

Wow, sounds like another great story from Deborah & WRP! Moving on is available now in Ebook and Print so get your copy today!

This week we're excited to bring you the first in a short story series. Step into Sweet Treats Bakery for four tales iced with confection, affection, and heart-melting romance Don't miss the first installment: Kate's Kisses.
Broken dreams…shattered hearts…a special recipe…

Following the tragic, sudden death of her parents, Kate Spencer broke off her engagement from high school sweetheart Logan Daniels, just weeks before their wedding. She chose, instead, to remain in Mount Ridge, Tennessee to raise her younger sisters and help keep the family together. Now, with her sisters grown, she spends her days at family-owned Sweet Treats Bakery, hiding a wounded heart in the sweet confections she creates.
Logan Daniels left town when Kate broke his heart, but now he's come home to claim what he lost four years ago, and he won't stop until he gets what he came for…Kate's kisses.

Kate's Kisses is available now!

Well friends, looks like that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this spotlight. Stay tuned next week when I post on COTT's lates winner!

Until later....take care and God Bless!
Pam T

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Favorite Protags: Saying Goodbye ~ COTT Blog Alliance Post!


Guest post by Amanda Flower

When you finish reading a novel, are you ever sad to see the protagonist go? Does it feel like you’re saying good-bye to a good friend? Those are signs of well-crafted main characters, like the ones in our excerpts this week.

There are many protagonists whom I’ve met in my life who have felt like old friends, and I miss them at the end of the book.

Here are eight of my favorite protagonists and their characteristics which I found most endearing as a young reader and still admire to this day:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird- Scout Finch’s imagination
2. Pride and Prejudice- Elizabeth Bennet’s wit
3. Mouse and the Motorcycle- Ralph S. Mouse’s sense of adventure
4. Charlotte’s Web- Wilbur’s loyalty
5. The Baby Sitter Club Series- Kristy Thomas’s organization skills
6. Jane Eyre- Jane Eyre’s conscience
7. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- Lucy Penvensie’s bravery
8. Mandie Series- Madie Shaw’s crime solving skills

My question for you, who is your favorite protagonist?
***
Make sure to hop on over to COTT this week to get to know the authors of our current Clash:
Best Description of a Protagonist!
***
Amanda Flower is an academic librarian for a small college in Ohio. Her first novel, Maid of Murder, was released in 2010. When she is not at the library or writing her next mystery, she is an avid traveler, aspiring to visit as much of the globe as she can. She is the author of Maid of Murder

Contact Amanda: amandaflower(at)gmail(dot)com
Amanda's Site, Blog, Facebook
---

Well folks I hope you run over to COTT and check out the contest!

Until later.... take care, God Bless and remember....Prayer and Confession are two of the greatest tools we have!

Pamela S. Thibodeaux
"Inspirational with an Edge!" (tm)

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Clash of the Titles

Hello Friends!

Today I'd like to tell you of a great new website. Clash of the Titles - A place where authors get to showcase their work (if it is chosen for a clash competition) and where readers get to vote on their favorite excerpts/blurbs/covers/etc.

I found out about COTT after one of my fellow White Rose authors had a submission accepted - and I believe she won! Sorry, don't remember the details of her clash but since have seen some very interesting posts up there. In fact, I enjoy this so much I've joined up under their Blog Alliance so you'll see something weekly from COTT!


Beginning now....with last week's first ever Young Adult clash winner: Shellie Neumeier!

Shellie Neumeier has just received the honor of being named a COTT Champ with her teen novel, Driven. This is a first for COTT, having a YA title take the crown. And Shellie deserves high accolades. She had some stiff competition: Julie Carobini and her book Fade to Blue.

