6 Winning Blogs!

In the spirit of Romans 12:10 I wish to "Honor one another above yourself" by presenting the "Premio-Dardos" Award to the following 6 friends who faithfully share their knowledge in a fun and enjoyable way with their readers.

”Premio dardos” in Spanish means “prize darts”. The Premio-Dardos Award is an award that “acknowledges the values that every Blogger displays in his effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values with each message [he/she writes].” I was most grateful to receive this award and would like to express my thanks once again to MaryAnn Diorio for nominating me for it. I hope you will also check out her very prolific blog at www.maryanndiorio.com/blog

As part of the requirements for receiving the Premio-Dardos Award, the recipient must recommend other blogs deserving of the same reward. So the cycle of honoring others above ourselves will continue with them. No time limit, just spreading the love and honor.

The blogs below have been very helpful to me in various ways, and they are listed in the order they accepted the award. They are all special in their own way, so I hope you will check them out and leave a comment for them.

And if you leave a comment on my blog anytime this month, you will be in the drawing for a copy of Crimson Eve by Brandilyn Collins, drawing to be held on June 1st.

And the winners are:

www.blog.angelabreidenbach.com by Angela Breidenbach
www.authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com by Christina Berry

www.cynthialovely.com/blog by Cynthia Lovely

http://jackiesbackporch.blogspot.com by Jackie Layton

http://lindarondeau.blogspot.com/ This Daily Grind by Linda Rondeau

http://amberstockton.blogspot.com by Tiffany Amber Stockton

Book Review--Sweet Sanctuary by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Another 5 star book by Kim Vogel Sawyer. And a very "sweet" one to match the title!

This book is set during the final year of WWII. Both the hero and heroine are such good examples of how we should live our lives led by the Lord. They both make sacrifices that could hurt themselves, but do it anyway because it is the right thing to do for someone else.

Dr. Micah Hatcher has a heart for the immigrants of Queens, New York, so moves into a clinic there where he can also be handy to help with "packages" from his brother delivered by ship from overseas. Besides taking care of countless patients, many who cannot afford to pay him in cash, he also adopts a little Jewish girl to raise on his own.

Lydia Eldredge is providing sanctuary for her deceased best friend's young son, and trying to keep his biological father who is a drug addict from getting custody of the boy. Something happens that tears her privileged world apart. Can she believe Micah that God can work good out of even this?

Give yourself the gift of reading this novel which is a romance, but so much more!

Interview with Lisa Lickel and an electronic giveaway of Healing Grace

Healing Grace by Lisa Lickel

Giveaway: any electronic version (Nook, Kindle, html, pdf) of Healing Grace

Welcome back to my blog, Lisa. So glad to hear about your newest novel. Please tell us about your favorite book as a child and your favorite book as an adult. Can you see a connection between those books?
My mom had this wonderful old, old book called the Star Fairies. It had all kinds of fantastic children’s stories, most of which I can only remember parts of now, but were full of mystical creatures like elves and nymphs, and also animals. It had great illustrations too. As an adult, my favorite book is still Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine. A connection? Although Dandelion Wine is somewhat autobiographical there is still the element of the wondrous about it. A visit with elderly neighbors is a trip in a time machine; a cookbook ruins Grandma’s ability to create amazing meals, and the like. I love walking the line between what is and what could be, which is a lot of what Healing Grace is about.

Sounds very interesting, Lisa. What is your favorite Scripture? Do you also have a favorite Scripture that encourages you in your writing?
Hebrews 10:23. It’s a challenge both personally and professionally to remember what I’m doing – holding fast to the faith I profess – no matter where I am.

I know you recently traveled to Novia Scotia. If you could go to any place in the world to research/write a book, what setting would you choose?
I think I’d like to visit Beatrix Potter’s farm in the Lake District in England. I’m really sure I could find a story there to research.

I often wonder if I would write if I had to do it the old-fashioned way without computers and spell-checks and email. Is there anything about technology that you don't like? Or anything about it that you feel enhances your writing?
I agree with a lot of what you wonder. People did it, obviously – write whole books by hand. I enjoy starting out making notes on paper and thinking plot and setting and even some characters, but I can type a lot faster than I can write. What is so scary, and this has happened again recently, is that you can too easily lose great chunks of work if you don’t save it properly, if your computer crashes, or just because.

