#TuesdayTreasure: Special Guest post and Contest by Lillian Duncan

Good Morning!

It is with great pleasure I bring you today's guest. Lillian Duncan is a fellow Pelican Book Group author and she is sharing with us something she treasures!

CELEBRATE!

My latest release is No Home For The Holidays, a Christmas-themed romantic suspense novella. Christmas and suspense? I love the challenge of finding a way to mix the two together. The gist of the story is about a “prodigal daughter” who wants to go home but knows she will put her family in danger as well as herself if she does.

In the story, Chloe is downright grinchy. Christmas reminds her of home and since she can’t go home, she refuses to acknowledge or celebrate Christmas in any way. I wonder how many of us do the same thing.

I’ve got no kids so why put up a tree?

I’m alone now, so what’s the point of decorating?

It’s too much work.

I’m so busy.

Mmmm….Do any of those excuses sound familiar?

There’s nothing like a serious health crisis to teach us to appreciate life!  It started on April Fool’s Day in 2012 when I developed Bell’s palsy (an inflammation of the facial nerves). An MRI brought even more shocking news—bilateral brain tumors and a diagnosis of NF2, a genetic disorder.  It continues still today.

How it will end? Only God knows. It’s been a long and difficult journey, but God has taught me much. And one of those nuggets of wisdom is to celebrate life!

For the past several years, we’d cleared off our enclosed porch and filled it with Christmas trees--lots of them!  It's just for fun and just for us--no grandbabies around to enjoy it.  But when I started experience side effects from my second brain tumor treatment in 2013 much earlier than expected, we decided to forego the Christmas Porch.  Too much work and I didn't feel well enough to help.

But one morning I woke up to a porch full of Christmas trees, thanks to my sweet husband.  I can’t tell you how much joy I got from just seeing the Christmas Trees every time I walked past them.  And it taught me a lesson, life is worth celebrating, especially at Christmas. Last year there wasn’t even a question. The trees were going up!

At this time of the year, we have so much to celebrate--the birth of a babe in a lowly manger. A birth that changed the world! A birth that brought heaven to earth! It’s a time of the year when we should all be celebrating, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

We’re celebrating the birth of Jesus, our king, our savior!

You're right, Lillian...the gift of LIFE is definitely something to treasure!

To celebrate the release of No Home For The Holidays, Lillian is running a contest on her blog, Tiaras & Tennis Shoes. Five lucky winners will receive a $10 Amazon Gift card. So hop on over to www.lillian-duncan.com and leave a comment under the No Home For The Holidays blog post so you’ll be entered to win one of the gift cards.

You can purchase No Home for the Holidays right now for only $.99 cents at Pelican Book Group ($1.99 at Amazon)

Lillian Duncan: stories of faith mingled with murder & mayhem!

Lillian is a multi-published writer with several Amazon bestsellers, including The Christmas Stalking and Betrayed. Lillian writes the types of books she loves to read—fast-paced suspense with a touch or two of romance that demonstrates God’s love for all of us

Whether as an educator, a writer, or a speech pathologist, she believes in the power of words to transform lives, especially God’s Word.

To learn more about Lillian and her books, visit: www.lillianduncan.net. Tiaras & Tennis Shoes is her personal blog at www.lillian-duncan.com. 

Hope you enjoyed today's treasure. Lillian will be back for Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight this month so drop by often!

Until later, take care and God Bless.

PamT