#SaturdaySpotlight is on Jana Richards & I'll be Seeing You!

Good Morning and Welcome to Another Episode of Saturday Spotlight!

It's graduation season and I was blessed to watch my great-nephew get his diploma last night. Next weekend I'll be in SC for my Sweetheart's granddaughter's ceremony. This time next year it'll be my youngest grandson. Between now and then, my granddaughter will graduate nursing school in December. WHERE does time go?!

Alas, this is what life is all about, but enough pondering, let's get on to our spotlight 😉

Today's guest is not brand new to our blog, but she has a brand new book for you to enjoy so...

Take it away, Jana...Please tell us about your book, why you wrote it OR what makes it special to you, where we can find it and all about yourself!

Thank You, Pam, for offering to help me launch my new book, I'll be Seeing You, a time travel, second chance romance set partially during World War Two. 

This is the third story I’ve written set around the events of the Second World War. I’ve always had an interest in stories about World War Two, and in particular, anything relating to the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. 

My father was WW2 veteran and participated in D-Day. In 1942 he signed up with the Regina Rifles in the Canadian Army. The nickname for members of the Regina Rifles was the Farmer Johns, because so many of them were farmers named John. My dad fit right in since his first name was John, and he was indeed a farmer.

He spent almost two years training, first in Canada, and then in Scotland, before being shipped to the south of England in anticipation of the invasion. On June 6, Canadian troops, including my dad, landed on Juno Beach in Normandy. By June 9, he was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW.  

I’d known since childhood that he’d been a POW, but I didn’t realize until a few years ago when we requested my father’s army records that his family didn’t know for months whether he was alive or dead. His army records included copies of telegraphs sent to his father. The first one arrived June 23, 1944, informing my grandfather that his son was missing in action, with a promise to provide more information as it became available. The next telegraph didn’t arrive until November 10, 1944. This one stated that the army had learned through “indirect channels” that Dad was a prisoner of war. The third, and last, telegraph arrived May 2, 1945 to tell my grandparents that Dad was “now safe in United Kingdom twentyninth April 1945”. 

I find those three telegraphs so poignant. I can’t imagine what those months were like for his family, not knowing if he’d return. If my child, or brother, was missing I know I’d be devastated. And yet my grandmother never spoke of it when I was growing up. 

I can’t imagine what the experience was like for my father either. He didn’t talk much about his experiences during the war either, at least not to me. I wish I’d asked him more questions. I’m left to imagine.

And, so I write. 😊

Here's the Tagline and Blurb for I'll be Seeing You: When apprentice angel Gabriel takes Frank back in time for a second chance at love, they both learn lessons about trust.

Apprentice angel Gabriel Daniel’s first assignment in his quest to become a full-fledged angel is to give WW2 veteran, Frank Brennan, a second chance at love. With help from his mentor, senior angel Thomas, Gabriel takes Frank back to 1944 to Plymouth, England. There, Frank made his biggest mistake with love. He fell in love with Claire Cartwright, but when he found her kissing another man, he ended their relationship, despite Claire’s insistence that things weren’t as they appeared. This time around, Gabriel’s task is to convince Frank to trust in Claire’s love and fidelity, despite the evidence against her.

At the same time, Thomas takes Gabriel on a journey through his relationship with Sloane, the love of his mortal life. For the first time, Gabriel sees how his jealousy and distrust tainted their love.

Unless Gabriel persuades Frank to trust Claire, his goal of becoming a citizen of Heaven is doomed, along with his desire to watch over his mother and brother back on Earth. Frank has a complicated history that Gabriel must help him confront before either of them gets what they need.

And an Excerpt: “There you are, walking across the dance floor toward Claire.”

“We’re so young,” Frank whispered. “And she’s so beautiful.”

“Yes, she is,” Gabriel agreed. “You look very handsome in your uniform, too. See how all the young women stare at you as you walk across the dance floor? But you don’t seem to notice any of them. You only have eyes for Claire.”

Frank sagged against his pillow. “Yes.”

“Do you remember what you said to her that night?”

“No.”

“Listen.”

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Frank’s younger self asked as they danced.

Claire smiled up at him, her eyes shining with amusement. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“You do now,” young Frank said with a cocky grin.

Claire laughed. “You’ve decided that, have you? All on your own? Do I get any say in the matter?”

Frank gazed into Claire’s eyes. “No, none at all.”

“You dated a lot of girls before the war, didn’t you, Frank?” Visions of Frank with a succession of young women raced through Gabriel’s mind. “You were a good-looking kid and girls gravitated to you. But you’d never experienced anything like this before, did you? Like you’d die if you couldn’t hold her in your arms and kiss her. Like you’d cease to exist if she turned you away.”

On the screen, Claire shook her head. “What an arrogant Yank you are.” But she continued to dance with Frank, smiling up into his eyes.

“You fell in love with Claire that night on the dance floor, and your world changed forever.”