So how did this story come about?
"The plot [for Driven] morphed over several dinner conversations with my kids and my hubby," Neumeier says. "It started with a whole lot of what-if questions and ended with a girl, a demon, and a whole lot of forgiveness."
You can read COTT's excellent interview with Shellie here.
A clip of her winning excerpt:
Robyn can’t help but notice the handsome new guy at her school. She ignores, however, the arrival of another being at Brookfield Central High School—a demon assigned to destroy her…
Read the full blurb, along with that of her competition, here
About the book:
Robyn can’t help but notice the handsome new guy at her school. She ignores, however, the arrival of another being at Brookfield Central High School—a demon assigned to destroy her…
Robyn loves her friends, enjoys her youth group, and looks forward to meeting cute Caleb Montague. But when a caustic news reporter challenges her school’s prayer team, Robyn must choose: defend their right to meet on campus and pray for whomever they wish or back down at the principal’s request.
Now she must learn what God wants her to do. And she had better learn fast, because there’s a supernatural enemy in town whose sole mission is to stop her—no matter the cost.
Shellie's reaction:
Oh wow!! I'm wordless! Especially since, Julie's Fade to Blue has such a wonderful blurb. (Actually, I can't wait to go get her book, now).
Thank you, COTT crew and Jennifer for letting me be a part of your competitions. And a big thank you to all the folks who left encouraging notes. That means so much!!

Here's what our readers had to say:
"Good work . The books you write help us go to a different place in our lives."

"Both blurbs are very appealing. I have to say that if I was a teenager I would be more attracted to "A", but because I'm older and love anything to do with art "B" is my choice. Very Close!"

"I'm wanting to know just how big a role this demon plays in the story. I've always been fascinated by books that give glimpses into the spiritual realm. (i.e. Frank Peretti, Randy Alcorn")

Visit Shellie Neumeier's website to find out more about her and her writing. Then visit Amazon to get a copy of Driven.
Congratulations, Shellie!!
Make sure to hop on our to the Clash of the Titles Book Club to join the fun discussion on Karen Witemeyer's A Tailor-Made Bride. (In July, we'll dive into Elleanor Gustafson's novel, The Stones.)

And if you'd like to get your vote on, head over to COTT for their current Clash and BE HEARD (not to mention be entered to win a free copy of a contending title.)

COTT Assistant Editor Michelle Massaro is married to her high school sweetie, Mike, and they have four amazing children. They attend Living Truth Christian Fellowship in Corona, CA where they are involved in teaching the youth- primarily about origins science- and where Michelle is involved in the worship ministry. Michelle is also a new homeschooling parent and an aspiring author of contemporary Christian fiction. Above all, she is a follower of Christ Jesus, unashamed to stand upon the Word of God from beginning to end! Contact Michelle: michelle_massaro(at)hotmail(dot)com
visit Michelle's Blog or Find Michelle on Facebook.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Saturday Spotlight - New Release from White Rose Publishing!

Good Morning Friends,

Well life has been quite exciting since I spoke with you last! My daughter, son-in-law & grandchildren came for a visit - we had a birthday party for Karson and Bryanna stayed with me! They all rode horses for the first time - so much fun!

I'd like to take a moment and wish my daughter Monica Ann Thibodeaux Gabrielsen a very HAPPY and BLESSED Birthday!

Still no word on The Visionary ~ waiting on galley & cover art. I'll definitely keep you posted on that! I'm still editing Circles of Fate - not as quickly as I'd hoped but slow and steady.

Now that we've covered my life in a nutshell, let's get on to our Spotlight!

This week we welcome to the White Rose family, author Raquel Byrnes who writes "edge of your seat" romantic suspense. Her debut WR title, Purple Knot is the first book in her Shades of Hope series.
A killer strikes. A love rekindled. A life-altering choice.

When her best friend, is murdered, Reyna Cruz doesn't believe the police have the whole story. An investigator by trade, she has the talent to track Summer's killer, but when clues lead to a family connection and a vicious gang, she suddenly becomes the hunted. At the end of her rope, Reyna must decide to trust the God she believes abandoned her.

Wanting justice for his sister's murder, lawyer Jimmy Corbeau agrees to help Reyna-even though she's his ex-fiancé, and their break-up devastated him. Romance is reawakened, but so are memories of their tragic undoing. Jimmy must decide if he will fight for a future with Reyna or allow their past to derail the investigation and his second chance at love.

When the investigation goes awry and Summer's infant daughter is kidnapped, Reyna must put her life on the line. Will Jimmy and Reyna survive the desperate measures it takes to recover his niece, catch a killer, and secure a happily-ever-after for them all?

Wow! Sounds like Raquel's tagline is right on target. Purple Knot is available now in Ebook and Print!

Well Friends, that wraps it up for this week - until later.....take care, God Bless and remember....Love felt on the spiritual/emotional level is the truest, purest form~only then can it be expressed physically~through word, deed and action.

"Inspirational with an Edge!"