Alas! I think most every writer I know has lost bits of writing to the computer gremlins! As a writer how have you had to grow and stretch out of your comfort zone?
By doing in-person teaching and workshops. It’s good for me, but scary. I love talking shop, though. Can’t ever get enough of that.

What advice would you give to a beginning writer that you wish someone had given you?
I wish someone had told me that fads come and go, and that everyone has opinions about what works and what doesn’t in your writing. That you should keep at it and keep reading and practicing and soon you’ll feel confident and figure out how to trust yourself.

Do you want to add anything about your book such as how to order it?
Healing Grace was originally published in 2009. There are still a few print versions of this book at online publishers. The book with the lavender cover is the old version – please don’t buy it by mistake. The new Healing Grace has been completely rewritten, re-edited and updated. I had a wonderful team of editors to work with. A print version of this new book will be available later in the year.

ISBN: 978-1-77127-305-3

The book is currently available in electronic format only at online retailers, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, and the publisher’s site.

http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=713&category_id=69&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/healing-grace-lisa-j-lickel/1115150561?ean=2940016518732


http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Grace-ebook/dp/B00CFA09IQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367454831&sr=8-1&keywords=Healing+Grace+lickel

Author bio: Lisa Lickel is a Wisconsin writer who lives with her husband in a hundred and sixty-year-old house built by a Great Lakes ship captain. Surrounded by books and dragons, she writes inspiring fiction. Her novels include the Buried Treasure mystery series (The Last Bequest, The Map Quilt and the upcoming The Newspaper Code) and the Fancy Cat Mystery Meow Mayhem; as well as the award-winning romance, Meander Scar, A Summer in Oakville co-authored with best-selling author Shellie Neumeier and will release in Large Print in August, and Healing Grace. She has penned dozens of feature newspaper stories, short stories, magazine articles and radio theater. She is the editor in chief of Creative Wisconsin magazine and loves to encourage new authors. Lisa also is an avid book reviewer and blogger, a freelance editor, a writing mentor, and blogger. Find her at www.LisaLickel.com.

Healing Grace

By Lisa Lickel

http://tinyurl.com/c5b4ktu

Healing Grace currently on sale at the publisher, MuseItUp

Price: $5.95

$4.76

ISBN 978-1-77127-305-3

Note: Healing Grace was originally published in 2009. There are still a few print versions of this book at online publishers. The book has been completely rewritten, re-edited and updated. The book with the lavender cover is the old version – please don’t buy it by mistake. A print version of this new book will be available later in the year.

Back Cover

Grace has a secret. Just like her aunt, and her grandmother before her, she could fix anyone with a touch, at a cost she never questioned -- until her husband developed cancer and died. Believing no one would forgive her for not being able to save him, Grace runs from the life she knew, hoping even God wouldn’t find her in a little out-of-the-way town in Michigan. It takes a very sick man and his little boy to help her face her past, accept who she is and battle her way back to redemption. Just when she and Ted begin to hope for the future, he relapses. Grace faces the ultimate choice once again: Trust God to work through her precious gift, or let a terminally ill man die. What if the price is more than she can pay?

Discussion guide included!

Lisa loves to visit book clubs.

May and June Giveaways

New giveaway for June 1st...and today's winner is...wandafaithsewell

I will be mailing her a copy of Coral Moon by Brandilyn Collins as soon as I receive her mailing address.

And you can do the same thing Wanda did and leave a comment with your email info to be entered into the drawing for a copy of the next book in the Kanner Lake series--Crimson Eve. Another thriller by the master of suspense!

Here's the blurb from the back cover copy so you can see what you would be getting into!

"Realtor Carla Radling shows an 'English gentleman' a lakeside estate--and finds herself facing a gun. Who has hired this assassin to kill her, and why?
Forced on the run, Carla must uncover the scathing secrets of her past. Secrets that could destroy some very powerful people."

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Ms. Collins is also the master of surprises so be prepared for the twists at the end! Great read!