I'll be Seeing You can be found at Amazon.com (FREE in KU), Amazon.CA, Amazon.UK, GoodReads and BookBub.

As for a little about myself, here's my "official" bio LOL...

When Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in lengths ranging from short story to full length novel. Just for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of the paranormal. 

When not writing up a storm or dealing with dust bunnies, Jana can be found pursuing hobbies such as golf (which she plays very badly) or reading (which she does much better). 

Jana lives in Western Canada with her husband Warren and a senior calico cat named Layla. You can reach her through her Website, Blog, Facebook, X, Instagram, Amazon Author Page, Amazon UK Author Page, GoodReads, Bluesky, and BookBub. Stay in touch and receive updates by signing up to receive her Newsletter!

Wow, what a story about your dad! SO glad he made it home safely after all that and it's wonderful people can find you all over the place, Jana. 

You can check out Jana's previous visit to our blog HERE, Friends and be sure to check back next week for another great author and book on, Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

PamT

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Susan Howell & Buried Talents!

Good Morning,

Before I announce our guest today, I'd like to take a moment and THANK Each and Every One of YOU who visit regularly - Your love and support of me and my guests is appreciated more than words can express. Becuase of YOU, this blog had over 200K visits in April! I am SO VERY grateful...Thank YOU from the depths of my heart and soul!! 💓💓

Now, on to our spotlight.

Today's guest is brand new but I promise this won't be her only visit. Welcome, Susan! Please tell us about your book and yourself...

Thanks for having me on your blog, Pam. In the college gender studies course I taught for about 20 years, I showed how - without even realizing it - we tend to hold gendered stereotypes and expectations that harm us all – male and female. I knew I was succeeding when students would scurry to my office with the latest thing they’d heard in the dorm, at church, or around the dinner table with extended family. They were observing life through a new lens and surprised at the “aha” moments they were having because of it. They would never again look at the world the same way and were excited to live out their newfound knowledge. 

Much of what I taught those students I included in Buried Talents. My hope is that you the reader will try on those lenses for yourself, experience your own “aha” moments, and determine to make life more equitable for yourself, your children, and the world. 

Buried Talents uncovers the subtle and unintentional socialization that works against women – and men – reaching their potential.

Excerpt: When my husband and I were newlyweds, we lived in the city where he attended seminary. Although I looked forward to graduate training, I hadn’t yet determined where to go nor which program to pursue. It made sense, I told myself, for him to go first. He would study while I worked to support us and took time to choose a school and program for myself. 

I had several friends in the same situation and spoke with them occasionally about my plans to attend school when my husband finished. I assumed they would do the same. After all, we had spent our college days studying and planning for the careers we would pursue. Why not follow through? More than one of them told me we couldn’t make plans yet since we didn’t know where God would call our husbands. We would have to wait and see. 

My students will find it hard to imagine that, at first, I believed those words: I would have to wait and see. But it bothered me. I couldn’t let it go. I had studied hard and prayed for years about my professional plans. I read everything about psychology I could get my hands on. I pored over graduate school catalogs while I dreamed of the classes I would take, the skills I would hone, the clients I would treat. Was I supposed to wait and hope my husband would find a church close to a school with a graduate program in psychology?

While I believe God could work through that situation, that wasn’t at all the way we had approached my husband’s education. For his, we trusted that what he believed was a call was just that. We took that call seriously and moved to the place where he could get the education to live it out. We didn’t wait and hope I would find a job in a town with a graduate program for ministers. We didn’t wait to see what God had in store for me first. We didn’t even read a book that encouraged him to uncover buried talents. 

We did none of that. We simply trusted and took action.

I am happy to report that since I couldn’t let it go, I didn’t. One night I broached the topic with my husband. I told him that we had taken three years to invest in his life’s work and that before he took a church that would require a move, I wanted to get my master’s degree. I admit I felt a bit heretical. If he had asked me to defend my position, I’m not sure I could have. I just knew it felt right and needed to be said. 

Imagine my surprise when he said, “Sure.”

Of course I should pursue my calling. And what would he do while I studied? We didn’t know. Just do what I had done for him, we supposed. Work in a job, either in his area or not depending on what he could find and put off better options until we could both relocate. 

I was pleasantly surprised and, I admit, relieved. His commitment to my call equaled my commitment to his. 

AMAZING, Susan! Now please tell us more about you and where we can find Buried Talents.

Sure, I am an author, speaker, psychologist, and retired university professor. My husband, Dwayne, and I have two grown children, a daughter-in-law, one adorable grandson, and an incorrigible beagle named Doc. While Doc doesn’t understand a word I say, he fully supports my book and its message. 😀

Connect with me through my Website, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads and Bookbub. Sign up for my email list and monthly blog posts HERE.

Buried Talents can be found at Amazon and B&N.

Sounds like a fascinating read. Thank you for sharing!

Hope you enjoyed Susan's visit today folks, and that you'll check back each week for another edition of Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God bless.

PamT