#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 VERYb 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

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Carol J Post & Witness Safeguard Mission

Good Morning and Welcome from Bandera, TX!

Yep, I drove up to my soul's happy place / home away from home on Wednesday and let me tell you it is SO nice to be here. I've talked many times about the peace and serenity I feel in this place. If you ever need a quaint place to get away, you should visit. Anyway...

Today's guest is not brand new to us as she was our featured author for the month of April, but please give Carol a great big SWLA/SETX... H-E-L-L-O!

So, Carol, I know we're featuring Witness Safeguard Mission, book 4 in your Canine Defense Series. Share your heart for this book/series with us...

Thank you, Pam, for featuring me on your Saturday Spotlight. I’m so happy to be here. My stories feature characters who are pretty broken in some way. In Witness Safeguard Mission, Nicole is struggling with guilt over the fact that she never had the opportunity to reconcile with her impossible-to-please father, and Braydon has never been able to let himself off the hook for what he feels was his part in a buddy’s death. 

This theme is close to my heart, because I’ve heard so many people say that they have no problem forgiving others but can’t forgive themselves. At one point, Braydon tells Nicole, “Guilt will eat a hole right through your soul if you let it,” but then later has to admit that he is horrible at taking his own advice. When Nicole tells him that once he accepts God’s forgiveness, it might be easier to forgive himself, he questions whether some things are unforgivable. The answer, of course, is no. We can’t out-sin God’s grace. And if He has forgiven us, who are we to hold onto that guilt? That’s like saying Christ’s blood isn’t enough.

Blurb: A family in a killer’s crosshairs.

A K-9 determined to defend.

When Nicole Woodard and her young sister witness their father’s murder by an unknown assailant, Nicole knows they’re next on the killer’s hit list. Now they must rely on Officer Braydon Feldman and his K-9 partner, Caesar, for protection. The killer will stop at nothing to silence the sisters and keep the crime hidden. But what could their father have been involved in that got him killed? With attacks coming from all sides and dangerous family secrets being exposed, can Braydon and Nicole stay alive long enough to uncover the truth before the killer strikes again?

Excerpt:

Maddy began to sing softly, some silly, happy children’s song about a fat cat. Nicole envied that childish lightheartedness, the being blissfully unaware of adult-size problems. Their parents had probably sugarcoated the details about their mom’s cancer, keeping the worst of it from seven-year-old Maddy.

Nicole smiled down at her little sister. She wouldn’t do anything to destroy that innocence.

From somewhere ahead, a male voice drifted to them on the gentle breeze. It didn’t belong to her father, and it was too deep to be her uncle’s. Nicole stiffened, a wave of uneasiness sweeping through her. She drew to a sudden stop and shushed her little sister. The fat cat song died mid-phrase.

The bass voice came again, followed by her father’s. 

Her breath released in a rush, and she glanced at Maddy. “Come on, Dad’s back.”

They’d just started to move when her dad spoke again. This time his voice was raised, anger lacing his tone. She stood stock-still, every sense on high alert. Something was wrong. Her father was always in control. Even during the frequent scoldings she’d received when she’d failed to live up to his expectations, he’d never raised his voice. Someone had ticked him off.

The man he was with spoke again, his voice low and controlled. Her father’s response was immediate. “I won’t be any part of this!”

Suddenly someone was crashing through the woods toward them. Nicole slipped behind a tree and ducked into the undergrowth there, pulling Maddy down with her and praying they weren’t sharing their hiding place with anything that slithered.

“What’s going on?” Maddy’s voice was thin, filled with fear.

Nicole put a finger over her sister’s lips and leaned close. “Let’s play a game and see how quiet we can be.”

Maddy nodded, brown eyes wide.

Moments later, someone fell to the ground a short distance away. There were some rustles and grunts and then the thud of fists against flesh. Someone was being beaten up. If Nicole had to guess, it was her father.

She pressed a hand over her sister’s mouth and held a finger in front of her own lips. Once sure her sister would remain quiet, she lifted her head to peer through the top of the undergrowth.

A man was squatting with his back to her, her father lying on the ground in front of him. As she watched, he pulled something from his pocket and pressed a button. A blade extended from the end, glistening in a beam of sunlight that pierced the canopy overhead.

A soft gasp slipped between her lips. The man was going to hurt her father. She had to do something. She rose from her crouch as the stranger lifted his arm.

“I’ll make sure you keep your mouth shut.” His tone held a cold steeliness. The arm holding the knife swung in a downward arc, and her father released an agonized scream. Nicole pressed a hand over her mouth to keep her own from escaping.

She should have thought of her sister. Maddy screamed, loud and long, as the man plunged the knife into their father’s torso three more times.

Nicole grabbed her sister’s arm and broke into a full run. Her heart twisted as she left her father lying on the ground, bleeding. But trying to help him would get both her and Maddy killed. Soon heavy footsteps pounded behind them.

“Faster.” She hissed the word, even though her sister’s little legs were moving as fast as they could. Tears streamed down the child’s face, and her breath came in sobbing gasps. They would never be able to outrun the man pursuing them. God, help us!

Nicole glanced around them. The downed tree she’d coaxed Maddy from earlier lay ahead and to the left. Barely slowing her pace, she leaned toward her sister.

“There’s our secret fort. Get in as far as you can and don’t make a sound.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. Go, and don’t come out till I say so.”

She slowed just enough to watch Maddy weave her way between the roots and then shot away at a full run, taking a sharp right. Her path was leading the man away from Maddy, but she needed more of a plan than that.

OH My Goodness, reading this excerpt brought back the entire book! Excellent. Now please tell us about yourself, how we can reach you and where we can find Witness Safeguard Misssion.

Sure. Here ya go...

Carol J. Post writes fun and fast-paced Christian romance and Christian romantic suspense stories. She is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author whose books have won several awards and been nominated for two RITA® awards and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She is also a popular speaker, presenting workshops on a variety of craft topics. 

Carol especially enjoys research trips, which usually involve camping, with some hiking, kayaking and bonfires thrown in when possible. She also loves playing the piano and writing songs with her musical husband. Her two grown daughters and grandkids live too far away for her liking, so she now pours all that nurturing into taking care of three sassy cats—Ziggy, Zorro and Ziva—who also love camping and are known to occasionally take over her blog with their “It’s Zaturday!” posts.

Find out more and connect with Carol via her Website, Facebook, Instagram or X. Be sure and sign up to receive her newsletter!

Witness Safeguard Mission can be found at Amazon, B&N, Christian Book Distributors, and Harlequin.

WONDERFUL! 

Thanks for visiting with us today, Carol. We wish you the best of luck and God's blessings on ALL of your books!

Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight friends and that you'll check back weekly for another edition of Saturday Spotlight. You can read my review of Witness Safeguard Mission HERE.

Until next week, Read Happy!

PamT