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I do not read every book/author I spotlight or book tour I host!
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Saturday, January 13, 2018

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Linda Maran & The Stranger!

Good Morning!

Baby, it's COLD outside here in SW Louisiana....35 & NOT supposed to get out of the 40's! Way too cold for my blood LOL!

Linda Maran shared some thoughts with us last month on Amish fiction. Today we get a sneak peek into her debut title, The Stranger.

Low-rise jeans and skimpy T-shirts come face-to-face with aprons and bonnets when a young woman discovers she’s Amish. 

When Kristen Esh loses her mom in a tragic accident months before her eighteenth   birthday, she suddenly finds herself among Amish relatives she never knew she had. The dramatic change from the Jersey Shore to the remote Stone Arabia in upstate, New York is difficult enough, but abiding by the Amish rules and lifestyle is a challenge unlike any other.

When anonymous notes begin to arrive for her to go back to where she came from, Kristen longs for her past life and her mom. As she discovers secrets that unravel her true identity, she finds an unlikely ally in John Wagler, the step-son of her aunt. He lessens Kristen’s fears and encourages her faith.

Interwoven with gradual revelations is the growing love between Kristen and John. One that encourages forgiveness and helps seal Kristen’s fate.

Excerpt: A gentle nudge on the shoulder gave Kristen pause as to where she was. “Mom? OK. I’ll go up to bed.”
She received another nudge. This time she sat up and looked over at the source of the gentle push.
A small girl with honey-blonde braids stood there, wearing a sheer white head veering and a blue dress and apron. A miniature version of Aunt Elizabeth, except that her hair wasn’t tucked into a bun and her dress was a lighter shade of blue.
Oh no! This wasn’t a dream!
“Hi. I’m Anna. And you’re Kristen, my Englisch cousin. Mamm said to wake you from your nap for supper.”

The Stranger can be purchased directly from Pelican Book Group or on Amazon.

Linda Maran has been writing since she was a young teen, mostly poetry back then.
In her late twenties she became ill and was unable to work at her current job as a secretary for a large firm, so she turned idle time into writing time.
Having a love for cooking she wrote many food articles and even put together a regional cookbook. Unfortunately, two such books had already been published, but she had a lot of fun doing it, and learned quite a bit about discipline and organization.
In 2004, she wrote and self-published: Confronting The Bully of OCD. She felt that there was a need for such a book and put herself out there in order to help other sufferers. The book contains the techniques taught to her by a New York City OCD specialist, who graciously allowed her to do that and who wrote the forward to the book.
She also had a small self-help booklet published by Liguori in 2002, Living with Pain 25 Practical Steps.
Linda always loved to read good stories with a twist and tried her hand at fiction. At the time she submitted it to literary agent, Mary Sue Seymour. It was she who encouraged her to keep writing (despite the fact that her submission was not up to par at the time.)
She suggested that Linda join RWA and a Christian critique group and finally, asked her to try to write an Amish romance.
Linda never heard of Amish Inspirational Romance. But  remembered how she enjoyed and was fascinated by a trip to Lancaster, PA earlier, and so embarked on setting her goals in that direction. She then read her first Amish book called, The Shunning, by Beverly Lewis and was hooked.
Having a place an hour and a half from Montgomery County, NY, where the Amish reside, has been and continues to be, a great help in her research.
Linda also writes contemporary Inspirational romance and is completing such a novel at present.  She maintains several self-help blogs and continues to use personal circumstances to try to help others. 
Find out more about Linda by visiting one of her many blogs and connecting with her on Face Book and Amazon.

Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight and that you'll drop by weekly for more great authors and their books and an occasional Tuesday Treasures and Thursday Thoughts.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.
PamT

8 comments:

Kara O'Neal said...

I love the plot of your book. Discovering you're Amish has got to be a jolt! And I think it's really great that you wrote a book about dealing with OCD. That was really brave! Good luck to you!

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Linda,

This sounds like a really good book! Congrats.

Barbara M. Britton said...

Hi Linda,

This sounds like an awesome read.
All the best to you.

Diane Burton said...

Best wishes, Linda. Pam, I tried to keep the cold up here in Michigan, but we're freezing up here (-5F) so we're sharing. LOL

Brenda Hill said...

How exciting, Linda. Congratulations!

Alicia Dean said...

Oh my gosh, love the premise for this book! Enjoyed the exerpt...best wishes!

Linda Maran said...

Thank you, everyone, for the kind words. And thank you, Pam, for spotlighting me. :)

Leah St. James said...

Well, as a native of the Jersey Shore, I can imagine what a culture shock that must have been! (And I'm talking about "real" Jerseyans, not those people who pretended on TV!) Wishing you much success with the book and your writing career!